Source: Senhwa Biosciences, Inc.

MILAN, June 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ —

SOPHiA GENETICS, global leader in Data-Driven Medicine, announced today at the European Human Genetics Conference (ESHG 2018) that it has completed the acquisition of French-based tech company Interactive Biosoftware (IBS), the creators of Alamut^®, the most used decision support software for clinical genomic data interpretation.

Alamut^® is currently deployed in over 450 hospitals and is highly complementary to SOPHiA GENETICS’ offering. This is an important milestone that will further accelerate the adoption of Data-Driven Medicine around the world.

The acquisition reinforces SOPHiA GENETICS’ commitment to continuously support hospitals and patients with powerful technologies. Interactive Biosoftware’s expertise and teams will join SOPHiA GENETICS’ workforce. A seamless onboarding will ensure Alamut^® users’ experience.  

“Interactive Biosoftware has been highly successful in providing powerful technology for experts with complex genomic interpretation needs. It is great to join SOPHiA GENETICS’ unique approach and position to accelerate Data-Driven Medicine’s adoption.” – André Blavier CEO & Founder at Interactive Biosoftware.

“We are very excited about the acquisition of Interactive Biosoftware. Both SOPHiA AI and Alamut^® are technologies trusted by the healthcare community and focus on patient-centric innovation. The addition of Alamut^® marks a big step in our aim to help clinicians better diagnose patients equally. With a community of now over 900 teaching hospitals using our technologies we are in a unique position to connect clinicians and enable them to share knowledge.” – Jurgi Camblong, CEO & Co-founder at SOPHiA GENETICS.

About SOPHiA GENETICS: 
Global leader in Data-Driven Medicine, SOPHiA GENETICS is a health tech company which has developed SOPHiA AI, the most advanced technology for clinical genomics, helping healthcare professionals better diagnose and treat patients. The global network of 480 institutions from 60 countries that use the SOPHiA DDM^® analytical platform powered by SOPHiA forms the world’s largest clinical genomics community. By enabling the rapid adoption of genomic testing worldwide, turning data into actionable clinical insights, and sharing knowledge through its community, SOPHiA GENETICS is democratizing Data-Driven Medicine to save lives equally. The company’s achievements were recognized by MIT Technology Review who ranked it amongst the 50 Smartest Companies in 2017. More info: http://www.sophiagenetics.com 

SOPHiA GENETICS is on Twitter, follow @SOPHiAGENETICS

About IBS: 
Interactive Biosoftware was founded in April 2007, in Rouen, France, by a group of medical and computer scientists focusing on practical software applications for health care and life sciences, particularly in the field of genomics. Our mission is to provide geneticists and clinical researchers with the most sophisticated, easy to use and reliable software to help them with their genomic analysis needs. We have acquired a strong reputation and the trust of experts worldwide thanks to the global adoption of Alamut^®, the standardized decision support software for clinical genomic data interpretation.

For media and journalist inquiries, please contact the SOPHiA GENETICS media relations team by either email or telephone: rchandramouli@sophiagenetics.com or +41-79-378-1543.

VISULAS^® green, the next generation of photocoagulation laser from ZEISS allows doctors to fully concentrate on the patient’s treatment procedure without interruption.  

BARCELONA, Spain, June 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Medical Technology business group of ZEISS unveiled its next-generation VISULAS green photocoagulation laser at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Barcelona. Retinal Photocoagulation Lasers are used to treat a variety of eye diseases including two major causes of blindness: Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-related Macular Degeneration. VISULAS green offers uninterrupted workflow by giving doctors the ability to monitor important treatment settings directly from the eyepiece and the ability to change these settings while operating the joystick, respectively.

ZEISS unveils next generation of ophthalmic laser VISULAS green at World Ophthalmology Congress

“Not only is VISULAS green helping doctors treat retinal diseases and glaucoma, it’s also accelerating their daily clinical routine experience,” says Jim Mazzo, Global President Ophthalmic Devices at Carl Zeiss Meditec. “With an uninterrupted workflow, doctors can work more efficiently and keep their focus on the patient.”

ZEISS VISULAS green offers a well-organized user interface enabling the doctor to focus on their patient entirely. The integrated data management provides user-specific treatment protocols and a contact lens database for multiple users.

