Tag: Business

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Business Science

Merck to hold fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 sales and earnings conference call on February 3

KENILWORTH, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — $MRK #MRK–Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, will hold its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 sales and earnings conference call with institutional investors and analysts at 8:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 3. During the call, company executives will provide an overview of Merck’s performance for the quarter and outlook.

Investors, journalists and the general public may access a live audio webcast of the call on Merck’s website at https://www.merck.com/investor-relations/events-and-presentations/. A replay of the webcast, along with the sales and earnings news release and supplemental financial disclosures and slides highlighting the results, will be available at www.merck.com.

 

Institutional investors and analysts can participate in the call by dialing (833) 353-0277 or (469) 886-1947 and using ID code number 1774118. Members of the media are invited to monitor the call by dialing (833) 353-0277 or (469) 886-1947 and using ID code number 1774118. Journalists who wish to ask questions are requested to contact a member of Merck’s Media Relations team at the conclusion of the call.

 

About Merck

For over 125 years, Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals – including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases – as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

 

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

 

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of the global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

 

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).

Contacts

Media:

Melissa Moody, (215) 407-3536

Investor:

Peter Dannenbaum, (908) 740-1037

Steven Graziano, (908) 740-6582

Categories
Business

Phibro Animal Health Corporation to host Webcast and conference call on December 2021 quarterly financial results

TEANECK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Phibro Animal Health Corporation (Nasdaq:PAHC) expects to announce its second quarter financial results on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, after the market closes. Phibro management will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.

Interested parties are invited to listen to the conference call and view the presentation slides by visiting https://investors.pahc.com. The discussion will also be available by dialing +1 (888) 330-2022 in the U.S. and Canada, or +1 (365) 977-0051 for international callers. Provide the conference ID 3927884.

 

A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event. To access the webcast recording, visit https://investors.pahc.com.

 

About Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Phibro Animal Health Corporation is a diversified global developer, manufacturer and supplier of a broad range of animal health and mineral nutrition products for livestock, helping veterinarians and farmers produce healthy, affordable food while using fewer natural resources. For further information, please visit www.pahc.com.

 

Our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available online at www.sec.gov, www.pahc.com or on request from the company.

Contacts

Damian Finio

Chief Financial Officer, Phibro Animal Health Corporation

+1-201-329-7300

investor.relations@pahc.com

Categories
Business

AM Best affirms credit ratings of National Indemnity Company and its affiliates

OLDWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #insurance—AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aaa” (Superior) of National Indemnity Company (Omaha, NE) and its affiliates (collectively referred to as National Indemnity). These companies are subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) [NYSE: BRK A and BRK B]. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings of National Indemnity reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its very strong operating performance, very favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

 

National Indemnity’s management team continues to manage the underwriting cycle successfully. The group’s overall operating results have outperformed AM Best’s reinsurance composite, as measured by a broad range of profitability metrics, over a prolonged time period. National Indemnity maintains extensive financial resources and expertise that places the company in a strong position to seize unique market opportunities and occasionally absorb surplus declines, usually related to temporary unrealized investment losses. In addition, Berkshire provides substantial financial flexibility, diversification and long-term competitive advantages associated with its non-insurance businesses. Furthermore, the ratings reflect the benefits of being part of Berkshire, which includes the proven investment acumen of the organization.

 

Partially offsetting these strengths is National Indemnity’s exposure to higher levels of equity investments compared with other players in the market. These higher levels of equity investments can result in volatility in the group’s profitability and capitalization; however, AM Best’s concern is alleviated somewhat by the superior long-term performance of the group’s investment portfolio and its strong liquidity.

