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Roquefort Therapeutics CEO lays out strategy for 2023

Roquefort Therapeutics PLC

Roquefort Therapeutics PLC (LSE:ROQ, OTCQB:ROQAF) CEO Ajan Reginald speaks to Proactive about his plans for the main-market listed biotech company over the year to come. He also gives a fresh update on what Roquefort Therapeutics achieved during the final quarter of 2022 and reveals an important new hire. Contact Details Proactive Proactive UK Ltd +44 20 7989 0813 uk@proactiveinvestors.com

January 10, 2023 03:45 AM Eastern Standard Time

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The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation Announces 2022 Community Champion Award Winners and Grants

Sevita

The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation, the private foundation of Sevita, a leading national provider of community-based health care and support services, announced that it has named four Sevita employees as its 2022 Community Champions. In recognition and support of their dedication to volunteerism in their communities, the Charitable Foundation has awarded a $2,500 grant ($10,000 in total) to support a nonprofit organization of each Community Champion’s choice. The awards are part of the Foundation’s fiscal year 2022 grant cycle. Community Champions are Sevita employees who dedicate their time, talents, and energy to local nonprofits serving and supporting their communities. Individuals are nominated by their coworkers who recognize their devotion and efforts both at work and outside of it. “We are delighted to honor our Sevita employees as Community Champions,” said Whitney Shufelt, Executive Director of the Charitable Foundation. “They and their associated organizations display a passion and continued commitment to serving their community and making meaningful differences.” The 2022 award winners and their nonprofit grant recipients include: Community Champion: Diane Baxter for Shelby Volunteer Fire and Rescue - Training EMTs and other responders to ensure the rural community of Shelby, Iowa receives the highest standard of care. Community Champion: Amy Meek for Pottawattamie County Fair Board Association - Supporting the board to plan and host different programs and events for the community of Oakland, Iowa. Community Champion: Gerry Morrissey for Special Olympics Massachusetts - Supporting the organization as it charts paths for families and individuals to have their dignity, respect, honor, grace, and self-worth affirmed, and reaffirmed over and over every day. Community Champion: Jennifer Sullivan for Sibling Connections - Facilitating gatherings to strengthen the sibling relationship for children in foster care in Massachusetts. “Sevita’s core mission is to support individuals in living full, more independent lives, and the best place to do that is in their home and community,” said William McKinney, Sevita CEO and President of The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation. “Our Community Champions make this happen every day while they’re at work and continue to do so during their personal time. We are so proud of the enriching and life-changing work of these incredible Sevita team members.” The Charitable Foundation has named 91 Community Champions since 2013 and awarded grants to nonprofits of their choice. The Community Champions program comes in addition to the Charitable Foundation’s annual giving program which granted a total of $290,000 to eight organizations in its fiscal year 2022. For more information, visit networkcharitablefoundation.org. About The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation Launched in 2007, The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation was founded by social entrepreneurs who believed that healthy, vibrant communities are exactly the right environments in which people with a range of abilities thrive. Building on Sevita’s innovative approach to specialized health care through new solutions and creative ideas for the people it serves, The MENTOR Network Charitable Foundation is Sevita’s commitment to nurturing the excellence and innovation that provides such environments—for the populations served by Sevita, for its employees and for society as a whole. About Sevita Sevita is a leading provider of community-based specialized health care. We believe that everyone deserves to live a full, more independent life. We provide people with quality services and individualized supports that lead to growth and independence, despite the physical, intellectual, or behavioral challenges they face. We’ve made this our mission for more than 50 years. Today our team members continue to innovate and enhance care for the 55,000 individuals we serve. sevitahealth.com Contact Details Melissa Patricio media@sevitahealth.com Company Website https://sevitahealth.com/

January 09, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Poolbeg Pharma upbeat on preliminary influenza drug results

