– SPECIAL EVENT: OUR EYES ARE EXPERIENCING MUCH HARSHER CONDITIONS THAN WE IMAGINE –

OSAKA, Japan, July 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — On Sunday, July 8, 2018, celebrating 110 years in the manufacture and sales of eye-drops, ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter ROHTO) held an exhibition titled, OUR EYES ARE EXPERIENCING MUCH HARSHER CONDITIONS THAN WE IMAGINE – 4 EXTREME SITUATIONS, 4 EYE-CARE CONCEPTS, at an art gallery in Daikanyama, Tokyo.

Event website: https://www.rohto.co.jp/company/vision/event/

Artifact-like concept models were exhibited in the gallery, demonstrating how eye-drops can take on the challenges of extreme conditions often encountered in the four featured countries.

This exhibition featured innovative and unprecedented concept models in eye-care product development. ROHTO is currently proceeding with plans to take these concepts to the production stage.

(Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201807115896-O1-17kq4455)
(Photo1: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201807115896-O2-xrFk7p5d)

In the exhibition, four harsh environments for eyes were selected from different parts of the world and four concept models of eye-drops for each of the harsh conditions were displayed.

(Photo2: Top left: Japan, top right: Kazakhstan, bottom left: Australia, bottom right: Iceland
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/201807115896-O3-20OVI2a2)

The following four countries were selected:

(1) A country covered with deserts: Kazakhstan
(2) A country exposed to strong ultraviolet rays: Australia
(3) A country with harsh cold climate: Iceland
(4) A country suffering from blue light: Japan

Description of Concept Models Displayed:

(1) A country covered with deserts: Kazakhstan
For Kazakhstan, where nearly 70% of the land is covered with deserts, eye-drops were developed with a gyroscope function to maintain balance even on unstable ground. The image was to come up with eye-drops that can be applied, even in shaky conditions such as during camel rides or minor landslides.

(2) A country exposed to strong ultraviolet rays: Australia
The levels of exposure to direct sunlight and ultraviolet rays are high in Australia, and for this area, the concept is eye-drops which can be applied even while facing down. The image adopted was to convert eye-drops to steam using ultrasonic waves for application.

(3) A country with harsh cold climate: Iceland
Eye-drops for Iceland, a cold district, were created with a concept incorporating a car defroster to prevent the liquid from freezing even at severe low temperatures. In addition, the eye-drops also feature a phosphorescent (light-storing) function that makes it easy to find even during short daylight time.

(4) A country suffering from blue light: Japan
Japan is a country suffering from frequent exposure to blue light, and a concept model was developed pursuing the pleasure of pressing acupressure points and applying eye-drops, both at the same time. Visitors were able to experience this concept model for Japan in a designated area in the gallery. Many of the visitors were enjoying a totally new way of applying eye-drops.

About the Production Partner

The production partner for this concept model is secca inc., a design firm based in Kanazawa on the Japan Sea coast. secca created completely new designs for eye-drops utilizing their unique perspective of integrating traditional craft techniques with cutting-edge 3D digital technology.

About ROHTO

ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. celebrates the 110th anniversary of the manufacture and sales of eye-drops. Committed to the spirit of exceeding what is common sense, and taking into consideration the diversity of eye conditions, ROHTO strives to contribute to the health of eyes all over the world.

Official website: https://www.rohto.co.jp/global/

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TOKYO, July 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — AGC Inc., a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals and high-tech materials, announced on July 12 a major expansion of facilities at its Chiba Plant that will result in an approximately tenfold increase in the company’s GMP(*1)-compliant synthetic pharmaceutical intermediate and active ingredient (*2) production capacity. The new capacity is set to come online in October 2019.

AGC began developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates and active ingredients on a contract basis in the 1980s. Leveraging its edge in fluorine technologies and extensive experience in in-house drug discovery and other fields, AGC now offers a range of CDMO (*3) services tailored to customer needs.

