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Johnson & Johnson to acquire Ambrx, advancing Next Generation Antibody Drug Conjugates to transform the treatment of cancer

Portfolio of Clinical and Preclinical Programs, Including Lead Product Candidate ARX517, a Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-Targeting Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC), Strengthens Johnson & Johnson’s Commitment to Oncology Innovation

 

Novel Technology Platform Sets Stage for the Development of Next Generation ADCs and Targeted Oncologic Therapeutics

 

 

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced on Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ambrx Biopharma, Inc., or Ambrx (NASDAQ: AMAM), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary synthetic biology technology platform to design and develop next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), in an all-cash merger transaction for a total equity value of approximately $2.0 billion, or $1.9 billion net of estimated cash acquired.

 

Ambrx is advancing a focused portfolio of clinical and preclinical programs designed to optimize efficacy and safety of its candidate therapeutics in multiple cancer indications, including ARX517, its proprietary ADC targeting PSMA for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); ARX788, its proprietary ADC targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) for metastatic HER2+ breast cancer; and ARX305, its proprietary ADC targeting CD-70 for renal cell carcinoma.

 

“Ambrx’s ADC technology offers unique advantages in the conjugation of stable antibodies and cytotoxic linker payloads, which results in engineered ADCs that effectively kill cancer cells and limit toxicities,” said Yusri Elsayed, M.D., M.H.Sc., Ph.D., Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncology, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. “The results seen to date with ARX517 in mCRPC are promising and represent a potential first- and best-in-class targeted therapy for the treatment of this aggressive disease. In addition, Ambrx’s pipeline and ADC platform present exciting future opportunities to deliver enhanced, precision biologics as we look to transform the treatment of cancer and improve patients’ lives.”

 

The planned acquisition presents a distinct opportunity for Johnson & Johnson to design, develop and commercialize targeted oncology therapeutics. Ambrx’s proprietary ADC technology incorporates the advantages of highly specific targeting monoclonal antibodies securely linked to a potent chemotherapeutic payload to achieve targeted and efficient elimination of cancer cells without the prevalent side-effects typically associated with chemotherapy. Building on a legacy of innovation in oncology and in prostate cancer, J&J scientists intend to work with Ambrx researchers, accelerating the Phase 1/2 APEX-01 study (NCT04662580) of ARX517 in advanced prostate cancer, while progressing a pipeline of novel ADC product candidates.

 

“With a median overall survival of less than two years and novel hormonal therapies moving earlier in the disease, significant unmet need remains in the treatment of mCRPC,” said Margaret Yu, M.D., Prostate Cancer Disease Area Leader, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. “We see a unique opportunity to harness the potential of this innovative ADC platform, and with our deep understanding of prostate cancer, deliver a targeted PSMA therapeutic for addressing the growing needs of the more than 185,000 patients living with metastatic castration-resistant disease today1.”

 

Ambrx was spun out of The Scripps Research Institute in 2003. The company pioneered the expanded genetic code technology platform for incorporation of synthetic amino acid (SAA) into proteins at any selected site using industry standard cell lines. SAAs allow engineered precision biologics with site-specific, homogenous and stable conjugation, overcoming limitations of traditional conjugation technologies.

 

About the Merger Agreement

Under the terms of the transaction, which was approved by the Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors, Johnson & Johnson (the Company) will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Ambrx’s common stock for $28.00 per share in cash through a merger of Ambrx with a subsidiary of the Company. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first half of 2024, subject to receipt of Ambrx shareholder approval, as well as clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions. The approximately $1.9 billion estimated net value of the transaction is based on Ambrx’s estimated fully diluted shares outstanding, less estimated net cash at the time of closing. Following completion of the transaction, Ambrx’s common stock will no longer be listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

 

The accounting treatment as a business combination or asset acquisition will be determined on or before the expected close of the transaction.

 

About Johnson & Johnson

AtJohnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/ or at www.janssen.com/johnson-johnson-innovative-medicine. Follow us at@JNJInnovMed.

 

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” regarding the acquisition of Ambrx. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Johnson & Johnson or Ambrx. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that the closing conditions for the acquisition will not be satisfied, including the risk that clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act or other applicable antitrust laws will not be obtained; uncertainty as to the percentage of Ambrx stockholders that will vote to approve the proposed transaction at the Ambrx shareholder meeting; the possibility that the transaction will not be completed in the expected timeframe or at all; potential adverse effects to the businesses of Johnson & Johnson or Ambrx during the pendency of the transaction, such as employee departures or distraction of management from business operations; the risk of stockholder litigation relating to the transaction, including resulting expense or delay; the potential that the expected benefits and opportunities of the acquisition, if completed, may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; challenges inherent in product research and development, including uncertainty of clinical success and obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success for new products; manufacturing difficulties and delays; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; economic conditions, including currency exchange and interest rate fluctuations; the risks associated with global operations; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including tax laws and global health care reforms; adverse litigation or government action; changes in behavior and spending patterns or financial distress of purchasers of health care services and products; and trends toward health care cost containment. In addition, there will be risks and uncertainties related to the ability of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies to successfully integrate the programs and employees/operations and clinical work of Ambrx. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors and the general risks associated with the respective businesses of Johnson & Johnson and Ambrx can be found in Johnson & Johnson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2023, including in the sections captioned “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” and in the company’s most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and under the caption “Risk Factors” in Ambrx’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 13, 2023, and elsewhere in Ambrx’s reports filed with the SEC. Copies of these filings, as well as subsequent filings, are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com, https://Ambrx.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson or Ambrx. Neither Johnson & Johnson nor Ambrx undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments, except as required by law.

