SABIN VACCINE INSTITUTE RECEIVES $35 MILLION FROM BARDA WITH POTENTIAL OF UP TO $214 MILLION FOR EBOLA SUDAN AND MARBURG VACCINES

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Sabin Vaccine Institute today announced that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded Sabin a multi-year contract with funding potential for up to $214 million to advance the development and production of single-dose vaccine candidates for Ebola Sudan and Marburg virus diseases.

There are currently no licensed vaccines against Ebola Sudan and Marburg viruses, which cause hemorrhagic fever and kill approximately half the people infected.

BARDA, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), will initially invest approximately $35 million to produce up to 100,000 doses of Sabin’s Ebola Sudan virus (ChAd3-SUDV) vaccine. These vaccines may be used as part of ongoing U.S. preparedness efforts and in response to future global outbreaks. 

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EXEO GLOBAL COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF TELISTAR SOLUTIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- EXEO Global Pte Ltd (EXEO Global), the regional headquarters of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed EXEO Group Inc has completed the acquisition of Telistar Solutions Pte Ltd (Telistar), an information technology (IT) service solutions provider.

The acquisition allows EXEO Global to grow its capabilities in managed IT services, via an established solutions provider trusted by government organisations, educational and financial institutions, healthcare providers and large retail brand owners, it said in a statement.

“Following the amalgamation exercise with its subsidiary, ARCO Pte Ltd and acquisition of Telistar, EXEO Global is now set to become a major player in the space of Managed IT Services within Asia Pacific and beyond,” it said.

The company is currently focused on expanding its services and product offerings to the market, to provide greater value to its clients, utilising technology to allow them to enjoy quality Managed IT Services at greater cost efficiencies.

“Telistar is well-known in the space of Managed IT Services in Singapore, and their team possesses strong technical knowledge and solid work ethics which are highly valued by their clients and partners.

“We believe that we are able to work closely together to develop innovative solutions for the market that will create greater value for all our stakeholders, clients and potential customers,” said EXEO Global chief executive officer, Imaizumi Fumitoshi.

Meanwhile, Telistar Solutions managing director, Steven Phua says Telistar has come a long way since it started the business in 2007, and is now ready for its next phase of growth.

“We believe that EXEO Global is the right partner to help the business evolve and grow into a global player in the space of Managed IT Services, and we look forward to being part of this strong, creative team,” he said.

-- BERNAMA

CONAGEN BEGINS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF TYRIAN PURPLE FOR TEXTILE DYE

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- Conagen has commenced the successful scale-up of its sustainable, cost-effective Tyrian purple, a historically coveted and expensive dye found in rare and limited sources in marine nature.

Conagen in a statement said it was the world's first and only biotechnology company commercialising a sustainable Tyrian purple by fermentation.

“As with any biologically-sourced textile dye, this colour-fast compound reduces pollution and carbon footprints when used as an alternative to petrochemically synthesised dyes commonly used in the textiles industry,” it said.

Conagen’s Tyrian purple, produced by precision fermentation and bioconversion, is a natural, sustainable dye ideal for textile companies under pressure to deliver fashions more sustainably and with a reduced global environmental footprint, especially from manufacturing.

“By leveraging Conagen’s bioengineering and commercial manufacturing capabilities, we’re unlocking Tyrian purple’s great potential as an accessible and sustainable dye.

“We expect Tyrian purple to inspire fresh ideas in multiple industries, making this rare and exciting colour more marketable with planet-conscious consumers,” said its senior vice president of innovation, Casey Lippmeier, PhD.

The Tyrian purple technology is based on two of Conagen’s many key bioengineering platforms, which enable accelerated product development timelines for its competitive phenolics, terpenoids, proteins and peptide molecules

The company aims to replace petroleum-based ingredients and reduce carbon footprints with green technologies. Tyrian purple adds to Conagen’s natural colour offerings, including several carotenoids made by fermentation which have been scaled to global production.

