Tag: MENA

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Sabin Receives Additional $21.8 Million From BARDA to Advance Marburg Vaccine

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Sabin Vaccine Institute today announced it is receiving an additional $21.8 million under an existing contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These funds advance development of a vaccine against Marburg virus disease, a virus that is related to Ebola Zaire which killed 2200 people during the last major outbreak that ended in 2020.

The Sabin Marburg vaccine is the only candidate currently slated for a Phase 2 clinical trial. Marburg is among the world’s deadliest viruses, resulting in the death of approximately half the people the virus infects. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or treatments for the disease. As recently as July this year, two people in Ghana died after being infected with Marburg virus, reinforcing the urgent need for medical therapies.

The latest tranche of funds enables Sabin to conduct a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial among adults in the U.S. to further evaluate the safety and the efficacy of the Marburg vaccine candidate and advance non-clinical vaccine dosing studies. The Phase 2 clinical trial in the U.S. will begin after Sabin has initiated a same-stage trial in Africa, currently scheduled for 2023. Sabin will also undertake a non-clinical study on the vaccine candidate during this phase.

“Beginning Phase 2 clinical trials for the Marburg vaccine is a pivotal milestone for us and we appreciate BARDA’s continued confidence in our work and support for this critical next step,” says Sabin Chief Executive Officer Amy Finan. “Vaccines remain our best bet against death and disability from deadly viruses. I am hopeful that in the years ahead, we can offer this life-saving vaccine to every person who needs it.”

In 2019, BARDA awarded Sabin a multi-year contract valued at $128 million to further the development of vaccines against two lethal viruses: Marburg and Ebola Sudan. With BARDA now exercising the latest option of that contract, Sabin’s Ebola and Marburg Research & Development program, to date, has been awarded $98.6 million.

BARDA is part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under contract number 75A50119C000555.

Learn more about Sabin’s Marburg and Ebola Sudan Program.

About the Sabin Vaccine Institute

The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a leading advocate for expanding vaccine access and uptake globally, advancing vaccine research and development, and amplifying vaccine knowledge and innovation. Unlocking the potential of vaccines through partnership, Sabin has built a robust ecosystem of funders, innovators, implementers, practitioners, policy makers and public stakeholders to advance its vision of a future free from preventable diseases. As a non-profit with more than two decades of experience, Sabin is committed to finding solutions that last and extending the full benefits of vaccines to all people, regardless of who they are or where they live. At Sabin, we believe in the power of vaccines to change the world. For more information, visit www.sabin.org and follow us on Twitter, @SabinVaccine.

About Ebola Sudan and Marburg

Ebola Sudan and Marburg are members of the filovirus family. Both can cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates. No therapeutic treatment of the hemorrhagic fevers caused by filoviruses has been licensed to date. Marburg and Ebola viruses are transmitted to humans by infected animals, particularly fruit bats. Once a human is infected, the virus can spread to others through close personal contact or contact with bodily fluids. Isolation of infected people is currently the centerpiece of filovirus control.

Marburg was the first filovirus to be recognized in 1967 when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever were reported in a few Europe-based laboratories including in the town of Marburg, Germany. Ebola was identified in 1976 when two simultaneous outbreaks occurred in northern Zaire (now the DRC) in a village near the Ebola River and southern Sudan. The outbreaks involved what eventually proved to be two different species of Ebola virus; both were named after the nations in which they were discovered.

Media contact:

Rajee Suri
press@sabin.org

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Radware Launches New Cloud Security Center in the United Arab Emirates

Responds to regional demand for low latency performance and complies with offshore data routing requirements

MAHWAH, N.J., Sept. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Radware® (NASDAQ: RDWR), a leading provider of cyber security and application delivery solutions, announced the launch of a new cloud security center in the United Arab Emirates. Located in Dubai, the facility will reduce latency for in-region traffic and offer customers faster mitigation response times against denial-of-service attacks, web application attacks, malicious bot traffic, and attacks on APIs. It will also mitigate compliance processes involved in offshore routing.

The Dubai addition complements Radware’s existing cloud security network. Today, the network includes over 10Tbps of mitigation capacity across more than 50 security centers located around the globe.