Designed as a modular and expandable laser workstation, ZEISS VISULAS green is available in a classic and a comfort model and is equipped with a choice of single or dual fiber ports. The comfort model is upgradable to handle multi-spot photocoagulation with the ZEISS VITE option to reduce treatment times. VISULAS green displays the automated treatment parameter summary immediately after the procedure. The treatment summaries can be exported into ZEISS FORUM®, the company´s eye care data management system, to create a paperless laser treatment report.

“At ZEISS, we are committed to advance eye care by connecting the patient data every step of the way,” says Dr. Ludwin Monz, President, and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec. “Our comprehensive portfolio spans across screening, diagnostics, and treatment.”

In addition to VISULAS green, ZEISS will showcase its comprehensive portfolio at WOC Booth #4008, including HFA™3, CIRRUS™HD-OCT, Retina Workplace, Glaucoma Workplace, CLARUS™ 500, and Slit Lamp SL 220.

For more information, visit www.zeiss.com/visulasgreen.

Brief profile
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (ISIN: DE 0005313704), which is listed on TecDAX of the German stock exchange, is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies. The Company supplies innovative technologies and application-oriented solutions designed to help doctors improve the quality of life of their patients. The Company offers complete solutions, including implants and consumables, to diagnose and treat eye diseases. The Company creates innovative visualization solutions in the field of microsurgery. With approximately 3,000 employees worldwide, the Group generated revenue of € 1,189.9 million in fiscal year 2016/17 (to 30 September).

The Group’s head office is located in Jena, Germany, and it has subsidiaries in Germany and abroad; more than 50 percent of its employees are based in the USA, Japan, Spain and France. The Center for Application and Research (CARIn) in Bangalore, India and the Carl Zeiss Innovations Center for Research and Development in Shanghai, China, strengthen the Company’s presence in these rapidly developing economies. Around 41 percent of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG’s shares are in free float. The remaining approx. 59 percent are held by Carl Zeiss AG, one of the world’s leading groups in the optical and optoelectronic industries.

For more information visit our website at: www.zeiss.com/med

Not all products, services or offers are approved or offered in every market and approved labeling and instructions may vary from one country to another. For country specific product information, see the appropriate country website. Product specifications are subject to change in design and scope of delivery as a result of ongoing technical development.

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SHANGHAI, June 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shanghai ChemPartner today announced the appointment of Ming Liu, Ph.D. as Vice President and the Head of Biology and Pharmacology at the company headquarters in Shanghai, China.

Dr. Liu has more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development, with a focus on pre-clinical evaluations of novel therapeutic agents. He worked for Schering Plough and Merck for 18 years, managing internal R&D efforts and external sourcing activities to advance more than 9 oncology candidates (small molecules, biologics, immune regulator, antibodies, and gene therapy) to clinical development. He also provided regulatory and clinical support to post-approval oncology drugs. Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in Molecular Virology from Baylor College of Medicine and is the author of 40 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals, 4 book chapters, and 10 patents.

“We are excited to have Dr. Liu joining ChemPartner and leading our Biology and Pharmacology department. His expertise in his field and long history in the biopharmaceutical industry is a great asset to our team. His experience and thoughtful leadership will help us maintain our quality services as well as provide innovative solutions for our clients,” said Dr. Wei Tang, President of ChemPartner.

“ChemPartner’s leading biological expertise and comprehensive services, with broad portfolio of assays & models, help clients maximize efficiency in completing translational R&D from target to IND over a wide range of therapeutic areas. I am thrilled to join the ChemPartner team and work with our experienced scientists to accomplish the research initiatives of pharma and biotech companies worldwide,” said Dr. Liu.

Started in 2007, ChemPartner’s Biology and Pharmacology department specializes in drug discovery services for several therapeutic areas, such as oncology, including immuno-oncology, immunology/inflammation, neuroscience, and metabolic disorders. ChemPartner’s highly experienced biologists provide customized designs or co-develop in vitro and ex vivo assays as well as pharmacology and disease models required for all-stage drug discovery projects.

About ChemPartner

Shanghai ChemPartner is a full-service life science CRO with over 15 years of pharmaceutical research experience. With a team of over 2000 experienced scientists, hundreds of western-trained pharmaceutical industry leaders, and experienced pharmaceutical executive leadership at the helm, ChemPartner is aligned and dedicated to technically and strategically accomplishing the research initiatives of pharma and biotech companies worldwide.