-- BERNAMA

GETGO PICKS JUMIO AS KEY TO UNLOCK FASTER DIGITAL ONBOARDING FOR NEW DRIVERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- Jumio, the leading provider of end-to-end identity proofing, risk assessment and eKYC/AML compliance solutions, collaborated with GetGo, the largest car-sharing service in Singapore, to create an ecosystem where mobility is shared and sustainable for all.

Jumio leverages the power of biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest technologies to quickly and automatically verify the digital identities of new GetGo customers.

GetGo prides itself on an extremely user-centric service with a focus on simplicity, flexibility and accessibility, for customers who want to be able to easily book a vehicle whenever and wherever they are using their mobile phones.

“We are proud to work with GetGo to put the freedom to drive in their customers’ hands.

“By using Jumio technology in its eKYC process, GetGo is able to protect its car-sharing ecosystem and provide a seamless digital onboarding experience,” said Jumio vice president of Asia Pacific, Frederic Ho in a statement.

Meanwhile, GetGo group product lead, Lionel Fong said Jumio's facial verification technology allows GetGo to simultaneously raise its trust and safety standards while enhancing its customer onboarding experience.

“We look forward to a long-term partnership with Jumio in pushing the boundaries on bringing a reliable and frictionless verification experience to the masses,” he said.

Jumio offers the most comprehensive identity verification solution on the market, accepting and reliably verifying more than 5,000 ID subtypes from across the globe, including many with non-Latin script, which will enable GetGo to scale its onboarding process throughout Asia Pacific and beyond.

In using Jumio, GetGo is also able to protect its fleet of over 1,700 vehicles against theft. Jumio Identity Verification ensures that the person creating a new GetGo account or requesting a new vehicle is who they claim to be.

-- BERNAMA

DUCK CREEK TO ACQUIRE IMBURSE PAYMENTS, A MODERN PAYMENTS PLATFORM

Strategic acquisition will add digital, out-of-the box payments capabilities to Duck Creek’s comprehensive suite of SaaS solutions for P&C and general insurers


Boston, MA, Jan 6 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duck Creek Technologies (NASDAQ: DCT) (“Duck Creek”), the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of property and casualty (P&C) insurance, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Imburse Payments (“Imburse”), a Swiss-based modern payments platform.

Imburse’s cloud-native software-as-a-service (SaaS) payment solution is built for the insurance industry. The modern payments platform brings greater ease and efficiency into end-to-end insurance transactions. Imburse enables insurance carriers to quickly connect to the entire payments ecosystem at a lower cost, seamlessly integrate with existing finance infrastructure and processes, and manage multiple partners for collections and disbursements, all in one place. The platform is consumer friendly and provides policyholders with both an easy-to-use, flexible payments experience and the ability to quickly and securely direct payments.

As part of Duck Creek, Imburse will continue to serve its existing client base and markets, while accelerating expansion plans for new clients across Europe and into North America and Asia-Pacific. The Imburse platform will continue to be available on a stand-alone basis and will also be fully integrated with Duck Creek’s suite of technology solutions, further enabling carriers’ digital transformation goals with modern tools.

“Imburse has developed a great product for the global insurance industry that is not only easy to integrate and implement, but also gives carriers incredible flexibility and payment choices,” said Mike Jackowski, CEO of Duck Creek Technologies. “Imburse has a strong team that embodies Duck Creek’s core values. They have deep expertise across the payments ecosystem and will help to broaden Duck Creek’s insurance industry leadership.”

“Being part of Duck Creek will further accelerate our mission to simplify how businesses around the world access the global payments ecosystem,” said Oliver Werneyer, CEO of Imburse. “We are excited to be part of Duck Creek and to work jointly to deliver modern technology innovations that transform the insurance industry for the future.”

The acquisition remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the second fiscal quarter of 2023.