“As part of our strategic cloud services initiative, we continue to accelerate cloud innovation to provide our customers with the highest level of cyber security services,” said Haim Zelikovsky, vice president of cloud security services for Radware. “This includes increasing the fighting capacity of our cloud infrastructure to help our customers manage the increasing complexity and sheer volume of cyberattacks with as little disruption as possible.”

According to Radware’s First Half 2022 Global Threat Analysis Report, the first six months of 2022 saw a dramatic increase in cyberattacks across the globe. The number of DDoS attacks climbed 203% and malicious web application transactions grew by 38% compared to the same period last year.

“The new site in Dubai fills a growing demand for a local security presence that can deliver rapid response times with accuracy for organizations in the public and private sector,” said Nikhil Karan Taneja, Radware’s vice president and managing director for India, the Middle East, and South Asia. “The launch of the center underscores our ongoing commitment to delivering state-of-the-art cyber protection and scaling our capacity in a way that will benefit the whole region.”

About Radware
Radware® (NASDAQ: RDWR) is a global leader of cyber security and application delivery solutions for physical, cloud, and software defined data centers. Its award-winning solutions portfolio secures the digital experience by providing infrastructure, application, and corporate IT protection, and availability services to enterprises globally. Radware’s solutions empower enterprise and carrier customers worldwide to adapt to market challenges quickly, maintain business continuity, and achieve maximum productivity while keeping costs down. For more information, please visit the Radware website.

Radware encourages you to join our community and follow us on: Facebook, LinkedIn, Radware Blog, Twitter, YouTube, and Radware Mobile for iOS and Android.

©2022 Radware Ltd. All rights reserved. Any Radware products and solutions mentioned in this press release are protected by trademarks, patents, and pending patent applications of Radware in the U.S. and other countries. For more details, please see: https://www.radware.com/LegalNotice/. All other trademarks and names are property of their respective owners.

Radware believes the information in this document is accurate in all material respects as of its publication date. However, the information is provided without any express, statutory, or implied warranties and is subject to change without notice.

The contents of any website or hyperlinks mentioned in this press release are for informational purposes and the contents thereof are not part of this press release.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements made herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about Radware’s plans, outlook, beliefs, or opinions, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” “plans,” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may,” and “could.” For example, when we say that we have an ongoing commitment to scale our capacity, we are using a forward-looking statement. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, could differ materially from Radware’s current forecasts and estimates. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the impact of global economic conditions and volatility of the market for our products; natural disasters and public health crises, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; a shortage of components or manufacturing capacity could cause a delay in our ability to fulfill orders or increase our manufacturing costs; our business may be affected by sanctions, export controls, and similar measures, targeting Russia and other countries and territories, as well as other responses to Russia’s military conflict in Ukraine, including indefinite suspension of operations in Russia and dealings with Russian entities by many multi-national businesses across a variety of industries; our ability to successfully implement our strategic initiative to accelerate our cloud business; our ability to expand our operations effectively; timely availability and customer acceptance of our new and existing solutions; risks and uncertainties relating to acquisitions or other investments; the impact of economic and political uncertainties and weaknesses in various regions of the world, including the commencement or escalation of hostilities or acts of terrorism; intense competition in the market for cyber security and application delivery solutions and in our industry in general, and changes in the competitive landscape; changes in government regulation; outages, interruptions, or delays in hosting services or our internal network system; compliance with open source and third-party licenses; the risk that our intangible assets or goodwill may become impaired; our dependence on independent distributors to sell our products; long sales cycles for our solutions; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; undetected defects or errors in our products or a failure of our products to protect against malicious attacks; the availability of components and manufacturing capacity; the ability of vendors to provide our hardware platforms and components for our main accessories; our ability to protect our proprietary technology; intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties; changes in tax laws; our ability to realize our investment objectives for our cash and liquid investments; our ability to attract, train, and retain highly qualified personnel; and other factors and risks over which we may have little or no control. This list is intended to identify only certain of the principal factors that could cause actual results to differ. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting Radware, refer to Radware’s Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the other risk factors discussed from time to time by Radware in reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and, except as required by applicable law, Radware undertakes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statement in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date any such statement is made. Radware’s public filings are available from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or may be obtained on Radware’s website at www.radware.com.