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SUZHOU, China, June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — CStone Pharmaceuticals (“CStone”) today announced that two pivotal Phase II studies exploring the efficacy and safety of CS1001 in patients with natural killer cell/T-cell lymphoma (CS1001-201) and classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (CS1001-202) have been initiated, and have respectively enrolled and dosed the first patient. CS1001 is China’s first fully human, full-length, IgG4 based anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody independently developed by CStone.

“These two pivotal Phase II studies give us great confidence in the potential accelerated commercialization of CS1001,” said Dr. Frank Jiang, Chief Executive Officer of CStone. “We believe that CS1001 will become one of the first locally-developed anti-PD-L1 cancer drugs launched in China. Meanwhile, our experience in the clinical development of CS1001 will lay a solid foundation for the development of subsequent products in the pipeline.”

The two pivotal Phase II studies, CS1001-201 and CS1001-202, will take the objective response rate (ORR) as the primary endpoint to measure the drug’s efficacy, and will also examine the drug’s safety, pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity. Both CS1001-201 and CS1001-202 are open-label, single-arm studies that are conducted simultaneously at multiple clinical study centers across the country, including the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and the Beijing Cancer Hospital. The results of the two studies will be used to support the registration application for the drug.

“Natural killer cell/T-cell lymphoma and classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma are relatively rare malignant cancers that affect the blood system, and most patients are young and middle-aged. Patients who fail the current standard treatment normally have a very short survival period. As such, there are significant unmet medical needs in these diseases,” further commented by Dr. Jason Yang, Chief Medical Officer of CStone. “According to recent preclinical and clinical studies, targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathways is the most effective way to treat these hematological malignancies. The clinical development of CS1001 and its future registration will provide an effective therapy and an additional option to patients.”

About CS1001

CS1001 is an investigational monoclonal antibody directed against PD-L1 being developed by CStone Pharmaceuticals. Authorized by the U.S.-based Ligand Corporation, CS1001 is a monoclonal antibody developed by the OMT transgenic animal platform, which can generate fully human antibodies in one step. As a fully human, full-length anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, CS1001 mirrors natural G-type immune globulin 4 (IgG4) human antibody, which could reduce the risk of immunogenicity and potential toxicities in patients, a unique advantage over similar drugs.

A first-in-human Phase I study (CS1001-101) has been conducted by CStone Pharmaceuticals since October 2017 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor activity of CS1001 in patients with advanced tumors in China. The Phase Ia (dose escalation) part was completed in May 2018, and the Phase Ib (dose expansion) part has recently started patient recruitment. In parallel, several pivotal studies are underway, including tumor types with high incidence and prevalence rates in China.

About PD-L1

Programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a 40 kDa type I transmembrane protein. Under normal physiological conditions, the immune system responds to antigens in the lymph nodes or spleen by promoting the proliferation of antigen specific T cells. The combination of programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) and PD-L1 can transduce inhibitory signals to reduce the proliferation of T cells and control an overreaction by the immune system, enabling the body to resume its natural immune balance after the pathogens are removed. However, within the tumor microenvironment, cancer cells can up-regulate PD-L1 expression levels, strongly inhibiting the body’s natural antitumor immune response and allowing tumor cells to “escape” the recognition and attack by the immune system. Currently, monoclonal antibody drugs targeting PD-1 or PD-L1 have been developed and approved globally. In China, there are more anti-PD-1 targeting monoclonal drugs being developed than anti-PD-L1. As such, the clinical study of CS1001, the first fully human, full-length anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody in China, has significant scientific and therapeutic value.

About CSTONE

CStone Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company devoted to the development of innovative drugs. With a broad pipeline, the company engages in the development of cancer therapeutics with a special focus on immuno-oncology based combination therapies. All members of the management team are seasoned executives from top multinational pharmaceutical companies. CStone has successfully built up its core competency in clinical development and translational medicine. The company is backed by prestigious VC/PE funds via two financing rounds to date, raising $150 million in a Series A round in July 2016, followed by $260 million in a Series B round in May 2018. With an experienced team, a rich pipeline, a robust R&D model, and substantial funding, CStone is well positioned as the partner of choice for multinational pharmaceutical / biotech companies to develop drugs in China and the Asia-Pacific region. For more information about CStone Pharmaceuticals, please visit: www.cstonepharma.com.