Conference Call Information

Duck Creek Technologies will host a conference call today, January 5, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss Duck Creek’s financial results and business outlook, as well as the proposed acquisition of Imburse Payments. A live webcast of the call will be available on the “Investor Relations” page of the Duck Creek’s website at https://ir.duckcreek.com/. To access the call by phone, please go to this link (registration link), and you will be provided with dial in details. To avoid delays, we encourage participants to dial into the conference call fifteen minutes ahead of the scheduled start time. A replay of the webcast will also be available for a limited time at https://ir.duckcreek.com/.

About Imburse Payments

Imburse is a modern payments platform built for insurers. Via a single connection, directly or through a current core system provider, insurance carriers can access the entire global payment ecosystem to collect or pay-out using any technology, any provider, in any market.

About Duck Creek Technologies

Duck Creek Technologies (NASDAQ: DCT) is the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of the property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance industry. We are the platform upon which modern insurance systems are built, enabling the industry to capitalize on the power of the cloud to run agile, intelligent, and evergreen operations. Authenticity, purpose, and transparency are core to Duck Creek, and we believe insurance should be there for individuals and businesses when, where, and how they need it most. Our market-leading solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. Visit www.duckcreek.com to learn more. Follow Duck Creek on our social channels for the latest information – LinkedIn and Twitter.

