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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a clinical hold on two late-stage trials run by Intellia Therapeutics. These trials test a one-time CRISPR-based therapy, nexiguran ziclumeran (nex-z), for the rare disease transthyretin amyloidosis. The hold follows a serious adverse event: a patient developed grade 4 liver enzyme elevations and high bilirubin levels after…
Indonesia is increasing food safety checks after nearly 700 schoolchildren became sick from free school meals in Yogyakarta this week. The students were part of President Prabowo Subianto’s new nationwide free-meal programme, created to improve child nutrition and tackle hunger. Sudden Illness Triggers Alarm The children reported nausea, stomach pain, and vomiting shortly after eating…
CSL Ltd, Australia’s major vaccine-maker, is collaborating with Saudi Arabia to develop advanced flu vaccines. Together with the Kingdom’s pharmaceutical manufacturing group, CSL’s vaccine division will focus on seasonal influenza tools. The partnership aims to boost local production in Saudi Arabia and improve access across the Gulf region. CSL already supplies flu vaccines globally and…
Authorities in Delhi attempted cloud seeding this week to fight the city’s severe air pollution, but the trial did not produce rain due to low moisture in the air. Cloud seeding involves releasing particles like silver iodide into clouds to stimulate rainfall. On Tuesday, a Cessna aircraft released silver iodide and sodium chloride over several…
Universal Music Group (UMG) announced it has settled a copyright dispute with AI-startup Udio and will collaborate on a new generative-AI music platform. Under the agreement, the partners will launch a platform next year that uses AI trained only on music licensed by UMG. Back in 2024, major labels including Sony and Warner sued Udio…
Millennium bcp, Portugal’s largest listed bank, reported a 9-month net profit of €776 million, marking an 8.7% increase from the prior year. The strong result was driven by its Polish subsidiary, Bank Millennium, whose net income jumped by 56% to €202 million. Domestic operations also held up reasonably well despite weak interest-rate conditions in Europe….
Germany is considering nationalising the local operations of Russian oil giant Rosneft after new U.S. sanctions triggered a strategic rethink, two sources told Reuters. The focus is on Rosneft’s majority stake in the PCK Schwedt refinery, which supplies much of Berlin’s fuel. Although the U.S. has granted a temporary exemption for the asset, valid until…
HSBC has expanded its innovation banking arm in Singapore, pledging $1.5 billion to lend to start-ups and growing tech companies as part of a wider global strategy. The bank’s specialized unit, originally launched in 2023, now supports over 900 bankers serving clients in the U.S., UK, Australia, India, Hong Kong, mainland China and more. HSBC’s…
Italy has indicated that it is willing to amend its “golden power” laws, which allow the government to intervene in strategic corporate deals. The proposed change comes as the European Commission considers disciplinary action against Rome for how it applied the rules, especially in blocking a major bank merger between UniCredit and Banco BPM. Italian…
Standard Chartered (StanChart) posted a 3% rise in pretax profit for the third quarter to $1.77 billion, beating analyst estimates of around $1.52 billion. The increase came despite challenging market conditions, supported by strong growth in wealth management, global banking and advisory fees. Wealth income alone surged 27%, and non-interest income rose 12% to $2.4…
