NITV Radio - News 16/7/2025
Coalition of 32 countries calls for global boycott of Israel over Gaza war.
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News.com.au
27 minutes ago
- News.com.au
AFL and Carlton player Zac Williams signs up to become a registered organ donor after finding out his wife already was
Zac Williams has kicked plenty of goals in his career as an AFL star. But a recent shift off the field has lead him to quite a different goal in his personal life. After a converstaion with wife Rachel Lucas, the Carlton Football player has signed up as a registered organ donor with DonateLife. 'I'm probably one of those people that have been oblivious for so long about organ donation,' Williams told Lucas, a former Ballerina, was already a registered organ donor and helped encourage the former GWS Giant to do the same, along with other family and close friends. 'It was actually a very passionate conversation that we had about it,' Williams said. 'Hearing stories from people that have received organ donations and how it saved their lives, was really inspirational. 'I was pretty easily convinced that if you become an organ donor how much you can help others.' The pair, who married in 2024 share two children, son Beckham and daughter Ayla. Williams' decision to register as a donor comes as the median time people currently on the kidney transplant wait list has risen to 2.6 years. The waiting period is dependant on individual's blood type and location, but is significantly higher than the average wait time for a liver transplant which is eight to 12 months. More than 200 Australians have died in the past five years waiting for a transplant, but there are concerns the figure may actually be higher as patients are removed from waitlists as they're conditions worsen. Williams is speaking ahead of DonateLife Week which aims to raise national awareness about organ and tissue donation between July 27 and August 3. Williams even let his good friend and rival AFL player from Port Adelaide Jeremy Finlayson know he'd made the move. Finlayson's wife Kellie was diagnosed with Stage four bowel cancel at 25 years old in 2021, after giving birth to their daughter Sophia just three months prior. Not long later in 2022 after experiencing shortness of breath, it was confirmed the disease had spread to her colon. Kellie has been receiving blood from donors helping save her life following surgeries and ongoing treatment. Williams meanwhile is facing a tough uphill battle with a struggling Carlton side that have slumped to 12th in this season's standings. The 2013 AFL rising star has seen a positional shift at times and has been a consistent member of the squad.
News.com.au
43 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Health Check: Clarity shares surge after ‘fast and sizeable' $203m raise
• Clarity Pharmaceuticals rocket up to 12% after its blitzkrieg placement • Artrya, Botanix and Imricor are among today's quarterly updates • Lumos outlines US market potential Radiopharmaceutical group Clarity Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CU6) has surprised investors with a monstrous $203 million institutional placement, struck at a 15% premium to the company's 15-day average price. None will be more surprised than the short sellers, who account for close to 10% of the company's register. Executive chairman Dr Alan Taylor says the 'fast, well executed and sizeable' placement was to a small group of local instos 'close to the company'. Unusually, no-one blabbed and the shares did not enter trading halt. 'I have never done a deal that fast,' Taylor told Stockhead. 'A week ago, I would have said we were not doing a capital raising, but there was a lot of interest from a very concentrated group . "The raising was struck at $4.20 a share, a 2.2% premium to Friday's close and a hefty 18% more than the 15-day weighted average price. The raising comes amid what Taylor dubs 'an incredibly tumultuous' period driven by US politics, as well as some 'unfortunate news' from local biotechs (read: Opthea's (ASX:OPT) phase III trial failure). In December Clarity shares were promoted to the ASX200, which was good for enhancing Clarity's profile. But it also contributed to shorting activity. Given the share gains, these investors are likely to be buying up stock to cover their positions. Well funded for trials Clarity emerges from the raising with $288 million of cash, which will fund the company's packed slate of trials. These include two phase III prostate cancer imaging trial aimed at US Food & Drug Administration registration, dubbed Amplify and Clarify. Amplify is for patients with biochemical recurrence post treatment; Clarify is for those intended to undertake prostate removal. Both are open label and single-arm (with no placebo and comparison cohort). Another trial on the sidelines, Co-PSMA compares Clarity's tool with the standard-of-care diagnosis methods. The company expects an initial data readout on this one before the end of the year, with Amplify and Clarify readouts next year. Clarity listed in August 2021, raising a record $92 million at $1.40 apiece. The company then went one better in April last year, raising $121 million in a right issue and placement (at $2.55 a share). The raising is one of the biggest in biotech history and the chunkiest since Mesoblast gathered $260 million in a placement in January. Imricor confident of US approval Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR) is confident of US approval of its world-first ablation catheter this year. We say 'world's first' because the device is the only one capable of being guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as opposed to x-ray fluoroscopy. Imricor's submission is by way of a staggered, modular process. The company reports the second module is under review and the company expects to submit the third module in the December quarter. 