While AGC has to date mainly provided CDMO services for in the development stage of new drugs, this expansion will give AGC the end-to-end capability to produce commercial drugs too, allowing it to deliver more advanced one-stop solutions. The new facilities will also be capable of producing hard-to-handle active ingredients, such as the highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients typically used in cancer therapy. AGC will therefore be able to meet a wider
range of customer demand.

The AGC Group’s “AGC plus” management policy identifies the life sciences as one of its strategic businesses. Moving forward, the group will continue to invest in the capacity needed to meet ongoing growth in demand for pharmaceutical intermediate and active ingredient CDMO services.

(*1) GMP: Good manufacturing practice (standards governing the production and quality control of pharmaceutical products and quasi-drugs).

(*2) Synthetic pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients: Intermediates and active ingredients for pharmaceutical products that are produced by chemical synthesis.

(*3) CDMO: Contract development and manufacturing organization (a company that develops production methods and manufactures products for another company on a contract basis).

For more information, please visit: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/attach/201807095798-O1-vIa55jNK.pdf

About the AGC Group

AGC Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Takuya Shimamura) is the parent company of the AGC Group, a world-leading glass solution provider and supplier of flat, automotive and display glass, chemicals, ceramics and other high-tech materials and components. Based on more than a century of technical innovation, the AGC Group has developed a wide range of cutting-edge products. The AGC Group employs some 50,000 people worldwide and generates annual sales of approximately 1.5 trillion Japanese yen through business in about 30 countries. For more information, please visit: http://www.agc.com/en/.

* The company changed its name from Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. to AGC Inc. on July 1, 2018.

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OULU, Finland, July 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ —

Company moves to 12.5M€ in total private funding and appoints new board members with US industry expertise for latest growth phase  

Oura Health, the Finnish health technology company behind the Oura ring, has moved its total private funding to 12.5M€ after the closure of a round led by US-based Bold Capital Partners and Finland’s Tesi. The funding will be used to scale US market operations and push the Oura platform forward.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8362451-oura-health-strengthens-position-us-market/

The Oura ring and app guides wearers towards better sleep, recovery and readiness to perform by analyzing the body’s sleep, activity levels, daily rhythms and physiological responses.

Former Oura Health CEO Petteri Lahtela will focus on developing new products and services in his new roles as Oura Health President and Chief Innovation Officer while continuing his position on the Oura Health board. Former Ouraring Inc. President Harpreet Rai has been appointed as the new Oura Health CEO, with US industry specialists Stephen Friend and Kevin Lin also joining the Oura Health board.

“The successful launch of the new Oura ring shows the level of innovation and craftsmanship that Oura Health is capable of. Moving forward, our main goal is to drive awareness and sales in our largest market, while doubling down on the very innovation that brought us here in the first place,“ says Harpreet Rai, CEO of Oura Heath.

“I have great respect for Harpreet. He knows the US market and can lead us towards growth and greater market penetration. I‘m excited for this next phase for Oura, and am looking forward to focusing on new innovative products and services which I am most passionate about,“ says Oura Health CIO Petteri Lahtela.

Oura Health CEO Harpreet Rai previously led investments in technology, media and telecom at New York-based Hedge Fund Eminence Capital. He is joined on Oura’s board by Twitch Co-founder and former COO Kevin Lin, and M.D., Ph.D. Stephen H. Friend, Chairman of the Board and Past-President of Sage Bionetworks, a non-profit organization that provides the tools and environment to conduct dynamic, large-scale collaborative biomedical research. Approximately 60% of active Oura users and pre-orders for the new Oura ring originate from the US.

“Oura has built an extremely capable team that combines and harnesses technological, commercial and design expertise. There has been strong demand for the new ring. Meanwhile, both operative and governance changes within the company will boost Oura‘s growth and development. Finland is home to a number of international brands famous for products and services based on biometric measuring. Oura has all the resources needed to join this elite band,“ says Jussi Sainiemi, Investment Director at Tesi.

