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Crypto billionaires make record donations to UK political party
Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, received $97 million from two cryptocurrency billionaires this weekend.
Crypto billionaires give $97 million to Reform UK, fueling concerns about money in politics
LONDON (AP) — Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, received 72 million pounds ($97 million) from two cryptocurrency billionaires this weekend, fueling concerns about money in British politics.
Crypto billionaires give $97 million to Reform UK, fueling concerns about money in politics
LONDON (AP) — Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, received 72 million pounds ($97 million) from two cryptocurrency billionaires this weekend, fueling …
Crypto Billionaires Give $97 Million to Reform UK, Fueling Concerns About Money in Politics
LONDON (AP) — Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, received 72 million pounds ($97 million) from two cryptocurrency billionaires this weekend, fueling concerns about money in British politics. After news broke that Ben Delo, a co-founder of the BitMEX ...
Ben Delo: Who is the Reform UK donor and crypto billionaire?
Delo has given £36m to Reform UK - the largest donation ever made to a political party in the UK.
After the I.P.O., a Billion-Dollar Bill for Employee Paydays
A compensation strategy at start-ups keeps expenses low until they go public. At that point, the companies may face billions of dollars in catch-up expenses.
The politics and possibilities of ‘AI could kill us all’
I found myself fielding a lot of questions from folks who don’t usually talk much about AI this week. They were mostly along the lines of “do you think AI is going to kill us all?” or “how worried should I be about this human extinction stuff?” Motivating this wave of existential anxiety was the highly dramatic resignation of now-former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon, who quit his job while publicly sharing his concerns about safety practices at the leading AI companies. More specifically, he declared that almost everyone at OpenAI and Anthropic, the leading AI labs, believes that there’s a decent chance the AI systems they’re producing could “kill us all” by the end of the decade, and the companies aren’t “acting responsibly.” Other AI safety researchers, including those still employed at Anthropic and OpenAI, all confirmed that yes, Coxon is correct, they’re all worried that their company’s products might prove fatal for the entire human race as well. Two more AI employees quit and joined the chorus. Now, the warning shot has been covered everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to Fox News to WIRED to the Guardian. I understand why all this sounds scary, but my response to those who have asked, has generally been: No, you don’t need to worry that AI will kill go rogue and kill us all. But that does not mean we shouldn’t worry, period. Far from it. The companies building AI products are now among the wealthiest and most powerful entities in the world. And they very much are building enormous engines of mass surveillance, extraction, and automation. They can and have allowed their AI systems to carry out felony hacks of other companies, provided the government with autonomously generated kill lists, and sold enterprise technology to firms around the world that is explicitly intended to replace jobs. But “AI” has done these things not because they have all-powerful minds of their own but, ultimately, because people have programmed, calibrated, and directed them to. In other words, it’s not AI we need to worry the most about. It’s the people and corporations working to profit from and gain power by deploying it. The technology is sophisticated, sure, and, especially in cybersecurity contexts, potentially disruptive to plenty of existing systems. But if we want to stop this predatory, profiteering, and extractive form of AI—and it’s worth noting that at this point, most people do—we absolutely can. A quick note/plea: I can only do all of this with the support of readers like you, so if you find value in independent, critical tech journalism and analysis, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I want to keep as much of this un-paywalled as absolutely possible, and I need your support to do so. Many thanks to all who continue to chip in, it’s very much appreciated. Onward. Subscribe First, some context: AI industry folks like Coxon have been discussing the prospect that AI will destroy humanity for years. Even before the beginning of the AI boom, many working in the industry, from the executive staff to the rank and file researchers, have obsessed over ‘x-risk’, or the possibility that AI will become sentient or semi-sentient and move one way or another to exterminate humanity. This is ostensibly why Elon Musk bankrolled OpenAI in the first place, and is the grounds for his lawsuit alleging OpenAI betrayed its charter by abandoning its nonprofit status to become a commercial enterprise. Many AI engineers and startup founders have calculated their own personal p(doom), or the probability that the tech product they are working on will initiate an actual humanity-extinguishing apocalypse. 