Author: condor

New ’34 Act Onco-R&D-Co To Follow? Minn.’s Celcuity Apparently Bought Its Breast Cancer Candidate From Pfizer For ~$5 Million… Now Stock Up ~620%?

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Here on Sunday morning, Scott Johnson tooted his own horn — about his prior closeness to this Minneapolis area CEO [old school GOP, it would seem], so… here goes:

We will likely reserve any judgment on this name for a bit, here. While the Viktoria-1 topline data does look promising, it could be largely due to later stage breast cancer patients hopping into new therapies, when existing ones are not working, for their specific tumor types.

We do note in passing that the cum-laude Harvard educated CEO is making over $6.5 million a year, whilst issuing lots of dilutive new stock to the public, to fund the company — since it is a pure cash burn, no-revenue shop at the moment. That said, the CEO, Mr. Sullivan, has seen prior successes — in selling two prior companies he led, to large companies (JNJ and PNG, respectively — if memory serves), after developing the in-house assets — and one, even in the life sciences space.

So, in truth it bears… watching. The stock price may be a little ahead of itself, given the need to issue more shares — but in the world of onco-pharma CEOs, $6.5 million a year in pay is about mid-market — not excessive, at all… [and appears positively modest, when one considers that Bitcoin miner (money losing and perennially cash burning) Riot Platforms is paying over $35 million a year to its CEO, Jason Les].

Do your own diligence, but here is an October 2025 run-down on the company’s progress, in breast cancers — and a bit:

…Discussing the Viktoria-1 data, Dr. Alessandra Gennari of University of Piemonte Orientale welcomed gedato’s low rates of hyperglycaemia, but pointed to a 69% rate of stomatitis (19% at grade 3+), which is higher than seen with Piqray, Itovebi or Truqap.

Overall, however, this remains a decent result for Celcuity, especially as it had paid just $5m to license gedato from the project’s originator, Pfizer. Now the focus turns to regulatory filing, and data in PIK3CA-mutant cohort breast cancer….

Me? I might wait a tick(!), to see how the market digests the coming equity dilution — there may soon be a lower entry-point — on prices, for a patient set of long term holders, in 2026. [Onward — ignoring the latest Trumpian lunacy.]

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I Might Answer, With A Question Of My Own: “How Depraved… Is Hinderaker?”

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Tonight, late — John seeks to find fault with all “leftists” (and who knows whatever he might imagine that term encompasses), for having the temerity to question the lawfulness of “dear leader’s” actions, as well as the wisdom of the same.

What a putz.

Funny, I seemed to recall Hinderaker questioning on the daily almost everything either Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden ever did while in office. And in the main… they weren’t invading countries without informing the Senate Armed Services Committee.

They weren’t seizing oil — and the wives of presidents — and indicating that an opposition leader (who has won an actual Nobel Peace Prize) wasn’t “popular enough” (at 67% favorables) to serve her own country, and serve as a quickly elected replacement leader. [Here do recall that Trump is over 60% unfavorable, and has never been more than 51% favorable in either of his terms.]

He claims we went there to end “narco terrorism” (again, whatever that might mean?), and to restore elected democratic leadership. But he says while she’s “a nice lady”, she doesn’t “have what it takes” — to run her own country.

Why? Well (of course!) because she has a vagina. And who knows, she might… bleed or something.

So John hops right to the boot-licking, claiming that any editorial questioning his “dear leader” is tantamount to treason, or at least… unpatriotic. What I’m not clear about is how this is any of our business, John.

Power Alley ’26: Two Major Names Decided To In-License Oncology Candidates In December 2025…

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We have been particularly impressed with Gilead for the past several years, between Hep C and COVID related wins, but we’ve been a little more cautious about the Abbott spinoff called AbbVie.

I expect to be more bullish on AbbVie in 2026, as it continues to show both its R&D savvy, and deal-doing expertise. Here’s the latest from Fierce, on each of them:

…AbbVie and Gilead Sciences each used the holiday season to reward their pipelines with a new clinical-stage cancer drug.

Zejing Biopharmaceutical unwrapped a $100 million upfront payment from AbbVie in return for the option to license alveltamig, also known as ZG006, outside of China. Zejing has been evaluating the DLL3-targeting trispecific T-cell binder in late-stage trials for “cellular lung cancer and other DLL3-expressing malignancies,” according to Zejing’s filing with the Shanghai stock exchange….

Under the Dec. 30 agreement, AbbVie will hand over another $60 million if it takes up its ex-China license option, while milestone payments tied to the alveltamig program could potentially reach $1.07 billion….

Now you know — off to the art museums here… out, into the sunshine. Grin — with my Oregon Ducks set to play Indiana in a week’s time. Woot!

