September 10, 2021

Wiseasy Partners with UnionPay International to Boost Digital Banking and QR Payment in Ghana and Nigeria

ACCRA, Ghana, Sept. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Wiseasy Group, a leading global digital banking and payment builder, jointly announced a collaborative partnership with UnionPay International (UPI) today, to accelerate digital banking and QR payment in Ghana and Nigeria in supporting the global digital transformation trend.

In response to the rapid changing of customer payment needs and the increasingly competitive global financial arena, the two entities collaboratively implement a comprehensive solution, bridging the gaps with their advanced core competencies. This solution provides a unified mobile payment standard and facilitates the management of financial institutions’ mobile payment businesses. Rapid diffusion by Smartphones and QR open new prospects for the development of innovative payment methods and enable customers to carry out banking operations while on the move.

“Wiseasy Group is pleased to be part of this exciting collaboration with UPI to launch a secured, seamless and innovative solution that meets the new expectations of retailers and customers,” stated Mr. Rachid Oulad Akdim, VP Group and President of Wiseasy France.

“We are honoured to partner with Wiseasy Group to further accelerate the brand reach in Ghana and Nigeria”, said Mr. Luping Zhang, General Manager of UnionPay International Africa Branch. “UnionPay continues to offer high quality, cost-effective, innovative payment services through shared growth with our partners in the region”.

Wiseasy Group is a leading global digital banking and payment builder, operating in 114 countries and regions worldwide, covering dozens of industries. The company aims to promote the innovation, development, and application of digital banking solutions and payment technology worldwide by offering smart fintech terminals and rich payment technology services that can reach wider demographics with more convenience.

With over 1.6 billion UnionPay cards issued in 70 countries and regions globally, UnionPay has expanded its acceptance network to 180 countries and regions in recent years. At present, UnionPay cards are widely accepted in Africa across all sectors, effectively meeting the diverse purchasing needs of UnionPay cardholders visiting and living on the continent. UnionPay cards are issued in over 10 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius. The Nilson Report (Issue 1154) shows that UnionPay ranks first among all card schemes in card issuance and transaction volume worldwide. UnionPay has launched various innovative payment products in Africa in response to the worldwide digital transformation and financial inclusion.

September 10, 2021

Adagio Therapeutics Announces Expansion of Patient Population in Global Phase 2/3 Clinical Trial of ADG20 for the Prevention of COVID-19

Independent Data Monitoring Committee Supports Expansion to Adolescents and Pregnant and Nursing Women Based on Safety and Tolerability Data from Phase 2 Lead-In

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Adagio Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of antibody-based solutions for infectious diseases with pandemic potential, today announced that the independent data monitoring committee (IDMC) for the EVADE Phase 2/3 trial of ADG20 for the prevention of COVID-19 has provided a recommendation to expand Phase 3 trial enrollment to include adolescents and pregnant or nursing women, as well as to decrease the protocol-specified, post injection monitoring time. The IDMC’s assessments are based on their review of unblinded safety and tolerability data from 200 participants enrolled in the Phase 2 lead-in portion of the trial. Adagio remains blinded to the data and plans to implement the IDMC recommendations for the Phase 3 portion of the trial. EVADE is being conducted globally, including in regions where there is a high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, to evaluate the ability of a single, intramuscular dose of ADG20 to prevent COVID-19 in both pre- and post-exposure settings.

“Given the urgent need for additional treatment and preventative options for COVID-19, particularly in vulnerable populations, we are pleased that an independent assessment of the safety data from the lead-in portion of EVADE supported inclusion of adolescents and pregnant or nursing women in the next phase of the study,” said Lynn Connolly, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of Adagio. “Based on the potent and broad activity of ADG20 in non-clinical studies, as well as its extended half-life and ease of administration, we believe this antibody has the potential to become a preferred prophylactic option for COVID-19, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children and the immunocompromised, for whom there are currently limited or no available options.”