'We expect a steady string of 510(k) product submissions and approvals , which in turn helps accelerate the commercial launch across the US," the company says. In the March quarter European regulators approved Vision-MR, the company's updated catheter for type 1 atrial flutter, under the Continent's bolstered Medical Devices Regulation. In the June quarter they also gave the nod to Advantage-MR, which enables a physician to use a recording system and cardiac stimulator while ablating. The European gatekeepers also approved Northstar, 'the world's only MRI-native 3D mapping and guidance system.' With June quarter receipts of US$85,000, Imricor is yet to start European sales in earnest. The company posted June quarter outflows of US$4.43 million, taking cash on hand to a handy US$50.3 million. Sales will flow this quarter, says plaque-buster Artrya Still on matters of the heart, Artrya (ASX:AYA) expects first US subscription revenue from its AI-enabled Salix coronary plaque detection platform in the current quarter. An algorithm-based artificial intelligence tool, Salix detects the plaque deposits on x-ray coronary computed tomography angiograph (CCTA) images. Despite vulnerable plaque being the cause of most heart attacks, plaque currently is not routinely reported in cardiac imaging and diagnostics. It's difficult to detect with the naked eye in traditional images. In March the FDA approved Salix Coronary Anatomy (SCA) and Artrya is now seeking the agency's consent for Salix Coronary Plaque (SCP). SCP expands applicability to detecting and quantifying coronary arterial plaque for those patients who have undergone a coronary CT angiogram. The SCP module will integrate automatically with SCA. SCA already is being trialled and in clinical use, by Artrya's customers and partners, generating a symbolic $8000 in receipts of the quarter. Earlier this month Artrya inked its first commercial deal, a five-year minimum $600,000 contract with Tanner Health. Artrya expended $5.44 million for the quarter, taking cash to $11.3 million. The company expects a $4.5-5 million R&D tax refund by the end of the year. Botanix reports 600% revenue uptick Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) reports net revenue of $4.3 million from US sales of Sofdra, compared with $700,000 in the March quarter. The company launched the drug – which treat an excessive sweating condition – in the US in March quarter. The 'net' descriptor is relevant, because some folks were taken aback after the company's July 8 update which showed the extent to which other parties clipped the revenue ticket, Doctors wrote 7053 prescriptions during the quarter, 324% higher than 2975 in the March stanza. The number of prescribers rose 11%, to 2316 from 1075 previously. Launching a drug is not cheap and the company burnt $28.4 million, leaving cash of $64.9 million. Let's be CLIA, it's a big market says Lumos Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) expects its Febridx virus-versus-bacterial diagnostic tool to capture eight million US patients within three years, via its company making distribution deal with Phase Scientific. Announcing the tie up on July 16, Lumos said the deal would deliver US$2 million immediately – cash the company has, indeed, banked – and a total of US$317 million ($487 million) over six years. Detailing the arrangement on Friday, CEO Doug Ward said the company expected a total addressable market of 80 million, assuming the FDA grants a so-called CLIA waiver. The number consists of patients present with acute respiratory infections. 'Our thinking is that in years two to three we will be 2% or 3% of that,' Ward said. 'In year six, that ramps up to 10%.' As in Clinical Laboratories Improvement Act, CLIA requires hospitals and labs to operate under government accreditation Exemption from CLIA enables parties such as GPs and medical assistants to carry out the low-complexity lateral-flow assays. In financial terms, the market increases tenfold, to US$1 billion a year. Lumos is carrying out a trial to support its FDA application and has recruited close to 120 of the bacterial-positive patients required. Coming back to the finances, Phase pays Lumos another US$1.5 million on its CLIA application, expected next month. On FDA approval, Phase pays another US$5 million. That leaves US$308 million over years three to six, which Ward says is based on minimum order volumes. Lumos shares rocketed 133% on the back of the Phase announcement and have held their gains.
The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
Australian supplement company Blackmores facing potential class action lawsuit
Australian supplement giant Blackmores is facing potential class-action lawsuit, over claims that excessive levels of vitamin B6 in some of the company's over-the-counter products have led to serious health complications. Dominic Noonan-O'Keeffe began taking Blackmores supplements in May 2023 to support his health, ahead of the birth of his first child. Unaware the magnesium product contained potentially 'toxic' levels of vitamin B6, he claims he soon developed severe symptoms – including fatigue, headaches, muscle spasms, heart palpitations, and loss of sensation, according to Polaris lawyers. Doctors later diagnosed him with neuropathy linked to excessive B6 intake. Despite stopping in early 2024, Mr Noonan-O'Keeffe claims he continues to suffer daily from nerve pain and other symptoms. Polaris Lawyers – who are representing Mr Noonan-O'Keeffe, the lead plaintiff in the potential class-action – allege they later discovered the magnesium product contained about 29 times the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6. Mr Noonan-O'Keeffe claims he suffered lasting health impacts after taking Blackmores Magnesium+. Picture: Supplied Polaris Lawyers is now investigating a proposed class action against Blackmores for the excessive B6 levels in their vitamin supplements. 'It's alarming to walk down the vitamin aisle of any chemist in Australia and see vitamin supplements containing levels of B6 which are far and above the recommended daily intake,' Polaris Lawyers Founder and Principal Nick Mann said. 'What happened to Dominic is tragic, but he is not alone – we are aware of reports that excessive levels of B6 in over-the-counter supplements may have caused lasting injuries to hundreds of Australians. 'Polaris Lawyers is currently investigating a class action on behalf of anyone who has suffered injuries as a result of excessive levels of B6 as a result of taking Blackmores vitamin supplements.' Blackmores is one of the country's biggest supplement providers. Picture: Supplied In an interim decision report released in June, the TGA acknowledged no clear consensus on a safe vitamin B6 level that fully prevents peripheral neuropathy. The decision proposed rescheduling products containing over 50mg per day as 'Pharmacist Only Medicines.' A Blackmores spokesperson said they were aware of the TGA's proposed changes. 'At Blackmores, we are committed to the highest standards of product quality and consumer safety. All our products, including those containing Vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA),' the spokesperson said. 'This includes compliance with maximum permitted daily doses and the inclusion of mandated warning statements. 'We acknowledge the interim decision issued by the TGA and we will ensure full compliance with its final determination.' Amelia Swan Journalist Amelia Swan joined News Corp as a cadet reporter in 2024. Amelia Swan