Poolbeg Pharma PLC

Poolbeg Pharma PLC (OTCQB:POLBF) CEO Jeremy Skillington speaks to Proactive after announcing initial data analysis, including a 'clear dose-related response', for its drug, POLB 001, a potential treatment for severe influenza. Skillington says the 'early data readout' indicates that the challenge trial was successful. Contact Details Proactive UK Ltd +44 20 7989 0813 uk@proactiveinvestors.com

January 09, 2023 09:01 AM Eastern Standard Time

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VinFuture foundation officially calls for nominations for the 2023 season

Vingroup

HANOI, VIETNAM - Media OutReach - 9 January 2023 - The VinFuture Prize officially kicks off its 2023 season with the nomination period open from 14:00 January 9 th, 2023, to 14:00 May 15 th, 2023 (GMT+7). The 3 rd season of the VinFuture Prize is focused on scientific and technological innovations and solutions that help promote resilient and sustainable development amid the forecasted global socioeconomic challenges in 2023. In 2023, humanity will face many challenges due to the impact of global conflicts and economic challenges. According to the World Food Program, an additional 50 million people could be on the brink of starvation by 2023. In addition, global energy consumption is expected to increase amid slow growth and high energy prices. The shortage of gas supply can force countries to continue using fossil fuels, thus slowing down the transition to green energy. With its vision and mission of "science for humanity," the 2023 VinFuture Prize aims to recognize and honor scientific research and technological breakthroughs, thereby contributing to resolving problems that humanity is facing, and facilitating sustainable development for the future. Prof. Sir Richard Henry Friend, Chair of the VinFuture Prize Council, shared: "When we look at the broad fields, it's interesting to see how global sentiment has changed. We're increasingly concerned about global well-being and anxious about a stable and sustainable life after unpredictable incidents. We aim to search for innovations and breakthroughs across all fields to honor scientific innovations that create positive and sustainable changes in the lives of many people. We believe this year's nomination will receive more quality nominations, thus increasing the opportunities to find worthy scientific works and research." To participate in the 2023 VinFuture Prize, scientific and technological innovations and solutions must fully meet the Prize's nomination criteria* and be nominated by prestigious organizations or individuals in the field of science and technology worldwide. Nominated projects will be screened and chosen by the VinFuture Prize's Pre-Screening Committee and Prize Council, composed of leading scientists and experts who have won prestigious awards, such as Nobel, Turing, and Millennium Technology prizes. Previously, the 2022 VinFuture Prize received an exceptional response from the global science and technology community, with 970 quality nominations from scientists, researchers, and inventors from six continents. The 2022 VinFuture Grand Prize (worth US$3 million) was awarded to five scientists: Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Dr. Vinton Cerf, Dr. Emmanuel Desurvire, Dr. Robert Kahn, and Professor Sir David Payne for their ground-breaking research on global network technology. The 2022 VinFuture Special Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields was awarded to Dr. Demis Hassabis and Dr. John Jumper for their pioneering work on AlphaFold 2 - an artificial intelligence program that has revolutionized the modeling of protein structures. The 2022 VinFuture Special Prize for Developing Country Innovators was awarded to Professor Thalappil Pradeep for his development of a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater. The 2022 VinFuture Special Prize for Female Innovators honored Professor Pamela Ronald for her breakthroughs in isolating the Sub1A gene which facilitated the development of submergence-tolerant rice varieties. The 2023 VinFuture Prize's Nomination Portal is available at: https://online.vinfutureprize.org/nomination For more details about the Prize: * 10 criteria for nomination to the VinFuture Prize: Detailed instructions on the nomination process and form: Frequently asked questions: List of VinFuture Prize Laureates announced at the award ceremony on December 20th, 2022 with information about the awarded innovations: There should be clear evidence, or potential, for an end-product or service based on the solution, which has an everyday practical application; Solutions should have already benefited millions of people in the past 10 years for the Grand Prize, or have the potential to benefit millions of people in the next 10 years for the Special Prizes; Solutions should be aligned with one or more of the United Nation's SDGs; Solutions must be scientifically proven (i.e., there should be clear evidence of passing relevant scientific trials, and in the case of research, it must be empirically proven or widely reviewed); Open to researchers or inventors who were involved in developing the underlying solutions, and not entrepreneurs or corporates who helped in the commercialization/diffusion of the technology; End-products of the research should benefit people globally, including those from developing and less developed countries, as well as lower-income and disadvantaged communities; Open to individuals or teams of researchers/inventors; Preferences are considered for nominees in the active stages of their careers; Same individual/team can be nominated for one or more of the VinFuture Special Prizes if eligible; Research/Solution/Invention can be underpinned in any discipline of science, engineering, or technology, including potentially multi-disciplinary approaches. About VinFuture Foundation The VinFuture Foundation, established on December 20th, 2020 on the occasion of International Human Solidarity Day, is a non-profit organization co-founded by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong and his wife, Mrs. Pham Thu Huong. The Foundation's vision is catalyzing meaningful change in the everyday lives of millions of people by honoring transformational technological innovations at a global scale. The Foundation's core activity is awarding the annual VinFuture Prize for breakthrough scientific and technological innovations that have created or have the potential to create meaningful changes in the everyday lives of millions of people across the planet. The VinFuture Prize consists of four prize categories, of which the Grand Prize – with a value of US$3 million – is one of the largest annual global prizes, and three Special Prizes, worth US$500,000 each, are dedicated to Female Innovators, Innovators from Developing Countries, and Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields. In addition, the Foundation conducts many activities to accomplish its mission, such as funding academic activities, catalyzing intellectual connections, collaborating in sci-tech development, and promoting STEM education. Contact Details Media Contact v.chidqd1@vingroup.net Company Website https://online.vinfutureprize.org/nomination