The EVADE trial is a global, multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating ADG20 in two independent cohorts. The first cohort (post-exposure prophylaxis) is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of ADG20 compared to placebo for the prevention of COVID-19 after exposure to an individual with laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The second cohort (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is designed to assess the efficacy and safety of ADG20 compared to placebo in individuals who are at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection due to occupational, housing or recreational situations, and in individuals who are at increased risk of poor vaccine response, including individuals with compromised immune systems or other co-morbidities. The primary efficacy endpoint in both cohorts is the prevention of laboratory confirmed, symptomatic COVID-19. For more information on the EVADE trial, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04859517.

The clinical development program for ADG20 includes two additional trials: the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of ADG20 in healthy volunteers and the ongoing STAMP trial evaluating ADG20 as a treatment for high-risk individuals with mild or moderate COVID-19 (see clinicaltrials.gov).

About ADG20
ADG20, a monoclonal antibody targeting the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses, is being developed for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. ADG20 was designed and engineered to possess high potency and broad neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 and additional clade 1 sarbecoviruses, by targeting a highly conserved epitope in the receptor binding domain. ADG20 displays potent neutralizing activity against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain as well as all known variants of concern. ADG20 has the potential to impact viral replication and subsequent disease through multiple mechanisms of action, including direct blocking of viral entry into the host cell (neutralization) and elimination of infected host cells through Fc-mediated innate immune effector activity. ADG20 is formulated at high concentrations, enabling intramuscular administration, and was engineered to have a long half-life, with a goal of providing both rapid and durable protection. Adagio is advancing ADG20 through multiple clinical trials on a global basis.

About Adagio Therapeutics
Adagio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of antibody-based solutions for infectious diseases with pandemic potential. The company’s portfolio of antibodies has been optimized using Adimab’s industry-leading antibody engineering capabilities and is designed to provide patients and clinicians with a powerful combination of potency, breadth, durable protection (via half-life extension), manufacturability and affordability. Adagio’s portfolio of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies includes multiple, non-competing broadly neutralizing antibodies with distinct binding epitopes, led by ADG20. Adagio has secured manufacturing capacity for the production of ADG20 with third-party contract manufacturers through the completion of clinical trials and, if approved by regulatory authorities, through initial commercial launch. For more information, please visit www.adagiotx.com.

Contacts:
Media Contact:
Dan Budwick, 1AB
Dan@1abmedia.com

Investor Contact:
Monique Allaire, THRUST Strategic Communications
monique@thrustsc.com

September 10, 2021

Disruptive.Asia constate que les fabricants chinois de puces tirent parti de l’innovation et de l’appui aux politiques pour atteindre la maturité en 14 nm

LONDRES, 10 septembre 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Disruptive.Asia constate que la quête d’autosuffisance de la Chine en matière de fabrication de puces permet non seulement de doper les capacités de fabrication de puces de 14 nm en vue de leur pleine maturité, mais aussi de positionner le pays comme un partenaire mondial clé dans le secteur des chipsets, au moment où la chaîne d’approvisionnement se déplace vers la région Asie-Pacifique.

Selon Cai Yimao, vice-doyen de l’École d’ingénierie électronique et d’informatique de l’Université de Pékin, les entreprises chinoises ont surmonté bon nombre des difficultés techniques inhérentes à la conception de puces de 14 nm, ce qui a permis d’accélérer les capacités de la Chine en matière de puces de 14 nm au cours des deux dernières années. Le secteur chinois des puces en 28 nm devrait atteindre sa pleine maturité cette année et les puces en 14 nm devraient suivre d’ici 2022.

Les fabricants de puces en Chine bénéficient d’un appui aux politiques et d’investissements importants. M. Cai estime que la promulgation de politiques pertinentes a clairement montré que la Chine continue de soutenir l’industrie des circuits intégrés en tant qu’industrie phare. La Chine accorde une grande importance au développement de l’industrie des circuits intégrés et renforce continuellement l’appui aux politiques et les investissements.