नमस्ते

Jim “Gym” Jordan Released Some Depo About Some Six Year Old Events / Transcripts. Yawn.

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And Hinderaker would like us to pretend they mean… something… untoward. Or, anything… really.

They don’t.

Except that MAGA world is out of ideas — for its faux outrage machine.

It is… dying, as I type this. [Mayor Mamdani’s inaugural was local proof of it, today.]

At a rally the other night, Trump said inflation was “fake”. That prices were actually… “declining.”

No crowd applause. No shouts of agreement.

Just stony silence — from the small crowd.

An idle cough was heard — but that was it: his own idiotic base finally has had its fill of his narcissistic lies.

John reaches back to smear Jack Smith’s honorable, competent service… to blunt the Trumpian death rattles… from being heard.

But here’s what Jack Smith himself said, under oath (H/T to EmptyWheel):

…Mr. Smith: All of that is false, and I’ll say a few things.

The first is the evidence here made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit.

The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit.

So in terms of why we would pursue a case against him, I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the Presidential election…

Hinderaker’s high-jinks are… hilarious. But it won’t work, John.

Out.

Stephen Miller — A Study… In Self-Loathing. Ugh. New Years Eve Edition.

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By the time most privileged whyte kids with a conscience reach age 40, they begin to appreciate that the Sun doesn’t rise and set — due to their greatness. Not even in the least respect.

Not so, one Stephen Miller (a loathsome holdover from Tangerine 1.0). He decided, for the holidays, to let loose with all manner of ahistorical lies, to justify the fact that he is personally committing crimes against humanity daily, now — for years. [His great grandparents (themselves beneficiaries of Emma Lazarus’s fine prose, on Lady Liberty’s base) are… certainly covering their faces, and cowering in shame — at his hubris and wanton cruelty, now that billionaires have given him a lil’ power.] Here’s the summary of what he actually is up to:

…Stephen Miller’s rant about a “self-loathing” America was swamped by online backlash as critics lined up to credit immigrants with America’s biggest leaps.

Miller, 40, Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and hardliner immigration czar, fired off a late-night X post on Sunday, complaining that the modern world does not match “what our ancestors imagined” because America and the West supposedly spent generations in “a vast, consuming project of self-loathing, self-denigration and the redistribution of our national resources.”

Miller wrote: “Someone should write an alternate historical novel where Americans are the first to master the automobile, the first in flight, the first to harness the atom, the first to land on the moon — but just keep going and never open our borders to the entire third world for sixty years….”

[However,] Jon Favreau, Barack Obama’s former speechwriter and a host of Pod Save America, led the pile-on. “You’re only here because America decided to welcome your family when they were refugees fleeing poverty and violence,” he replied, before skewering Miller as a rich kid from California who rose through elite schools into an administration run by “insanely rich elites” who’ve “made themselves even richer” through “open corruption.”

[In fact,] Mr. Miller’s own cousin, Alisa Kasmer, condemned his anti-immigration crusade earlier this month, saying their Jewish great-grandparents had fled persecution and successfully rebuilt their lives in the United States. Kasmer accused him of “trying to take away the exact thing that his own family benefited from.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Miller for comment….

He’s a malignant lil’ turd. Now you know — again. Onward, into a better 2026.

नमस्ते

The Mpox Outbreak Rumbles On, Into 2026 — Without USAID To Blunt It… Disappointing.

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Well, in a prior (Obama/Biden/Harris) age, this outbreak would have been halted by mid-2025, at the outside — with USAID putting boots on the ground, helping Doctors Without Borders — and the EU and WHO, inside Africa — and if needed, well beyond it.

[That said, I do understand that the US Treasury doesn’t have unlimited funds — but as between building a monstrous new ballroom at 1600 Penn, and arresting diseases that easily hop borders — and into the US, increasingly… I’d choose the latter “investment“. I think most Americans would, as well.] As it is, we will likely see cases through the end of 2026 — and perhaps beyond, inside the continent — and likely even beyond it.

That falls squarely at the feet of Musk, Kennedy and (of course)… the Manchurian Cantaloupe. This is from the island nation off the coast of Africa — with local, on the ground reporting:

…Madagascar confirmed five mpox cases Wednesday in the island nation’s northwestern city of Mahajanga.

In a statement, Minister of Public Health Monira Managna said the confirmation came after laboratory tests and that the public had been urged to remain vigilant and strictly adhere to preventive measures.

Government spokesperson Gascar Fenosoa said a response plan had been activated, including the provision of regular updates on national contingency plans and the mobilization of a coordination and surveillance team.

Fenosoa said an emergency public health operational center had been established in Mahajanga to search for more active cases and carry out patient isolation and treatment.