10-25% p(doom)s are pretty common. (I wrote about a long weekend I spent among these folks at one of their top conferences here, to give you an idea of their ideas and belief systems.) Sam Altman himself drove the narrative of the imminent rise of a super-powerful AI, or artificial general intelligence, to prominence by declaring that the technology he was building posed an existential risk to humanity. This idea is in other words baked into the DNA of modern AI companies and into the products they engineer. It’s also why the industry is routinely accused, by myself and others, of “doom marketing,” ie, using such proclamations and framings to impart the sheer power of the technology behind your product onto investors, partners, consumers, and the state. Some ambient understanding of this tendency may have helped prevent the press from repeating the claim every time one of the x-risk folks made it over the years, including when they quit their jobs at AI companies while doing so. Yet Coxon’s AI x-risk alarm has broken containment, as they say, and has exposed the idea to the mainstream media once again. This has happened, I think, for a number of reasons. First, when AI CEOs were going around saying AI might kill everyone in 2023, their companies were well-capitalized, but not nearly to the extent they are today. They were more easily dismissed as eccentric geeks of the sort that Silicon Valley is supposed to produce. Now, not only do their products have much greater market saturation, but people are more aware of a) the often unethical ways the executives and companies comport themselves b) the other adverse impacts of AI that have already arrived, and c) the physical cost of building these systems, particularly when it comes to data centers. Finally, toss in the constant stream of headlines in 2026 about AI models going rogue or potentially upending the world’s infrastructure. [ ](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/with-the-backlash-to-data-centers) [ With the backlash to data centers, Flock and AI glasses, a mass opposition to big tech is underway. Silicon Valley is in denial. ](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/with-the-backlash-to-data-centers) Brian Merchant · Aug 27 [ Read full story ](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/with-the-backlash-to-data-centers) As a result, general sentiment was already overwhelmingly skeptical of AI and its overlords, so the table was pretty well set for someone to come along and say ‘just a reminder, the companies that are building the product that promises to take your job and leave a data center in your neighborhood also think that it might exterminate the human race’ and get a strong reaction from the media and the public. The question is: Should we understand this stuff as hype, strategically fanned to feed already swelling valuations? Is it doom marketing? Genuine cause for alarm that the infrastructure that undergirds modern life is facing a novel threat vector? Or reason to be sincerely worried that AI companies are amassing too much power, and that their products are genuinely dangerous? The answer, I’m afraid, is “yes.” Let me try to untangle all of this a bit, because arguments over how to navigate this moment are extremely heated right now, as they are essentially arguments over how to approach the politics of AI at a moment where there may be a unique opening for action. Those sympathetic to AI alignment concerns and x risk arguments—which increasingly includes a faction on the left who want to shut down AI over safety concerns—argue that people who dismiss AI as all hype have their heads in the sand. Meanwhile, critics of the x-risk narrative—which I might note includes a cadre of investors and tech folks on the right, too—argue that it is hype and can be used to further inflate valuations or for pursuing regulatory capture. The challenge is that many feel that dismissing AI as just hype or purely marketing also diminishes the urgency of taking on the AI industry as the novel and threat to labor, civil society, and the public sphere it is; others that by accepting the industry’s own terms, we imbue it with undue power and enable it. But let’s be clear: Declarations that AI is so powerful it might end the world are a kind of marketing, and anyone who says otherwise is just as off base as those who say that’s all that it is. If you don’t think that these sub-trillion dollar companies have higher-ups who noticed that when their founders talked about super-powerful dangerous AI they got spikes in media interest and phone calls from investors, or that those founders didn’t notice that themselves, and lean into certain narratives to advantage their products, then I don’t know what to tell you. Not all marketing is a Pepsi ad campaign with a celebrity spokesperson. Yet confronting the AI industry should certainly be considered an urgent project. Do I share the x-riskers’ fear that out-of-control, super-intelligent AI agents might end the world? I do not. I’ve read a good deal of AI extinction literature over the last couple of years and I have not come across a credible, step-by-step documentation of how exactly AI might move from self-recursively improving AI to killing every single human on the planet. Most of what I’ve read seems predicated on a sort of reverse Ian Malcolmian logic: Eventually, it becomes smart enough and AI, uh, finds a way (to exterminate humanity). Are the AI companies also overstating and dramatizing what their products can do? Yes, pretty much all the time. They’re in a knife fight for market share and are trying to win