Nuvation Bio jumps after insiders purchase shares worth over $1.1M

 Nuvation Bio (NYSE:NUVB) raced as much as 8% on Friday after SEC filings showed that insiders in the company bought shares worth $1.1M in the week. This was the highest total value of shares traded by insiders since at least November 13, 2024, as per Bloomberg.

Executives at the biopharmaceutical company purchased a total of about 617,300 shares during the week at a price range of $1.71 to $1.79 apiece. Of these, president and CEO David Hung made the maximum purchase of 500,000 shares, investing a total of $893,500. The transaction raised Hung’s total shareholding in the firm to 59,281,054 shares.

This was Hung’s second such purchase in the company in the past year. It was also the biggest purchase by any insider since June 2024.

Chief Financial Officer Philippe Sauvage; Chief Commercial Officer Colleen Sjogren; and Kerry Wentworth, the chief regulatory officer were among the other officials who increased their stakes in the firm.

Last week, Nuvation Bio’s shares crashed by as much as 17% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its oral antitumor agent Ibtrozi as a treatment for certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/nuvation-bio-jumps-after-insiders-purchase-shares-worth-over-1-1m/ar-AA1H6WGT

'Weight-Loss Drugs Should Be First Step to Prevent Heart Disease, Top Cardiology Group Says'

 

Millions more Americans should be taking weight-loss drugs to prevent heart disease, according to the American College of Cardiology.

Exercise and a clean diet aren’t always enough for heart health, the nation’s top cardiology organization said in new recommendations released on Friday. Weight-loss drugs should be used earlier, making them part of the first line of defense for obese patients, the group said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-20/glp-1s-should-be-first-step-to-prevent-heart-disease-acc-says

Capricor Therapeutics stock plunges after key FDA officials placed on leave

 Capricor Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) stock tumbled 20.4% following news that two top FDA officials overseeing cell and gene therapies have been placed on administrative leave.

Nicole Verdun, director of the FDA’s office that reviews cell and gene therapies, and her deputy Rachael Anatol were reportedly escorted out of the agency, according to information obtained and reported on by STAT. The development is particularly significant for Capricor as Verdun was the key overseer of the company’s application for approval of its deramiocel drug.

The unexpected leadership change has sparked concerns throughout the biotech industry, with many companies fearing unpredictable regulatory service going forward. Verdun had been widely praised by biotech companies for her work in accelerating approval pathways for rare disease therapies.

This leadership vacuum follows another significant departure at the FDA. Peter Marks, former head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research who worked closely with Verdun on establishing new pathways for gene therapies, was forced out by the Trump administration in March for his role in regulating Covid-19 vaccines.

While analysts anticipate only minor impacts on trial designs in the near term, they suggest there could be stricter post-marketing requirements for cell and gene therapies moving forward. The continuity of leadership at the FDA had previously been viewed as crucial by industry executives, with one gene therapy CEO previously stating to STAT that "having Verdun stay at the FDA is really important."

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/capricor-therapeutics-stock-plunges-after-key-fda-officials-placed-on-leave-93CH-4104054

Stocks Rattled by Chip Rout Amid Big Options Test

 

A fresh bout of instability gripped the stock market amid a slide in chipmakers and as a pile of options expiring Friday threatened to trigger sudden price swings. Treasuries pared losses as Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said rates could drop as early as July.

The S&P 500 bounced, following a decline triggered by a Wall Street Journal report saying the US may revoke waivers for allies with semiconductor plants in China. A closely watched gauge of chipmakers slipped almost 1%. Friday’s $6.5 trillion expiration of options known as “triple witching amplified the potential for equity volatility. Shorter-dated bonds outperformed, with two-year yields dropping three basis points to 3.91%. Oil fell.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-19/us-futures-slide-as-trump-considers-iran-strikes-markets-wrap

The Rogue's New Gallery Of Left-Wing Scoundrels

  by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

The entire career of race-baiter Al Sharpton was founded on falsehoods about the Tawana Brawley scam.

Nearly everything the left told us about the Trayvon Martin fight was false.

The “hands up, don’t shoot” Ferguson fable and the Covington Kids myth were quickly exposed.

The Duke Lacrosse and Jussie Smollett melodramas were laughable.

Russian “collusion,” “laptop” disinformation, and Joe Biden “fit as a fiddle” gaslighting were utter lies.

But more recently, the hard left lost its mind championing a host of violent, unsavory characters.

The illegal alien and El Salvadorian national, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was portrayed as a victim of unfair deportation in the left’s larger, losing war for open borders.

Garcia became a “Maryland Man”: a supposed poor victim of Trump overreach.

He was constructed as a family man engaged in construction to feed his family, who somehow forgot to become “documented” and was deported.