“We have succeeded in creating a new category within wearables. We combined science, technology and design with ultimate wearing comfort. Bringing sleep and recovery from daily mental and physical strain into the core of the user experience with the first generation Oura ring was the right choice. Our users are very committed and our retention rates are much higher compared to wearables in general. We need to continue innovating in all areas to maintain our pioneering position,“ concludes Lahtela.

Mr. Kevin Lin, the co-founder and former COO of Twitch, has been appointed chairman of the board. He brings along his vast experience in scaling teams, building communities, growing sales and developing monetization strategies based on his experience at Twitch. He also notably raised multiple rounds of funding and delivered significant shareholder value with Twitch’s exit to Amazon. 

M.D., Ph.D. Stephen H. Friend is the Chairman of the Board and Past-President of Sage Bionetworks, a non-profit organization that provides the tools and environment to conduct dynamic, large-scale collaborative biomedical research. Dr. Friend was most recently at Apple Inc. where he worked on ways to impact people‘s lives in health and disease. Currently he‘s designing a virtual institute to explore fundamental issues around how to make individual symptom predictions and how to return agency to individuals so they might navigate their own paths between health and disease. 

Harpreet Rai is based in San Francisco and has a long background in finance. He was previously at Eminence Capital for 9 years, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund in New York City, where he led investments in technology, media and telecom. Prior to Eminence, Harpreet was at Morgan Stanley in their M&A group. Harpreet Rai joined Ouraring Inc., Oura Health‘s US subsidiary, as President in 2017 and succeeds Petteri Lahtela as the new CEO, effective June 1st, 2018.   

About Oura Health Ltd. 

Oura Health Ltd. is a Finnish health technology company founded in 2013. Oura is the world’s first wellness ring and app that shows how your body responds to your lifestyle by analyzing your sleep, activity levels, daily rhythms and the physiological responses in your body. Personalized for you, Oura guides you towards better sleep, recovery and readiness to perform. Oura has users in over 60 countries, and several top universities, research organizations, sleep clinics, and companies are utilizing the data and insights Oura provides.

In addition to the CES 2016 Best of Innovation Award, Oura Health has received among others the Fitness Award of the American Women’s Health Magazine in May 2016. In 2017, Oura Health was selected as the Best Health/Lifestyle Startup in Finland at the Nordic Startup Awards. Oura Health Ltd.’s HQ and major manufacturing facilities are located in Oulu, Finland. Other locations include Helsinki and San Francisco. For more information, visit http://www.ouraring.com.

About BOLD Capital Partners 

BOLD Capital Partners (“BOLD”), is a venture capital firm targeting investments in early stage and growth technology companies. BOLD is particularly interested in entrepreneurial leaders that leverage exponential technologies to transform the world and create innovative solutions to humanities’ grand challenges. The investment platform leverages the resources of Singularity University and the Peter Diamandis ecosystem to actively seek and support world-class entrepreneurs. BOLD has offices in Santa Monica and Palo Alto, California.

About Tesi 

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a venture capital and private equity company that accelerates companies’ success stories by investing in them directly and via funds. Tesi always invests together with other investors, providing them with access to high quality deal-flow in Finland. Our investments under management total €1.2 billion and we have altogether 700 companies in portfolio. http://www.tesi.fi and @TesiFII

For additional information

Media kit with pictures

John Cozzi
press@ouraring.com

Video:  https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/717286/Oura_Health_Sleep.mp4 

Video: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8362451-oura-health-strengthens-position-us-market/

• Vivo Capital and Advantech Capital Each Hold an Approximately 8.3% Stake in Sinovac After the Private Placement Transaction
• Proceeds Will Be Used to Fund Improvement and Construction of Facilities for R&D Relating to Quality Control and Production of New Vaccines Projects
• Sinovac’s Board of Directors Terminates the Amalgamation Agreement to Take the Company Private

BEIJING, July 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ –Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SVA) (“Sinovac” or the “Company”), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced that it has completed a private placement of its common shares (a “private investment in public equity,” or “PIPE”) with private investors Vivo Capital and Advantech Capital. Sinovac will receive gross proceeds of $86.73 million. The proceeds will be used to increase the Company’s capabilities in research relating to quality control and to build additional production facilities to support the development and commercialization of sIPV-based combination vaccine and other new vaccine projects. It also will help Sinovac meet the growing demand for vaccines in China driven by loosening family planning policies, an aging population and an increasing awareness of vaccines, as well as increased global vaccine market demand for combination vaccines that aim to reduce risks associated with administration. 