customers and government contracts before their investors come knocking. And yet. They have concentrated enormous amounts of compute, have extensive data collection and surveillance capacities, have inserted themselves into the state in numerous capacities, including military kill chains, and they are being run by egomaniacal billionaires who are rushing to monopolize an entire new market. The way I think about their most recent frightening-seeming exploits is not as a “swarm of rogue AI agents building a new civilization” or whatever, but as corporations with a hitherto-unimaginable amount of compute at their disposal recklessly experimenting with automation programs, completely unafraid of any repercussions because we have been unwilling or unable to impose any on them. So I think we should welcome any newfound imperative to hold them accountable. I also think that ultimately, the AI critics, Pause AI folks, leftists, doomers, effective altruists, and, honestly, most of the public, want a lot of the same things: legitimate checks and limits on AI companies’ power, actual transparency into what the companies are doing, and for more of AI to be under public control. (Ultimately, a lot of what animates the x-risk fears are rooted in just that: a fear of losing control.) How we move towards all this, exactly, is the question of the day, and while there’s much to be argued over in terms of building a viable political platform to challenge the AI industry’s power, I do want to cast a vote against one particular approach. Not to pick on Chris here, as there are a lot of folks out there proposing stuff like this, and the policy ideas actually stem from AI safety groups. But not only would this be challenging to land politically (I can already hear the ‘China will beat us to AGI’ calls) and all but unworkable in practice, this approach is a) far too limiting, b) fails to address the current harms caused by AI and c) would likely only wind up serving Anthropic and OpenAI; it’s what regulatory capture looks like in action. Full model transparency is the floor for what should be on offer here. If these companies believe their products will kill us, the very least we deserve is to know how. It’s in the public interest. I would also argue we might get a lot of the way to stopping any currently envisioned robot apocalypse simply by forcing AI companies to assume liability, and to submit to the full brunt of the law. If Sam Altman were liable to be charged with a felony for approving the hack on Hugging Face1, if Google was forced to pay defamation fines each time it published a false and injurious AI Overviews, these companies might suddenly find cause to restrain their models’ output, and we might hear less about rogue AI. We would need to introduce new frameworks and available tools for tracking automated lawbreaking, to be sure, but I’d wager that little would frighten the AI companies more than actually being held accountable for what their products enable. To that end, Illinois has passed an AI liability law, which the industry fought tooth and nail, and Florida is considering one. The next steps would be towards moving AI under public control; again, it’s only reasonable, since everyone, not just AI insiders, should get a say over how a technology whose developers say might kill us is developed and deployed. Dismantling the whole industrial project as currently structured should be on the table, too, pending democratic input. But that’s for another post. For now, suffice to say that while I won’t be losing any sleep about an AI-enabled extinction event, Mr. Coxon and co. have given us an opportunity to underscore the urgency of the clear and present damage AI companies are doing, the extreme power they wield and the extent to which they hold themselves unaccountable, and the abundance of political capital there is out there for taking them on. Subscribe 1 Purely speculative! I do not know if he did or not.
Reform receives record £36m donation from cryptocurrency billionaire
Ben Delo's donation, the biggest single sum ever given to a political party in the UK, comes amid scrutiny of Reform's finances.
AI startup Discovery Loop seeks around $50 billion valuation, Business Insider reports
AI startup Discovery Loop is seeking to raise funds again at a valuation of $50 billion, the Business Insider reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Jeff Dean's startup Discovery Loop is eyeing a $50 billion valuation
Jeff Dean, former Google chief scientist, is raising another round of funding at a valuation of around $50 billion.
Group says Floridians are owed $48 billion in unclaimed funds
The national organization Reclaim.org says despite state's efforts to connect people with their money, 13 million accounts are unclaimed.
CT Takes More Action Against Prediction Markets Alleged To Offer Sports Betting
The American Gaming Association estimates $40 billion will be wagered on the NFL using prediction markets this year. On the first day of the 2026 college football season last week, one prediction market reported nearly $250 million in trading volume on college football alone, according to Lamont’s office.
The U.S. Open turned exclusivity into a half-billion-dollar business, and the $23 Honey Deuce is just the beginning
The tournament pulls in more than $500 million a year by selling prestige as much as tennis—from $800 million in luxury renovations to a cocktail that moved 738,459 units.