Media Contact:
Gerri Dyrek
Radware
Gerri.Dyrek@radware.com

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Mecobit Mining Rigs Announces the Biggest Hash-Rate in the Market

LONDON, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MECO Limited (Mecobit), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of solar modules and complete solutions, recently launched new products Solar Unit M4000, Solar Panel Kit (complete), Portable Power Station, M100 Miner, M200 Miner, Meco Rack, which has attracted wide attention in the industry. The result of five years of research, development and testing, this new technology platform enables the production of frameless, thin, lightweight and adaptable solar panels with the performance of comparable standard solar panels.

“We are very excited to bring revolutionary innovation to the field of solar energy,” said Ben Lukas (Chief Marketing Officer). “In addition to the new development work and modules from design and material, this new technology platform has fundamentally helped us with the unique solar-electric technology. Mecobit The Solar System has a unique ability to pass through the shadow, continuing to produce energy in conditions that will shut down other panels.”

Compared to previous innovations, charging speed, battery life, security guarantees and user experience have improved. Mecobit M4000 Solar Unit and Solar Panel Kit is compatible with many devices, tools, equipment, home and electronic industries such as cryptocurrency miners, providing security, long backup and other areas of power. Mecobit Solar Systems Long Life Battery: M4000 Solar Unit, Solar Panel Kit (complete), Portable Power Station passes standard tests such as short circuit, overload, extrusion, acupuncture, etc.

And as governments agree to reduce levels of carbon emissions and introduce additional incentives like investment tax credits, it’s possible that the share of mining operations using solar power will increase even more. Solar power may be considered green and renewable, but there are also significant problems with solar, including the limits of sunlight hours.

Shipping costs

As a consequence of this, Mecobit will pay for both shipping and import tariffs, enabling customers to acquire everything they require to get started with no further costs beyond the cost of the device itself.

About Mecobit

Established in 2015 with the goal of developing and marketing the world’s solar powered cryptocurrency miners, which can use either Ethash, SHA-256 or Scrypt technology depending on the miner’s preference. The company asserts that it was the very first solar powered cryptocurrency mining enterprise in the world. “We wanted to revolutionize the industry with the solar panels by providing more power at a more affordable price than was previously thought to be possible,” B. Franci (Founder).

Mecobit is headquartered in Chiswick High Road, London, England, and has offices in several other cities across the world, including the United States. The company’s website, www.mecobit.com, provides additional information on the company and its products.

Ben Lukas
ben.lukas@mecobit.com

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CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS URGE ACTION ON DEBT, INFLATION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE, RENEW CALLS FOR RUSSIA TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WAR CRIMES

New York, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As world leaders gather for the United Nations General Assembly, the Open Society Foundations is calling for bold steps to address critical worldwide crises, including:

  • A global rescue plan that sees higher-income countries committing 2% of their GDP to tackle spiraling living costs and embracing solutions such as pricing regulations, IP waivers, and windfall taxes;
  • Immediate debt relief and financial assistance to lower-income countries, including by suspending IMF/World Bank surcharges and issuing a new round of Special Drawing Rights;
  • Creation of a Loss and Damage mechanism to support countries that have already experienced irreparable or severe harm due to climate change;
  • Russian accountability for war crimes in Ukraine and an end to the war there; and
  • More open, inclusive, and effective global institutions that reflect the make-up of the world.

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow isn’t just a line from Macbeth,” said Mark Malloch-Brown, President of the Open Society Foundations. “For too long, it has also been at the heart of world leaders’ plan to tackle these mounting global challenges. That has to change.”

Malloch-Brown and other Open Society Foundations representatives will be in New York in September and are available to comment on the above:

  • Mark Malloch-Brown, President, formerly served as UN Deputy Secretary-General to Kofi Annan, led the UN Development Programme and was vice-president at the World Bank and Minister with responsibility for Africa, Asia, and the UN under UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He can speak about the global fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, debt relief, development assistance, and reform of international institutions.
  • Laura Carvalho, Director for Equity, is a leading Brazilian economist and co-founder and Director of the Research Center on Macroeconomics of Inequality at the University of São Paulo and has written extensively on development economics and inequality. She can speak about the global economy and the need to reduce inflationary and debt pressures in the Global South.
  • Yamide Dagnet, Director for Climate Justice, previously served as the Director of Climate Negotiations at the World Resources Institute, focusing on the equitable implementation of international climate agreements. She can speak about the need for climate action that is fair and equitable for all countries and communities.
  • Natalie Samarasinghe, Global Director of Advocacy, formerly served as CEO of the United Nations Association-UK and Speechwriter for the President of the UN General Assembly. She can speak about global crises and the need for international action, as well as UN reform.
  • Oleksandr Sushko, Executive Director, International Renaissance Foundation in Ukraine (not in New York during UNGA), was Director of the Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine. He can speak about the work and needs of civil society in Ukraine and the Ukraine Democracy Fund.