January 09, 2023 08:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Kadimastem Announces it raised appx 7.5 million NIS by rights offering

Kadimastem2

Kadimastem Ltd. (TASE: KDST), a clinical stage cell therapy company developing treatments for ALS and diabetes, announces the raising of 7.5 million NIS in a rights offering. The company's main stakeholders, Prof. Michel Revel and Mr. Julian Ruggeri, and the European Alpha Capital Anstalt, expressed confidence in the company and participated in the rights offering. Cybele Investments served as a distributor to the transaction. Attorneys Reut Alfiah and Oded Har-Even, of Sullivan & Worcester, accompanied the company in the transaction. A little over a week ago, the company announced the approval of a NIS 3.5 million (US$1 million) budget grant by Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial R&D Foundation (BIRD) to support Kadimastem and iTolerance Inc.’s joint project to develop and commercialize a breakthrough regenerative technology to cure diabetes without the need for chronic immuno-suppression. The total project budget is NIS 7 million, for a period of 30 months. iTolerance is a US company based in Florida that has developed an innovative technology (iTol 100) with the aim of enabling the transplantation of allogenic cells (genetically different from the patient) without tissue matching and without suppressing the recipient's immune system. In preparation for the rights offering, the Company provided a voluntary update on its activities. Regarding the AstroRX product for the treatment of ALS, the company has updated that it intends to submit an IND to the FDA for a phase II/a clinical trial by the end of January 2023. For the submission, the company hired an American CRO for the purpose of planning and implementing the clinical trial. In addition, the company is in contact with experts in the field in the U.S., in preparation for their potential participation in the execution of the clinical trial and is examining potential sites for execution of the experiment. Regarding the IsletRX product for the treatment of diabetes, the company has updated that following the engagement with the French company Defymed, which develops advanced encapsulation solutions for examining an integrated solution for the treatment of diabetics, the companies are in advanced negotiations for cooperation to develop a joint product in the field of diabetes. Regarding the intention to list on NASDAQ, the company has updated that it is in the process of preparing for a dual listing on NASDAQ. The Company also updated that it is in initial communication with a private company to examine a strategic investment in the company and/or strategic cooperation. Asaf Shiloni, CEO: "The raise from the main stakeholders who have been accompanying the company since its inception, gives a boost to the company's development plan and will allow us to securely move forward with the submission of the IND to the American’s FDA, and to move towards a phase IIa clinical trial in the US for patients with ALS." Ronen Twito, Chairman: "We welcome the confidence of the company's main stakeholders in its management, the company's assets, and the quality of science, at a time when the world's capital markets are unstable. I am confident that we will continue to lead Kadimastem to successes and the realization of its potential." About Kadimastem Kadimastem is a clinical stage cell therapy company, developing and manufacturing "off-the-shelf", allogeneic, proprietary cell products based on its technology platform for the expansion and differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs) into functional cells. AstroRx®, the company's lead product, is an astrocyte cell therapy in clinical development for the treatment for ALS and in pre-clinical studies for other neurodegenerative indications. IsletRx is the company's treatment for diabetes. IsletRx is comprised of functional, insulin and glucagon producing and releasing pancreatic islet cells, intended to treat and potentially cure patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. Kadimastem was founded by Professor Michel Revel, CSO of the company and Professor Emeritus of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Professor Revel received the Israel Prize for the invention and development of Rebif®, a multiple sclerosis blockbuster drug sold worldwide. Kadimastem is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: KDST). Contact Details Kadimastem Sarah Bazak s.bazak@kadimastem.com Lior lior@gotlive-ir.co.il, s.bazak@kadimastem.com