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HSINCHU and WUHAN, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — JHL Biotech has raised US$106 million in a convertible bond issuance, which closed May 15, 2018. Proceeds raised from the issuance will be used for clinical trials, working capital needs and further development of the company’s pipeline of biosimilar treatments. The offering brings JHL’s total funding raised to date to US$320 million. VMS Investment Group was the largest subscriber for the issuance, which also included active participation from existing shareholders. Ion Pacific acted as sole financial advisor to JHL for the financing transaction.

JHL Biotech is also pleased to announce the appointment of Ellis Chu as its Chief Financial Officer, effective May 2018.  Racho Jordanov, JHL Biotech’s Co-Chairman and CEO stated, “We are delighted to have someone of Ellis Chu’s caliber join JHL’s management team at this critical point in our company’s development.  Ellis’s prior experience will be an asset as business development and the capital markets become increasingly important to JHL.”

“With biosimilars taking off in Asia, I am excited to join JHL which has a reputation for manufacturing excellence. This, coupled with a management team possessing deep biologics experience, enables JHL to differentiate itself in a nascent sector that is exploding.  With several of our drugs entering late stage clinical trials this year and next, I look forward to playing an active role in helping JHL re-list and navigate its continued growth,” said Chu.

Mr. Chu most recently served as a Managing Director and the Head of Greater China at Ion Pacific, an Asia-focused venture capital merchant bank. Prior to Ion Pacific, Ellis spent the bulk of his career in investment banking, including serving as Head of China Mergers & Acquisitions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He also held senior investment banking positions at Citigroup, Nomura and Lehman Brothers advising on transactions across multiple sectors, including healthcare. Mr. Chu holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Media Contact:
Ellis Chu: echu@jhlbiotech.com phone: +886 3-658-3899
Jill Liu: jliu@jhlbiotech.com phone: +886 3-658-3899
Amber Chen: achen@jhlbiotech.com phone: +886 3-658-3899

About JHL Biotech
JHL Biotech, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical startup founded by a group of industry veterans with deep experience in pharmaceutical development and operations. JHL is backed by premier financial firms, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, Biomark Capital, Milestone Capital, Fidelity, VMS Investment Group, and the China Development Industrial Bank. JHL Biotech’s mission is to provide the world with low-cost medicines of exceptional quality. JHL is focused on research and development of new protein-based therapies and biosimilars. JHL has two world-class facilities built in accordance with United States, European Union, and ICH cGMP regulations and standards. For more information, please visit www.jhlbiotech.com.

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-First Clinical Implantation of Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve VenusP-Valve in North America was Successfully Performed in Vancouver, Canada

HANGZHOU, China and VANCOUVER, Canada, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — On June 12, 2018, St Paul ‘s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada successfully completed two cases of VenusP-Valve self-expanding pulmonary valve implantation. This is the first appearance of Venus Medtech’s transcatheter valve products in North America. The pace of internationalization continues to move forward.

First Clinical Implantation of Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve VenusP-Valve in North America was Successfully Performed in Vancouver, Canada

Although surgical treatment of congenital heart disease has evolved dramatically in recent decades, operations involving the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) can still result in chronic pulmonary regurgitation, necessitating either surgical or percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation.

Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation has emerged as a successful alternative to surgical valve implantation in such patients. However, the currently available balloon-expandable percutaneous valves are suitable only for outflow tracts reconstructed with cylindrical surgical tubes. Treatment of pulmonary regurgitation in the setting of prior RVOT patch augmentation has traditionally been limited to surgical intervention. This is mainly due to the limited available sizes of balloon-expandable valves relative to often severely dilated outflow tracts.

The self-expanding VenusP-valve has been developed specifically for percutaneous use in the native RVOTs to overcome the challenge of the larger outflow tracts and can fulfill the needs of more than 85% of patients who are keen to avoid sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass during traditional valve replacement surgery.

The procedure was performed on two patients who were previously treated with surgical patch correction for tetralogy of Fallot. Dr. Ronald G Carere and Dr. Mounir Riahi (St Paul ‘s Hospital, Canada) agreed with Dr. Shakeel Qureshi (Evelina Children’s Hospital, Great Britain) and Dr. Gejun Zhang (Fuwai Hospital, China) that these patients were more at risk of reventriculotomy, and the currently available transcatheter pulmonary valve products were not suitable for these cases. The expert team selected the VenusP-Valve as the most suitable device to serve this unmet need. Dr. Carere said: “The VenusP-Valve performed beautifully and has a simple to operate delivery system. We are very happy to have this device in our center, and we look forward to having it widely available in Canada.”

