Jury Convicts Renovaro Founder Of Orchestrating Murder-For-Hire Of Former Business Partner

 A federal jury on Friday convicted former Enochian Biosciences (now Renovaro) "scientific founder", "inventor" and former largest shareholder Serhat Gumrukcu of orchestrating the 2018 murder-for-hire of his former business partner in Vermont, according to VTDigger.com. 

The jury found Gumrukcu - who was brought to the attention of market participants by former short seller Hindenburg Research back in 2022, alongside of ShareSleuth - guilty on all three felony charges: murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder for hire, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He now faces a mandatory life sentence. 

Gumrukcu was taken into custody shortly afterward. Jurors deliberated for about six hours, including a lunch break, returning their decision Friday afternoon.

Gumrukcu had formerly been praised by Enochian CEO Mark Dybul - who once worked under Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Health - with Dybul writing in November 2019 that he was "one of those rare geniuses that is not bound by scientific discipline or dogma". Hindenburg accused Dybul of turning a "blind eye to outrageous fraud" perpetrated by Gumrukcu in a stunning follow up report after the "inventor's" death. 

Mark Dybul, far left, Serhat Gumrukcu, second from left

After being removed from Enochian, the company changed its name and continued without Gumrukcu. The murder for hire case stems from the killing of 39-year-old Gregory Davis, which prosecutors say was ordered by Gumrukcu over a soured oil deal.

“This verdict is the product of years of investigative work,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher, commending the efforts of federal and local law enforcement.

Once a Turkish national living in a Los Angeles mansion, Gumrukcu now awaits formal sentencing later this year. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

A supposed mind-reading magician turned biomedical entrepreneur, Serhat Gumrukcu mingled with Hollywood elites and earned millions through unconventional medical ventures. But during his five-week trial in Burlington, he faced a far different spotlight—three days on the witness stand, denying involvement in the 2018 murder-for-hire of former business partner Gregory Davis.

Though he claimed innocence, Gumrukcu admitted under oath to lying to authorities and said he'd told “so many lies” in past deals he couldn’t remember them all. He acknowledged buying a fake medical degree from Russia, calling it “cheating,” and described his younger self as “arrogant,” advocating unorthodox treatments like leeches and mistletoe.

As part of their investigation into Enochian and Gumrukcu, Hindenburg Research ordered the very same degree to prove that it was fake back in 2022. 

Prosecutors argued Gumrukcu had Davis killed to prevent him from exposing fraud tied to a failed oil deal—one that could have derailed a lucrative biomedical contract with Enochian BioSciences.

“Gregg Davis was a problem for the defendant,” said prosecutor Paul Van de Graaf. “It was the defendant who paid for the murder.”

Van de Graaf outlined how Gumrukcu financed the $200,000 plot, with testimony from three co-conspirators, including former assistant Berk Eratay. Eratay claimed Gumrukcu told him he wanted to “get rid of a problem,” prompting Eratay to enlist others, including hitman Jerry Banks. Banks testified he posed as a U.S. marshal, kidnapped Davis, and executed him in rural Vermont.

Defense attorney Ethan Balogh argued it was Eratay who “ran the op,” not Gumrukcu. He said the funds were meant for a cryptocurrency project and portrayed Davis as untrustworthy. Balogh accused the three key witnesses—who took plea deals to avoid life sentences—of lying to save themselves: “These men were all going to die in the cage.”

Prosecutors countered that none of them had a reason to kill Davis—except Gumrukcu. As Van de Graaf said, even “peaceful” men can outsource their violence.

As Hindenburg noted in a subsequent report, the story of Gumrukcu’s rise and fall, up to awaiting trial was chronicled in a podcast produced by Amazon’s Wondery (Spotify, Apple).

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jury-convicts-renovaro-biosciences-founder-orchestrating-murder-hire-his-former-business

'Bill Maher Tells Charlie Kirk What's Really Destroying The Democratic Party'

 Via The Vigilant Fox,

On the latest episode of Club Random, Bill Maher sat down with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for what many expected to be a clash of political opposites.

But what unfolded was something far more surprising: a candid, wide-ranging conversation that revealed just how much common ground these two actually share—especially when it comes to calling out the modern left.

It kicked off with a sharp joke from Kirk, who warned Maher that the “purple-hair jihadis” would be coming for him next.

“They want to kill me just as bad. Oh, they really do!” Maher responded. He explained, “They hate their own apostates more. I’m supposed to get on the short bus to crazy town with them—and I won’t.”

From there, Maher began to draw a clear line between classic liberal values and what he called the “woke” ideology taking over the Democratic Party.

“I am one of them! They’re not one of me,” he said. “Liberal and woke are two completely different things—woke is very often the opposite.”

