Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT) said on Thursday that it presented results from its Phase 2 DAZALS study of dazucorilant in patients with ALS at the European Network to Cure ALS (ENCALS) 2025annual meeting.
In December 2024, the company announced DAZALS did not meet its primary endpoint, which was the change from baseline in the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) in patients who received dazucorilant compared to those who received a placebo.
Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE: OMI) today announced it has mutually agreed with Rotech Healthcare Holdings Inc. to terminate the previously announced acquisition. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Owens & Minor has paid $80 million to Rotech Healthcare. Owens & Minor will also redeem the $1 billion of notes issued in April 2025, which include a special mandatory redemption provision in accordance with their terms, and terminate the incremental term loan commitments and senior unsecured bridge loan commitments provided by our lenders which would have been utilized to consummate the acquisition.
Alvotech (NASDAQ: ALVO), a global biotech company specializing in the development and manufacture of biosimilar medicines for patients worldwide (“Alvotech”), and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., (BSE: 500124 | NSE: DRREDDY | NYSE: RDY | NSEIFSC: DRREDDY, along with its subsidiaries hereafter referred to as “Dr. Reddy’s”), today announced that the companies have entered into a collaboration and license agreement to co-develop, manufacture and commercialize a biosimilar candidate to Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) for global markets. Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) is indicated for the treatment of numerous cancer types. In 2024, worldwide sales of Keytruda were US$29.5 billion [1]. The collaboration combines Dr. Reddy’s and Alvotech’s proven capabilities in biosimilars, thereby, speeding up the development process and extending the global reach for this biosimilar candidate.
Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will be jointly responsible for developing and manufacturing the biosimilar candidate and sharing costs and responsibilities. Subject to certain exceptions, each party will have the right to commercialize the product globally.
As the front-running of tariffs abruptly ended, so imports to the US collapsed in April - by the most on record - shrinking the trade deficit by the most on record...
Source: Bloomberg
The gap in goods and services trade shrank 55.5% from the prior month, to $61.6 billion, the smallest since 2023 and more than completely reversing the sharp widening that occurred in the first quarter.
Imports of goods and services declined a record 16.3% in April, while exports increased 3%.
Source: Bloomberg
The April trade report showed imports of consumer goods slumped $33 billion, largely due to a sharp decline in inbound shipments of pharmaceutical preparations.
Imports from China plunged to their lowest since March 2020...
Source: Bloomberg
...shrinking the trade deficit with China to its smallest since March 2020...
Source: Bloomberg
Canadian exports plunged by the most in nearly 17 years outside of the pandemic, widening the country’s merchandise trade deficit to the largest on record. The deficit far exceeded even the most pessimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Source: Bloomberg
The sharp narrowing in April puts trade on track for a large contribution to US GDP in Q2 after being largely responsible for a 0.2% annualized decline in first-quarter GDP. We look forward to The Atlanta Fed 'adjusting' their GDPNOW model again..
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on June 2 vetoed a bill that would have prohibited the Chinese communist regime and state-owned enterprises from acquiring property in Arizona, according to her office.
Senate Bill 1109, sponsored by Arizona Senate Majority leader Janae Shamp (R-Ariz.), seeks to prevent China from buying or holding a substantial interest—a 30 percent stake or more—in property within Arizona.
The proposed measure was designed to safeguard the state’s “military, commercial and agricultural assets” from the risks of “foreign espionage and sabotage,” which could lead to national security threats, according to the bill.
In a letter announcing her veto of the legislation, Hobbs said the bill was “ineffective at counter-espionage” and did not directly protect military assets in the state from such potential threats.
The governor also stated that the bill “lacks clear implementation criteria” and that it could lead to “arbitrary enforcement,” without elaborating further.
Shamp criticized the governor’s veto as a “politically motivated” move and warned that Arizona’s future would be “in jeopardy” if Hobbs continued on this trajectory, noting that this was not the first time Hobbs had vetoed legislation aimed at enhancing public safety.
The senator cited Hobbs’s decision in April to veto a bill that aimed to ban the use of telecommunication equipment manufactured by China—referred to as a “foreign adversary”—in the state. Hobbs said at the time that the bill would cause “undue difficulty” for businesses and “generate costs to taxpayers.”
“It is utterly insane that Arizona’s top elected official would rather be an obstructionist against safeguarding our citizens from threats than to sign legislation giving our state a fighting chance at proactively preventing attacks,” Shamp said in a statement released by the Arizona Senate Republican Caucus.
Shamp said that China has acquired “large tracts” of land and property near critical installations in recent years that could be used to carry out surveillance and gather intelligence on critical assets of the United States.
She warned that China could use these properties to position autonomous weapons systems, such as drone swarms, and potentially use them to launch attacks on U.S. military bases in the event of a conflict.
Shamp stated that SB 1109 would have ensured that “enemies of the United States would not have easy access to our military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm.”
“SB 1109 was a commonsense security measure to ensure enemies of the United States would not have easy access to our military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm,” she stated. “Luke Air Force Base recently faced this very real danger.”
The governor’s office did not return a request for comment by publication time.
Last month, Hobbs, a Democrat, vetoed more than 30 Republican-sponsored bills related to immigration enforcement and school policies. Among them was SB 1088, which would have required state and local governments to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
The governor also rejected SB 1268 on May 12, which would have required hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status and submit reports on the health care costs of illegal immigrants.
There have been growing concerns about the national security implications of Chinese entities acquiring land close to military bases.
Last year, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a set of bills into law aimed at supporting the state’s agricultural industry, including a bill prohibiting “nonresident aliens” acting as agents of China or other foreign adversaries from acquiring farmland or nonresidential land within a 10-mile radius of a military base in the state.
Arizona is home to the Army’s numerous military installations, including Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona, which hosts the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence. Other key bases in the state include Yuma Proving Ground and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, as well as several Air Force bases, according to the America First Policy Institute.
Scinai Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ: SCNI) has received Italian government clearance under the Golden Power regulation for its potential acquisition of Pincell S.r.l., an Italian biotech company. The approval, granted after review by the Coordination Group and Ministry of Health, removes a major regulatory hurdle for the acquisition planned since March 2025. Pincell's key asset is PC111, a human monoclonal antibody targeting Fas/FasL pathway for severe dermatological conditions, which has received EMA Orphan Drug Designation for Pemphigus. Scinai's Polish subsidiary has applied for a €12 million FENG grant to fund PC111's development, with a decision expected by August 2025. The acquisition's completion remains contingent on successful grant approval and other customary conditions.
I-Mab (NASDAQ: IMAB), a U.S.-based biotech company specializing in immuno-oncology, has announced its participation in the H.C. Wainwright virtual "HCW@Home" Series on June 17, 2025. The company's management team will engage in a fireside chat focused on Claudin 18.2 as a therapeutic target for gastric cancers, with particular emphasis on their drug candidate givastomig, a Claudin 18.2 x 4-1BB bispecific antibody. The discussion will feature CEO Sean Fu and CMO Phillip Dennis, moderated by H.C. Wainwright Senior Analyst Andres Maldonado. Notably, givastomig's Phase 1 dose escalation study results in combination with immunochemotherapy have been selected for presentation at the upcoming ESMO GI Cancers Congress on July 2, 2025.