In recent years, the transcatheter artificial heart valve systems developed by Venus Medtech have been attracting more and more attention worldwide. The upcoming VenusP-Valve global multi-center clinical trial has received more than 200 applications from nearly 30 countries worldwide. The VenusP-Valve was first implanted in Canada, marking the official entry into the North American market, and the company is expected to officially launch the FDA clinical trial in 2019.

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180614/2162324-1

Source: Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc.

BEIJING, June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Long periods of unhealthy air conditions due to smog have been a consistent feature of China’s urban landscape, with such conditions having become most persistent since 2013, spurring the rapid growth of the country’s indoor air purification market. However, as the Chinese government’s efforts to control air pollution have intensified, notable periodic improvements were achieved in 2017, with the environment quality showing demonstrative improvement across many of China’s cities. This has presented itself as a challenge to the air purification industry after many years of rapid growth. The key players have been looking for a new approach to revitalize the beleaguered sector.

the JD Air Restaurant

The 2018 air purification industry summit sets the stage for a comeback

JD.com, Inc., the largest retailer in China’s air purification industry, shoulders the responsibility of leading industry development and creating a new sales scenario. On May 25, 2018, the retailer brought together more than 40 leading air purification industry players across China, including Philips, Blueair and Honeywell, for the aptly named 2018 JD Air Purification Industry Development Summit.

In view of the current challenges facing the industry, participants at the forum openly exchanged opinions and discussed how to best implement JD’s advantages in big data and sales channels as well as its open empowerment strategy across the country’s various air purification brands under what is being referred to in China as the era of “unbounded retail” (defined as “using all available offline and online channels to create a positive seamless experience for the consumer”), putting in place the elements that could lead to an entire new cycle of growth and development for the air purification industry.

What was made abundantly clear during the summit was that consumer trends are indicating without a doubt that “one solution fits all” is no longer a viable strategy, as consumers are breaking down into categories or groups, each with their own set of expectations and demands. JD and its air purification brands need to move beyond all traditional thinking in terms of product portfolios, rethink strategies in order to meet the varying expectations from each category of consumer, and make use of JD’s “empowerment” strategy to reshape the traditional framework of “people, goods and markets”, jointly creating an entirely new experience for consumers when it comes to the topic of air purification.

As a result, JD launched the JD June 2018 Air Feast campaign together with several major air purification brands, marking the official beginning of a new effort to leverage the “unbounded retail” trend that links online and offline with a focus on optimizing each touch point with the consumer as well as the end-to-end customer experience.

The culmination of the JD June ’18 Air Feast campaign — the opening of the JD Air Restaurant

On June 8th, the opening ceremony of the JD Air Restaurant was held in Beijing’s 751 art district and attracted wide attention across multiple market segments, reflecting the success of the campaign. The opening ceremony represented a new method and new attempt to leverage the concept of unbounded retail and the integration of online and offline channels, with the goal of delivering an entirely new sensory experience to consumers.

An AI-powered robot, dubbed “L’il Luo”, was the attention getter at the event, engaging with audience members without a moment’s hesitation throughout the festivities. Luo’s song and dance routine ended with a well-earned round of applause from the audience. In addition, a master in the art of traditional ventriloquism, an intangible cultural heritage going back to the Song Dynasty, delivered a natural voice ventriloquism performance, going beyond the boundaries of the senses to let the air be “heard”, drawing the attention of attendees to the importance of clean air and a healthy living environment. The performance was a turning point in terms of the atmosphere of the opening ceremony. Awareness of the June ’18 air purification campaign was further raised through an online live broadcast, arousing curiosity about the air restaurant.

Online and offline linkage of the air restaurant unlocks new opportunities for unbounded retail

The JD Air Restaurant — a restaurant that serves air rather than food — drew attention at first simply as a result of the curiosity factor, with many attendees wanting to sample the available fare. Based on an extremely simple design concept, the air restaurant consists of five special spaces: a bar counter, a dining area, a film and television area, a shopping area and a kitchen area, with a distinctive air bottle bar design and air experience bottle design that drew the most attention from the participants.