 

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This press release may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed acquisition of Ambrx by Johnson & Johnson. In connection with the proposed transaction, Ambrx intends to file relevant materials with the SEC, including Ambrx’s proxy statement in preliminary and definitive form. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF AMBRX ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING AMBRX’S PROXY STATEMENT (WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE), BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and stockholders of Ambrx are or will be able to obtain these documents (when they are available) free of charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or free of charge from Ambrx on Ambrx’s website at https://ir.Ambrx.com.

 

Participants in the Solicitation

Johnson & Johnson and Ambrx and their respective directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be “participants” in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders of Ambrx in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Johnson & Johnson’s directors is set forth in Johnson & Johnson’s Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for its 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 15, 2023; and information about Johnson & Johnson’s executive officers is set forth in Johnson & Johnson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2023, which was filed with the SEC on February 16, 2023. Information about Ambrx’s directors and executive officers is set forth in Ambrx’s Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for its 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 28, 2023. To the extent holdings of Johnson & Johnson’s or Ambrx’s securities by their respective directors or executive officers have changed since the amounts set forth in such 2023 proxy statements, such changes have been or will be reflected on Initial Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 or Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Additional information concerning the interests of Ambrx’s participants in the solicitation, which may, in some cases, be different than those of Ambrx’s stockholders generally, will be set forth in Ambrx’s proxy statement relating to the proposed transaction when it becomes available.

______________________________

1 Decision Resources (DRG) 2023 Report

Contacts

Media contacts:
Brian Kenney

215-620-0111

Suzanne Frost

416-317-0304

Investor contact:
Raychel Kruper

investor-relations@its.jnj.com

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Rocket Pharmaceuticals to present at 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

CRANBURY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT), a fully integrated, late-stage biotechnology company advancing a sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare disorders with high unmet need, on Wednesday announced that Gaurav Shah, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, at 3:45 p.m. PT.

 

A webcast of the presentation will be available under “Events” in the Investors section of the Company’s website at https://ir.rocketpharma.com/.

 

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) is a fully integrated, late-stage biotechnology company advancing a sustainable pipeline of investigational genetic therapies designed to correct the root cause of complex and rare disorders. Rocket’s innovative multi-platform approach allows us to design the optimal gene therapy for each indication, creating potentially transformative options that enable people living with devastating rare diseases to experience long and full lives.

 

Rocket’s lentiviral (LV) vector-based gene therapies target hematologic diseases and consist of late-stage programs for Fanconi Anemia (FA), a difficult to treat genetic disease that leads to bone marrow failure and potentially cancer, Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a severe pediatric genetic disorder that causes recurrent and life-threatening infections which are frequently fatal, and Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), a monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia.

 

Our adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based cardiovascular portfolio includes a late-stage program for Danon Disease, a devastating heart failure condition resulting in thickening of the heart, an early-stage program in clinical trials for PKP2-arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), a life-threatening heart failure disease causing ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, and a pre-clinical program targeting BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a heart failure condition that causes enlarged ventricles.

 

For more information about Rocket, please visit www.rocketpharma.com and follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube and X.

 

Rocket cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

Various statements in this release concerning Rocket’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Rocket’s expectations regarding the safety and effectiveness of product candidates that Rocket is developing to treat Fanconi Anemia (FA), Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), Danon Disease (DD) and other diseases, the expected timing and data readouts of Rocket’s ongoing and planned clinical trials, the expected timing and outcome of Rocket’s regulatory interactions and planned submissions, Rocket’s plans for the advancement of its Danon Disease program, including its planned pivotal trial, and the safety, effectiveness and timing of related pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, may constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions. You should not place reliance on these forward-looking statements, which often include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “will give,” “estimate,” “seek,” “will,” “may,” “suggest” or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Although Rocket believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Rocket cannot guarantee such outcomes. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, Rocket’s ability to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its business operations and take steps to ensure the safety of patients, families and employees, the interest from patients and families for participation in each of Rocket’s ongoing trials, our expectations regarding the delays and impact of COVID-19 on clinical sites, patient enrollment, trial timelines and data readouts, our expectations regarding our drug supply for our ongoing and anticipated trials, actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of its product candidates, Rocket’s dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of product candidates, the outcome of litigation, and unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Rocket’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed February 28, 2023 with the SEC and subsequent filings with the SEC including our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and Rocket undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts

Media
Kevin Giordano

media@rocketpharma.com

Investors
Brooks Rahmer

investors@rocketpharma.com

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PARTS iD announces delisting from NYSE American

CRANBURY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — PARTS iD, Inc. (NYSE American: ID) (“PARTS iD” or “the Company”) on Wednesday announced that it received notification from the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) that the NYSE has initiated proceedings to delist the Class A common stock of PARTS iD, Inc. from NYSE American.