 

The FSR of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICRs of “aaa” (Superior) have been affirmed for National Indemnity Company and its following affiliates:

  • Columbia Insurance Company
  • National Fire & Marine Insurance Company
  • National Liability & Fire Insurance Company
  • National Indemnity Company of Mid-America
  • National Indemnity Company of the South
  • Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company
  • Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company

 

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

 

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

Gregory Dickerson
Associate Director
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5161
gregory.dickerson@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Carlos Wong-Fupuy
Senior Director
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5344
carlos.wong-fupuy@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Communications
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Categories
Business Culture

Visual Lease appoints Guy Zerega as Chief Revenue Officer

Company continues to prepare for its next phase of growth

 

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Visual Lease, the #1 lease optimization software provider, today announced that Guy Zerega, Senior Vice President of Sales, will advance to become the organization’s first Chief Revenue Officer. In his new role, Zerega will continue to oversee the company’s Sales, Account Management and Alliance Partner teams.

 

“When Guy first joined our company in June 2021, it was the perfect time to bring on an experienced sales leader,” said Visual Lease’s founder and CEO, Marc Betesh. “Organizations across all industries are becoming increasingly aware of the risks and opportunities associated with their lease portfolios. As a result, the demand for our software is growing, and Guy’s leadership will be instrumental in our ability to continue to meet that demand.”

 

Before joining Visual Lease, Guy worked at Veriff where he managed their global sales organization and business expansion. During his tenure, he helped the company receive the largest Series B investment in the identity verification space to date. Prior to his time at Veriff, Guy served as Executive Vice President of Revenue at Stack Overflow where he grew their revenue organization from three to more than 130 people.

 

“Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to help scale revenue organizations from the ground up,” said Zerega. “I was drawn to Visual Lease because of its unique position. Having been around for 25 years, it is a clear market leader with a very solid foundation. As more organizations prepare to transition to the new lease accounting standards, they will look to adopt the required technology. I’m looking forward to helping Visual Lease continue on its path as the software partner of choice for lease accounting, management and optimization.”

 

In 2021, Visual Lease further strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Erinn Tarpey as Chief Marketing Officer and Alexandra Betesh as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy.

 

Visit Visual Lease’s career site to learn more about career opportunities.

 

About Visual Lease

Visual Lease is the #1 lease optimization software provider. We help organizations become compliant with FASB, IFRS and GASB lease accounting standards, while simultaneously improving the financial, legal and operational performance of their leases. Our easy-to-use SaaS platform is embedded with more than three decades of best practices from major corporations and leading industry professionals. Our award-winning solutions are used by 900+ organizations to manage 500,000+ real estate, equipment and other leased assets. Committed to ongoing innovation and unparalleled customer service, Visual Lease helps organizations transform their lease compliance requirements into financial opportunities. For more information, visit visuallease.com.

Contacts

Erica Bonavitacola

Visual Lease

T+1 732 860 4838

ebonavitacola@visuallease.com

Katie Vroom

Gregory FCA

T+1 212 398 9680

kvroom@gregoryfca.com

Categories
Business

Fortitude Re enhances reinsurance capabilities

  • Forms new Bermuda multi-line reinsurer
  • Acquires U.S. life insurer
  • Obtains Reciprocal Jurisdiction Reinsurer status

 

HAMILTON, Bermuda & JERSEY CITY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fortitude Re announced today the formation of a Bermuda multi-line reinsurer and the acquisition of a U.S. life insurer. In addition, Fortitude Re’s subsidiary, Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd. (“FRL”), Bermuda’s largest multi-line reinsurer, obtained approval to operate as a Reciprocal Jurisdiction Reinsurer, the first such approval to be granted by the Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”). As a result, Fortitude Re can now offer the flexibility to transact through multiple entities and structures to help its clients achieve their objectives.

Today’s announcement follows other recently announced transactions that introduce additional capabilities to Fortitude Re’s franchise, including the acquisition of two U.S.-domiciled third party administrators from American International Group, Inc. (Press Release) and the pending acquisition of Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation and its in-force legacy variable annuity block from Prudential Financial, Inc. (Press Release).