January 09, 2023 07:01 AM Eastern Standard Time

Over 60% Of Americans Will Experience Back Pain At Some Point - FloSpine’s Solution Makes Surgery Easier, Cheaper, And More Accessible

FloSpine

By Faith Ashmore, Benzinga Interested in investing in FloSpine’s campaign? Click here to get started! Outpatient and inpatient are entirely different worlds in healthcare. Inpatient care refers to anything that happens in a hospital setting and is designed to provide care for patients who might require overnight care. On the other hand, outpatient facilities are built to accommodate procedures that can be done within a day and require less monitoring afterward. Outpatient care, where applicable, has lots of benefits for the patient and practitioners alike. Outpatient care is typically much cheaper than inpatient; there are no hidden or additional fees for things like maintaining a large staff and resources. Sometimes it costs thousands of dollars more for inpatient care versus outpatient. Patients are also able to recover in the comfort of their own homes with outpatient care, a huge draw to many people. COVID-19 has shined a spotlight on the benefits of outpatient facilities, sometimes known as ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). High patient volumes at hospitals left providers itching for more facilities to provide patients with care at. Not to mention ambulatory surgery centers have resulted in millions of dollars of healthcare savings for providers. Ambulatory surgery centers are only expected to grow in the coming years. The market is expected to grow steadily at a CAGR of 7.5% through 2029. As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announce more procedures that are approved for outpatient facilities, the popularity of ambulatory surgery centers will only grow further. Spinal Surgery Is Moving To ASCs While major spinal surgery will remain in the jurisdiction of major hospitals, smaller surgeries or minimally invasive spinal procedures are having success at ASCs. Currently, there are more than 160 outpatient surgery facilities in the U.S. that specialize in spinal care. According to data compiled by CardinalHealth, the spine ASC market is expected to grow 200% in the coming years. Spinal fusion implants are one of the approved procedures that are having success in ASCs. Spinal stenosis occurs when a patient’s spinal disc begins to collapse and pinch the nerve roots and spinal cord; this breakdown of the spinal cord can cause pain, mobility issues, and overall deterioration of health. Traditionally practitioners have implanted rods and screws to correct spinal stenosis. FloSpine has pioneered a new device that can replace the existing rod and screw fusion solution. Their proprietary product, The KeyLift™ Device, is inserted through a small incision (about 2 inches). This device and procedure lead to faster patient recovery and less blood loss while limiting the chance of bone cracking because of how it fits in between the laminar of the spine. The company has already had success in the minimally invasive surgical technique industry with its Largo®, Canaveral®, and Panama® products. It is currently hosting a raise to finish the development and execution of its KeyLift Device. One major benefit of the KeyLift Device is the procedure can be performed in ASCs and limits costs to the patient while increasing long-term spinal health. Approximately 60-70% of Americans will experience back pain at some point in their life, making the importance of innovative spinal fusion implants incredibly important. FloSpine could be a leading innovator in the space helping make the lives of many easier. This article was originally published on Benzinga here. At FloSpine, we have developed a new solution to treat back pain, the KeyLift™. The KeyLift™ is implanted and expands to release nerves that are under pressure due to aging or injury. This condition is known as lumbar spinal stenosis and we believe that we have a new solution to treat it. We consider ourselves to be a leading medical device company applying new technology and design concepts to solve medical problems for the human spinal column. With 6 US patents, and 4 Patent Applications (2 International), we are in review with the FDA for the latest solution for back pain: KeyLift™. FloSpine® is registered as a Medical Device Manufacturer with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Waldi Harris wharris@flospine.com