 

The NYSE also indefinitely suspended trading of the Company’s Class A common stock effective Dec. 26, 2023. PARTS iD does not intend to appeal the NYSE’s determination.

 

The NYSE determined that the Company is no longer suitable for listing and will commence delisting proceedings pursuant to Section 1003(c)(iii) of the NYSE American Company Guide in light of the disclosure on Dec. 26, 2023 that the Company filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

 

About PARTS iD, Inc.

PARTS iD is a technology-driven, digital commerce company focused on creating custom infrastructure and unique user experiences within niche markets. Founded in 2008 with a vision of creating a one-stop eCommerce destination for the automotive parts and accessories market, we believe that PARTS iD has since become a market leader and proven brand-builder, fueled by its commitment to delivering a revolutionary shopping experience; comprehensive, accurate and varied product offerings; and continued digital commerce innovation.

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements made in this press release relating to future financial or business performance, conditions, plans, prospects, trends, or strategies and other such matters, including without limitation, expected future performance, consumer adoption, anticipated success of our business model or the potential for long term profitable growth, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, when or if used in this press release, the words “may,” “could,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “confident,” “look forward,” “optimistic” and similar expressions and their variants, as they relate to us may identify forward-looking statements. We operate in a changing environment where new risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks that may affect us, particularly those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, which have had wide-ranging and continually evolving effects. We caution that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which change over time, often quickly and in unanticipated ways.

 

Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, including without limitation: the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has affected and may continue to affect our business; competition and our ability to counter competition, including changes to the algorithms of Google and other search engines and related impacts on our revenue and advertisement expenses; the impact of health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on our business and the actions we may take in response thereto; disruptions in the supply chain and associated impacts on demand, product availability, order cancellations and cost of goods sold including inflation; difficulties in managing our international business operations, particularly in the Ukraine, including with respect to enforcing the terms of our agreements with our contractors and managing increasing costs of operations; changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, product pricing, projected costs, prospects and plans; the outcome of actual or potential litigation, complaints, product liability claims, or regulatory proceedings, and the potential adverse publicity related thereto; the implementation, market acceptance and success of our business model, expansion plans, opportunities and initiatives, including the market acceptance of our planned products and services; developments and projections relating to our competitors and industry; our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others; our ability to maintain and enforce intellectual property rights and ability to maintain technology leadership; our future capital requirements; our ability to raise capital and utilize sources of cash; our ability to obtain funding for our operations; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the effects of current and future U.S. and foreign trade policy and tariff actions; disruptions in the marketplace for online purchases of aftermarket auto parts; costs related to operating as a public company; the Company’s intention to continue operations during the Chapter 11 Cases; the Company’s ability to conduct its business in an uninterrupted manner during the Chapter 11 Cases; the potential outcome and timing of the delisting of the Company’s Class A common stock; the Company’s ability to obtain timely approval of the Bankruptcy Court with respect to motions filed in the Chapter 11 Cases; and the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors.

 

Further information on the factors and risks that could cause actual results to differ from any forward-looking statements are contained in our filings with the SEC, which are available at https://www.sec.gov (or at https://www.partsidinc.com). The forward-looking statements represent our estimates as of the date hereof only, and we specifically disclaim any duty or obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Contacts

Investors:

Brendon Frey

ICR

ir@partsidinc.com

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Conveyer Policy APIs bring federal rules into businesses’ data ecosystems

TopicLake™ technology unlocks regulatory insights to put companies in control of compliance processes.

 

 

HACKENSACK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Conveyer, a revolutionary AI platform transforming the way that businesses operationalize data, today announced the launch of its Curated Data Repository, a powerful Data as a Service (DaaS) platform that organizes, summarizes, and filters large and complex datasets to enable seamless knowledge discovery.

 

The first dataset accessible via the Curated Data Repository is Conveyer’s U.S. Policy Data solution, a unique, constantly growing resource comprised of more than 16,000 regulations drawn from over 400 federal agencies and sub-agencies.

“Our U.S. Policy Data enables businesses to drink from the full firehose of regulatory policy information in real time, while providing the clear structure and trustworthy data analytics needed to make regulatory information immediately actionable across the enterprise,” says Carolyn Parent, Conveyer CEO.

 

“That’s a game-changer for government agencies, contractors, and enterprises — and a clear sign of the transformative power of Conveyer’s Curated Data Repository.”