 

New Bermuda Reinsurer and U.S. Reinsurance Platform

Effective January 1, 2022, Fortitude International Reinsurance Ltd. (“FIRL”) commenced operations as a Class 4 and Class E reinsurer, licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. FIRL will complement Fortitude Re’s other operating entities and focus on reinsurance solutions for insurers domiciled outside the U.S.

 

In addition, on January 3, 2022, Fortitude Re completed its acquisition of Rx Life Insurance Company (to be renamed Fortitude U.S. Reinsurance Company) (“Fortitude Re U.S.”) from Heritage Life Insurance Company. Fortitude Re U.S., which will serve as a U.S. reinsurance platform for Fortitude Re, is an Arizona domiciled life and annuity insurer widely licensed in the U.S. This acquisition will enable Fortitude Re to offer clients a U.S. domiciled reinsurance option.

 

Reciprocal Jurisdiction Reinsurer Status

Effective January 1, 2022, the TDI granted FRL authority to operate as a Reciprocal Jurisdiction Reinsurer. FRL expects to seek similar status in other selected U.S. jurisdictions in the near future.

 

FRL’s Reciprocal Jurisdiction Reinsurer status allows U.S. ceding companies to take full statutory credit for reinsurance ceded to FRL without any regulatory prescribed collateral requirements, effectively treating FRL for these purposes as a U.S. domiciled reinsurer. FRL is among the first reinsurers to obtain such status in the U.S.

 

“The transactions and regulatory approval represent an important step in the evolution and expansion of the capabilities Fortitude Re is able to offer to clients to solve their most complex challenges. With the establishment of FIRL, we expect to grow our international reinsurance business in Asia and the U.K. and European markets,” said James Bracken, Fortitude Re CEO.

 

Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor and Merger & Acquisition Services, Inc. served as a financial advisor to Fortitude Re in connection with the acquisition of Fortitude Re U.S. Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. served as legal advisor to Fortitude Re in connection with FRL’s application for Reciprocal Jurisdiction Reinsurer status.

 

About Fortitude Re

The Fortitude Re group includes Bermuda’s largest multi-line composite reinsurer with unique competitive advantages and expertise to design bespoke transactional solutions for legacy Life & Annuity and P&C lines. Fortitude Re is an independent company backed by a consortium of sophisticated investor groups led by The Carlyle Group and T&D Insurance Group. Fortitude Re holds approximately $45 billion in invested assets as of June 30, 2021. For more information, visit www.fortitude-re.com. Follow Fortitude Re on LinkedIn.

Contacts

Media:
Lara Watson, lara.watson@fortitude-re.com

Categories
Business Lifestyle

City of Detroit 911 to implement NICE Inform Elite to improve service to citizens and communities

911 communications center for largest city in Michigan aims to improve productivity, staff performance and satisfaction, and elevate 911 service with assistance from NICE technology

 

HOBOKEN, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #NICE—NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) today announced that the City of Detroit (Michigan) 911 communications center will be deploying NICE Inform Elite to digitally transform processes around tracking performance metrics, performing quality assurance reviews, and reconstructing incidents. Through this transformation, the 911 center expects to improve productivity, enhance staff performance and satisfaction and provide better service to citizens and communities. Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan and the 27th most populous U.S. city with over 639,000 residents.

NICE Inform Elite features Intelligence Center dashboards with dozens of real-time metrics that offer instant visibility into what’s happening in the 911 center, and why. Metrics can be viewed on an overall 911 center level, or by individual telecommunicator, the agency served (police, fire, EMS) or incident priority or type. The solution automatically consolidates data from various 911 center systems into meaningful metrics which are presented on intuitive dashboards. Managers can drill through metrics to the underlying 911 incident recordings for context.

 

Art Thompson, Chief Information Officer, City of Detroit, said, “With over a million 911 calls received annually, our call volume is on par with the top 10 US cities. Citizens call us during their most vulnerable moments. We want to do everything we can to take 911 to the next level. NICE’s performance metric capabilities are going to help us hold ourselves accountable. We’re also looking to NICE’s solutions to help us better self-reflect and support our front-line telecommunicators, so they can be successful in their careers. We plan to use the dashboards to better understand the types of calls telecommunicators are taking, and their impact, so we can further enhance staff performance and satisfaction and the level of service we provide to citizens.”