Blackstone (BX) Eyes $2 Billion ZO Skin Health Exit
Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) is exploring a possible sale of ZO Skin Health, the medical-grade skincare company founded by dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi. Reuters reported that the business could be valued at around $2 billion. The process is still in the early stages, and Blackstone is working with Citigroup and Raymond James on the potential sale. […]
Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe across billions of years of evolution
An international team of researchers, including those at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental ...
Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson interview on OpenAI, his own videos
Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson talks about his OpenAI deal, his billionaire owner, and why he makes his own videos
India's NSE CEO says other business growth could curb weekly options' revenue share
National Stock Exchange of India's chief said on Friday that growth in its other businesses is likely to reduce the share of revenue generated by weekly options trading, as the country's largest bourse seeks a valuation of up to 4.42 trillion rupees ($46.26 billion) through its long-awaited IPO.
Federal Funding Increase Brings New Resources for Tribal Health and Diabetes Programs
Federal funding for Indian health increased for fiscal year 2026, including a significant boost for a program supporting diabetes prevention and treatment in Native communities. Congress provided approximately $5.86 billion for Indian Health Service services and facilities, a 1.3% increase over fiscal year 2025. The total includes approximately $5.05 billion for health services and $809.2 […]
Alliance Entertainment FY2026 Revenue Rises 8% to $1.15 Billion
Alliance Entertainment Holding Corp (NASDAQ:AENT) shares rose 69. 1% in premarket trading after the company reported fiscal 2026 revenue growth and higher adjusted earnings per share.
How Jeremy Gosch is refocusing Hy-Vee
Jeremy Gosch, in his fourth year as Hy-Vee’s CEO, is steering the large, Midwest regional grocery chain through a competitive landscape unlike any faced by his predecessors. The four Hy-Vee CEOs who preceded Gosch helped transform a small Iowa grocery chain into a regional retailer with more than $14 billion in annual sales. Along the…
Hot werewolves, billionaire baby daddies and absurd cliffhangers. Entertainment's trashiest new obsession fits in the palm of your hand.
Vertical dramas are filmed to fit on your phone screen that indulge in cliches and spicy moments like R-rated Hallmark films.
Alliance Entertainment Fiscal 2026 Revenue Rises 8% to $1.15 Billion
Alliance Entertainment (AENT) reported fiscal 2026 net revenue of $1.149 billion, up 8% from $1.063 billion in fiscal 2025. GAAP net income was $13.1 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared with $15.1 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, a year earlier.Gross profit rose 15% to $152.3 million and gross margin expanded 80 basis points to 13.3%. The fiscal year ended June 30, 2026.Vinyl revenue increased 13% to $383 million, while CD revenue r
Former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried appeals conviction to Supreme Court
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto mogul who was convicted of defrauding investors by secretly diverting billions of dollars of their money, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday for a new trial and to throw out a court order requiring him to pay $11 billion as part of his sentence.
Alliance Entertainment Ups Fiscal-Year Movie Disc Revenue 22% to $339 Million
Alliance Entertainment Sept. 10 reported fiscal-year (ended June 30) packaged-media revenue of $339 million, up 22% from $278 million during the previous-year period. The Florida-based physical-media and collectibles distributor reported an 8% increase in full-year revenue to $1.15 billion, compared with $1.06 billion in fiscal 2025. Net income dropped 13% to $13 million from $15 … Continue reading "Alliance Entertainment Ups Fiscal-Year Movie Disc Revenue 22% to $339 Million"
Alliance Entertainment Ups Fiscal-Year Movie Disc Revenue 22% to $339 Million
Alliance Entertainment Sept. 10 reported fiscal year (ended June 30) packaged media revenue of $339 million, up 22% from $278 million from the previous-year period. The Florida-based physical media and collectibles distributor reported an 8% increase in full-year revenue to $1.15 billion, compared with $1.06 billion in fiscal 2025. Net income dropped 13% to $13 … Continue reading "Alliance Entertainment Ups Fiscal-Year Movie Disc Revenue 22% to $339 Million"
Sen. King asks education secretary for answers about mental health grant cuts
Maine's independent senator and a group of Democratic colleagues penned a letter to Linda McMahon asking that she distribute $1 billion in youth mental health funding.
