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Only $30 Million At Close, But Could Be $1.3 Billion, If Glioblastoma (GBM | MOD-246) Asset Clears FDA — Still Immaterial To Merck: Modifi Bio Acquisition

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This is a very rare type of cancer overall, but a fairly common type of brain cancer — and a very daunting one, as it seems patients lack the ability to repair their DNA after an attack, unlike most other cancer survivors on the chemo agent temozolomide.

The allure for Merck is the Yale University Med pedigree, and the innovative small molecule potential candidate MOD-246. We shall see, but here is the latest, from Fierce Biotech:

…Merck is putting down $30 million upfront to buy Yale spinout Modifi Biosciences, a deal that includes a preclinical asset designed to take on the tough-to-treat brain cancer glioblastoma (GBM).

“We pitched to venture capitalists and the light switch would just go off when we talked about GBM,” Ranjit Bindra, M.D., Ph.D., Modifi co-founder and physician-scientist at the Yale School of Medicine, told Fierce Biotech in an interview. “You talk to a group like Merck—the light switch goes on.”

Modifi previously struggled to gain strong investor support, which Bindra attributed to a chaotic market and Modifi’s desire to stick to GBM, a relatively rare cancer. . . .

“DNA repair defects are a frequent hallmark of tumor cells and a major cause of resistance to cancer therapy,” David Weinstock, M.D., Ph.D., vice president of discovery oncology at Merck Research Laboratories, said in the release. “The talented Modifi Biosciences team has developed an innovative approach that we believe has potential for treating some of the most refractory cancer types.”

Merck and Modifi will next work on IND-enabling studies for MOD-246, with hopes of getting into the clinic by the end of next year, according to Bindra….

With five year survival in brain cancer still at only about 5%, this would be a very welcome development, should it extend survival by even a year or two. Now you know. Onward, to early vote, on Friday this week — and Buffs face Cincy at home, Saturday. Ever, onward!

नमस्ते

Fifty Sick — One Dead — After Trump Cosplay “Cooks” At McD’s…?

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Of course, unlike the Powerline boys… I’m smart enough to know that an outbreak of horribly tainted quarter pounders – across ten states, sickening at least 50 (and killing one senior citizen in Colorado) — each at separate McDonald’s… probably isn’t entirely the work of one Tangerine Dotard.

But we (as “Well Rounded Men of Science”!) cannot rule his “cosplay fry cooking”… entirely out, either.

Turn-about is fair play, boys.

Grin!

Talking WNBA — And McD’s — Is All Intended To Obscure What Liz Cheney Is Doing; And What Dick Cheney… Is Doing…

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The boys don’t want the GOP regulars to take even a moment, and reflect. Reflect on what has become of their [largely former] identities as supposedly… moral beings.

If asked, in a Confessional booth, or on their knees in the cathedral generally… to humbly reflect — reflect, on whether Tangerine and the MAGAts reflect their values… how will they answer?

That moment of self-awareness is what John and Paul and Scott and Steve want to bury before it might have a chance to rise from a smolder, to even a flickeringly small… flame.

For my money, EmptyWheel.net said it best this morning, in explaining why Kamala and Liz Cheney may be a potent “new Democratic vote finding” machine:

…[We must] give people who’ve come to hate that their own [GOP] party runs on dick stories and demeaning others, especially women and people of color, the courage to choose not to rejoin in that hatred out of partisan inertia or Republican self-identity.

Both Cheney and Harris have talked about power and powerlessness, and I can’t help but wonder if they’ve discussed Václav Havel’s essay on the power of the powerless while flying around together on a plane Liz’s father used to command, of the import of everyday people taking small acts of courage, the import of people like Dan refusing to join in Trump’s attacks on people that might include his five daughters (though, to be clear, Harris’ models of courage would come out of the Civil Rights movement, a culture in which she was raised).