 

Chris Wooten, Executive Vice President, NICE, said, “As a single system of record that sits at the center of the 911 data ecosystem, our NICE Inform Elite solution brings all incident-related data together from multiple systems to give 911 centers a single view of the truth and automate incident reconstructions and Quality Assurance. We give 911 managers the operational intelligence and free up the time they need to provide targeted training and coaching to telecommunicators, improve incident response and keep communities safer.”

 

The Detroit 911 center, which currently partners with an outside agency to randomly quality check calls, will also use NICE technology to take a more proactive approach to 911 Quality Assurance (QA). When metrics reveal calls where telecommunicators need additional assistance, managers will be able to assign these calls for QA review directly through the dashboard. Additionally, the center will focus more heavily on reviewing medical calls, thanks to NICE Inform Elite’s ability to use computer-aided dispatch (CAD) incident data to automatically pull specific types of high priority calls for quality assurance review.

 

When a full review of incidents is necessary, NICE Inform Elite can also streamline incident reconstruction. The solution automatically pulls 911, dispatch and first responder radio communications and associated CAD incident data into a timeline view, so managers are able to synchronously replay incidents exactly as they happened.

 

“We run pretty lean for a 911 center,” Thompson added. “Anywhere we can improve processes by having technology assist and cut down on man hours is monumental. With our current technology, we have to go into multiple systems to retrieve recordings and understand what happened. By migrating to NICE, we’ll be able to capture everything in one system for a complete picture, which will significantly cut down on time spent investigating incidents and help us answer questions faster. NICE Inform Elite checks all the boxes for us.”

 

To learn more about NICE Inform Elite:

 

About NICE Public Safety

With over 3,000 customers and 30 years’ experience, NICE delivers end-to-end digital transformation, improved collaboration, efficiency and cost-savings to all types of public safety and criminal justice agencies, from emergency communications centers and police departments to prosecutors and courts. Our Evidencentral platform (which includes NICE Inform, NICE Investigate, NICE Justice and E-Request) features an ecosystem of integrated technologies that bring data together to improve incident response, accelerate investigations, streamline evidence sharing and disclosure, and keep communities and citizens safer.

 

About the Detroit 911 Center

Staffed by 30 highly trained licensed Public Safety Emergency Medical Technicians and Medical First Responders, the Detroit 911 Center operates 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, serving 639,000 city residents within a 143 square mile area, and responding to over a million police, fire and emergency medical calls from the public annually. Detroit is the largest city in the midwestern state of Michigan and the 27th most populous U.S. state. More info at https://detroitmi.gov/departments/detroit-fire-department/communications

 

About NICE

With NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), it’s never been easier for organizations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the world’s #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact center – and beyond. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform – and elevate – every customer interaction. www.nice.com.

 

Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Ltd. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICE’s marks, please see: www.nice.com/nice-trademarks.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Wooten, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE Ltd. (the “Company”). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “believe,” “expect,” “seek,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “project,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of changes in economic and business conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; competition; successful execution of the Company’s growth strategy; success and growth of the Company’s cloud Software-as-a-Service business; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company’s products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; the Company’s dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners;, cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company; the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company’s reports filed from time to time with the SEC, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law.

Contacts

Corporate Media Contact
Christopher Irwin-Dudek, +1 201 561 4442, ET, chris.irwin-dudek@nice.com

Investors
Marty Cohen, +1 551 256 5354, ET, ir@nice.com
Omri Arens, +972 3 763 0127, CET, ir@nice.com

Categories
Business Technology

PARTS iD, Inc. announces participation in 2022 ICR Conference

CRANBURY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — PARTS iD, Inc. (NYSE American: ID) (“PARTS iD” or “Company), the owner and operator of, among other verticals, “CARiD.com,” a leading digital commerce platform for the automotive aftermarket, announced today that Chief Executive Officer, Nino Ciappina, and Chief Financial Officer, Kailas Agrawal are participating in the 2022 ICR Conference.