The center will also strengthen health checks at entry points such as ports and airports….

So borders are tightening, and people will die — in excess numbers. Most recently, from Anchorage, Alaska to Maine, the US has seen new cases of Clade 1b. All avoidable — and moreover, all “Heckuva’ job, there, you MAGA loons!”

But seriously, in what way is this making America great? Seriously. Out.

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[U: Hinderaker’s Gibberish] The Right Thing To Do Here? It’s Complicated. We Are Huge Boosters Of Real NASA Science, Obviously. But Trump [Falsely] Claiming He Now Supports Things He Tried [Impotently] To Kill… I Cannot Do.

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Every year, for the past ten or so — I’ve trumpeted NASA’s annual year end “victory lap” video, as posted on YouTube.

It is there, again this year. But this year — it is… different. [And dishonestly so, due to no malfeasance by the real employees of NASA. This is all dictated from 1600 Penn, I am very certain.]

I do not ever recall Messrs. Clinton, Bush [41 or 43], Obama or Biden appearing in the NASA year ender, to claim credit for the fine science in evidence there. [In fact, during Trump 1.0, this never happened, either — I just verified it.]

Trump and Musk have actively tried — in the first half of 2025 — to kill a host of NASA projects that might compete with SpaceX, or might provide more solid climate change evidence. That is… well, deplorable. And in the case of Musk’s DOGE — likely unlawful.

But Congress is wiser than those two. Funding continues.

If you are inclined to watch this year’s year end YouTube — just skip the first one and a half minutes, as it tells all manner of lies — about Trump’s involvement — and looks more like a military campaign / political ad that MAGA might run. Ick.

Update: as darkness fell for the final time on the year 2025 (perhaps having seen mine?), Hinderaker again impotently tried to debunk the overwhelming empirical evidence – on global climate change.

All he ended up showing was that one scientist has attributed some part of 2023‘s very high temperatures to a large volcano’s eruption that year. He even labels that as a greenhouse gas, called “water vapor” or steam. And he makes no mention of 2025’s very high temperatures…

In sum, Hinderaker did nothing to blunt the literally tens of thousands of additional pages of additional peer reviewed studies that collate and analyze weather satellite data, and ground based weather data at NCAR and NOAA.

But for those of us paying attention, we’ll note that (magically!) just about a week ago Tangeine 2.0 announced that he was closing and folding up the NCAR snd NOAA agency tents, in Boulder, Colorado.

Seems someone (cough! Hinderaker / Trump) is beholden to the oil lobbyists and the coal lobbyists who push the agenda of climate change denialism.

Now you know — on to a better 2026 — and the mid-terms! Out.

नमस्ते

In Which Mr. Hecker Has His Say: Greg Bovino [Acting At Noem’s Behest] Is A Lawless Idiot.

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We just… knew he’d be early. And he is.

Well put, Mr. Sean Hecker. Here’s the eight pager of… scorching fire. And at the bottom, here, I’ll drop a link to the Noemite nonsense, of yesterday. But this correctly states the well-settled law of the case. Do read it all — but these bits offer the pointy ends, of the considerable spears:

…Once again, the government has responded to a Court order with which it disagrees by pretending it doesn’t exist. Mr. Abrego moved for sanctions based on senior DHS official Gregory Bovino’s flagrant violation of this Court’s October 27 Order (Dkt. 183, the “Order”) governing extrajudicial statements relating to this case. (Dkt. 271). The government’s brief opposing that motion largely ignores the Order. The government focuses instead on the underlying Local Rule — which it claims is inapplicable — and contends, frivolously, that Mr. Bovino’s highly prejudicial, inflammatory statements were necessary to “protect” the government from recent public statements made in connection with Mr. Abrego’s immigration proceedings. (Dkt. 282 at 4)….

The government largely ignores that Mr. Bovino’s statements independently violated the Order. And in any case, neither he nor the government was free to simply disregard that clear Order based on their disagreement with it….

[G]eneralized comments made by Mr. Abrego about the injustice of his unlawful deportation and the government’s continued efforts to detain him do not entitle the government to smear him as “an MS-13 gang member” and “a wife-beater,” to declare that he is guilty of being “an alien smuggler,” or to describe judges as “activist” and “extremist.” Statements by CASA volunteers, United States Congressmen, and Mr. Abrego’s civil attorneys do not violate Local Criminal Rule 2.01(a) or the October 27 Order because they are not “partners and employees” of “the law firm and government agencies or offices” involved in this case, L. Crim. R. 2.01(a)(4), and are therefore not subject to the Rule… Mr. Abrego, as a “criminal defendant awaiting trial in a controversial case,” has a strong interest in “replying to the charges and to the associated adverse publicity” created by the government. See United States v. Ford, 830 F.2d 596, 599 (6th Cir. 1987); see also id. at 600 (“To the extent that publicity is a disadvantage for the government, the government must tolerate it.”). If the government incorrectly thought the Rule was violated, its remedy was to file its own motion, not to have a senior official engage in bad-faith self help. The government knows better, even if its hyperbolic opposition suggests otherwise….