Sykes described that Dan is a genuinely undecided voter. He sounded like a voter who had made his decision, but was asking for courage, was asking for Cheney and Harris to make it easier to sustain that courage. By 31 minutes into this town hall, he was even asking for, “something I could take with me to say, this sounds very good. We ought to at least listen to this.”

I don’t know whether it will work.

What I do know is that neither Harris nor Cheney are mistaking the enormity of the task, of trying to break the authoritarianism of a party that has overwhelmed voters with a blanket of disinformation and dehumanization.

They’re just trying to give people the courage to break out of a lifetime habit of voting for Republicans and instead to vote for the Constitution….

Indeed. And I for one am confident… it is working… one voter at a time, in private. A vote they will never admit to their own husband. But a vote they will… cast. And their daughters (and maybe even sons) will cast.

Cast for Kamala Harris.

Out.

Frothy Hard Right [And Mirengoff]… Angry At You Tube For “Promoting” Nail-Biter WNBA Final?!

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

So, last night the New York Liberty won their first ever WNBA Championship. And the internet only provider called YouTube promoted the thrilling OT Game Five — by having it run as a panel in most live sports events last night. Key: Internet only. [Just trying to build a larger, more inclusive sports-fan base. This is… an under-appreciated league having its moment, with Angel Reese and Caitlyn Clark.]

Of course, anyone could (and most people in fact DID!) tune the game in, on ESPN as well — i.e., regular cable TV.

But several whiny bitter old geezers, including churlish codger Paul, were offended that their “You-Tube only” soccer matches (for example) had a lower quarter screen that was keeping track of the WNBA championship game. So Mirengoff burped this up, overnight:

…I have nothing against women’s basketball. Although I don’t watch the WNBA, I do enjoy the last rounds of the Women’s NCAA championship. And last night’s WNBA contest — the decisive Game Five of the league’s title round — apparently turned out to be an overtime thriller.

But forcing people to have a WNBA game on their screen… that’s… YouTube deliberately did, seems like yet another manifestation of leftist Big Tech as Big Brother. Or, more to the point, Big Sister….

Geez-la-Weez. It is far more likely that these Boomers don’t know how to adjust the panels in YouTube Live.

And so, I realize these codgers on the far right are frustrated that their agenda has been co-opted/destroyed by Tangerine’s endless crime sprees, and thus they will be out on their ears in 14 days… but this is really a “you damn kids get off my lawn!” moment.

Do go outside and yell at the clouds, guys.

Or — better idea — rent a REAL life.

Cheers.

Rigby Nails The “Quew-Quew” — That Is Scott Johnson, On McD’s Street Theater — And Hinderaker, Generally…

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 Excellent comment — so, I’ll just turn it over to Rigby:

[Scott Johnson’s] at it again today, going down the McDonald’s rabbit hole like he’s Jim Garrison investigating the JFK assassination. Hilarious stuff.

Meanwhile, Hinderaker looked in the mirror yesterday and thought he saw Democrats. Just about everything he asserts or complains about is either false or true of his side. I tried pointing this out in the comments, but my comments were quickly excised. Can’t have too many facts cluttering up John’s fever dreams. I’ll post my replies here, even though I’m preaching to the choir. John complains about a news story’s use of the expression “[Trump] acolytes,” muttering:

Did Barack Obama, Joe Biden or Kamala Harris ever have “acolytes”? Of course not.
Except, of course they do. It’s a very common journalistic expression. What a maroon. In the very next sentence, John goes on to complain:
Second, how has Trump “purged” the GOP? Has someone been kicked out of the party? Not that I know of.
How quickly he forgets. But his biggest howler is probably this one:
Everyone knows that it is Democrats, not Republicans, who try to steal elections.
Yeah, right.

UPDATE — Floating Razor Wire Case: The US Moves To Force Disclosure Of Texas’s “Expert Testimony” Notes — Since They Were Shared With Non-Party/Witnesses…

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MAGA Gov. Greg Abbott continues to ignore federal court orders to produce the documents and showings he expects the state of Texas officials to rely upon — at the upcoming USDC trial before Senior Judge Ezra, over whether he has violated the Rivers and Harbors Act, in installing concertina wire floating barriers (which have already killed two asylum seekers, to a certainty) on the Rio Grande, in Mexican waters, near Eagles Pass, Texas.