 

Management is scheduled to present on Monday, January 10, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. A live webcast of the presentation will be available at https://www.partsidinc.com/.

 

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, management believes that the Company is 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.

Contacts

Investors:
Brendon Frey

ICR

ir@partsidinc.com

Media:
Erin Hadden

FischTank PR

partsid@fischtankpr.com

Categories
Business Science

Cyclenium Pharma and Vuja De Sciences announce oncology drug discovery collaboration

The companies will identify and advance proprietary lead drug candidates uniquely suited to prevent metastatic recurrence.

 

NATICK, Mass. & HOBOKEN, N.J. & MONTREAL — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Cyclenium Pharma, Inc. (“Cyclenium”), an emerging pharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents based on their proprietary macrocyclic chemistry, and Vuja De Sciences, Inc. (“Vuja De”), a biotechnology startup dedicated to discovering therapies that target the unique vulnerability of undetected disseminated tumor cells before they can cause deadly metastatic cancer recurrence, have announced today the signing of a drug discovery collaboration agreement. The companies will screen and optimize lead candidates to advance treatments uniquely suited for preventing cancer metastatic recurrence, the biggest unmet need in oncology.

The collaboration will exploit Vuja De’s proprietary anti-metastatic progression in vitro and ex vivo drug discovery screening platform and Cyclenium’s proprietary QUEST™ Library of next generation synthetic small-molecule macrocycles and associated optimization expertise to identify clinical candidates effective against dormant disseminated tumor cells for the prevention of metastatic cancer recurrence. Vuja De will be responsible for all screening efforts, while Cyclenium will be responsible for all medicinal chemistry efforts to generate new optimized macrocyclic compounds by employing its unique CMRT™ Technology.

 

“We are very excited about entering this collaboration with Vuja De,” stated Helmut Thomas, Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Scientific Officer of Cyclenium. “We are confident that our CMRT™ Technology and proven success in the macrocycle area combined with the innovative anti-metastatic progression platform and excellent research team at Vuja De will enable the discovery and development of novel macrocyclic therapeutic agents to effectively control metastatic progression.”

 

“We highly appreciate Cyclenium’s expertise in the macrocycle area and their technology platform that is based on over 20 years of pioneering experience in small molecule macrocyclic chemistry,” said David Warshawsky, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vuja De. “We are very pleased to work with Cyclenium on identifying and developing novel game-changing drug candidates that prevent metastatic recurrence, the most urgent need of most cancer patients,” he added.

 

About Cyclenium Pharma

Cyclenium Pharma is an emerging, privately held pharmaceutical research and development company exploiting its proprietary next generation CMRT™ macrocyclic drug discovery technology for the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutic agents to address areas of unsatisfied medical need. Cyclenium is creating value through progression of internal programs in oncology, infectious diseases and inflammation/pain. In addition, Cyclenium is providing its extensive experience and exploring its CMRT-based QUEST™ screening library in risk-sharing partnerships with leading academic and research driven non-profit organizations, as well as collaborations with innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies world-wide seeking to modulate unique and difficult disease targets in diverse therapeutic areas. For more information see: www.cyclenium.com.

 

About Vuja De Sciences

Vuja De is a biotechnology startup company dedicated to discovering and developing therapies that target the unique vulnerability of undetected disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) before they can cause deadly metastatic cancer recurrence. This vulnerability of DTCs stems from their dependence on a unique phenotype that includes stress adaptation, survival & dormancy, which we have coined “Metastatic Endurance” (ME). ME enables DTCs to persist undetected at secondary sites like “ticking time-bombs” and eventually start to rapidly divide and form overt deadly tumors. We successfully created the first-ever cell-based and ex vivo drug screening platform that finds drugs that target ME. We are using the largely adolescent, orphan disease, osteosarcoma, as the best proof of concept model for developing anti metastatic progression drugs for many cancers such as breast, melanoma and kidney. We are testing repurposed drugs that have previously been in clinical trials, as well as novel preclinical drugs. For more information, please visit vujade-life.com.