The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, is the world’s leading funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.

Office of Communications
Open Society Foundations 
(212) 548-0378
media@opensocietyfoundations.org
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New version of i-PRO Active Guard turns VMSs into powerful search engines for real time alarm notifications and post-event searches

AI-based plug-in features industry’s largest number of search attributes, new UI enhancements and adds support for leading VMS

Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — i-PRO Co., Ltd., a global leader in professional security solutions for surveillance and public safety, today announced the latest version of its Active Guard plug-in. The AI-based plug-in can turn video management systems (VMS) into powerful search engines capable of real-time searches or deep forensic analysis. Already supported by leading VMSs including Genetec Security Center and i-PRO Video Insight, the latest version now adds support for Milestone Systems’ X-Protect and i-PRO’s ASM300 software, and features the industry’s largest number of search attributes and new UI enhancements.

“With the addition of Milestone X-Protect, i-PRO Active Guard is now available to the major leaders in the global VMS market and will revolutionize how Security Officers conduct real time and post event searches,” said Norio Hitsuishi, Global Head of Product Management at i-PRO. “These enhancements combined with the extension of our AI-capable camera line-up are creating a powerful end-to-end AI security ecosystem that allows businesses to take their security infrastructure to the next level. This latest announcement underscores i-PRO’s mission as a trusted next-generation partner to make AI the new standard in the security industry.”

Fast and intuitive, i-PRO Active Guard creates a more efficient and accurate AI-powered system without compromising on image quality or network performance. The plug-in integrates seamlessly into the existing UI of the VMS, appearing as just another function tab. It allows users to easily manage the AI analytics from multiple i-PRO cameras and allows users to easily set up sophisticated search parameters based on the industry’s largest number of search attributes which include gender, age, clothing color, facial characteristics, vehicle color and direction, and many more.

With Active Guard, Security Officers no longer have to spend time looking at multiple screens for persons or vehicles of interest or watch hours of recorded video to search for important events. Operators can register specific characteristics in their watch lists (for instance “male wearing a red shirt and blue pants”) and the VMS will send them a real-time alarm whenever a match is identified, a feature that is unique to i-PRO. This enhances real-time situational awareness and enables proactive security. The same process can be set up for fast data mining of events during forensic investigations.

The metadata is captured and analyzed by i-PRO AI network cameras at the edge, which use the powerful Ambarella SoC, reducing bandwidth and eliminating the need for expensive servers. i-PRO Active Guard is a light-load and unique in the industry in that the edge-processed AI data results are sent to the Active Guard server eliminating the requirement for additional on-premises servers. The metadata is then searched and presented in the Active Guard plugin on the client.

For more information, visit

https://i-pro.com/global/en/surveillance/featured-products/i-pro-active-guard

About i-PRO

i-PRO Co., Ltd., is a global leader of advanced sensing technologies in the fields of Intelligent Surveillance, Public Safety and Industrial/Medical Imaging. Established in 2019, i-PRO was built on a legacy of over 60 years of innovation with Panasonic. The company’s products, software and services extend human senses to capture moments of truth with innovations that inform and protect. In order to help create a safer world, i-PRO Co., Ltd., supports the work of professionals who protect and save lives.

© i-PRO is a trademark of i-PRO Co., Ltd. Other trademarks used in this document may be trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective product.