Over the weekend, the US attorneys learned that he’s been sharing supposed “work product” exempt documents with non-parties — and people the state plans to call as fact witnesses — at the trial, in defense of the violations. Hilarious.

That blew all his work product privileges — and the US will now shortly see the documents, unredacted, thus:

…The Magistrate Judge ordered Defendants, the State of Texas and Governor Greg Abbott (“Texas”), to produce copies of the two documents in question — consisting of a “proposed expert-report outline” containing key facts and assumptions given to Texas’s expert witnesses and an email transmitting that document—to the United States by July 29, 2024, with redactions removing information purportedly protected by the work product doctrine. Id. at 2. This motion for reconsideration is based on newly discovered information within those documents that was not available to the United States at the time the Magistrate Judge resolved the Motion to Compel.

In reviewing the redacted documents produced by Texas (attached as Exhibits A and B), the United States discovered that Texas also sent these supposedly privileged trial preparation documents to Rodney Scott, who is not a testifying expert witness, an attorney for Texas, or an employee of Texas, but rather an unaffiliated fact witness that Texas has represented it will call at trial. The Magistrate Judge, who reviewed these documents in camera but had not seen Texas’s initial disclosures or witness list, could not have been aware of this fact.

Because Texas’s transmission of the documents to this non-client fact witness defeats any claim of work product privilege, the United States respectfully requests that the Court:

(1) vacate the portion of its July 25, 2024 Order partially denying the United States’ Motion to Compel;

(2) grant the United States’ Motion to Compel in full; and (3) order Texas to produce unredacted versions of both documents….

Now you know.

What an incompetent (and malign) Rube Goldberg machine, the entirety of Texas State (GOP) government is.

Mpox Clade 1b Update: Now A Case In Germany… Over 42,000 Worldwide Afflicted

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The more dangerous variant has now appeared in at least 18 African nations.

Troublingly, the vaccine roll out has suffered fits and starts. By my count, we are now at a dozen non-African geographies, with one or more Clade 1b patients.

Here is the latest, from ABC News, reporting:

…Germany’s disease control center said Tuesday that a new, more infectious variant of the mpox virus has been detected in Germany for the first time.

The Robert Koch Institute said the person was infected abroad but didn’t give any further details, including on where the case was being treated….

The first case of the mpox virus variant outside the African continent was confirmed in Sweden in mid-August….

The World Health Organization has declared that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency….

Now you know… and as we’ve long said… we are all each other’s keepers. Onward.

नमस्ते

This Morning’s Brief Summary Order At The Supremes Grants Both The Provider, And The Patients’ Families (And The Solicitor General) Separated Argument Time…

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As many well-know, we have closely followed the purported Tennessee law known as Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-33-101, as its constitutionality is tested in the federal courts. It purports to tell doctors that there is only one class of patients they may not treat for gender dysphoria.

That cannot survive strict scrutiny. And that is what Tennessee legislators should face, in trying to explain this measure.

Importantly, but nearly unnoticed by the MSM (see the bottom of page one of today’s orders, here), it has reached the docket of the US Supreme Court. There, this morning, the Nine granted each party opposing the law a separate slot of time to argue its pernicious effects, on their specific interests.

That is significant. The Supremes will hear from a lawyer for the patients, a lawyer for the treating doctors and Vanderbilt Med Center… and then, a lawyer for the federal government — an administration that believes the law exceeds Tennessee’s power, as a member of the UNITED states… of America. Do stay tuned. The decision will come in 2025. And… just to reset the state of the play, here:

…L.W., Ryan Roe, and John Doe are three transgender adolescents who have lived in Tennessee all their lives. After years of suffering severe distress from gender dysphoria — and after careful deliberation with their doctors and the informed consent of their parents — L.W., Ryan, and John each found tremendous relief from doctor-prescribed, gender affirming medication. They now face severe physical and emotional harm because Tennessee has prohibited them from accessing the medical treatment they need. And their parents — Samantha and Brian Williams, Rebecca Roe, and Jane and James Doe — are each living a parent’s worst nightmare at the prospect of watching their children lose the prescribed healthcare that has enabled them to thrive.

