The Quadrant View

Renowned gene therapy company, NeuExcell Therapeutics, that is known to exclusively focus on neurodegenerative diseases, has reportedly declared a USD 10+ million Series Pre-A financing round. The round was led by Co-Win Ventures, although other institutional investors such as InnoAngel, YuanBio, Tsingyuan, and Oriza Seed joined the same. With the closure of this successful round, NeuExcell is thrilled to welcome Jonathan Sun and Dr. Xin Huang to the Board of Directors. Peter Tombros, Board Chair, NeuExcell Therapeutics, has been quoted to state that the company is honored to welcome this reputable band of investors, whose support and valuable experience will help NeuExcell leverage its proprietary neuroregenerative gene therapy platform spanning numerous neurodegenerative indications. The capital raised through this financing is an indication of the company’s growth strategy and validates its science within the biotech space, Tombros added. Professor Gong Chen, Co-founder and Chie...

Affirm’s shares rose by 40% after it declared its partnership with Amazon. The deal will help Amazon consumers to split buying costs over $50 into smaller chunks. Following the precedent set by many companies in the e-commerce sector, Amazon is now moving forward to consolidate its position in the ‘buy now, pay later’ space. The company has inked a major partnership deal with platform provider Affirm to officially penetrate the delayed pay arena. As per reports, shares of Affirm soared over 40% post its announcement of a deal with retail giant Amazon. Sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter claim that the e-commerce company’s ‘pay-over-time’ option will be made operational at the time of checkout. This essentially enables consumers of Amazon to split the buying costs of USD 50 or more, into smaller installments on a monthly basis, spread over a longer time period. An official statement by Affirm says that the total buying cost will always be displayed, and customers w...

South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Solutions has reportedly made it to the headlines for having inked a vital contract with the renowned Texas-based company Sunbridge Energy Services. The energy and petrochemical company has announced that Hanwha Cimarron, the tank manufacturer that it recently acquired last year, has signed an important supply contract with Sunbridge Energy Services, aimed at providing storage tanks for CNG (compressed natural gas). The deal has been signed for a price of USD 260 million over a 10-year period, and is targeted at delivering tube trailers comprising numerous vessels for storing CNG as well as hydrogen and other pressurized gases. The trailers are 42 to 45 feet long and retain the capacity to carry 18 Jupiter Tanks manufactured by Hanwha Cimarron. As per reports, each of the Jupiter Tank has a maximum storage capacity of 485 kilograms, while a single tube trailer is able to deliver close to 9 tons of CNG at a time. Jupiter Tank is basically a Type IV co...

Technology conglomerate IBM has reportedly announced vital details of its new processor at the annual Hot Chips conference. The company revealed that the IBM Telum Processor has been efficiently designed to address frauds in real time, by bringing in deep learning inference to enterprise workloads. For the unversed, Telum is IBM's first processor embedded with on-chip acceleration for inferencing AI during a transaction. The processor has been in development for three years, and has been designed to help customers accomplish major business insights, across the BFSI industry. The 2020 Consumer Sentinel Network Databook by the Federal Trade Commission has reported that more than USD 3.3 billion had been lost to fraud in 2020, a considerable increase from USD 1.8 billion in 2019. Using Telum however, will help clients to shift the paradigm to a fraud prevention posture from a fraud detection posture, thereby aiming for a new era of prevention of fraud at scale, sans any impact on t...

Appointment booking mobile platform ‘DocNow’, has made it to the headlines for bringing in newer in-app features that deliver better provisions for patients. With this launch, DocNow has upped the ante in virtual healthcare, as these easy-to-use features are expected to help fast-track patient-practitioner interaction. As per sources familiar with the matter, the DocNow mobile encompasses provisions such as a collection of custom-built ‘in-app’ self-assessment tools, instant access to Covid-19 resources, reminders for scheduled appointment coordination, smart alerts, a search component powered by artificial intelligence that’ll help patients communicate with practitioners conveniently from their home. The increase in the prevalence of COVID-19 cases The onset of COVID-19 and the consistent outbreaks of newer virus mutants have brought about a transformational shift in healthcare, with an influx of new apps and medical devices. To that end, DocNow’s latest features come as a massive...

Global technology and design leader, Tata Elxsi, has reportedly established a tie-up with popular media company DStv Media Sales, a subsidiary of MultiChoice Group. The partnership entails Tata Elxsi to collaboratively build a vision for the awarded media sales company, addressing the current challenges alongside pushing DMS toward the path of future growth. Fahmeeda Cassim Surtee, CEO (Chief Executive Officer), DMS, MultiChoice Group, has been quoted to state that DStv Media Sales has been consistent about driving change in the advertising domain, and this latest innovation is a way for the company to transform further. DMS, reputed to Africa's most loved storyteller, is thrilled about its future prospects and the opportunities that it offers advertisers from its Ad media platform, she adds. The CEO has also affirmed the role Tata Elxsi has played in the growth of the company. She claimed that Tata Elxsi has been instrumental in helping the firm transform the way it establishes...

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., has reportedly declared that one of its mainstream arms, Jinko Solar Co., Ltd. has signed a supply agreement with Wacker Chemie AG. The long-term deal entails Wacker to supply over 70,000 tons of polysilicon to Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., from September 2021 to December 2026. An official press release claims that Wacker will retain the decided polysilicon capacity for Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., and will supply the same from its units in the United States and Germany. According to sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter, the purchase price is likely to be based on the market price. Mr. Kangping Chen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., said that Wacker, being one of the principal leaders in the global polysilicon market, has always been manufacturing highly superior quality products. Having signed this long-term polysilicon supply deal with Wacker, JinkoSolar has not only ensured that its products will be manufactured from a completel...