The Company also today announced the termination of the Amalgamation Agreement to take the Company private, previously entered into on June 26, 2017, with Sinovac (Cayman) Limited (“Parent”) and Sinovac Amalgamation Sub Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. The decision to terminate the going-private transaction was reached by Sinovac’s Board of Directors based on the recommendation of the independent special committee of directors formed to review the proposal.

“This PIPE transaction will improve Sinovac’s capability to continue its mission of researching, developing, manufacturing and commercializing vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases,” said Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac. “With vaccine demand increasing and recognizing that the going-private transaction may not complete, the Board worked with management and the Board’s external financial and legal advisors to review the Company’s standalone business plan. The Board concluded that this transaction is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. We are confident that the facilities enabled by this capital investment will create value for all shareholders and lead to solutions that address the significant unmet medical need for vaccines in China and globally.”

Vivo Capital and Advantech Capital each received a total of 5.9 million Sinovac common shares for $7.35 per share, representing an aggregate of approximately 19.9% of the outstanding shares of Sinovac immediately before the share issuance, and representing 16.6% of the outstanding shares of Sinovac after the share issuance. Under the terms of the transaction, the new investors have the right to appoint a designee to the Sinovac’s Board of Directors, expanding the Board by one member. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Company’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Shan Fu, Managing Partner at Vivo Capital since 2013, joined Sinovac’s Board of Directors.  Prior to joining Vivo,  Mr. Fu was Senior Managing Director in the Private Equity group and the Chief Representative of Blackstone’s Beijing Office. Additionally, Mr. Fu’s qualifications include experience in the Department of Foreign Investment in China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the State Economic and Trade Commission, the Office of Economic and Trade in State Council, and the Office of Production in State Council.

Now that funding is secured, the Company is commencing plans for new production and research facilities to support the development and commercialization of sIPV-based combination vaccine and other new vaccine projects. According to the World Health Organization, when it comes to administering vaccines to children, the key advantage of administering several vaccines at once is fewer clinic visits, which saves time and money. Also, when a combined vaccination is possible (e.g. for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus), it results in fewer injections and reduces discomfort for the child. The Company is committed to developing additional vaccines that will enhance health in China and around the world, all while creating shareholder value.

Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor, and Latham & Watkins LLP serves as legal advisor, to the Company in connection with the PIPE transaction. 

About Sinovac

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is a China-based biopharmaceutical Company that focuses on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases. Sinovac’s product portfolio includes vaccines against enterovirus71, or EV71, hepatitis A and B, seasonal influenza, H5N1 pandemic influenza (avian flu), H1N1 influenza (swine flu), and mumps. Healive, the hepatitis A vaccine manufactured by the Company has passed the assessment under WHO Prequalification procedures in 2017. The EV71 vaccine, an innovative vaccine developed by Sinovac against hand foot and mouth disease caused by EV71, was commercialized in China in 2016. In 2009, Sinovac was the first company worldwide to receive approval for its H1N1 influenza vaccine, which it has supplied to the Chinese Government’s vaccination campaign and stockpiling program. The Company is also the only supplier of the H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine to the government stockpiling program. The Company is developing a number of new products including a Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine, pneumococcal polysaccharides vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and varicella vaccine. Sinovac primarily sells its vaccines in China, while also exploring growth opportunities in international markets. The Company has exported select vaccines to over 10 countries in Asia and South America. For more information please refer to the Company’s website at www.sinovacbio.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement may include certain statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, but are forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements.

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