In the interactive experience segment, the air restaurant menu offered six exclusive air meals: Air at 300 feet above the clouds, Air from a pristine environment, Air from the “science and technology” cuisine, Air over a flat boat while out on the open water, Air from the arctic — a precursor to romance, and Air infused by seawater visited by salmon. Participants can experience the clean air through a special suction device, enjoying the air meal in much the same way that a succulent food meal would be enjoyed, while, at the same time, watching the video to enhance the enjoyment of the selected air delicacy, fully experiencing the sensory air feast.

Similar to what would be experienced through the online channel, users who order offline can also enjoy the discount price on offer during the June ’18 campaign. The follow-up launch of the air restaurant H5 gave potential shoppers the opportunity to explore the kitchen of the air restaurant and discover the production secrets of the air meal, enabling them to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of clean air and air purification products. The event was the culmination of a comprehensive marketing campaign through the linkage of online and offline efforts.

The kick-off of unbounded retail opens up a new era for the air purification industry

The new shopping scenario has arrived. JD’s air feast campaign has proven to be a successful attempt by China’s air purification industry to rethink the methodology for stimulating market demand, and sets the framework by which, given the current market environment, the transformation of product, marketing promotion and strategy leading to a market transition can take place. It not only removes the boundary between product experience and consumption, but also integrates the new marketing model created by online and offline marketing channels in the new era characterized by unbounded industry, channel, demand and experience, successfully launching the journey into the next era — the industry’s 2.0 era.

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WASHINGTON, June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — New Orb Media Inc. reporting and data analysis shows a strong connection between how we view old age, how well we age and the effects seen across world cultures.

Karachi, Pakistan: Mehrunnisa Iqbal Vertejee says it is important that she takes care of her mother-in-law, Sherbanoo Vertejee, 86, to show her children to respect older people. Credit: Asim Hafeez for Orb Media.

Individuals with a positive attitude towards old age are likely to live longer and in better health than those with a negative attitude. And those with a negative view of aging are more likely to suffer a heart attack, a stroke or die several years sooner.

Older people in countries with low levels of respect for the elderly are at risk for worse mental and physical health and higher levels of relative poverty.

Orb Media compiled data from 150,000 people in 101 countries to learn about their levels of respect for older people. The data show the level of respect varies significantly from country to country.

Healthy aging is increasingly important: Outside of Africa, countries everywhere are aging rapidly. If population trends continue, by 2050 nearly one out of six people in the world will be over 65, and close to half a billion will be older than 80.

Orb Media is pleased to partner with members of the Orb Media Network (OMN), a group of global agenda-setting media which collaborate to simultaneously publish stories together that catalyze global dialogue on critical issues, focusing the attention of government, industry, researchers, civil society, and the public.

OMN members include SVT (Sweden), Die Zeit (Germany), The Hindu (India), Folha de São Paulo (Brazil), Tempo Media Group (Indonesia), El Tiempo (Columbia), BBC (United Kingdom), Cadena SER-Prisa (Spain), CBC (Canada), Dhaka Tribune (Bangladesh), Deutsche Welle (Germany), and YLE (Finland).

About Orb Media
Orb Media is a nonprofit journalism organization that reports on issues that matter to billions of people around the globe. We publish our work simultaneously with a global network of leading media organizations to catalyze global public dialogue to generate citizen-driven change. Fusing original research, data analysis, on-the-ground reporting, and an engaged public, Orb Media produces agenda-setting stories about the challenges we face together as one world. Orbmedia.org/agewell.

Media Contact: Lara Kline, larak@orbmedia.org.

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BALTIMORE and SHANGHAI, June 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Insilico Medicine, a Baltimore-based next-generation artificial intelligence company specialized in the application of deep learning for target identification, drug discovery and aging research, announces the completion of a strategic round of funding led by WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund.  The strategic investment was conditional upon the successful experimental validation of Insilico Medicine’s Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) and Reinforcement Learning (RL)-based drug discovery pipeline and is intended to closely integrate Insilico Medicine’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology with WuXi AppTec’s global laboratory infrastructure and expertise in drug development.

