Omeros shares more than doubled to $9.90 in morning trading

International News via Reuters:

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and Omeros have signed a licensing deal worth up to $2.1 billion for the U.S.-based company’s experimental drug, which is being developed for rare blood and kidney disorders, they said on Wednesday.

Omeros shares more than doubled to $9.90 in morning trading.

As part of the agreement, Novo gains exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize Omeros’ drug zaltenibart, designed to inhibit MASP-3 — a protein that acts as a key activator of the alternative pathway of complement.

The complement pathway is a system of proteins in the blood that enhances the immune system’s ability to fight infections.

Omeros is eligible to receive up to a total of $2.1 billion, including $340 million upfront and near-term milestone payments.

The company had said in March it began enrollment for late-stage trials studying the drug for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare blood disorder in which part of the immune system attacks and damages the red blood cells and platelets.

Zaltenibart has shown several potential advantages over other alternative pathway inhibitors currently in development or on the market, the companies said.

The drug was safe and well tolerated in the trials.

After the deal closes, expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, Novo aims to start a global program for zaltenibart in PNH and explore development in a range of other rare blood and kidney disorders.

Omeros remains focused on securing approval for its other experimental drug, narsoplimab, this quarter.

The company is pursuing approval for narsoplimab in the U.S. and in Europe to treat transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy, a complication that can arise after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Omeros also retains certain rights to its preclinical MASP-3 programs unrelated to zaltenibart, including the ability to develop and commercialize small-molecule MASP-3 inhibitors with limited indication restrictions.

Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar

The tragedy, which killed 16 and critically injured several more, spotlights Bangladesh’s poor record on industrial safety

International News via Reuters:

Toxic gas and a locked door that barred access to a roof were responsible for most of the deaths in a devastating fire in a Bangladesh garment factory and an adjoining chemical warehouse, a fire official said on Wednesday.

The tragedy, which killed 16 and critically injured several more, spotlights Bangladesh’s poor record on industrial safety, despite improvements following incidents in 2012 and 2013 that drew global attention to unsafe working conditions.

Thick smoke rose from the charred structure amid cooling operations by firefighters a day after the blaze on the third floor of a four-storey building in Dhaka, the capital, quickly engulfed the warehouse packed with plastic and chemicals.

“The victims could not escape because the roof door was locked,” said fire service official Talha Bin Jashim. “Most of them died from inhaling toxic gas, rather than burns.”

He added, “There’s still smoke because of the stored chemicals, and the toxic fumes are making it difficult to bring the fire under control.”

Dozens of relatives waited outside the blackened building, some clutching photographs of those missing. Identification of the bodies, many badly burned, is being carried out at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The government has launched an inquiry to determine the cause of the fire and identify those responsible for safety lapses.

Many workers in garment factories nearby fell ill from inhaling the smoke that shrouded the site in the capital’s Mirpur area. Authorities later ordered all surrounding factories to shut down temporarily, as a safety measure.

Many small factories and warehouses in Bangladesh operate with little oversight, though conditions in the garment industry have improved since the 2012 Tazreen Fashions fire and the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse that killed more than 1,200 workers.

The world’s second-largest exporter of apparel, Bangladesh supplies major retailers such as Walmart, Gap, and H&M, employing 4 million people and generating about $40 billion a year, or more than a tenth of GDP.

Fires are common in densely populated Dhaka, often caused by faulty wiring, gas leaks or unsafe storage of chemicals.

In 2021, a similar fire at a food processing factory killed 54, while in 2019, a fire in the capital’s old quarter killed at least 70.

Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

A second vehicle containing explosives was found nearby, but did not detonate and was immediately neutralized

International News via Reuters:

A vehicle exploded outside a shopping mall in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, killing one person and injuring several others, the country’s prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

A second vehicle containing explosives was found nearby, but did not detonate and was immediately neutralized, Interior Minister John Reimberg said, adding that police were carrying out controlled detonations and collecting evidence.

“The devices were professionally manufactured by criminal groups aiming to sow chaos,” Reimberg said in a post on X.

Authorities released surveillance footage from traffic cameras showing the vehicle catching fire before the explosion, with large flames visible coming from the car.

Guayas provincial governor Humberto Plaza, told reporters: “We will hunt down those who perpetrated this act of terrorism. We will capture them, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Authorities urged residents to stay away from the area while investigations continued. Guayaquil is one of the most violent cities in Ecuador.