 

About Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive cancer of the bone and is the most common type of bone cancer in children and teens. Since metastatic recurrence has shared biological mechanism in many other cancer types, therapies that show promise in osteosarcoma can be developed in parallel for many other cancer types, such as breast, kidney and melanoma. Despite successful control of the primary osteosarcoma tumors and follow-up chemotherapy, metastasis continues to be the most common cause of mortality. The last 30 years have brought little improvement in survival outcomes for children with osteosarcoma, despite intensification of therapy. Due to lack of improved outcomes, new approaches to therapy are highly needed. Furthermore, if targeted therapeutics are found to prevent metastasis in this cancer, a strong biological rationale would exist for the evaluation of such a therapy in other human cancers.

Contacts

MEDIA:

David Warshawsky, Ph.D.

CEO, Vuja De Sciences

dw@vujade-life.com
+1-857-204-3628

Helmut Thomas, Ph.D.

President, CEO & CSO

Cyclenium Pharma Inc.

hthomas@cyclenium.com
+1-819-571-4296

Categories
Local News Science

The McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development and Mindset Pharma collaborate to develop psychedelic medicines

PRINCETON, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — The McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development, LLC (MSRD), a member of the global Otsuka family of pharmaceutical companies, and Mindset Pharma Inc. (Mindset) (CSE: MSET) (FSE: 9DF) (OTCQB: MSSTF) today announce a collaboration that will support the development of psychedelic medicines. MSRD has made a strategic investment to support the discovery and development of novel chemical entity assets of Mindset, a drug discovery and development company focused on creating optimized and patentable next-generation psychedelic medicines to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders with unmet medical needs.

“Exploring multiple paths is essential as we work to address the unique needs of individuals living with mental health conditions,” said Robert McQuade, Ph.D., president, McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development, LLC, and chief strategic officer, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. “We look forward to collaborating with Mindset on these assets and are hopeful that medical psychedelics could be approved to treat mental illness in the future.”

 

MSRD, which identifies and supports early-stage opportunities that can change the landscape of treatments for mental illness and renal disorders, will financially and operationally support the development of two families of Mindset’s novel medical psychedelic compounds through Phase 1a and Phase 1b clinical trials. MSRD has made an upfront cash payment of $5 million USD to Mindset and under the terms of the agreement, MSRD and Mindset may agree to expand the collaboration to continue to develop the compounds as pharmaceutical products.

 

In addition, Mindset has granted MSRD a right of first refusal with respect to any asset sale, exclusive licensing or collaboration opportunities pertaining to the drugs and a right of first negotiation with respect to a merger, acquisition or asset sale related to Mindset, both in exchange for the upfront payment, further collaboration, and funding of the development of Mindset’s novel compounds. MSRD also has the ability to potentially receive single-digit percentage royalty payments under certain circumstances when the right of first refusal is not consummated or the agreement is terminated.

 

“It is our great pleasure to collaborate with MSRD, a member company of Otsuka, to further the development of two of our families of novel psychedelic compounds. We look forward to leveraging their extensive experience in drug development and CNS indications to accelerate and de-risk our development pathway as we prepare to launch clinical trials,” said James Lanthier, chief executive officer of Mindset. “There is a high unmet need for innovative treatments of mental illness. This collaboration further validates our belief that optimized and patentable next-generation psychedelic compounds will be the future of treatments for mental illness.”

 

Mr. Richard Patricio, chairman of Mindset’s board, added, “This transformational transaction is a validation of what our team has accomplished over the last several years. We are ecstatic that Otsuka has chosen to collaborate with Mindset in the novel psychedelic drug development space and see this as a pivotal moment in Mindset’s maturation. Our team is excited to work closely with MSRD to help meet the unmet needs of millions of people worldwide suffering with a variety of mental disorders. The future is truly exciting.”