 

A suite of flexible APIs enable organizations to rapidly unlock the full power of Conveyer’s U.S. Policy Data, drawing on a constantly expanding dataset that already incorporates over 16,000 enacted and proposed federal rules dating back to 2020. Conveyer also announced the first free-to-use public version of a subset of its U.S. Policy Data, allowing enterprise customers and other interested parties to explore the solution’s capabilities online via a powerful Microsoft Power BI front end.

 

Using Conveyer’s proprietary TopicLake™ technology, the Curated Data Repository automatically digests federal regulations into over 328,000 unique Topics, each representing an individual concept or idea. The Topics and underlying text are then further processed to yield over 10.2 million unique GenAI artifacts — including summaries, keywords, categories, auto-generated Q&As, and sentiment analysis — which can be seamlessly activated across existing data ecosystems to enable powerful analytics or create intuitive new tools for non-specialist users.

 

Conveyer’s Curated Data Repository and U.S. Policy Data bring key benefits including:

  1. Democratized data access, making data insights accessible across the organization for strategic decision making, advanced analytics, compliance assessments, and more.
  2. Dependable data quality, with robust pre-processing to validate and vet content before it reaches users, customers, or downstream AI models.
  3. Transparent data provenance, enabling insights to be activated with confidence and seamlessly verified by compliance teams and legal specialists.
  4. Effortless implementation, with IT teams able to connect to policy data using existing headcount and infrastructure, enabling end-users to seamlessly self-serve data insights.

 

Using the Curated Data Repository, organizations of all kinds can now seamlessly integrate Conveyer’s U.S. Policy Data into their operations. Key use cases include accelerating product innovation by enabling teams to navigate complex new privacy or security regulations; increasing the speed of legal discovery across disparate datasets; and helping clinicians and healthcare administrators to improve patient care by amplifying the value of existing tools.

 

“For any business impacted by federal rulemaking, the U.S. Policy Data Source is a game-changer,” Parent says. “We’re turning unstructured federal rules and policies into structured data — and our new APIs enable that data to be harnessed across organizations to enable innovation, support compliance, and drive strategic planning at all levels.”

 

A subset of Conveyer’s U.S. Policy Data can be explored online, and the Conveyer team is available to discuss off-the-shelf and bespoke API implementations to give enterprises instant access to the full range of federal rulemaking.

 

About Conveyer

Conveyer is a revolutionary AI platform that ingests organization-wide data and quickly generates high-trust, high-accuracy topics, metatags, and new data for AI models. With 80% of the world’s content unstructured, Conveyer makes the power of AI more accessible across a wide band of high-value use cases.

 

Conveyer’s Data Transformation product is already trusted and deployed in production by Fortune 100 companies across a variety of sectors, including automotive, industrial, materials, technology, and utilities. These products are a powerful demonstration of the core technology: the ability to transform data using AI into high-trust business applications that dramatically reduce costs and support development of future AI applications by creating pre-packaged, cleaned training data for company-wide digital transformation.

Find out more at www.conveyer.com

Contacts

Ben Whitford

ben.whitford@conveyer.com

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IFAS acquires 16th location with new office in Lancaster Co., Pa.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Pennsylvania and New Jersey-based Integrated Foot and Ankle Specialists (IFAS) ended 2023 with the successful acquisition, which closed on Dec. 29, 2023, of Quarryville Family Foot Care in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

 

This transaction marked the fifth acquisition of the calendar year, the first full calendar year of operations for the company.

 

 

During 2023, IFAS also completed the acquisitions of Foot & Ankle Center of Chester County, Berkshire Podiatry, Bryn Mawr Foot & Ankle Center and Lancaster Podiatry. These transactions grew the business by a total of 11 office locations in Pennsylvania, as well as allowing us to serve patients through relationships with Jefferson Health, Mainline Health, Tower Health, and additional health systems and nursing facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As of the close of 2023, IFAS operates 16 locations in eight counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, employing over 80 doctors and staff members and is expected to continue to expand with our active pipeline for 2024.

 

IFAS commenced operations in 2022 as a joint venture between Avonwood Capital Partners and Mereo Capital Partners, two suburban Philadelphia-based Private Equity firms with a background in healthcare investing and operations. The joint venture focuses on the continuum of foot and ankle care, as a patient’s ability to ambulate and stay active is a key indicator of overall health and wellness.

 

IFAS is in active discussions to expand our network of practices in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with potential doctor-partners in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

 

For more information, find us at https://integratedfootandankle.com/join-our-network/.

Contacts

Teresa Ciaccio, tciaccio@integratedfootandankle.com

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Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition voluntarily recalls select batches of Nutramigen Hypoallergenic Infant Formula Powder because of possible health risk

  • All product tested by MJN was confirmed negative for contaminants.
  • No illnesses or adverse consumer reactions have been reported to date.
  • No Nutramigen liquid formulas or any other Reckitt nutrition products are impacted.

 

 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN), a producer of nutrition products, announced today that it has voluntarily chosen to recall from the U.S. market select batches of Nutramigen Powder, a specialty infant formula for the dietary management of Cows Milk Allergy (CMA) in 12.6 and 19.8 oz cans, due to a possibility of contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii in product sampled outside the U.S. All product in question went through extensive testing by MJN and tested negative for the bacteria.