January 06, 2023 08:05 AM Eastern Standard Time

Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies "ready to go" after phase 1 trial submission

Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies Holdings PLC

Contact Details Proactive UK Ltd +44 20 7989 0813 uk@proactiveinvestors.com

January 06, 2023 04:58 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Change Addressing Disparity for Black Kidney Patients Takes Effect

United Network for Organ Sharing

Black patients disadvantaged by a race-based measure of kidney health will now be eligible to receive modifications to their waiting time, potentially improving their prioritization for transplant, according to a new policy passed by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Board. United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the organization that powers the nation’s donation and transplant system, serves as the OPTN under federal contract. The new policy went into effect today, January 5, 2023. The change was unanimously approved by the OPTN Board on December 5, 2022. The policy is intended to address disparities in waiting times faced by Black patients on the kidney transplant waitlist. Some of these patients were disadvantaged by the earlier use of a measure that took race into account when measuring kidney function. For years, some calculations (known as eGFR) included a modifier for Black patients based on outdated assumptions about race and biology. This practice led to the severity of kidney disease in Black patients being systemically underestimated. It may have also negatively affected when Black patients got added to the national waitlist. In June 2022, the OPTN Board approved a policy that required transplant hospitals no longer use race-based calculations when estimating a patient’s kidney health. “This action underscores our commitment to equity in access to transplantation for all candidates,” said Jerry McCauley, M.D., M.P.H., president of the board. “We and many other organizations have now prohibited the use of a race-based calculation that has unfairly delayed care for many Black patients with kidney failure. Waiting time for a transplant is a major factor in the priority that kidney candidates receive. Thus, we are acting along with kidney transplant programs nationwide to ensure that any candidates known to have been disadvantaged by a race-inclusive GFR calculation will receive all the waiting time credit for which they qualify, as soon as possible.” “So many African-Americans have been affected by the use of race-inclusive calculations, and have become very ill or have died waiting for the opportunity to list for a kidney transplant,” said Precious McCowan, a kidney recipient and donor mother who serves on the OPTN Kidney Transplantation Committee, which developed and co-sponsored the policy with the OPTN Minority Affairs Committee. “With the new policy change, I envision more African-Americans having an equal opportunity to list for kidney transplantation.” Transplant programs must comply with the policy by January 3, 2024, which will include reviewing their lists of waitlisted candidates to identify those who may have been impacted by the use of the race-based calculation. About UNOS United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is a non-profit, charitable organization that serves as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) under contract with the federal government. The OPTN helps create and define organ allocation and distribution policies that make the best use of donated organs. This process involves continuously evaluating new advances and discoveries so policies can be adapted to best serve patients waiting for transplants. All transplant programs and organ procurement organizations throughout the country are OPTN members and are obligated to follow the policies the OPTN creates for allocating organs. Contact Details United Network for Organ Sharing Anne Paschke +1 804-782-4730 anne.paschke@unos.org Company Website https://unos.org