The explosion follows a similar incident last month, when a vehicle detonated outside the city’s regional jail. No injuries were reported in that case.

Last week, President Daniel Noboa’s car was attacked by protesters with rocks, cracking windows as the vehicle sped past.

Reporting by Alexandra Valencia, Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Michael Perry

Odinga was for decades at the heart of Kenyan politics, striking alliances with former foes, serving as prime minister for a term, and inspiring lifelong loyalty from his base

International News via Reuters:

Kenya’s veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was imprisoned while fighting one-party autocracy and ran five times unsuccessfully for the presidency, has died at the age of 80, sources close to him said on Wednesday. 

A family source told Reuters he had died in India receiving medical treatment, while the hospital where he died in Kochi city said he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Odinga was for decades at the heart of Kenyan politics, striking alliances with former foes, serving as prime minister for a term, and inspiring lifelong loyalty from his base, particularly among fellow Luos in the west and in the capital Nairobi. 

Odinga’s ability to work with rivals earned him the nickname “Agwambo” (“mysterious one”) in the Luo language. 

On Wednesday, Kenya’s President William Ruto visited the Odinga family home in Nairobi’s wealthy Karen suburb.

Odinga’s supporters called him simply “Baba” (“father” in Swahili), refusing to leave his side even when he was accused of exploiting ethnic divisions for political gain or of sealing deals with opponents to access power.

As news of his death reached the streets, hundreds of supporters from the Nairobi slum of Kibera, many crying and waving twigs to ward off bad omens, made their way in a procession to Odinga’s home.

His legacy as a democracy activist over the years helped seal two of the country’s most important reforms: multiparty democracy in 1991 and a new constitution in 2010.

Odinga led protests after the disputed 2007 election that plunged Kenya into its most serious political violence since independence. About 1,300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes in the battles.

The western Luo tribe targeted then-President Mwai Kibaki’s ethnic Kikuyu group, Kenya’s largest and most economically dominant tribe, in much of the fighting. 

Violence also followed the 2017 vote.

In 2017, Odinga told Reuters: “Each community believes that they are not safe unless their man is at the top”.

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

Odinga was the son of Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first vice-president under independence leader Jomo Kenyatta. The rivalry between the elder Kenyatta and Odinga continued with their sons. 

Despite his family’s extensive business interests, Odinga spent his early years as a left-wing firebrand, naming his son Fidel in honour of the Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro. 

Odinga was first imprisoned in 1982 after a coup attempt against then-President Daniel arap Moi, whose government jailed, tortured and murdered opponents. He served a total of nine years in jail, six in solitary confinement. 

“Detention is a good school. You learn to reflect and think,” Odinga told Reuters in 2007. “You also learn tolerance, to be forgiving, particularly against your adversaries.” 

Odinga first won his parliamentary seat in 1992, which included Kibera. He held the constituency until 2013, his bright orange Hummer mobbed whenever it bounced into the muddy lanes. 

He lost his first presidential bid in 1997 against Moi. Four years later, Odinga formed a coalition government with him, a move some saw as opportunistic but he said was pragmatic.

“Democratisation is not like an instant coffee you brew and drink at the same time. It is a process,” Odinga said at the time. 

The pattern continued, with Odinga breaking and building alliances with rivals over the next two decades. 

He became prime minister in 2008 in a national unity government headed by his former foe Kibaki, as a part of a deal to end the bloodletting.

Following the 2017 election, he reconciled with his opponent, President Uhuru Kenyatta in what is dubbed the “Handshake”. 

He then lost the 2022 election to Ruto and challenged the result, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.

PROTESTS

Undeterred, Odinga, by then in his late seventies, launched street protests against the government, only to strike a pact with Ruto in 2024 and effectively leaving Kenya without an official opposition.

Some observers saw the move as cynical but to many, it was part of a familiar playbook he used to the end.

The head of the African Union commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who defeated Odinga in the AU’s leadership contest this year, hailed him as “a steadfast champion of democracy”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was a “towering statesman”. Condolences also came from Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who described his death as a tragedy “not just for Kenya, but for all of us.”

Reporting by George Obulutsa and Ammu Kannampilly in Nairobi; Additional reporting by Ruth Nesoba, Vincent Mumo, Edwin Okoth, Humphrey Malalo, Emma Ogao, Monicah Mwangi in Nairobi; Jose Devasia in KochiEditing by Andrew Cawthorne