Actuellement, la chaîne d’approvisionnement se déplace vers la Chine et l’Asie du Sud-Est. On pense que cela stimulera également la R&D nationale en matière de technologies avancées et favorisera un développement rapide des entreprises locales en Chine à mesure qu’elles accumuleront des compétences technologiques et une expérience de gestion. En outre, l’achèvement progressif de la construction de nouvelles usines de production de plaquettes en Chine continentale apporte un nouveau soutien à l’industrie des puces en termes de réduction des coûts, de renforcement des capacités de production et de commodité géographique. Le nombre et la proportion des lignes de production de circuits intégrés en Chine ne cessent d’augmenter. Plus de 20 300 mm de lignes de production ont été mis en service, et plusieurs sont en cours de construction.

Disruptive.Asia convient que la Chine a déjà maîtrisé la technologie de la production de masse des puces de 14 nm. Comme l’a mentionné M. Cai, les puces chinoises en 14 nm seront produites en masse l’année prochaine, avec un meilleur équilibre entre performances, consommation d’énergie et coût comme jamais auparavant.

À propos de Disruptive.Asia

Disruptive.Asia assure la couverture de l’état actuel de la révolution numérique dans les secteurs des télécoms, des fintechs et de l’Internet dans la région Asie-Pacifique – son origine, ce qui la fait avancer, l’impact qu’elle a sur chaque industrie, comment les acteurs clés y répondent et ce que nous réserve l’avenir.

September 10, 2021

Apple Must Loosen App Store Grip, Judge Says; What’s the Impact?

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple will be forced to loosen the grip it holds on its App Store payment system, a U.S. federal judge ruled Friday in a closely watched battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games.

Though app makers will be able to take steps to skirt the up to 30% commission Apple takes on sales, the tech giant avoided being branded an illegal monopoly in the case.

Here are some key questions on the App Store and the impact of the ruling:

How does the App Store work?

The App Store acts as the lone gateway for mobile applications of any kind onto iPhones or other Apple devices.

Apple requires developers to adhere to its rules for what apps can or can’t do, and Apple makes them use the App Store payment system for all transactions there.

Apple takes a commission of up to 30% of app purchases or transactions, contending it is a fair fee for providing a safe, global platform for developers to hawk their creations.

Apple maintains that 85% of the estimated 1.8 million apps at the digital shop pay nothing to the Silicon Valley based tech giant.

What was the ruling?

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers said that Apple’s control of the App Store did not amount to a monopoly, but that it must let developers include links to other online venues for buying content or services.

App makers will be able to provide links that users can click on to take them to another website to buy content or otherwise interact.

Apple can still require its payment system to be used for in-app purchases, meaning it should still get its share of transactions such as buying virtual gear in a game or a subscription.

Gonzalez Rogers wrote that Apple violated California’s laws against unfair competition but that it was not “an anti-trust monopolist … for mobile gaming transactions.”

Big change?

The biggest change lovers of Apple mobile gadgets might notice is that apps should start showcasing links enticing them to leave the App Store to spend money.

Apple representatives called the ruling a validation of the App Store business model.

The judge did not order Apple to let Fortnite back into the App Store, and the studio’s CEO Tim Sweeney said on Twitter that the game would return only “when and where Epic can offer in-app payment in fair competition with Apple.”

Bite out of Apple’s revenue?

It will be difficult to estimate what sort of bite the ruling will take from the company’s income.

Most of the offerings at the App Store are created by small developers who haven’t built their own payment systems the way Epic Games runs its own online shop, analyst Carolina Milanesi said.

Small developers likely see benefits to using Apple’s payment system and provided perks, such as promoting apps or handling refunds, the analyst added.

App users might also feel more comfortable trusting transactions on Apple’s platform rather than entering credit card or other information in on third-party websites.

“How many developers can do something else when it comes to payment systems and how many customers are interested in using something else?” Milanesi asked. “I don’t think this ruling is a problem for Apple from a revenue perspective.”

And Apple may be planning to more than offset any lost revenue with its own advertising business, according to the analyst.

Source: Voice of America

September 10, 2021

Unvaccinated 11 Times More Likely to Die of COVID, New Studies Show

New U.S. studies released Friday show that COVID-19 vaccines provide strong protection against hospitalizations and death, even in cases involving the highly contagious delta variant.

One study, which followed 600,000 people from April through mid-July, found that people who were not vaccinated were more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die than those who were fully vaccinated.

The unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely to get infected, according to the study released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC also released two other studies that show vaccine protection appearing to wane in older populations, particularly those 75 and older.

The studies also show an increase in milder COVID-19 infections among fully vaccinated people.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said during a White House COVID-19 briefing Friday that the data showed “vaccination works and will protect us from the severe complications of COVID-19.”

The release of the studies comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a new vaccine mandate requiring big companies to ensure their workers are vaccinated. The order could affect as many as 100 million Americans.

Republican officials in several states joined Republican calls to fight the new mandate in court.

Mississippi’s Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, said Friday that Biden’s federal vaccine requirements were “clearly unconstitutional” and that Mississippi would join other states in filing a lawsuit.

Montana’s attorney general, Austin Knudsen, also promised Friday to fight the new federal vaccine mandate in court as soon as the full guidelines are released.

Also Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned parents of young children not to seek to have children younger than 12 inoculated with currently available vaccines.

The agency said several vaccine manufacturers are conducting vaccine trials involving children.

“Children are not small adults,” the FDA said in a statement, “and issues that may be addressed in pediatric vaccine trials can include whether there is a need for different doses or different strength formulations of vaccines already used for adults.”

The FDA said it is “working around the clock to support the process for making COVID-19 vaccines available for children.” The statement said the FDA scientists “very much hope to have pediatric COVID-19 vaccines available in the coming months.”

In other developments Friday, Denmark lifted the last of its COVID-19 restrictions. Vaccine passports are no longer required to enter nightclubs; the rule was removed for other venues Sept. 1.

On Saturday, Denmark will celebrate its new status with a sold-out concert for 50,000 people.

The Scandanavian country’s vaccine rollout has gone well, with 73% of its 5.8 million population fully vaccinated, including 96% of those 65 and older.

In France, former French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn was charged Friday over her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Buzyn was charged with “endangering the lives of others.”

French officials Friday also unveiled new restrictions for U.S. travelers not vaccinated against the coronavirus. Those travelers now must show “pressing grounds for travel” in addition to the previous requirement of a negative COVID-19 test.

In South Africa, health officials began vaccinating children, taking part in clinical trials of China’s Sinovac Biotech inoculation for children 6 months to 17 years.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Saturday that it had recorded 223.9 million global COVID-19 cases and 4.6 million deaths. The center said 5.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered.

Source: Voice of America

September 10, 2021

Malawi Businessman Convicted for 2019 Attempt to Bribe Judges

BLANTYRE, MALAWI – Malawi’s high court has found a businessman guilty of attempting to bribe Constitutional Court judges who were ruling on the disputed 2019 presidential election.

Thomson Mpinganjira, who owns a commercial bank in Malawi, was arrested in January 2020 by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, or ACB, after the High Court’s chief justice, Andrew Nyirenda, reported he had attempted to bribe the judges.

Mpinganjira was accused of offering judges an unspecified amount of money so that a court case over the disputed 2019 presidential election would end in favor of then-president Peter Mutharika.

Mpinganjira had pleaded not guilty to six bribery-related charges. But High Court Judge Dorothy DeGabriele, in her judgment Friday, said the court proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mpinganjira wanted to bribe the five judges.

“The court found the accused person under count 1 and 2 for offering an advantage to Justice [Healey] Potani and Justice [Michael] Tembo who were public officers and for the benefit of that advantage to be shared amongst the judges, to induce the judges to make a decision in favor of the respondent. The accused person is hereby convicted accordingly,” DeGabriele said.

Mpinganjira’s lawyer, Tamando Chokotho, asked the court to consider giving his client noncustodial punishment, saying his client is a first offender and a responsible man.

Reyneck Matemba, Malawi’s solicitor general, dismissed calls for the noncustodial sentence, saying the convict needs a maximum prison term to serve as a lesson to potential offenders.

“What the convict wanted to do, the offense which he has committed, is a very serious offense,” Matemba said. “He wanted to defeat the course of justice in one of the most high-profile cases in this country, ever.”

Following the conviction, DeGabriele revoked Mpinganjira’s bail and remanded him to Chichiri Prison in Blantyre, where he will await his sentencing.

Source: Voice of America