Cronobacter bacteria can cause severe, life-threatening infections (sepsis) or meningitis (an inflammation of the membranes that protect the brain and spine). Symptoms of sepsis and meningitis may include poor feeding, irritability, temperature changes, jaundice (yellow skin and whites of the eyes), grunting breaths and abnormal movements. Cronobacter infection may also cause bowel damage and may spread through the blood to other parts of the body.

 

Nutramigen in 12.6 and 19.8 oz containers was manufactured in June 2023 and distributed primarily in June, July, and August 2023. Based on the limited availability of the remaining stock of this special infant formula, it is believed that much, if not all, of the products recalled in the United States have been consumed. There are no reports of illnesses or adverse events to date. The products were distributed through retail stores nationwide. The batches in question can be identified by the batch code on the bottom of the can.

 

The following recalled product batch codes and can size associated with each batch were distributed in the U.S.:

  • ZL3FHG (12.6 oz cans);
  • ZL3FMH (12.6 oz cans);
  • ZL3FPE (12.6 oz cans);
  • ZL3FQD (12.6 oz cans);
  • ZL3FRW (19.8 oz cans); and
  • ZL3FXJ (12.6 oz cans).

 

The products have a UPC Code of 300871239418 or 300871239456 and “Use By Date” of “1 Jan 2025”.

 

No other U.S. distributed Nutramigen batches or other Reckitt products are impacted

Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition manufactured additional products during this finished product campaign and distributed them outside of the U.S. Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition will be contacting the regulatory authorities in each of those countries to determine the proper disposition of those products.

 

If parents have any questions, they should consult with their pediatrician or contact us at 866-534-9986 24/7 or by email at consumer.relations@rb.com

 

We are committed to the highest level of quality and safety and it is for this reason that we have taken this measure. Other testing of the batches in question tested negative for Cronobacter and other bacteria.

 

The health and safety of infants is our highest priority. All of our products undergo rigorous and industry-leading quality tests and checks to ensure that they meet or exceed all standards set by regulatory bodies, including the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is for this reason that we have confidence in the safety and quality of every infant formula we make.

 

What Consumers Should Do if They Purchased This Product

Consumers who purchased Nutramigen should check the bottom of the can to identify whether the batch number is affected. Product with the batch codes listed above should be disposed of, or contact us for a total refund. Please contact us at 866-534-9986 or by email at consumer.relations@rb.com and we will help verify if this product was impacted. If you have any concerns, contact your health care provider. For more information, please visit us at www.enfamil.com.

Contacts

Media Contact: US.CA.MEDIAandPR@reckitt.com

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After testings, South Korean Internet giant Naver plans to let companies use its Rookie office helper robots to deliver meals and parcels

—  Korean tech company ready to export IT systems that direct automated workforce through the 5G cloud

 

 

Song Jung-a / Financial Times:

 

 

At a Starbucks in the futuristic headquarters of Naver, South Korea’s biggest Internet company, a line of robots is on standby to fetch coffee for the company’s employees.

 

About 100 robots on wheels — called Rookies — wander around the offices, carrying out simple tasks such as delivering meals and parcels and testing the boundaries of human interaction with machines in one of the first examples of a robot-friendly building.

PHOTO: Naver’s Rookie robots act as office helpers as they roam from floor to floor in its futuristic headquarters in South Korea © Naver

 

Naver has been experimenting with integrating service robots into office life for more than a year in the 36-storey building on the southern outskirts of Seoul. These “brainless” robots roam around the building, rolling through security gates and taking lifts, powered by Naver’s cloud system that enables them to see, recognize and operate seamlessly.

 

The company is now keen to export the cutting-edge 5G-based cloud robotics technology, with many countries in Europe as well as Japan and Saudi Arabia expressing interest in benchmarking its system.

 

“There are not many companies globally who can offer this high-quality robot service at this scale,” said Seok Sang-ok, chief executive of Naver Labs, Naver’s research and development unit, in an interview with the Financial Times.

 

“This requires a lot of seamless co-operation with many of our affiliates. Naver’s wide-ranging services, including search engines, online shopping and social networking, have allowed us to experiment with various robot technologies and services, all in-house.”

 

Like Amazon, Naver sells products online and operates a sizeable cloud business. It spends about a quarter of its annual sales on R&D with Naver Labs in charge of developing artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving. Naver’s “digital twin” technology — a 3D scan of cities and buildings — also helps the robots to recognise their surroundings and find the most efficient routes. As they operate with just a normal video camera and without advanced processors and navigation tools, it costs much less to make them, Naver says.

 

“We’ve tested the robots for more than a year and now have a lot of data on human interaction with robots,” said Seok.

 

“We’ll focus on exporting IT services, as I believe our robotics technology using the cloud will become much better in two to three years.” Park Sang-soo, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, said Naver faced export challenges, with the complexity of its technology meaning it was not as easy as “selling just a fleet of robots.”