Mr. Bovino went on to describe the judges presiding over Mr. Abrego’s civil and criminal cases as “activist” and “extremist.” Indeed, the government doubled down on those baseless accusations — and again violated the Order — when it complained publicly about Mr. Abrego’s motion….

The government’s assertion that “the Judicial Branch…may not direct Executive Branch speech” because it is “not politically accountable to the electorate” (Dkt. 282 at 7 n. 14) might make for good press sound bites but ignores settled Supreme Court precedent that courts have “an affirmative constitutional duty to minimize the effects of prejudicial pretrial publicity,” Gannett Co. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368, 378 (1979); see Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 361, 363 (1966), and are equipped to strike a “constitutionally permissible balance” between the First Amendment and the right to a fair trial, Gentile, 501 U.S. at 1075, as this Court has done….

Indeed — onward, to a better — more just — tomorrow, down in Music City. Thank you, USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw — you are the best of what America is all about. [Here is the Noemite nonsense, just to preserve a complete record.]

नमस्ते

2025 Measles Outbreak, In The Most Medically-Advanced Nation On Earth: US Kids Are Falling Ill, At A Three-Decades-High Rate. Damn.

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We were yet again reminded, over the weekend past, that both infection rates — and deaths from measles (a once eradicated virus in humans, in the USA) are again spiking. We are at a three-decades high water mark, for infections. In kids — in primarily MAGA controlled states. This is… deplorable.

This is the direct result of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lunacy — and Tangerine 2.0’s tolerating the same. They are both responsible, as more and more lil’ kids across the nation… become sicker and some… even die.

Dammit. What is wrong with them? Here is CIDRAP on it all, over the past week:

…South Carolina health officials announced nine new measles cases today in an Upstate outbreak, bringing the outbreak total to 153 and the statewide total to 156 for the year.

“Five of the new cases were known household exposures, two resulted from a previously reported school exposure, the source of one is unknown and one is still being investigated,” officials said in a press release. “There are currently 249 people in quarantine and seven in isolation.”

Since October, the outbreak in the Upstate region has been growing, with cases seeded in several elementary schools with large unvaccinated student populations.

Of all the cases, 145 have been in unvaccinated people, three partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose MMR sequence, one vaccinated, and four with unknown vaccine status.

Utah now has 142 measles cases, including 101 in the Southwest Utah health region. Utah County now has 16 cases. The six new cases reported yesterday were in Utah County among children under age 18. State epidemiologists have said this is the highest measles activity seen in more than 30 years.

The United States likely surpassed 2,000 measles cases this week, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to update case counts this week, Johns Hopkins estimates 2,010 cases since January 1, 2025.

Gaines, Texas, had the highest case count, with 414 measles cases reported last spring. Mohave, Arizona, has 186 cases….

What words would reach these low-information parents — putting their kids at undue risk? I am at a loss. But we will try, anew in the new year 2026. Count on that. [And entirely trivially, I know that I feel more at ease in even years than odd ones — so I am looking forward to… 2026. Smile.]

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CDC, Almost In Full-On Stealth Mode — Now DOES Confirm That A Covid Booster — For At Risk Seniors Is A Good Idea. Yikes.

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This is very telling — along with my next post, on the three-decades high spike in measles, nation-wide. Depressing, in fact.

Serious public health scientists’ very rational and well supported (by peer reviewed evidence) views are having to be passed along almost in secret emails. The costs to public health — and confidence in good advice more broadly — cannot be overstated.

Both the Wa Po and NYT have pieces on this, this week. Here’s the Here is the NYT one:

…I never predicted that a fringe conspiracy theorist like Mr. Kennedy would one day become leader of the health care system, but it doesn’t surprise me.

Anti-vaccine groups have developed into a potent force. They have learned to stoke suspicion of authority with masterful precision, they have become adept at applying a veneer of scientific legitimacy to their ideas, and they’ve prepared a superficially compelling response to seemingly every argument that doctors make to encourage immunization.

These rhetorical tactics were first worked out at dinky conferences and obscure media outlets, but now the government itself has become a propaganda organ for the movement. This makes confronting vaccine skepticism much more challenging — and, amid growing measles outbreaks nationwide, far more urgent….

Onward, resolutely — just the same.

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