 

About Mindset Pharma

Mindset Pharma Inc. is a drug discovery and development company focused on creating optimized and patentable next-generation psychedelic medicines to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders with unmet needs. Mindset was established in order to develop next generation pharmaceutical assets that leverage the breakthrough therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs. Mindset is developing several novel families of next generation psychedelic compounds, as well as an innovative process to chemically synthesize psilocybin as well as its own proprietary compounds. For further information on Mindset, please visit our website at www.mindsetpharma.com.

 

About the McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development (MSRD)

Established in 2019, by the Otsuka pharmaceutical business in the U.S., the mission of MSRD is to search for, identify, and fund innovative early-stage research and development programs that have the potential to build the future portfolio of Otsuka products.

 

Otsuka is dedicated to investing in innovative and creative products in areas of unmet need and MSRD was created as an extension of this commitment to support and identify early-stage opportunities that can change the landscape of treatments for mental illness and renal disorders. For more information, please visit https://msrd-us.com/.

 

About Otsuka

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: “Otsuka–people creating new products for better health worldwide.” Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products to meet unmet medical needs and nutraceutical products for the maintenance of everyday health.

 

In pharmaceuticals, Otsuka is a leader in the challenging areas of mental, renal, and cardiovascular health and has additional research programs in oncology and on several under-addressed diseases including tuberculosis, a significant global public health issue. These commitments illustrate how Otsuka is a “big venture” company at heart, applying a youthful spirit of creativity in everything it does.

 

Otsuka established a presence in the U.S. in 1973 and today its U.S. affiliates include Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC) and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (OAPI). These two companies’ 1,700 employees in the U.S. develop and commercialize medicines in the areas of mental health, nephrology, and cardiology, using cutting-edge technology to address unmet healthcare needs.

 

OPDC and OAPI are indirect subsidiaries of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The Otsuka group of companies employed 47,000 people worldwide and had consolidated sales of approximately USD 13.3 billion in 2020.

 

All Otsuka stories start by taking the road less traveled. Learn more about Otsuka in the U.S. at www.otsuka-us.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter at @OtsukaUS. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.’s global website is accessible at www.otsuka.co.jp/en/.

Contacts

For Mindset Pharma:

Investor Contact:
Allison Soss/Tim Regan

KCSA Strategic Communications

Email: MindSet@kcsa.com
Phone: 212-896-1267/ 347-487-6788

Media Contact:
McKenna Miller

KCSA Strategic Communications

Email: MindSet@kcsa.com
Phone: 949-606-6585

Company Contact:

James Lanthier, CEO

Email: jlanthier@mindsetpharma.com

Jason Atkinson, VP, Corporate Development

Email: jatkinson@mindsetpharma.com
Phone: 416-479-4094

Media contacts for Otsuka:

Otsuka in U.S.

Jill Roman

Corporate Communications

Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.

jill.roman@otsuka-us.com
+1 215 595 8424

Otsuka outside U.S.

Jeffrey Gilbert

Leader, Pharmaceutical PR

Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Co., Ltd.

gilbert.jeffrey@otsuka.co.jp
+81 3 6717 1410

Categories
Business Lifestyle

Best’s Review examines in-person conference developments and industry innovations for 2022

OLDWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — The January issue of Best’s Review looks at what worked for in-person events in 2021 and what organizers are doing to prepare for them in 2022 in the following articles:

 

Also included in the January issue:

 

Best’s Review is AM Best’s monthly insurance magazine, covering emerging insurance issues and trends and evaluating their impact on the marketplace. Full access to the complete content of Best’s Review is available Full access to the complete content of Best’s Review is available here.

 

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

Patricia Vowinkel
Executive Editor, Best’s Review®
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5540

patricia.vowinkel@ambest.com