China says deeply concerned after Chinese-linked tanker attacked near Hormuz

 

China said on Friday it was deeply concerned after a Chinese-linked tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran, the US and Israel.

“There are Chinese aboard the vessel but no reported crew casualties so far,” China’s foreign ministry said.

A Chinese-owned oil products tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, marking the first reported attack on a Chinese oil tanker since the conflict began.

According to Reuters, the vessel’s deck caught fire during the incident near the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Maritime security sources identified the ship as the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker JV Innovation.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202605087268

Iranian MP calls US 'United States of Idiots' amid Hormuz tensions

 

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei referred to the United States as the “United States of Idiots” in a social media post on Friday as tensions continued in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

“With this president and that idiot defense secretary, I think instead of USA we should say USI - United States of Idiots,” Rezaei wrote on X.

He also said US naval forces would not be able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz even “with the entire navy,” and accused Washington of acting “like a spoiled child.”

The comments came after clashes between Iranian and US forces following accusations by both sides of violating a month-old ceasefire linked to the war that began in late February.

Iranian eulogist says UAE should be 'wiped off map' if linked to Bandar Abbas attack

 

Iranian eulogist and religious reciter Hossein Taheri said the United Arab Emirates should be “wiped off the face of the earth” if it was involved in an attack on Bandar Abbas.

Speaking on Thursday night, Taheri said that “if the UAE has done something wrong” and was behind the reported attack, it “must be erased from the map of the world.”

Taheri is a prominent maddah - a religious singer and reciter who performs at Shi’ite ceremonies and often has close ties to conservative and religious circles in Iran.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202605087268

UAE says air defenses intercepted Iranian missiles and drones

 

The United Arab Emirates said on Friday its air defense systems intercepted two ballistic missiles and three drones launched from Iran, leaving three people with moderate injuries.

The UAE defense ministry said the latest incident brought the total number of projectiles intercepted since the start of Iranian attacks on the country to 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles and 2,263 drones.

The ministry said total injuries had reached 230 people of multiple nationalities, while 13 people had been killed, including three military-related personnel and 10 civilians.

The ministry said the UAE remained fully prepared to confront threats against the country’s security and stability.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202605087268

Iran releases video of tanker seizure in Persian Gulf

 

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency released a video on Friday that it said showed Iranian naval forces seizing the tanker Ocean Koi, accusing the vessel of attempting to disrupt Iran’s oil exports and national interests.

Tasnim said the tanker was carrying an Iranian oil cargo and accused it of “taking advantage of regional conditions to damage and disrupt Iran’s oil exports and the interests of the Iranian nation.”

The agency did not specify when or where the tanker was seized.

The vessel appears to be the Barbados-flagged OCEAN KOI, which was sanctioned earlier this year by the US Treasury as part of what Washington described as Iran’s “shadow fleet” used to transport sanctioned Iranian petroleum products.

The US Treasury said in February that OCEAN KOI had transported millions of barrels of Iranian fuel oil and condensate and had operated as part of Iran’s shadow fleet since at least 2020.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202605087268

Nektar misses EPS but beats revenue estimates

 

Nektar Therapeutics reports Q1 2026 results with non-GAAP EPS -$1.82 (+49% YoY) and revenue $10.9M (+4% YoY), misses EPS but beats revenue estimates

• Q1 2026 net loss totaled $44.9M; quarterly revenue was $10.9M.
• Cash and investments were $731.6M at quarter-end, excluding proceeds from Nektar's April equity offering.

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

Manufacturing hangover drives Daiichi Sankyo into the red

 Daiichi Sankyo has reported its delayed financial results, saying that high spending on third-party manufacturing and a lower-than-expected take-up of its antibody-drug conjugates for cancer led to a net loss for the fiscal year ended 31st March.

The Japanese pharma group is predicting a net loss of JPY 149.4 billion (around $950 million) for the year, on revenues that came in slightly higher than forecast at JPY 2,123 billion ($13.4 billion), a rise of 12.5% on the previous year.

In its update, Daiichi Sankyo said the loss came about as a consequence of a programme of signing contracts with contract manufacturing organisations to supply its ADCs – such as AstraZeneca-partnered Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) and Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan) and MSD-partnered patritumab deruxtecan – that included minimum purchase obligations and the securing of dedicated production lines.

With its own manufacturing capacity limited when these drugs were approaching the market, the company took the decision to secure "manufacturing capacity sufficient to cover maximum demand without risk adjustment, with the highest priority placed on 'ensuring a stable supply to all patients'."

As it turned out, delays in product launch timelines meant that the expected demand did not occur, and while Daiichi Sankyo pivoted to a new, risk-adjusted strategy in the middle of 2025, that came too late to avoid some of the impact of minimum purchase obligations in CMO contracts.

An upgrade to one of Daiichi Sankyo's Japanese plants to supply in-house manufacturing capacity for ADCs, in Odawara, has also been deemed surplus to requirements and cancelled, leading to an impairment charge of JPY 19.3 billion ($123 million) on equipment and fees arising from the cancellation of contracts with construction companies.

Two weeks ago, investors in the company were spooked when it pushed back its annual report, saying it needed more time to assess "the supply plans for its oncology products portfolio and development pipeline in light of rapidly changing business conditions."

Shares in the company fell by around 10% on the announcement, and while they have since tracked back up slightly, the stock is down 26.5% since the start of the year.

While Enhertu has been delivering for Daiichi Sankyo and AZ commercially, there was a delay to the rollout of Datroway in a lung cancer indication, while an application for patritumab deruxtecan in lung cancer was withdrawn last year after disappointing results in a confirmatory study.

Share in Daiichi Sankyo continued to weaken slightly today, suggesting that investors remain nervous, likely because the company's update said it is not yet able to make provision in its accounts for medium- to long-term differences between the minimum purchase obligation and the revised supply plan "due to the high level of uncertainty."

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/manufacturing-hangover-drives-daiichi-sankyo-red