Maher explained, “Liberalism is, let’s live in a colorblind society. That’s the goal. Woke’s goal is, ‘We see race everywhere.’ Liberal is, ‘There’s a two-state solution.’ Woke is ‘river to the sea.’”

Then came a line that cut to the core of his frustration: “You got off the F-train, you fell asleep, and you got off at 20 stops too far. Don’t blame me for that.”

The conversation pivoted to an issue even some liberals are struggling to defend: women’s sports. Kirk praised Maher for speaking out.

“You deserve credit for being a liberal that acknowledges male-female distinctions,” he said.

“Oh, of course! Of all the low-lying fruit the Democrats just hand the Republicans to win elections, that’s the one,” Maher responded.

Kirk grinned and asked, “Are they really gonna let us win every national election on this no-men-in-women’s-sports thing?”

Maher answered bluntly: “It’s so ridiculous.”

He cited the stat that 890 trophies had already gone to biological males competing in women’s events—and even pointed out that California’s own Gavin Newsom had backed away from the debate.

“You lost Gavin Newsom on this,” he said. “Take that as a hint.”

Then came the part no one saw coming. Maher opened up about a recent dinner he had with President Trump—and pushed back on the idea that engaging with him was somehow off-limits.

“I voted for Obama, I voted for Clinton,” Maher said. “But the idea that I could talk to them as freely as I felt this conversation was going, is emblematic to me of why the Democrats lose the elections. Because they just don’t feel that this is like a real person.”

He got even more honest: “And I know it’s so weird to say that about Donald Trump, who I’ve said a jillion times is, you know, a whiny little b*tch, I could go through my greatest hits of insults. But this was about getting past that and maybe seeing that if we met in person, we don’t hate each other as much. And we don’t!”

“I’m sorry, I’m not going to pretend that’s a bad thing,” Maher added.

That’s when Kirk delivered a line that stopped the conversation cold.

“You had more moral courage than pastors I know who went along with the woke crazy train,” he said. “You deserve credit for that—because it came at a high cost.”

Maher nodded in agreement. For a moment, the two ideological opposites sounded completely in sync. Maher didn’t sugarcoat his assessment of what’s dragging his party down.

“Until we get rid of that sh*t, they’re never going to win another election,” he said.

Kirk replied, “They’re not going to take political advice from me.”

Maher responded, “No, but they might from me. Not the 10%—but that’s 10%. They’re very loud, but that’s it.”

Then came a quote that’s never felt more relevant: “As FDR once said, ‘I welcome their hatred.’”

Two men with very different worldviews just exposed what many Americans already sense: the far left isn’t leading the Democrats forward. It’s dragging them down. And unless the party finds the courage to cut that anchor loose, it’s going to sink with it.

Watch the full conversation below:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bill-maher-tells-charlie-kirk-whats-really-destroying-democratic-party

Intellia upped to Outperform from Peer Perform by Wolfe

 Target $21

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=NTLA&p=d

Makary Discusses Expedited Rare Disease Approvals Pathway, ‘Public Distrust’ in New Interview

 

In an interview with former Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary introduced a new mechanism-driven pathway that could be leveraged by rare disease therapies while saying that autism could potentially be driven by certain environmental factors.

The FDA is eyeing a “new pathway” for rare disease drugs, potentially allowing for their approval even without data from a randomized, controlled clinical trial, recently confirmed FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in an interview on Friday.

Speaking on The Megyn Kelly Show in his first major interview since taking the reins at the FDA, Makary said the agency will open a new regulatory pathway based on what he called a “plausible mechanism,” focusing mainly on rare or incurable diseases that affect “a small number of people.”

If there is an investigational drug, Makary explained, “that makes sense physiologically. The mechanism is scientifically plausible that this treatment would help these individuals.” The FDA could approve that therapy on “a conditional basis . . . even though we don’t have a randomized controlled trial because it’s not feasible.”

Makary, however, was quick to caution that “no one is forcing these medications [on patients].”

This new mechanism-driven pathway would also include a patient surveillance system, which would “monitor everybody who gets [the treatment], so that we can make inferences as soon as the data speaks,” Makary added.

In the interview with Kelly, Makary also addressed what he called the “epidemic of distrust” toward the FDA—and health authorities in the U.S. more broadly—fostered primarily by the agency’s alleged downplaying of side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Makary also touched on vaccines, seeming to partly back up claims made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. connecting vaccines to autism despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

While noting the possibility that certain environmental factors may indeed play a role in the developmental disorder, Makary stopped short of naming vaccines.

Of the supposed distrust against health authorities, Makary said that “part of it is warranted.”

“When you don’t want to look at complications, the complication rate looks lower than it really is. It makes products look safer than they really are.” At the center of this, according to Makary, is the FDA’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is intended to monitor side effects associated with immunization.

VAERS, crucially, is self-reported, meaning it relies on patients and physicians to file reports of side effects. “You can make no inferences about rates” using self-reported data, according to Makary. “That’s just a basic scientific methodological principle.”