Medicaid Changes Put Pressure on Tribal Health Care as New Federal Funding Reaches Minnesota
Medicaid changes are raising concerns about long-term financial pressure on Tribal health organizations, even as Minnesota begins distributing millions of dollars through a new federal program to transform rural health care. The federal Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), created in 2025, will provide up to $50 billion to states over five years from 2026 through […]
University of Iowa Health Care calls off $2B+ patient tower build
Plans to build a new, $2 billion-plus patient care tower and other accompanying upgrades at the University of Iowa Health Care’s main campus are off the table in favor of smaller-scale upgrades to | "Significant financial challenges” facing the healthcare industry at large have limited Iowa Health Care’s ability to “responsibly” deploy capital toward the five-year build. It is now proposing a $380 million capital plan focused on updating and expanding existing facilities.
A.I. Data Center Pollution Poses Health Threat, Former E.P.A. Officials Warn
Air pollution from gas-fired power plants to run data centers is expected to add at least $20 billion in annual health care costs by 2028, the group warns.
Crude oil pipeline business sold for $2.55 billion to Enbridge
Enbridge acquires Tallgrass Energy's crude oil business for $2.55 billion, gaining control of the Pony Express Pipeline connecting the Rockies to Oklahoma.
Cat Pee Was the Billion-Dollar Business Nobody Saw Coming
Founder Daniel Rotman raised little money, hired cautiously, and built around a practical product instead of growth-at-all-costs. The result was a $1.4 billion acquisition by Mars.
PE Daily: Agora Strikes First Deal With Vheda Health Investment
Plus, Peter Thiel-backed AI startup Cognition’s valuation nearly doubles to $48 billion in a $2 billion round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Accel.
Elbit restructures its U.S. business as American defense demand accelerates
The Israeli defense group is placing its 3,300-worker American operation under Twenty-Six Defense as its U.S. business expands. The move follows more than $370 million in recent contracts from Customs and Border Protection and comes as Elbit seeks to expand manufacturing capacity to meet a record $32 billion backlog.
Goldman says Treasury buybacks won't be enough to tame bond yields
Treasury yields remained elevated after the department said it would repurchase up to $6 billion of 10- to 20-year debt.
Around the Net In Media: Thunder Road, Lit Entertainment Founders Launch Media Firm
Basil Iwanyk, founder of Thunder Road Films, and partner Eria Lee are partnering with Lit Entertainment Group founder Adam Kolbrenner to launch TR/AK, a media company focused on creators and original stories. The new company will also pursue ambitious film and television projects that will reach global audiences. Thunder Road has grossed more than $4.4 billion worldwide with its films, and Lit Entertainment clients boast of writing projects that have generated more than $7 billion.
Enbridge to Buy Tallgrass Crude Pipeline Business for $2.55 Billion
Enbridge is expanding its U.S. crude pipeline network with a major Rockies-to-Cushing acquisition.
Enbridge to Buy Tallgrass Crude Pipeline Business for $2.55 Billion
Enbridge is expanding its U.S. crude pipeline network with a major Rockies-to-Cushing acquisition.
Prop 40 is dividing CA labor unions and experts argue the fight goes well beyond a billionaire tax
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West is spearheading Proposition 40, arguing the tax is necessary to offset major federal health care cuts. But the opposition includes groups that have often found themselves politically aligned with organized labor, including the California Teachers Association, California Professional Firefighters and the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.
Is Accenture's Business Falling As Fast As Its Stock?
Accenture (ACN) trades at $179.03, about 53% below its two-year high, the price of a business the market thinks is ending. Over the last twelve months, it generated $12.58 billion of free cash flow, a yield of 11.5% on its market value against a 4.4% median for the S&P 500. Both facts are true. The argument between them is about growth.
Is Accenture’s Business Falling As Fast As Its Stock?
Accenture (ACN) trades at $179.03, about 53% below its two-year high, the price of a business the market thinks is ending. Over the last twelve months, it generated $12.58 billion of free cash flow, a yield of 11.5% on its market value against a 4.4% median for the S&P 500. Both facts are true.
Hollywood’s ‘new business model’ comes into view as Gen Z shows a moviegoing taste that combines ‘fast food and fine dining’
Theaters sold nearly 249 million fewer tickets than in 2019 but still set a $4.7 billion summer record. It’s not 2019 anymore.