January 05, 2023 02:39 PM Eastern Standard Time

News Release

NuggMD releases landmark 210k-record patient study on medical cannabis trends

NuggMD

As legal cannabis continues to enjoy broad, bipartisan support among the general public and as more states legalize the substance for either medical or recreational purposes, a recently released landmark study sheds new light on the conditions for which patients seek medical cannabis and how those conditions vary by geographic region, age, and gender identity. The study, the 2022 Cannabis Conditions Report, was conducted by NuggMD using more than 210,000 anonymized patient records, among the largest data sets of its kind. NuggMD is a telemedicine provider that helps patients obtain medical cannabis cards in 22 states. It conducted the study in order to add more facts to the prevailing dialogue about the addition of medical cannabis to a treatment regimen. The full report is available here. It was first reported by Marijuana Moment, one of the nation’s leading trackers of developments and news in the cannabis industry. Concurrent with its Conditions Report, NuggMD also released the details of a complementary survey of more than 500 current medical cannabis card-holders. Importantly, 68 percent of respondents said they have ceased or reduced other pharmaceutical treatments since incorporating medical cannabis. More than 80 percent of respondents said they are comfortable discussing medical cannabis with their doctors, and more than 94 percent said cannabis provides to them moderate or total relief of the conditions for which they sought treatment. "The evidence here is clear: medical cannabis works. It provides relief for a wide variety of conditions. More importantly, it's giving patients an alternative to dangerously addictive, often deadly pharmaceuticals. More than a century of disinformation and propaganda peddled by cannabis foes does not change these facts,” said Alex Milligan, co-founder and chief marketing officer of NuggMD. Analysis: Inconsistent standards limit access and create unreliable data Still, a significant barrier to access is how states limit the qualifying conditions for which a patient may be recommended medical cannabis. In some states, legislators have expanded their regulations to include more qualifying conditions or to allow physicians to recommend medical cannabis in broad terms, such as for treatment of a “debilitating medical condition.” Other states continue to unjustly prohibit their residents from accessing this form of healthcare. Of note, the states that allow physicians to determine the qualifying condition saw a higher rate of patients reporting “other condition” as a reason they were seeking medical cannabis. Based on that datapoint, NuggMD believes that states with fewer qualifying conditions are either deterring patients from seeking the medication they need or reducing the accuracy of available data by forcing patients in need of medical cannabis to select a comorbidity rather than the primary ailment for which they were seeking an evaluation. A majority of patients in the study listed multiple conditions, which can be expected as many conditions exist co-morbidly. “From a policy standpoint, one piece of low-hanging fruit for lawmakers is more consistency to the qualifying conditions under which states approve medical cannabis licenses for patients,” said Milligan. “The current status quo does not promote equal access to care or the evidence-based evaluation of medical outcomes, which are both cornerstones of other areas of healthcare.” The report was authored by NuggMD's Alexandra Arnett, a University of Maryland School of Pharmacy candidate for a Master of Science in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics. Medical review was provided by Dr. Brian Kessler, MD, Pain Management & Sports Medicine, with analysis, editing, and fact-checking conducted by NuggMD's Tyler Elson and Deb Tharp. About NuggMD NuggMD is the nation's leading medical marijuana technology platform, serving patients in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. They've connected over 1,000,000 patients face-to-face with their new medical marijuana doctors via their state-of-the-art telemedicine platform. They believe every human being has the right to explore the benefits of medical cannabis and are fully committed to helping each patient explore every option in their journey to wellness. For further information, visit NuggMD.com. Contact Details Andrew Graham andrew.g@getnugg.com Company Website http://www.nuggmd.com

January 05, 2023 02:11 PM Eastern Standard Time

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