The round was led by WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund and includes Pavilion Capital, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, and BOLD Capital Partners, the venture capital fund investing in exponential technologies co-founded by Peter Diamandis.  Juvenescence Limited, a leading longevity therapeutics company, which partnered with Insilico Medicine on drug discovery, also participated in the financing.

“WuXi AppTec is a leading global pharmaceutical and technology platform company and it has been a privilege to work hand-in-hand with WuXi AppTec’s world-class chemists and biologists, who routinely solve some of the most complex challenges presented by the global pharmaceutical industry,” said Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov, Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine.  “We are fortunate to partner with WuXi AppTec and a consortium of internationally renowned investors with deep domain expertise both in drug discovery and artificial intelligence, validating our approach and supporting our vision.”

The funding is intended to enhance Insilico Medicine’s work in the innovative approaches to the generation of novel molecules using a variety of machine learning and deep learning techniques, as well as to expand a variety of the biomarker discovery initiatives.

“WuXi AppTec and Insilico Medicine share a mutual vision that artificial intelligence and machine learning will optimize the drug discovery process by increasing the probability of success at the pre-clinical level,” said Dr. Ge Li, Chairman of WuXi AppTec Group.  “Insilico Medicine’s domain expertise in next-generation artificial intelligence, coupled with WuXi AppTec’s capability platform, can potentially improve the efficiency of drug discovery and increase the productivity to serve our partners.”

The transaction has been a joint effort between WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund and WuXi AppTec’s Research Services Division, which has been focused on investing in and collaborating with highly-disruptive technologies and companies globally.

“With the investment in Insilico Medicine, we are now taking our partnership to the next level by establishing a closer integration within WuXi AppTec’s own research capabilities to better serve the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Mr. Edward Hu, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer of WuXi AppTec.  “We have been looking to collaborate with artificial intelligence-enabled technologies to enhance the drug discovery and development process.  What impressed us the most about Insilico Medicine was the breadth of its technological capabilities and applications, ranging from target identification and small molecule generation using next-generation artificial intelligence to expertise in blockchain and aging research.”

About WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd.
WuXi AppTec (603259, SH) is a leading global pharmaceutical and medical device open-access capability and technology platform company with global operations. As an innovation-driven and customer-focused company, WuXi AppTec provides a broad and integrated portfolio of services to help our worldwide customers and partners shorten the discovery and development time and lower the cost of drug and medical device R&D through cost-effective and efficient solutions. With its industry-leading capabilities such as small molecule R&D and manufacturing, cell therapy and gene therapy R&D and manufacturing, and medical device testing, WuXi AppTec is committed to enabling innovative collaborators to bring innovative healthcare products to patients, and to fulfilling WuXi’s dream that “every drug can be made and every disease can be treated.”

Pavilion Capital Pte. Ltd.
Pavilion Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, is a Singapore-based investment firm which is focused on private equity investments in North Asia.

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 Juvenescence Limited
Juvenescence Limited is a biotech company focused on therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded in 2017 by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey, Dr. Declan Doogan, Anthony Chow, and Alexander Pickett. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, and serial entrepreneurs with a track record of success in life sciences and drug development. Juvenescence is focused on developing therapeutics that alter ageing or age-related diseases.

Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of ageing and creates the opportunity to develop therapeutics now that can slow, halt or potentially reverse elements of ageing.

About Insilico Medicine, Inc
Insilico Medicine, Inc. is an artificial intelligence company headquartered in Baltimore, with R&D and management resources in Belgium, Russia, UK, Taiwan and Korea sourced through hackathons and competitions. The company and its scientists is dedicated to extending human productive longevity and transforming every step of the drug discovery and drug development process through excellence in biomarker discovery, drug development, digital medicine and aging research.

Insilico pioneered the applications of the generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning for generation of novel molecular structures for the diseases with a known target and with no known targets. In addition to working collaborations with the large pharmaceutical companies, the company is pursuing internal drug discovery programs in cancer, dermatological diseases, fibrosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS, diabetes, sarcopenia, and aging.

In 2017, NVIDIA selected Insilico Medicine as one of the Top 5 AI companies in its potential for social impact.  In 2018, the company was named one of the global top 100 AI companies by CB Insights.  For more information on Insilico Medicine, please visit http://insilico.com.

Media Contacts:

WuXi AppTec
Sunnie Sun
sun_liyun@wuxiapptec.com

Insilico Medicine
Qingsong Zhu
zhu@insilico.com

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