In truth, Garcia is now facing felony indictments for human trafficking. He was a likely MS-13 gang member, a violent and bullying woman-beater, and rarely employed gainfully in construction.

Luigi Mangione was a rich, spoiled kid who dabbled in Jacobin politics.

Posing as a revolutionary, Mangione ambushed Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. He murdered him in cold blood near a New York hotel.

Instantly, some on the left embraced Mangione as a revolutionary hero who delivered justice to a supposedly greedy corporate capitalist.

Mohamed Soliman, like Garcia, was a violent illegal alien. He bragged about his hatred of Jews in general and Israel in particular.

So Soliman made some Molotov cocktails and tried to incinerate Jewish marchers advocating on behalf of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

Soliman’s wife and five children, to whom Soliman filmed a video explaining his dedication to violent jihad, were also illegal aliens.

Soliman may well have preferred to burn Jews to remind us of the fires of the Holocaust ovens.

In the mind of the mainstream liberal media, the Soliman family was cruelly detained by the evil Trump administration that was considering returning the illegal aliens to their Middle East homes.

But recently, during the LA riots, the left went completely crazy as the entire Democrat Party and California state officials sided with violent protesters and illegal aliens.

The open border rioters soon got the message that left-wing California officials were on their side.

So, throngs began burning cars. Illegal aliens waved Mexican flags and burned American flags.

Protesters spat on law enforcement and pelted them with rocks, firecrackers, and concrete blocks.

Stores were looted. Critical freeways were swarmed and shut down.

And for what?

To protest the legal efforts of ICE to serve deportation warrants to a few hundred of some 10-12 million illegal aliens who had illegally swarmed into the U.S. during the Biden administration’s four-year destruction of immigration law.

California Governor Gavin Newsom damned the federal immigration efforts as “chaotic” and “reckless” and seemed obsessed only with Trump.

Then Newsom dared ICE to arrest him.

Like some antebellum, neo-Confederate, states’ rights activist, Newsom threatened to withhold California’s federal income taxes from the federal government—a possible felony.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass—recently infamous for junketing in Ghana while Pacific Palisades burned down—warned ICE that “We will not stand for this.”

What did her threat mean? Did she intend to use force to support the street thugs against her fellow American officers?

California Democrat Congresswoman Norma Torres screamed at overwhelmed ICE agents seeking to issue arrest warrants with the obscene threat, “Get the f— out of LA.”

As the mob violence increased and public outrage grew, a desperate and now embarrassed Newsom could only double down on his obsessions with Donald Trump.

What has caused Newsom’s Trump Derangement Syndrome?

Is it because Trump called out the National Guard and Marines to aid an overwhelmed Los Angeles Police Department to stop the violence that left-wing officials and the media had appeased?

In sum, is the left once again trying to commit political suicide?

Polls showed overwhelming public support for deporting those who illegally entered and reside in the US, especially the nearly half a million believed criminals.

Trump’s own most supportive demographic in recent polls has been Hispanics. Like all Americans, they are appalled by violent thugs and illegal aliens waving Mexican flags who have no wish to return to Mexico while burning American flags as they demand illegally to stay in the U.S.

The more the incoherent left claimed the protests were “peaceful” and damned the Trump administration for sending them help, the more the violence continued.

And the more the public was relieved that Trump was trying to stop the riots.

Democrats currently lack sane and effective leaders.

But that is no excuse to swoon over creepy gangbangers, spoiled-brat assassins, anti-Semitic burners of Jews, and illegal aliens breaking the law and damning America—while waving Mexican flags.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rogues-new-gallery-left-wing-scoundrels

US to Revoke Waivers Allowing Key Chipmakers to Use American Technology in China, WSJ Reports

 A U.S. official has informed leading global semiconductor companies of plans to cancel waivers allowing them to use American technology in China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Jeffrey Kessler, under secretary of commerce for industry and security at the Commerce Department, told Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing this week that he wanted to cancel those waivers, WSJ reported.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

A Commerce spokesperson said in a statement, “Chipmakers will still be able to operate in China. The new enforcement mechanisms on chips mirror licensing requirements that apply to other semiconductor companies that export to China and ensure the United States has an equal and reciprocal process.”

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/us-prepares-action-targeting-allies-151732218.html

US sanctions target those providing Iran with defense machinery, Houthi oil trading

 Largest Treasury Action Against the Iran-Backed Group

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking its single largest action to date against Iran-backed Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, targeting four individuals, 12 entities, and two vessels that have imported oil and other illicit goods in support of the terrorist group.  This action includes Houthi front companies, their owners, and other key Houthi operatives that generate significant revenue for the group through the sale of oil and other commodities on Yemen’s black market and by engaging in smuggling operations through Houthi-controlled ports.  As part of this action, Treasury is also targeting two vessels, as well as their owners and operators, which violated U.S. sanctions by discharging oil derivatives to the Houthis. 