Attachments

Veronique Froment
i-PRO
603-537-9248
veronique@Highrezpr.com
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Low/no calorie sweeteners do not increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases

ISA statement in response to new study by Debras, Chazelas et al.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) responds to the new study by Debras, Chazelas et al.1 on low/no calorie sweeteners and cardiovascular diseases highlighting that, contrary to claims made in this study, there is no causal evidence that low/no calorie sweeteners could increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

Indeed, whilst the Debras, Chazelas et al study claim to show an association between low/no calorie sweeteners intake and CVD risk, there is no evidence of a plausible mechanism to support potential effects of low/no calorie sweeteners on cardiometabolic health.2 The safety of all approved low/no calorie sweeteners has been confirmed by food safety bodies worldwide including the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and of the World Health Organization (WHO)3, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)4, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)5.

Actually, the intake of low/no calorie sweeteners in the NutriNet-Santé cohort was extremely low, even for higher consumers (defined in the study as participants with sweetener intake above the sex specific median among consumers). Importantly, experts have questioned the ability to detect an association between low/no calorie sweeteners at such low levels of intake and any health outcome and stressed that, in such circumstances, confounding factors become more influential.6 By design, observational studies cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship due to their observational nature and the inability to exclude residual confounding or, importantly, attenuate the effects of reverse causality.7

Contrary to the study by Debras, Chazelas et al, a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies including change and substitutions analyses that mitigate the influence of reverse causality providing more consistent and robust associations found that low/no calorie sweetened beverages are associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease and CVD mortality in the intended substitution for sugar-sweetened beverages.8 These findings are in line with evidence from randomised controlled trials which confirm no adverse effect of low/no calorie sweeteners on cardiometabolic risk factors including blood pressure, lipid levels, blood glucose and body weight, and in fact some benefits when used to replace sugars in the diet. 9,10

At a time when non-communicable diseases including diabetes and dental diseases remain major global health challenges, and in light of current public health recommendations to reduce overall sugar intake, low/no calorie sweeteners can be helpful in creating healthier food environments. They provide people with a wide choice of sweet-tasting options with low or no calories, and thus can be a useful tool, when used in place of sugar and as part of a balanced diet, in helping reduce overall sugar and calorie intake, as well as in managing blood glucose levels.11 Low/no calorie sweeteners are also not fermentable by oral bacteria, which means that they do not contribute to tooth demineralisation, which is one of the reasons for tooth decay.12

1 Debras C, Chazelas E, Sellem L, et al. Artificial sweeteners and risk of cardiovascular diseases: results from the prospective NutriNet-Santé cohort. BMJ 2022;378:e071204.
2 Pyrogianni V, La Vecchia C. Letter by Pyrogianni and La Vecchia Regarding Article, “Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, and All-Cause Mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative”. Stroke. 2019 Jun;50(6):e169
3 http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/scientific-advice/jecfa/en/
4 http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/sweeteners
5 https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/high-intensity-sweeteners
6 Magnuson B. Comments in response to the article by Debras et al “Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk: Results from the NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort study”. Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/comment?id=10.1371/annotation/edab6e54-e06a-4e33-ba10-f1a96bc43152
7 La Vecchia C. Comments in response to the article by Debras et al “Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk: Results from the NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort study”. Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/comment?id=10.1371/annotation/e28d577e-cd1c-42eb-85aa-7ea0cf0d5ccd
8 Lee JJ, Khan TA, McGlynn et al. Relation of Change or Substitution of Low- and No-Calorie Sweetened Beverages With Cardiometabolic Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. Diabetes Care. 2022 Aug 1;45(8):1917-1930
9 McGlynn ND, Khan TA, Wang L, et al. Association of Low- and No-Calorie Sweetened Beverages as a Replacement for Sugar-Sweetened Beverages With Body Weight and Cardiometabolic Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open 2022 Mar 1;5(3):e222092
10 Rios-Leyvraz M, Montez J (World Health Organization)‎. Health effects of the use of non-sugar sweeteners: a systematic review and meta-analysis. World Health Organization (WHO) 2022. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/353064. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
11 Diabetes UK. The use of low or no calorie sweeteners. Position Statement (Updated December 2018). Available at: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/professionals/position-statements-reports/food-nutrition-lifestyle/use-of-low-or-no-calorie-sweetners
12 EFSA Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to intense sweeteners. EFSA 2011 Journal 9(6): 2229, and 9(4): 2076

ISA – Avenue de Tervueren 13A – Bte 7, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium – Tel: +32 (0)2 736 53 54 – Fax: +32 (0)2 732 34 27
E-mail: info@sweeteners.org – Website: www.sweeteners.org – TVA BE 424.301.259