 

“Naver’s robots are working well in its offices because the building was designed for that purpose, but it should consider the non-technological factors of the target countries such as their IT infrastructure and regulation to sell its platform solution,” he said.

 

South Korea has a thriving domestic robot industry, most of them being deployed in factories, as the country sees AI and robots as key to alleviating labour shortages in the face of the world’s lowest birth rate.

 

According to the International Federation of Robotics, South Korea has the highest “robot density” in the world, with 1,000 industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees, compared with 399 in Japan, 322 in China, and 274 in the US. Robots are widely used in Korea’s car and semiconductor plants, but they are also becoming an increasingly visible part of day-to-day life.

 

Sales of service robots in South Korea are expected to almost double from $530mn this year to $1bn in 2026, an average annual increase of 23 per cent, according to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information. Naver is looking to sell a combination of systems for industrial and server robots. Last month, it opened Asia’s largest data centre to accelerate its push into AI and the cloud. In the vast building in Sejong City that houses 600,000 servers, multiple robots carry heavy servers between IT warehouses and server rooms, while self-driving shuttles are in operation for employees and visitors to the campus.

PHOTO: Naver uses a variety of robots in its vast new data centre, opened in November in Sejong City © Naver

 

“We have a full portfolio [of technologies] that can cover many new use cases,” said Albert Wang, Naver Labs’ principal researcher.

 

“A lot of companies focus on single applications. We are really looking at the system levels. We have multiple types of robot systems co-operating together.”

 

Despite being a technology powerhouse, South Korea remains weak in software development, with its tech exports mostly confined to hardware such as chips, electronics and electric vehicle batteries. Naver is trying to change that picture, with exports of IT services like digital twins, robotics and AI tools, although it has so far failed to gain a foothold abroad with its powerful search engine. Earlier this year, the country won its first major high-tech export contract to the Middle East to build and operate digital twins or virtual versions of five cities including Riyadh, Medina and Mecca, for five years. It is also looking to offer tailored versions of its latest ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence model to foreign governments concerned about US data controls.

 

“We are just beginning to export our IT services, which can become the country’s new export driver,” said Seok. “We aim to become the leading exporter of the country’s IT services in the medium to long term.”

 

 

 

— Techmeme

​

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Business Culture Digital - AI & Apps Education Lifestyle Regulations & Security Science Technology

Hollywood unions against AI to recreate actors’ performances set precedent for future labor movements to prevent automation

—  The year was dominated by talk of what artificial intelligence could do — and what it could do better than most humans.

 

 

Angela Watercutter / Wired:

 

 

Revolt against the machines began at Swingers. And at Bob’s Big Boy, where for weeks Drew Carey picked up the tab. Members of the Writers Guild of America, (WGA), met at both Los Angeles-area diners frequently during their 148-day strike, which hinged on protecting Hollywood’s scribes from being overrun by the march of artificial intelligence.

 

Members of the WGA were just a small part of the resistance. There were others. The Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, soon joined them on the picket lines, together forming a formidable uprising against the perceived threat of AI.

 

What each union was seeking was different. Writers wanted to make sure AI couldn’t be trained on their work or manipulate it without their say-so; actors wanted guardrails on how the technology could be used to recreate their performances. Both parties ended up setting a tone for how labor movements in the future could push back against encroaching automation.

“It is interesting that the Hollywood strikes became the highest-profile example of workers resisting AI in 2023,” says Brian Merchant, author of this year’s Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, a book about the Luddite movement.

 

At the same time, he adds, the unions’ confrontations with studios came at a time when the boom in AI technology was causing a lot of folks to be critical of Silicon Valley and new tools primed to take their jobs. Originally, the WGA’s AI stipulations didn’t seem like they’d be hotly contested demands—then they became a central issue. “Workers and unions have been fighting automation and certain uses of AI in the workplace for years, of course, but the Writers Guild were among the first to do so after the rise of OpenAI and ChatGPT,” Merchant says. Ultimately, it was the first big face-off between humans and AI, he adds, and “the humans won.”

 

Their timing couldn’t have been better. Throughout 2023, many trades and professions, from painters to coders and beyond, found themselves vulnerable to being replaced by machine learning. IBM’s CEO estimated out loud that some 7,800 jobs at the company could be done by bots in the next five years. A Goldman Sachs report from late March estimated nearly 300,000 jobs globally could be affected by automation. Radiologists, journalists(gulp), tax preparers—everyone, it seemed, spent at least part of 2023 wondering if robots were coming for their jobs.

 

That, in turn, led to increased interest in what protections organized labor could provide workers, even as some unions, like the United Auto Workers and Teamsters, seemed to fall behind on addressing AI’s potential to encroach on jobs. In a recent piece for Harvard Business Review, MIT engineering professor Yossi Sheffi argued short-sightedness on these issues affects both workers and employers, since disengaged staffers could become part of a workforce that’s even less prepared if and when automation comes to their industry.