Enbridge nears $2 billion deal for Blackstone's Pony Express crude pipeline, Bloomberg News reports
Enbridge is in advanced talks to buy the major crude oil pipeline Pony Express Pipeline in the U.S. from Blackstone-owned Tallgrass Energy for about $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
ICE’s ‘Midway Blitz’ operation cost Chicago businesses $1.2 billion: Study
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Chicago-area operation cost local businesses more than $1.2 billion last year, according to a new study. The study, conducted by researchers at the Unive…
Trump administration fires prosecutor in dropped case against politically-linked Indian billionaire
Gautam Adani had faced a criminal case that Trump administration moved to drop.
University of Iowa Health Care nixes plans for new $2B tower
University of Iowa Health Care has scrapped plans to build a new $2 billion inpatient tower — at least for now — and rather is “modernizing and expanding existing spaces across the health system, specifically on the university and downtown campuses.”
Youth sports become big business, putting stress on families
American youth sports have become a 40 billion dollar business. But youth travel sports also come with increasing costs and challenges and parents are bearing the costs..
Youth sports become big business, putting stress on families
American youth sports have become a 40 billion dollar business. But youth travel sports also come with increasing costs and challenges and parents are bearing the costs..
Two Tiny Lifeforms Built a Bridge Too Small to See—and May Have Made Humanity Possible
Stromatolites, formed by microbial mats, hold evidence of a symbiotic relationship that possibly kickstarted complex life billions of years ago.
Americans prefer getting bitten by a mosquito or stubbing their toe than today’s politics
Respondents still prefer today’s politics over billionaires, telemarketers, health insurance companies, artificial intelligence, Elon Musk and root canals.
Major investor of Norwalk-based Xerox urges review of financial services business
Xerox shareholder STARTEEPO is urging Norwalk-based Xerox to review a sale of Xerox Financial Services, which it values at up to $1.5 billion.
Google DeepMind’s AlphaGenome Takes Aim at One of Genetics’ Biggest Problems
Google DeepMind has released a huge new dataset that could make it easier for scientists to study how changes in our DNA affect the way the body works. Called AlphaGenome Atlas, it contains predictions for more than 9 billion possible single-letter changes in the human genome. The dataset is about one petabyte in size and […]
Luma locks down 15-year, $410M fund for life science investments
Luma Group today announced the final close of its inaugural life sciences venture capital fund, totaling $410 million. The New York-based investment firm has had a grip on life sciences since its founding in 2023. The funds unveiled today, dubbed LumaBio Fund I, include investments that have already been made into more than 10 biotechs. They include the likes of eye disease-focused Character Biosciences, rebranded Belgian biotech Coultreon Biopharma and cellular rejuvenation company Altos Labs. The fund saw early success when one of the companies it co-founded, called Vaccine Company, was picked up by Eli Lilly earlier this year for up to $1.55 billion. The acquisition of the in vivo nanoparticle technology-focused biotech formed part of a trio of vaccine buys for the Big Pharma, which has itself been on a prolonged spending spree in 2026. Luma's fund is structured as a 15-year investment with plans to support groundbreaking science and support companies through key milestones from discovery to commercialization, Luma explained in the release. "We founded Luma Group on the belief that extraordinary science, supported by patient, long-term capital, has the power to improve millions of lives," Joshua Fink, founder and managing member of Luma Group, said in the release. "This fund represents more than capital—it is a commitment to partnering with extraordinary innovators as they translate visionary science into life-changing medicines."
Complete Your Evolution With “Perfect Eclosion – Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth”! [YA01]
The Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth takes flight!
Guelph meat science faculty went from five to zero
Federal funding flowed to Protein Industries Canada and plant proteins after 2018 while a $32-billion meat industry went without its share.
CNBC's Official NFL Team Valuations 2026: Here's how the 32 franchises stack up
The average National Football League team is now worth $10.36 billion, up 35% from a year ago.
Entertainment Agency Rep, Journalists in 3 Billion Won Stock Probe
Entertainment Agency Rep, Journalists in 3 Billion Won Stock Probe Authorities probe front-running scheme, 300 stocks, 3 billion won illicit gains
Prediction: Netflix's Advertising Business Passes $6 Billion in 2027
Netflix collects about a dollar a month in ad revenue per viewer. Is that low enough to power another doubling?
How Meta’s Billions for Teen Mental Health Can Make a Real Difference
Instead of repeating the mistakes they made with tobacco money, states should set clear goals — and measure outcomes through dashboards accessible to all — for programs addressing social media’s harms to teenagers.