Transgender adolescents like Petitioners have been receiving such care for decades. But in the past three years, Tennessee and 20 other states have banned these treatments altogether, forcing families to upend their lives and move out of state to ensure that their children get the medical treatment they need. District courts across the country have enjoined these bans preliminarily or permanently. The Eighth Circuit has affirmed one of those injunctions in Arkansas….

Now you know. Onward, to a better — less bigoted — tomorrow.

नमस्ते

Well… I Am Surprised That It Needs To Be Debated: Running A $1 Million A Day Raffle — To Create Calling/Contact Lists, For Voting… Violates 52 USC § 10307(c).

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This “pay to register to vote” scheme clearly violates 52 USC § 10307(c) [see page 38, et seq. there] — and that’s a five year felony.

It seems we live in an Orwellian world where between Tangerine and Musk, they’ve decided that they can go “buy the votes they want, in swing states”. Damn. Here’s a bit from Reuters, this morning:

…To be eligible for the $1 million, petition signers must be a registered voter and live in one of the seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the America PAC website.

The petition also offers $100 to each registered Pennsylvania voter who signs and $100 for referring a registered Pennsylvania voter to sign.

The legality of the giveaways is sure to come under scrutiny in the coming days.

It is a federal crime to pay people with the intention of inducing or rewarding them to cast a vote or to get registered, an offense punishable by prison time. The prohibition covers not only monetary expenditures, but also anything of monetary value like liquor or lottery chances, a Justice Department election-crimes manual says….

There is only one way to put this insanity to bed: we must vote these corrupt but wealthy burping-jokers down, in overwhelming numbers, nationwide, on Tuesday November 5, 2024.

Quoth the DoJ: …Cases arising under this statute that involve corruption of the process by which individuals register, as distinguished from the circumstances under which they vote, present a different federal jurisdictional issue that is easily satisfied.

This is because voter registration in every state is “unitary” in the sense that one registers to vote only once in order to become eligible to vote for all candidates on the ballot — local, state, and federal. Although a state could choose to maintain separate registration lists for federal and non-federal elections, at the time this book was written, no state had chosen to do so.

Consequently, any corrupt act that affects the voter registration process and that can be reached under § 10307(c) satisfies this federal jurisdictional requirement. An excellent discussion of this issue is contained in United States v. Cianciulli, 482 F. Supp. 585, 617–18 (E.D. Pa. 1979)….

Onward.

नमस्ते

It Looks Like… As We Long Ago Said… Tangerine Has No… Electoral College Math. Y A W N.

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To be sure, it will be a close election, as we’ve said.

And though Kamala will likely win by 10 to 12 million votes nation-wide, all that matters are the swing states. Those electoral college votes actually choose the next president.

And this morning shows Kamala Harris clearly in the lead in five of the seven.

So Trump cannot win, if the last two weeks remain unchanged, per Newsweek, this morning:

…A Washington Post-Schar School poll of 5,016 likely voters in the seven key battleground states have the vice president ahead of Trump in Georgia (51 percent to 47), Michigan (49 percent to 47), Pennsylvania (49 percent to 47) and Wisconsin (50 percent to 47).

Trump and Harris are tied at 48 percent in Nevada, with the Republican winning in North Carolina (50 percent to 47) and in Arizona (49 percent to 46).

Even if Trump wins Nevada, Harris would be on course to win November’s election with 286 Electoral College votes if the Washington Post-Schar School polling proves accurate….

And so it goes.

Suck that “schlong”, boys.