Silmitasertib is said to be safe, and can be easily administered in patients due to its oral formulation. In the beginning of June 2021, Senhwa also provided Silmitasertib to Taiwan, on compassionate grounds, for patients suffering with severe COVID-19. Drug manufacturing establishment Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. has made it to the headlines for a major announcement regarding its latest drug. The company has apparently declared that Silmitasertib, its novel oral drug, has been enrolled for its Phase 2 IIT (investigator initiated trial). For the record, this unique drug targets the protein kinase CK2 pathway and is known to possess considerable clinical potential to treat COVID-19. As of August 4th, 2021 globally, the overall number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has crossed 200 million. As per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the highly contagious Delta variant accounts for over 93 percent of the new COVID-19 cases in the United State. Dr. John Soong, CMO (Chief Medi...

Globally renowned IoT development platform, Tuya Smart, has signed a partnership deal with internationally reputed brand owner MTS Group. The two have tied up in a bid to deepen further cooperation in the smart home sector and together create a comfortable and healthy living environment for clients. Under the terms of the partnership, Tuya will provide technical support to MTS Group and enable it to further grow its smart product lines in order to meet the changing consumer demand. MTS Group will be responsible for leveraging numerous online and offline channels for brand promotion, thereby letting more and more people the benefits provided by UNITEC products. For the unversed, UNITEC is MTS Group’s own smart brand, through which it will be expanding its growth scope in the smart home industry, thereby contributing to the smart technology revolution. The UNITEC brand is supported by Tuya technology, and it has introduced numerous smart home products in the market, such as smart ligh...

Renowned Rhode Island based private equity firm Nautic Partners, LLC has made it to the headlines for its announcement regarding the acquisition of Aurora Plastics, in partnership with management. According to reliable sources, McDermott Will & Emery LLP represented Nautic in the acquisition deal and Carlyle Global Credit and Antares Capital LP led the financing for the same. On the other hand, Reed Smith LLP and William Blair & Company LLC were the advisors for Aurora. Chris Pierce, one of the Managing Directors at Nautic, has been quoted to state that Aurora has a well-experienced management team that has helped to fast-track the company’s growth trajectory since the last many years. Nautic is thrilled to join hands with the firm to lend support to their next growth and innovation phase, he says, adding that it will aim for more acquisitions in Aurora’s fragmented market. Elaborating further, Chris Pierce also said that Nautic is delighted about adding yet another investme...

Biotechnology platform ImmVira has reportedly announced that it has commenced MVR-T3011 IV – its lead oncolytic virus therapy program. The first patient as a part of this therapy program has already been dosed, having received MVR-T3011 intravenously in the U.S. Globally reputed clinical institutions such as Prisma Health, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, and Mary Crowley Cancer Research have been hosting the Phase I clinical trial, claim sources. For the uninitiated, ImmVira is a biotechnology company that solely focuses on genetically modified oncolytic viruses as cancer therapeutics. The company has worked on developing science, technology, and related know-how in order to support ongoing research and development programs and commercialization of oncolytic viruses on the OV+ Potent, Enabling, Novel & Safe (OvPENS) platform. The OvPENS platform basically consists of gene-recombinant know-how, patents, research, commercialization analytics, and manufacturing technology to come ...

Nanotech Energy, one of the globally renowned graphene manufacturers, has made it to the headlines for its announcement of a successful Series D funding round. The sole manufacturer of non-flammable, graphene batteries, Nanotech has declared that it has come up with USD 64 million in a Series D funding round at a post-Series D amount of USD 550 million. As per reports, the funding round was led by the biggest financial services firm based in Taiwan, Fubon Financial Holding Co. This round apparently brings the total funding amount raised by Nanotech Energy, to USD 94.9 million so far. The company plans to deploy the funds for expanding their international presence, one of the acts of which includes the launch of its European headquarters in Amsterdam. In addition, Nanotech also plans to use the funds to build a high-volume graphene battery manufacturing unit in Reno, Nevada, slated to be operational in late 2022 and lead to an influx of jobs in Greater Reno market. The company will al...

Jacobs has reportedly been selected to design and deliver the First Plasma REMS (Radiological Environmental Monitoring System), a major safety system for the world’s largest fusion energy experiment, ITER. This system is required at the precise moment when ITER commences operations, as it monitors radiological activity and protects the workforce as well as the environment against ionizing radiation. As per sources with the knowledge of the matter, F4E (Fusion for Energy), the organization responsible for EU’s contribution to ITER (accounting for nearly 50%), estimates the overall project cost at EUR 3.5 million (USD 4.2 million), inclusive of the contract for designing, procurement, installation, and commissioning. Karen Wiemelt, Senior Vice President, Energy, Security and Technology, Jacobs, has been quoted to state that the company will leverage its leading edge technical as well as project integration capabilities to ensure that this technically complex project is successfully del...

Forxiga (dapagliflozin), a SGLT2 (sodium-glucose cotransporter 2) inhibitor developed by AstraZeneca, has reportedly been approved for use in the European Union (EU). The drug has obtained approval for the treatment of CKD (chronic kidney disease) in adults – both, with and without T2D (Type-2 diabetes). The European Commission has apparently approved the drug on the basis of positive results from the DAPA-CKD Phase III trial. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency had also provided a recommendation for the same. The results of the DAPA-CKD Phase III trial state that Forxiga, in tandem with the standard-of-care (SoC) treatment (usually with an angiotensin receptor blocker or an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor), relatively reduces the risk of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) onset, deteriorating renal function, or risk of renal or cardiovascular (CV) death by 39% (the primary composite endpoint), as opposed to the placebo effect, in ...