Macau wants to be a ‘business city,’ not just a gaming hub—and it’s spending $16 billion to help it get there
IPIM board president Alex Che Weng Keong says the casino hub can use its regulatory autonomy and Portuguese heritage to become a "tech city."
Cleveland County judge denies preliminary injunction in Norman Entertainment District lawsuit
On Tuesday, a Cleveland County Judge issued a preliminary injunction, pausing construction on Norman’s $1 billion Rock Creek Entertainment District.
Canada just hit U.S. goods with new tariffs. Here's what it could mean for NY
Canada is hitting about $20 billion in U.S. goods with new tariffs. Here's what an economist says it could mean for New York.
Blackstone explores sale of ZO Skin Health, sources say
Investment firm Blackstone is looking to sell medical-grade skincare company ZO Skin Health, which could be valued at around $2 billion in any deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
Northrop Grumman lands defense contracts worth $1.37B
Falls Church-based defense supplier Northrop Grumman landed two major military contracts collectively worth $1.37 billion.
As Latino shoppers hunkered down, Cook County businesses lost $1.26 billion
Federal immigration enforcement cost Cook County businesses an estimated $1.26 billion in lost sales last year as Latino residents sharply curtailed trips outside their neighborhoods to shop and dine.
As Latino shoppers hunkered down, Cook County businesses lost $1.26 billion
Federal immigration enforcement cost Cook County businesses an estimated $1.26 billion in lost sales last year as Latino residents sharply curtailed trips outside their neighborhoods to shop and dine.
Pritzker, Eyeing 2028, to Help Midterm Democrats With a $20 Million Group
JB Pritzker, the billionaire governor of Illinois, is continuing to expand his national footprint, this time by using a new group to target Republicans in battleground races.
Apple Falls Before Ternus's First $54 Billion iPhone Test
Tomorrow's launch must turn premium hardware into evidence that Apple can close its AI gap.
Norman Rock Creek Entertainment District faces lawsuit over tax increment financing
Norman's Rock Creek Entertainment District is a $1 billion project set to open in 2028, including a multipurpose performance venue, restaurants, retail space, office development, a hotel, and multiple housing options.
Rock Creek Entertainment District in Norman faces another legal battle
A judge will hear arguments on Tuesday as the legal battle over the $1.1 billion Rock Creek Entertainment District in Norman heads back to court.
Louisiana concrete companies join forces to capitalize on construction boom
Two Louisiana concrete suppliers are joining forces with two out-of-state companies to pursue large-scale construction projects as billions of dollars in new industrial and technology investment move … Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
AZ's R&D chief Barr touts internal 'science success story' after IL-33 antibody's stellar showing in COPD
With a detailed data drop that AstraZeneca’s R&D chief described as an internal “science success story,” the British Big Pharma has secured an FDA priority review for what it believes could become a flagship biologic in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In detailed results from the late-stage Oberon and Titania trials—first teased in March and detailed in full at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona this week—the drugmaker laid out the extent of its IL-33 inhibitor’s potential to reduce moderate and severe exacerbations in a wide range of COPD patients still struggling with those “lung attacks,” as AstraZeneca’s Sharon Barr, Ph.D., called them, despite using standard-care inhaled therapy. In the headline results, a 300 mg dose of tozorakimab given once every four weeks curbed those moderate and severe exacerbations in the studies’ primary population of former smokers by 29% in the Oberon study and 34% in Titania. In the overall population of both current and former smokers, these reductions were 30% and 29%, respectively, versus placebo and inhaled standard of care. The benefits also extended to clinically meaningful exacerbation reductions in all prespecified patient subgroups and specifically turned up promising signals in patients across a range of blood eosinophil counts, with Barr telling Fierce that “it’s the details that make this even more exciting than the high-level results that we’ve already shared.” In fact, during AZ’s tozorakimab poster presentation at the ERS 2026 Congress this past weekend, attendees were so enamored by the data that event organizers had to encourage people to clear the room and look at the other presentations on offer, Barr said in an interview. “I think it really speaks to the fact that there is a lot of buzz around these data because the entire respiratory community has been so desperate for new therapies for these patients,” she explained. The respiratory disease continues to represent a “staggering unmet medical need,” Barr said, highlighting the COPD exacerbations that the Oberon and Titania studies homed in on, which she added carry a greater mortality risk than a heart attack. “When a patient