“The Houthis rely on a series of front companies and trusted facilitators to clandestinely generate revenue, procure weapons components, and advance their reign of terror in partnership with the Iranian regime,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender.  “Today’s action—our most significant to date against the group—underscores our commitment to disrupting the Houthis’ financial and shipping pipelines that enable their reckless behavior in the Red Sea and the surrounding region.” 

Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, and builds on OFAC’s June 17, 2024, July 31, 2024, October 2, 2024, December 19, 2024, March 5, 2025, April 2, 2025, and April 28, 2025 actions targeting Houthi leaders, weapons procurement operatives, and suppliers.  The U.S. Department of State designated the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) effective February 16, 2024, and subsequently re-designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on March 5, 2025.  Providing material support to the Houthis not only carries acute sanctions risk, but also exposes vessels and crew members to serious safety risk from potential Houthi attacks.  

HOUTHI OIL TRADERS AND SHIPPING FACILITATORS

The Houthis use a web of trusted companies headquartered in Sana’a and Hudaydah, Yemen to facilitate the sale of oil across Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, many of which are directly linked to high-ranking Houthi operatives.  Houthi leaders charge Yemenis exorbitant prices for oil and oil derivatives, pocketing the proceeds from these sales for personal gain and to fund the group’s militant operations. 

Black Diamond Petroleum Derivatives (Black Diamond) is a Sana’a-based company that facilitates oil sales and payments in support of the Houthis.  Black Diamond is tied to key Houthi leaders and businessmen, including the U.S.-designated Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam (Abdulsalam), who manages Black Diamond’s operations.  Black Diamond smuggled Iranian oil into Yemen, and the Houthi movement relied on the revenue from the sale of this oil for its operations.  Houthi leaders have also showcased Black Diamond’s ability to import tens of thousands of tons of oil every month during negotiations with representatives from the Russian government over future oil deals between the Houthis and Moscow. 

Star Plus Yemen (Star Plus) is a Hudaydah-based company that operates under the direction of Abdulsalam and other prominent Houthi operatives.  Star Plus acts as a broker between Houthi-aligned front companies and suppliers to extract revenue from oil sales within Yemen.  In addition to supporting Houthi oil importation schemes, Star Plus has also facilitated Houthi efforts to purchase and smuggle dual-use components used to manufacture weapons from suppliers in Asia into Houthi-controlled ports.

Tamco Establishment for Oil Derivatives (Tamco), headquartered in Sana’a, is a key front company in the Houthis’ oil smuggling network, enabling Houthi operatives to conceal the true beneficiaries and end-users of imported oil and other commodities.  Tamco operates under the supervision of Houthi operatives and affiliates, including Abdulsalam.

The Sana’a-based Royal Plus Shipping Services and Commercial Agencies (Royal Plus) is a front company that has enabled Houthi oil smuggling and sales.  Royal Plus has facilitated the sale of oil sourced from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), delivering the proceeds from these sales to Houthi leaders in exchange for a privileged position within the Houthis’ oil derivatives market.  Royal Plus has also acted as a payments facilitator in support of Houthi procurement efforts, managing financial transfers between the Houthis, Russia, and Iran for the purchase and acquisition of weapons and other military equipment, including UAV engines. 

Yahya Al-Usaili Company for Import Limited (Al-Usaili Co) is a Houthi front company that coordinates with Houthi operatives in Sana’a to import oil in exchange for foreign currency.  Al-Usaili Co makes and receives payments for oil sales using accounts held at banks located in Houthi-controlled territory, which enables Al-Usaili Co to hide the end-users and beneficiaries of these sales in support of Houthi smuggling efforts.  Al-Usaili Co maintained connections with the IRGC, which it leveraged to facilitate the importation of petroleum products for the Houthis. 

Gasoline Aman Company for Oil Derivatives Imports (Gasoline Aman), headquartered in Sana’a, is a Houthi front company that facilitates Houthi oil smuggling operations.  The Houthis allow Gasoline Aman and other front companies to receive a small percentage fee from each oil sale in exchange for hiding Houthi involvement in the transaction. 

Azzahra Establishment for Commerce and Agencies (Azzahra) is a Houthi front company that plays a key role in transferring funds from oil sales to Houthi operatives and Houthi-affiliated organizations.  Azzahra has enabled the Houthis to extract revenue from oil sales by laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for Houthi leaders in Hudaydah. 