Instead, the FDA will now employ a more comprehensive method, tapping into what Makary called the “Health Information Exchange,” a “massive” repository of electronic health record data, which will allow the FDA to look at real-world complication data.

Last week, Kennedy also took aim at VAERS, saying, “it’s outrageous that we don’t have a surveillance system that functions.” Kennedy is eyeing certain improvements to the VAERS, including an automated adverse event monitoring system, which he said could help find the “contribution” of vaccines to a yet unclear outcome.

https://www.biospace.com/policy/makary-discusses-expedited-rare-disease-approvals-pathway-public-distrust-in-new-interview

Morgan Stanley (MS) Launches Power E*Trade Pro for Day Traders

 

• Morgan Stanley's (MS, Financial) E*Trade launches Power E*Trade Pro, a platform tailored for day traders.
• With advanced features, it competes with leading platforms like Schwab and Robinhood.
• Analyst predictions suggest a potential price increase of 20.80% for MS stock.

Morgan Stanley's (MS) E*Trade has introduced Power E*Trade Pro, a state-of-the-art trading platform specifically designed to cater to the needs of day traders. This new offering boasts extensive customization options, multi-monitor support, and advanced technical analysis tools, placing it in direct competition with platforms from industry heavyweights such as Charles Schwab and Robinhood. Currently, the platform is in its pilot phase, with a full rollout scheduled for June. Despite this innovation, MS shares experienced a dip of 3.8% due to market volatility.

https://www.gurufocus.com/news/2791666/morgan-stanley-ms-launches-power-etrade-pro-for-day-traders

Novo Nordisk (NVO) Seeks FDA Approval for Oral Wegovy

 

• Novo Nordisk (NVO, Financial) is seeking FDA approval for an oral version of its GLP-1 weight-loss drug, Wegovy.
• Analysts offer a positive outlook with an average price target significantly above the current market price.
• GuruFocus estimates indicate a potential substantial upside based on GF Value analysis.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) has made a strategic move by filing for U.S. FDA approval of an oral formulation of its highly-regarded GLP-1 weight-loss treatment, Wegovy. This filing follows impressive phase 3 clinical trial results announced in May that demonstrated notable weight reduction benefits. Novo Nordisk's application comes amid rising competition, particularly from Eli Lilly, which has also reported successful phase 3 results for its GLP-1 treatment.

https://www.gurufocus.com/news/2791663/novo-nordisk-nvo-seeks-fda-approval-for-oral-wegovy

JPMorgan Chase expands HQ— but still has less office space than before

 JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, announced a major modernization and expansion of its San Francisco headquarters, where it intends to accommodate some 1,600 employees.

The bank will lease an additional 65,000 square feet in the 31-story tower at 560 Mission St., known colloquially as the JPMorgan Chase Building. The company moved into the property in 2002 and the deal will bring its total occupancy, to 280,000 square feet.

Renderings show the hallmarks of a modern office space, with a coffee bar/living room lobby, a work club that can be used as an events space, and a fitness center with a yoga studio.

JPMorgan increased its presence in San Francisco nearly overnight when it acquired First Republic Bank after its collapse in 2023. But that came in the context of the company’s broader move to reduce its portfolio in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Case in point, the bank touted 125,000 square feet that it plans to “maintain” at One Front Street, a 38-story office tower in the Financial District that previously served as the headquarters of First Republic. That represents an approximate 50% reduction from the space it previously leased at the property and nearly twice the newly announced lease footprint at Mission Street.

Last year, JPMorgan opened what it dubbed its flagship financial center catering to wealthy clients at 111 Pine St., a former First Republic location. The bank plans to open another similar location in San Francisco by 2026. This comes on the heels of JPMorgan Chase shuttering seven First Republic Bank branches after the acquisition.

The bank has also committed to bringing back its annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference to the city next year. The event, the largest U.S. healthcare investment conference, takes place in January at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square. In recent years, however, San Francisco’s street conditions and downtown issues have been a topic of consternation for officials and bank executives.

In 2024, CEO JPMorgan Jamie Dimon took a dig at the city in a television appearance and met with the leaders of several other major companies to raise his concerns. Earlier this year, the executive ordered the bank’s employees to return to office five days a week.

JPMorgan is an executive member of Advance SF, an advocacy organization representing large employers intending to make the city more business-friendly.

The company is also a founding member of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s new Partnership for SF, a dues-paying organization with much the same purpose, chaired by Google’s Ruth Porat and billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs.

In its latest lease announcement, the bank committed to providing an additional $3.8M in philanthropic support including funding to fill empty retail spaces in Union Square through the Vacant to Vibrant program.

https://sfstandard.com/2025/04/21/jpmc-san-francisco-headquarters-expansion/