has a severe exacerbation, only about half of them are still alive within three and a half years,” she pointed out. As for tozorakimab specifically, Barr christened the molecule “an AstraZeneca science success story,” harkening several years back to the point at which researchers began to explore IL-33 as a driver of respiratory disease, and COPD in particular. At the same time, “there was still so much that wasn’t understood,” she admitted, highlighting the insight that IL-33 signals through both ST2 and EGFR through the RAGE pathway, a discovery Barr attributed to AstraZeneca's own scientists. Understanding the need to tackle both pathways in COPD—and aware of competitor candidates in the hopper, including one that bound ST2—the company ultimately had to make some “courageous decisions,” Barr said. These included taking a prior COPD molecule offline and going back to the drawing board to reinvent its potential IL-33 label “to make sure that we had a molecule that could block signaling through both arms of the pathway, through both the reduced form and the oxidized form, knowing that we wouldn’t be first, but striving to be best.” “When we put [tozorakimab] into the clinic, we firmly believed that we had a differentiated molecule, and we saw the other molecules blocking just ST2 or partially blocking IL-33, unable to deliver two positive pivotal studies in COPD,” Barr explained. “We kept marching forward because we believed our molecule was differentiated, and now I think we have the clinical validation that supports that.” Ultimately, AstraZeneca finds itself on much better footing these days when it comes to potential biologic rivals to tozorakimab in COPD. Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent, for instance, is approved to treat COPD exacerbations in patients with high eosinophil counts, but not low ones. Meanwhile, the future has become cloudier for other next-gen IL-33 candidates from Sanofi and Regeneron, as well as Roche, which have suffered trial flops in recent years. One other potential ingredient for AstraZeneca’s success in its duo of studies was that the company was “ambitious in the trial design, willing to look at an all-comers population,” Barr said, “and willing to enroll the most severe patients.” Prior studies for would-be biologics rivals in COPD “avoided enrolling” those patients, she pointed out. She also highlighted the Big Pharma’s painstaking design of exacerbations in its trial, which “gave us a very rigorous readout,” and pointed to “the extra effort and investment” the company put in to understand the effect of mucus plugs in patients. Barr described mucus production as a “key feature in disease diversity,” noting that mucus plugs—obstructing clumps of mucus that block patients’ airways—are associated with worse outcomes in COPD. In its data announcement, AstraZeneca noted that an integrated analysis of Oberon and Titania found tozorakimab “demonstrated a reduction in patients’ mucus plug score,” with the pharma claiming its biologic is the first to deliver such results in a broad COPD population. “So being able to reduce those mucus plugs, we expect, is an important part of driving benefit for patients who are living with COPD,” Barr said. Again touching on the breadth of the study populations, Barr added that tozorakimab “worked across all eosinophil levels in both current and former smokers across all levels of lung function,” which she suggested “really simplifies decision-making for clinicians, and it allows them to offer therapy to the broadest possible patient population.” In the highest patient eosinophil count group, tozorakimab helped chart a 43% reduction in exacerbation risk, which Barr stressed were “unprecedented data.” In the mid-level group, AZ’s drug delivered a 23% reduction and, in the lowest group, a 34% reduction in eosinophils, which Barr said suggests efficacy “in all patient subgroups.” As for AZ’s recent guidance upgrade on the medicine’s sales opportunity, the lift from a $3 billion to $5 billion range to $5 billion plus was informed by multiple factors, Barr said, including the fact that “in 2024, there were multiple competitors, and there aren’t anymore.” Additionally, “we know that this is a massive unmet medical need, and this is a really incredible set of data that we think will be very convincing to the clinical community,” Barr said. Looking ahead to a potential evolution of the COPD treatment landscape, Barr noted that most patients start treatment in the community with an option like a triple therapy, and for them, having an option like AstraZeneca’s inhaler Breztri will remain a “really important part” of that journey. But of the patients uncontrolled on triple therapy, which Barr described as “about half of them today,” just a “small fraction” are currently eligible for biologic therapy, which she emphasized AstraZeneca is working to change. Understanding that COPD is not a “one-size-fits-all” disease, AstraZeneca is also looking at its antibody drug Tezspire for patients with T2-driven disease, and the company continues to think about new mechanisms for tackling COPD through both systemic and inhaled drugs, Barr said.
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