 

Sheffi wrote the piece in September, when both SAG and WGA were deep into their strikes. At the time, he noted that other industries should “take to heart” what was happening in Hollywood. “Resolving these issues [between the actors and writers and the studios] will take time, but at least in this case, the parties have started the process before AI has become an industry mainstay,” he wrote. “But other unions don’t seem to be facing up to the ways technological advances will change jobs.”

AS THE ADVANCE of AI marched on throughout 2023, it became clear that unions were only part of the resistance. Authors, worried that large language models had been trained using their books, filed a handful of lawsuits against OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and others. So did visual artists, against Stable Diffusion,

 

Midjourney, DeviantArt, and more. None of those suits has reached any kind of conclusion, and some argue copyright claims aren’t the way to stop the bots from absorbing creative work, but the suits did turn the courts into yet another battlefield, in addition to picket lines, on which humans pushed back against AI incursion.

 

By the end of 2023, governments entered the fray. In early November, US president Joe Biden signed an executive orderattempting, among other things, to curtail AI’s impact on human work and provide “federal support for workers facing labor disruptions, including from AI.” Unions, including SAG, praised the move, which came as world leaders were heading to the UK for the AI Safety Summit, where, as my colleague Will Knight wrote, they sought to contain the threats of machine learning while also harnessing its power.

 

That has always been the tricky part. From weavers to writers, lots of people use machines to improve their work. Automation helps! As AI boosters will tell you, the technology can cultivate new forms of creativity. People can write books alongside AI, create new styles of visual art, build infinite Seinfeld generators. Some Hollywood writers use the tools for basic brainstorming tasks. Fear comes in when brainstorming evolves into a studio head asking ChatGPT to write a new movie about a cat and a cop who are best friends. No scribes needed.

 

Currently, chatbots can’t whip up fully formed scripts, or novels, or Caravaggios, but the tech is evolving so quickly it feels all but imminent. When Sam Altman was briefly ousted from OpenAI in November, there was all kinds of speculation that the company was developing its tech too quickly, that its for-profit ambitions had overwhelmed its altruistic intentions. Altman is now back at the head of his company, but whether or not OpenAI is still evolving too quickly remains to be seen. But Microsoft does now have a nonvoting board seat.

 

Funny thing about that: Microsoft actually offered jobs to OpenAI staffers during that brief period when Altman was voted off the island. So did Salesforce. OpenAI employees all but told Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to go screw, but the sentiment stood as a reminder that while AI is poised to take many jobs, it also creates jobs in AI. The “learn to code” crowd has all new ammo. Even Biden’s executive order was clear about the fact that the US government wanted to attract the best and brightest in the field.

 

But that’s job creation, not job displacement. New technologies create jobs all the time, but with AI, some of those jobs pay pennies. What’s more, AI can also ask you to train it to do your job before picking up your tools. Going forward, the likelihood that AI will displace many entry-level jobs while creating a few highly skilled gigs seems high. The biggest questions in AI right now nearly all revolve around what these machines are learning from people, whether it’s human skill or human bias.

 

 

 

— Techmeme

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Culture Entertainment News International & World Lifestyle Science

‘Kalki 2898 AD,’ ‘Aarya’ teams, Siddharth Roy Kapur on India’s 2023: ‘A Collective Euphoria and Catharsis’

The teams behind upcoming sci-fi epic “Kalki 2898 AD,” hit Disney+ Hotstar series “Aarya” and prolific producer Siddharth Roy Kapur spoke with Variety on what has been an eventful 2023 for the Indian entertainment landscape. 2023, the first full year of business since the pandemic, saw Indian audiences return in droves to cinemas.

 

It was also a golden year for streaming with all the major Indian platform delivering global hits.

 

Roy Kapur had a packed year with Season 2 of Emmy-nominated Indian space and nuclear program-themed “Rocket Boys” on SonyLIV, epic war film “Pippa” making a direct-to-streaming debut on Prime Video and comedy-drama film “Tumse Na Ho Payega” bowing on Disney+ Hotstar.

 

“What we haven’t had is a theatrical release this year, which feels a little strange,” Roy Kapur told Variety, adding that “Deva,” an action thriller directed by Rosshan Andrrews and produced by Roy Kapur Films and Zee Studios, with Shahid Kapoor and Pooja Hegde in the lead, is gearing for an October 2024 theatrical release during the Dussehra holiday frame.

 

“It’s been an interesting year of water getting to find its own level after the pandemic, so things are still a little bit in flux overall. But the good part is that all the obituaries that were being written about the theatrical model dying out and people not coming back to cinemas, that’s been disproved completely this year, which is great,” Roy Kapur said.

 

“The human need to connect is is something that we maybe didn’t think was as strong as audiences have shown us it is,” Roy Kapur added. There’s a limit to being absorbed in the black mirror that you hold in the palm of your hand, or the one that you’re sitting at home and staring into, you need to go out and connect with other people, you need to enjoy shared experiences. And the good part is, across [various Indian] languages this year, we had movies that give them that sense of celebratory enjoyment in a cinema hall.”