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Zenas BioPharma Appoints Simon Lowry, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer

WALTHAM, Mass. and SHANGHAI, China, Sept. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zenas BioPharma, a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immune-based therapies for patients in need around the world, today announced the appointment of Simon Lowry, M.D., as the company’s Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Lowry brings over 20 years of broad clinical expertise in the design and execution of early to late-stage clinical programs to Zenas, where he will lead the company’s global clinical, medical affairs, and pharmacovigilance functions.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Lowry to Zenas at this pivotal time for the company as we commence two phase three registration trials for our lead product candidate, obexelimab, in the fourth quarter of this year and initiate first-in-human clinical trials for multiple pipeline programs,” said Hua Mu, M.D., Ph. D, Chief Executive Officer at Zenas. “Dr. Lowry’s proven leadership, broad clinical development background, and extensive global clinical trial experience will further strengthen our ability to execute on our mission to transform the lives of patients with unmet medical needs by bringing best-in-class immune-based therapies to patients.”

Dr. Simon Lowry added, “There are many patients with autoimmune and rare diseases in need of effective new treatment options. The deeply experienced and talented Zenas team has made impressive progress advancing the company’s pipeline in a very short period of time, and I look forward to leading the ongoing advancement of Zenas’ clinical programs through commercialization while further expanding the company’s pipeline of innovative programs.”

Dr. Lowry is a medical doctor with 20 years of experience at large and emerging pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies directing successful development programs, leading clinical and medical affairs teams, and interacting with regulatory agencies across multiple areas of medicine, including rheumatology, immunology, and ophthalmology. Prior to joining Zenas, Dr. Lowry was Chief Medical Officer at Kinevant Science, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on treating rare inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Dr. Lowry was previously Head of Immunology R&D at Roivant Sciences, leading all development stage immunology assets into clinical development, and served as a key member of the leadership team. He also served as Chief Medical Officer at Sun Pharma North America, where he was responsible for four branded therapeutic areas (Immunology & Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Neurology and Oncology), and led all aspects of development and medical functions (including clinical development, medical information, field medical, HEOR, publications / medical communications, and operations). Early in his career, he worked at Novartis, where he served as Vice President, Global Medical Affairs Franchise Head, Immunology & Dermatology, and Pfizer, where he served in roles of increasing responsibility, including as Vice President, Oncology Medical Affairs Group Leader.

Prior to his pharmaceutical/ biotechnology career, Dr. Lowry practiced internal medicine at various institutions in the UK and Australia. He received his BA from Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, UK and his MB BChir medical degree from Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine.

About Zenas BioPharma

Zenas BioPharma is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immune-based therapies for patients around the world. With clinical development and operations in the US and China, Zenas is rapidly advancing a deep pipeline of innovative therapeutics that continues to grow through our successful business development strategy. Our experienced leadership team and network of business partners drive operational excellence to deliver potentially transformative therapies to improve the lives of those facing autoimmune and rare diseases. For more information about Zenas BioPharma, please visit www.zenasbio.com and follow us on Twitter at @ZenasBioPharma and LinkedIn.

Investor and Media Contact:
Joe Farmer
Zenas BioPharma
IR@zenasbio.com

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Boyden Finds Innovation, Human Capital and Digital Transformation Top Growth Drivers

Global research shows Industry 5.0 gathering pace as organisations align digital advances with human capital

New York, Sept. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Boyden, a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 75 offices in over 45 countries, reports on its annual global executive talent research, showing that innovation, human capital and digital transformation are the top growth drivers. With ‘competing for the right talent’ a top driver of structural change, Industry 5.0 is gaining momentum as organisations strive to align talent with digital advances, particularly AI/robotics/machine learning and tech/cloud/cybersecurity talent.

The global study, Strengthening the human-centric core of Industry 5.0[1], How can organisations thrive in a complex world of risk? explores perspectives on risk among CEOs, boards and other senior leaders, alongside executive talent trends, priorities and investment.

“The merging of human ingenuity with tech and digital capabilities is accelerating the business cycle as organisations strive to address global disruption,” commented Trina D. Gordon, President & CEO of Boyden. “At this time of pervasive uncertainty, we embrace the challenge of helping clients to understand the global environment for talent, emerging skill sets and the leadership needs of their organisation through our insight, market intelligence and original research”.