Yemen Elaph Petroleum Derivatives Import (Yemen Elaph) is a Sana’a-based oil import company owned by Houthi operative Abdullah Ahsan Abdullah Dabbash (Dabbash).  Under Dabbash’s leadership, Yemen Elaph imports, sells, and distributes oil derivatives via the black market in Houthi-controlled areas and is one of only a few Houthi-controlled companies that has exclusive rights to import through the Houthi-controlled ports of Hudaydah and Al-Salif. 

Abbot Trading Co., Ltd. (Abbot) is a Sana’a-based shipping and logistics company that has generated revenue by facilitating oil and oil derivatives sales in Houthi-controlled areas.  Abbot is one of the most important Houthi-affiliated front companies established by Houthi operatives within the past 10 years to control trade in oil derivatives, general trade, and other critical economic sectors.  The Houthis funnel profits from Abbot’s activities to finance the group’s attacks and procurement of military-grade items. 

Prominent Houthi businessman Ali Ahmed Daghsan Talea (Talea) operates Abbot in coordination with his brother, Houthi smuggling operative Daghsan Ahmed Daghsan (Daghsan).  Talea leverages Abbot to generate revenue in support of the Houthis from oil sales and smuggling efforts.  Daghsan manages Abbot as one part of a broader network of front companies that funnel vast sums of money to the Houthis from key sectors of Yemen’s economy, including oil and gas, import and export, and general trade.  Daghsan, Talea, and other Houthi leaders have coordinated to establish numerous companies registered under the names of Daghsan’s other family members. 

Black Diamond Petroleum Derivatives, Star Plus Yemen, Tamco Establishment for Oil Derivatives, Royal Plus Shipping Services and Commercial Agencies, Yahya Al-Usaili Company for Import Limited, Gasoline Aman Company for Oil Derivatives Imports, Azzahra Establishment for Commerce and Agencies, Yemen Elaph Petroleum Derivatives Import, Abbot Trading Co., Ltd., Ali Ahmed Daghsan Talea, and Daghsan Ahmed Daghsan are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Ansarallah.

Abdullah Ahsan Abdullah Dabbash is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, Yemen Elaph Petroleum Derivatives Import. 

HOUTHI-ALIGNED MANAGER OF HUDAYDAH AND AL-SALIF PORTS

Zaid Al-Washli (Al-Washli) is the head of the Houthi-aligned port management company, which controls operations at key Houthi-controlled ports, including Hudaydah and Al-Salif.  In his role, Al-Washli also coordinates weapons procurement and smuggling efforts on behalf of the Houthis, including of key dual-use components for use in UAV production.  Al-Washli collaborates with Houthi procurement operatives to fill Houthi materiel needs and coordinates with Houthi political operatives to advance the Houthis’ position in negotiations with shipping companies.

Zaid Al-Washli is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Ansarallah.  

CONTINUED DELIVERY OF REFINED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS TO HOUTHI-CONTROLLED PORTS

On April 28, 2025, OFAC identified three vessels and designated their owners pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for involvement in the discharge of refined petroleum products at Houthi-controlled ports after the expiration of Counter Terrorism General License (GL) 25A.  GL 25A wound down a previous authorization enabling the offloading of refined petroleum products in Yemen involving the Houthis through April 4, 2025.  The vessels targeted today continued to support the Houthis through the discharge of refined petroleum products at Houthi-controlled ports, including Ras Isa, after the expiration of GL 25A.

Best Way Tanker Corp. (Best Way) and Ocean Voyage LLC (Ocean Voyage) facilitated the delivery of gasoline to the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa via the vessel Valente after the expiration of OFAC’s GL 25A.  The Valente discharged over 60,000 metric tons of gasoline and departed Ras Isa port on May 17, 2025, over a month after the expiration of GL 25A.

Atlantis M. Shipping Co facilitated the delivery of refined petroleum products into Ras Isa via the Atlantis MZ after the expiration of GL 25A. As of mid-June 2025, the Atlantis MZ had discharged almost 60,000 metric tons of gasoline at Ras Isa port in Yemen, almost two months after the expiration of GL 25A.

The Sarah was identified as blocked property in April 2025 pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, under its former name, Tulip BZ, for facilitating the delivery of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) to Ras Isa after the expiration of GL 25A, and in June 2025 was again at berth in Ras Isa to discharge LPG. 

Best Way Tanker Corp., Ocean Voyage LLC, and Atlantis M. Shipping Co are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Ansarallah. 

The Valente is being identified as property in which Best Way Tanker Corp. has an interest pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended.

The Atlantis MZ is being identified as property in which Atlantis M. Shipping Co has an interest pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended.

The SDN List entry for Tulip BZ is being updated to reflect the vessel’s current name, Sarah. 

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.  In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.  Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons. 

Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.  OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis.  OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions.  In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons.  The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. 

Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions.  OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.  For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.

Click here for more information on the persons designated and any property identified as blocked today.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0174