 

Amita Madhvani, producer of Emmy-nominated Disney+ Hotstar series “Aarya,” now in its third season, recounted the experience of watching Karan Johar’s hit film “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” in the cinema. “The audience was singing, they sang the songs together, people repeated dialogues. People were clapping, people stood up and matched the steps. It was mad. I think this is just what we grew up on, this is what we know, let people connect. It’s a feeling,” Madhvani said.

 

“Aarya” director Ram Madhvani added, “It’s a collective euphoria, and a collective catharsis. And I think that’s really what has helped, apart from the movies also being stuff that you want to see.”

 

Next up for the Madhvanis is series “The Waking of a Nation,” set against the backdrop of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, an infamous event in Indian colonial history. It has just completed principal photography.

 

Producer Swapna Dutt, along with her sister Priyanka, have been consumed during the pandemic years with big-budget sci-fi epic “Kalki 2898 AD,” directed by “Mahanati” filmmaker Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, with a cast led by Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani.

 

“People are wanting to go back for the experience of it, laugh together, enjoy the momentum, go to event films,” said Swapna Dutt. “At the same time, are we are we in the mood to go to an average film at this point of time? No, because there’s also a lot of other interesting content on OTT [streaming], that challenge is still there. Probably back in the early days, when we didn’t have [streaming] even a mediocre film would do decent box office numbers, which is not the case now. That’s the clarity that we’ve got post-pandemic.”

 

The pandemic has also made the Indian audience language agnostic. “Kalki 2898 AD,” for example, will release in 2024 in the four south Indian languages – Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam – and north Indian language Hindi, with plans to release it in some international languages as well. “Aarya,” where Sushmita Sen plays the title role, was released across multiple languages and found audiences in all of them.

 

“‘Aarya’ has definitely penetrated, because as a character, she is not barred by any language. No language has controlled her emotion, what she’s trying to say, what’s happening to her, the entire world around Aarya,” said Amita Madhvani.

 

On the lessons from the streaming business over the last year, Ram Madhvani said, “We’ve been at the receiving end of the viewers’ patience. And I think that time is not the same that it was two to three years ago. That means that they’re asking for shorter episodes, they’re not asking for longer stuff – they want to keep it moving.” Madhvani added that streaming platforms provide a safeguard for stars who have a theatrical career and allow them to make off-mainstream choices.

 

Looking back at 2023 and anticipating 2024, Swapna Dutt hails the fact that the Indian industry is in the process of coming together as one big industry rather than several fragmented ones, with a flow of talent, technicians and finance between them. “Today, we’re talking about Indian cinema on par with world cinema, which is just the best thing for all of us in the last few years,” Swapna Dutt said. “Kalki 2898 AD” made a splash at the San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year.

 

Priyanka Dutt added, “Audiences are always changing, and as filmmakers, we have to be true to what is exciting me as a filmmaker, to put my heart, my energy, my whole hard work in it.”

 

“It’s important to just keep our minds open and flexible, and be driven by the stories rather than be driven by formulae,” Roy Kapur said.

 

 

 

— Variety (EXCLUSIVE) 

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Business Economics Energy Science Technology

Cenntro regains compliance with Nasdaq minimum bid price rule

FREEHOLD, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Cenntro Electric Group Limited (NASDAQ: CENN) (“mCenntro” or “the Company”), a leading electric vehicle technology company with advanced, market-validated electric commercial vehicles, announced today that on Dec. 22, 2023, the Company received written notice from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) that for the ten consecutive business days from Dec. 8, 2023, to Dec. 21, 2023, the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock has been at $1.00 per share or greater. Accordingly, Cenntro has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).

About Cenntro Electric Group Ltd.

Cenntro Electric Group Ltd. (or “Cenntro”) (NASDAQ: CENN) is a leading designer and manufacturer of electric commercial vehicles. Cenntro’s purpose-built ECVs are designed to serve a variety of organizations in support of city services, last-mile delivery, and other commercial applications. Cenntro plans to lead the transformation in the automotive industry through scalable, decentralized production, and smart driving solutions empowered by the Cenntro iChassis. For more information, please visit Cenntro’s website at: www.cenntroauto.com.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. Such statements may be, but need not be, identified by words such as “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “aim(s),” “can,” “would,” “expect(s),” “estimate(s),””project(s),” “forecast(s)”, “positioned,” “approximately,” “potential,” “goal,” “strategy,” “outlook” and similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding assembly and distribution capabilities, decentralized production, and fully digitalized autonomous driving solutions. All such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied in this communication. For additional risks and uncertainties that could impact Cenntro’s forward-looking statements, please see disclosures contained in Cenntro’s public filings with the SEC, including the “Risk Factors” in Cenntro’s Annual Report on Form 10K/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 6, 2023 and which may be viewed at www.sec.gov.

Contacts

Investor Relations Contact:
Chris Tyson

MZ North America

CENN@mzgroup.us
949-491-8235

Company Contact:
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