Core findings show that (i) innovation, (ii) human capital and (iii) digital transformation are the top three drivers of growth over the next two years. Confidence in organisational growth potential is high, with 70% very confident or confident, but greater alignment of talent is needed: confidence in having the right talent to align with strategy is at 59% confident or very confident. This confidence is impacted by risk. The top external risks are identified as (i) inflation, (ii) global economic volatility and (iii) supply chain disruption. The top three internal risks are: (i) rising business costs, (ii) employee burnout and (iii) the need for different executive skill sets.

Research finds that, at the executive level, 81 percent of respondents identify a need to strengthen digital talent (AI, robotics, machine learning); 80% tech, cloud and cybersecurity; and 79 percent marketing & sales. In an environment where people come first, 78 percent need to strengthen human resources capabilities. As environmental and social challenges continue, 71 percent of respondents need to strengthen skills in ESG-sustainability and 69 percent skills in ESG-DE&I[2].

Organisations are addressing talent needs and alignment by investing in ‘leadership development for high potentials,’ ‘hiring new leadership talent,’ and ‘redeploying or retraining existing people’. These top three priorities remain the same as 2021 findings. The use of interim executives shows a step change; 35 percent are extremely likely or likely to ‘bring in interim executives,’ up from 22 percent in 2021.

Findings on how organisations are approaching ESG show that for 50 percent of respondents ESG-sustainability is ‘primarily part of most business discussions’ or ‘deeply embedded in organisational culture’; and for 52 percent of respondents ESG-DE&I is ‘primarily part of most business discussions’ or ‘deeply embedded in organisational culture’.

At board level, 55 percent of respondents identify a need to strengthen skills in ESG-DE&I; 52 percent a need to strengthen skills in ESG-sustainability; and 50 percent a need to strengthen skills in innovation/business transformation. Despite this, just 40 percent consider it extremely likely or likely that their organisation will invest in a board review in the next two years.

Looking ahead to 2023, recruitment and retention challenges are expected to increase: 68 percent of respondents expect to experience recruitment challenges, compared with 49 percent the previous year; and 63 percent of respondents expect to experience retention challenges, compared with 50 percent the previous year. In the pursuit of talent, respondents are turning to innovative tactics to hire or retain talent. For retention, respondents are using bonuses, hybrid working and leadership development.

Hiring will grow, with 50 percent expecting an increase, compared with 36 percent the previous year. Interim management is increasingly valued; 40 percent expect an increase in their use of interim solutions, compared with 28 percent the previous year.

View the full report here.

About the research

This research was conducted in Q2 2022 among senior executives worldwide. A total of 640 complete responses comprise 32 percent from Europe, 32 percent from North America, 18 percent from Asia/Pacific and 16 percent from South America. Respondents include 27 percent board/president/CEOs, 21 percent SVP, division or country heads, 11 percent heads of operations, 10 percent HR leaders, with the remainder across multiple functions including finance, marketing and technology.

By organisation, 36 percent are from private/independent, 24 percent publicly-quoted, 17 percent private/family-owned, and 12 percent social enterprise, with the remainder from start-up and private equity backed businesses. By sector, industrial accounts for 28 percent of responses, consumer & retail and professional services both 14 percent, technology/media/telecoms and healthcare & life sciences both 11 percent, with the remainder from financial services, academic, social impact and private equity.

About Boyden

Boyden is a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 75 offices in over 45 countries. Our global reach enables us to serve client needs anywhere they conduct business. We connect great companies with great leaders through executive search, interim management and leadership consulting solutions. Boyden is ranked amongst the top companies on Forbes’ Americas Best Executive Recruiting Firms for 2022. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

[1] The Fifth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 5.0, is a new phase of industrialisation, whereby humans work alongside advanced technologies and AI-powered robots to enhance processes within the workplace. Source: The Manufacturer.

[2] While DE&I is captured with the ‘Social’ of ESG, we have split out DE&I and sustainability to reflect the high proportion of organisations focusing specifically and separately on diversity, equity & inclusion.

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Chris Swee, CMO
Boyden
cswee@boyden.com

Joanna Goncalves, Global Senior Director of Marketing
Boyden
jgoncalves@boyden.com
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