Attachment

• Imburse Payments

Drake Manning
Duck Creek Technologies
drake.manning@duckcreek.com

Carley Bunch Duck
Creek Technologies
carley.bunch@duckcreek.com

Michael Sharp
Imburse Payments
michael.sharp@imbursepayments.com

SOURCE : Duck Creek Technologies

TESSA THERAPEUTICS PROVIDES STRATEGIC OUTLOOK AND CORPORATE UPDATE FOR 2023

Tessa to prioritize allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy platform following strong safety and efficacy data presented during ASH 2022 SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd. (Tessa), a clinical-stage cell therapy company developing next-generation cancer treatments for hematological malignancies and solid tumors, announced today that the company will prioritize development of its allogeneic “off-the-shelf” CD30.CAR-modified Epstein-Barr virus-specific T-cell (EBVST) therapy platform, while seeking strategic options for the development of its TT11 autologous CAR-T platform with other companies. The decision to prioritize the allogeneic or “off-the-shelf-approach” over the autologous platform followed progress and new data with its TT11X clinical program, including strong safety and efficacy data presented in an oral podium presentation at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The data demonstrated TT11X to be well-tolerated at all dosing levels, eliciting a 79% overall response rate and 43% complete response rate among 14 heavily pre-treated CD30-positve Hodgkin lymphoma patients. These developments are the first of what is expected to be a milestone-rich year ahead for Tessa as the company seeks to build the value of its pipeline to its fullest potential with available resources. “I believe that this strategic refocus on our allogeneic platform positions the company at the forefront of CAR-T innovation during 2023 and beyond,” stated Thomas Willemsen, President and CEO of Tessa Therapeutics. “This optimism is based on the compelling safety and efficacy data that continue to be generated by our TT11X program and the potential patient benefit in treating CD30-positive lymphomas, and potentially solid tumors where there is significant unmet medical need.”   “Our scientific efforts are directed toward enhancing cell performance and durability of our allogeneic EBVST cells - a key challenge faced by current allogeneic approaches, and hence a key differentiating factor in our platform approach.” stated Ivan Horak, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Tessa Therapeutics. Tessa Corporate Update During 2022, Tessa enhanced its executive management team with the appointment of Thomas Willemsen as President and CEO and Wilson W. Cheung as CFO. The company also expanded its board with the addition of Amy Schulman and Darren Carroll from Polaris Partners, which led the company’s US$126M Series A round. Today, Tessa has announced that Steve Krognes will serve as the company’s new Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Krognes, who was previously a director on Tessa’s Board, replaces Dr. Göran Ando as Chairman after nearly three years. “We are very pleased to welcome Steve Krognes to Chairman of the Board. Steve brings a deep background in business development and partnering and will work closely with management as we embark on this important period in the company’s evolution,” stated Mr. Willemsen. “We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Ando for his leadership and contribution to the growth and development of Tessa. He has been instrumental in our company’s success and his influence will be felt at Tessa for years to come.” Tessa Therapeutics at “JPM Week 2023” The Tessa executive team will be in San Francisco during “JPM Week 2023” and available for one-on-one meetings with accredited investors, as well as biotech and pharmaceutical companies to discuss partnering opportunities and to execute its plan for the manufacturing facility divestiture. For those interested in scheduling meetings, please contact Jonathan Nugent (jnugent@tiberend.com) and Daniel Kontoh-Boateng (dboateng@tiberend.com). About Tessa Therapeutics Singapore-based Tessa Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation cell therapies for the treatment of hematological cancers and solid tumors. Tessa’s CAR-T portfolio is highlighted by a proprietary allogeneic “off-the-shelf” cell therapy platform targeting a broad range of cancers in which Epstein Barr Virus Specific T Cells (EBVSTs) are augmented with CD30-CAR. A therapy using this platform, TT11X, is currently the subject of a Phase 1 clinical trial in CD30-positive lymphomas. Tessa’s pipeline also includes TT11, an autologous CD30-CAR-T therapy being investigated as a potential treatment for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma as both a monotherapy (Phase 2) and combination therapy (Phase 1b). For more information on Tessa, visit www.tessacell.com. Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, to the fullest extent applicable) including, without limitation, with respect to various regulatory filings or clinical study developments of the Company. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “target”, “may”, “assume” or similar expressions. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those related to the Company’s financial results, the ability to raise capital, dependence on strategic partnerships and licensees, the applicability of patents and proprietary technology, the timing for completion of the clinical trials of its product candidates, whether and when, if at all, the Company’s product candidates will receive marketing approval, and competition from other biopharmaceutical companies. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company’s products are expressly for investigational use pursuant to a relevant investigational device exemption granted by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, or equivalent competent body. Tessa Therapeutics Investor Contact  Wilson W. Cheung  Chief Financial Officer  wcheung@tessacell.com  Tessa Therapeutics Media Contact  Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.  Bill Borden  +1-732-910-1620  bborden@tiberend.com  Dave Schemelia  +1-609-468-9325  dschemelia@tiberend.com   SOURCE : Tessa Therapeutics Ltd

Executive aviation industry going through biggest transition: Jetex

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- The executive aviation industry is going through its biggest-ever transition with businesses and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) travellers developing a greater awareness of the huge time and convenience benefits it offers, said executive aviation services provider, Jetex.

Its founder and chief executive officer Adel Mardini said the industry has shown its ability to adapt and remain connected to its customers, spurring their desire to travel and discover within an environment of luxury and supreme service.

In the company’s 2022 annual review, Mardini said data from aviation data research firm, Wingx, revealed that 2021 saw 3.3 million private flights globally, the most on record, and the industry is set to grow by 10 per cent in the post-pandemic period.

“A much larger number of ultra-premium passengers continue to fly private rather than returning to first or business class. There has also been an increase in first-time private flyers for both business and family travel.

“As a result, sales demand for both new and pre-owned jets has climbed to record levels and is expected to continue, with 8,400-8,500 new business jet deliveries between 2022 and 2031 at an estimated value of US$264-US$274 billion (US$1=RM4.415),” he said.

Mardini said demand for private air travel is expected to grow further year-on-year (y-o-y), and Jetex is thrilled to be part of the growth.

“With more flexibility, time efficiency, and a larger possible reach, the demand for private air travel is expected to grow further y-o-y and Jetex is thrilled to be part of this ongoing success story,” he said.

Jetex is recognised for delivering flexible, best-in-class trip support solutions to customers worldwide, and its services include private terminals, aircraft fueling, ground handling and global trip planning.

The Jetex 2002 review on the executive aviation industry can be accessed here.

-- BERNAMA