April 26, 2022

Aella: Creating Solutions to Africa’s Problems With Credit

LAGOS, Nigeria, April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Creating solutions tailored to African problems is crucial in addressing the financial wellness of the continent. The peculiarity of the life patterns of the average African begs one to intentionally design and build mechanisms, to tackle financial illiteracy in the underserved communities. Aella has seized the opportunity to develop solutions to such problems by designing a Debt-as-a-Service model in Nigeria.

With over 300,000 agent clusters, Aella has built a nerve centre to empower businesses with credit infrastructure and business capital. Being one of the foremost micro-business lenders, they have continuously built with initiative and provided software and capital that allows individuals become lenders in minutes. This Debt-as-a-service model is powered by Aella’s finance mechanism using decentralized finance.

Aella’s partnership with Nomba, formerly known as Kudi: an agency bank in Nigeria is the first official lending partnership that highlights Aella’s role as a credit aggregator for agents. Consequently, building more products for them and integrating them into their ecosystem. Nomba has expanded its business by leveraging Aella’s credit infrastructure. In six months, Aella has disbursed over $30 million to Nomba agents hitting a milestone.

Another agency lending initiative birthed from Aella’s Debt-as-a-service model designed to boost Nigeria’s lending ecosystem is its partnership with CrowdForce, a technology-driven agent distribution network. This partnership will see Aella facilitate agents’ access to digital financial services for the largely offline population across the country by offering credit. In turn, Aella’s credit infrastructure provides over 60,000 agents with funds to scale their businesses.

Ultimately, Aella’s credit infrastructure operates in two ways; through asset financing and the debt as a service model. One of Aella’s most innovative partnerships is definitely its multimillion-dollar power financing collaboration with Buy Power, a utility payment platform to ease the process of buying electricity for Nigerian residents. Aella’s commitment to financial empowerment will enable Nigerians access power, through its diversifying credit solutions for over 6 million customers across the country with Buy Power. This integration will utilize Aella’s comprehensive technology platform to provide consumers with the opportunity to buy electricity on credit.

These partnerships are crucial to the overall development of the Nigerian economy and at large the African continent. Aella is introducing cost-effective ways for all classes of Nigerians to access credit. Ready access to credit is key to promoting financial freedom and inclusion, particularly among the underbanked population.

Contact: support@aellacredit.com

April 26, 2022

Seegene unveils world’s first commercialized ‘3 Ct’ PCR assay

Provides Ct value of three targets in one channel; ‘3 Ct’ PCR assay to launch in H1
“Dream MDx technology” developed based on Seegene’s 20-year expertise; combines 19 different patented technologies, including DPO™, TOCE™, MuDT™
‘3 Ct’ to lay foundation for automated syndromic testing and make MDx more accessible

SEOUL, South Korea, April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Seegene Inc. (KQ096530), South Korea’s leading molecular diagnostics (MDx) company, today announced the development of the world’s first commercialized PCR assay applying ‘3 Ct’ technology. The ‘Allplex™ HPV HR Detection’ was showcased at the 2022 European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held April 23-26 in Lisbon, Portugal.

[Figure 1] Seegene unveils world's first commercialized '3 Ct' PCR assay

In a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the cycle threshold (Ct) value is used to quantify the concentration of a viral DNA sequence (the target). Due to technological limitations, the conventional real-time PCR technique finds the Ct value of one target in one channel.

But Seegene’s ‘3 Ct’ technology can provide the Ct value of three targets in one channel without compromising sensitivity and specificity. The successful development is based on Seegene’s 20-year expertise and combines 19 different patented technologies, including DPO™, TOCE™, and MuDT™. Using five channels in a single tube, Seegene can provide quantitative data for a total of 15 targets. ‘3 Ct’ has been dubbed the “dream MDx technology.”

The company plans to apply ‘3 Ct’ technology to its entire product line-up, including respiratory virus (RV), sexually transmitted infection (STI), gastrointestinal infection (GI), and urinary tract infection (UTI) assays. Seegene expects ‘3 Ct’ technology to take syndromic testing to another level. By detecting the causative pathogen, level of infection, and potential of co-infection, it will help determine the priority of treatment and enhance patient management. ‘3 Ct’ technology also increases testing capacity. Such features are expected to improve the service and cost-structure of the medical sector once ‘3 Ct’ technology is widely utilized.

Seegene’s first ‘3 Ct’ technology applied product, Allplex™ HPV HR Detection, is designed to detect 14 high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types that can cause cervical cancer (See figure 1). It also provides the individual Ct value of each of the types allowing quantitative analysis regarding infection level. Early detection of HPV contributes to the prevention and management of cervical cancer. HPV products from other industry players provide individual Ct values for two high-risk types, HPV 16 and 18.

The Allplex™ HPV HR Detection, planned to be launched within the first half of this year, will come with a significant cost advantage compared to existing HPV products to increase accessibility to PCR testing, which had been difficult previously due to high costs. The product will also be compatible with Seegene’s fully automated AIOS (all-in-one system). The company plans to introduce the industry’s first ‘fully automated, mass, syndromic testing system,’ to lay the foundation for testing anywhere, including large hospitals, C-Labs, and even small and medium-sized clinics, and make PCR testing part of everyday life.

“HPV genotyping is essential for a good follow-up of a patient to observe the emergence, persistence or clearance of each genotype,” says HPV expert Sebastien Hantz, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Limoges in France. “Seegene is a company very involved in the development of molecular diagnostics tests for the detection of different pathogens. For certain clinical situations, like respiratory infections, syndromic testing is very useful.”

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1804637/image_1.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1357790/Seegene_logo_Logo.jpg

April 26, 2022

Open Society Condemns Travesty of Justice in Kavala Verdict

New York, April 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations are appalled by today’s Turkish court decision to sentence Osman Kavala—the business leader and philanthropist—to life in prison, even though no credible evidence was ever presented to substantiate the baseless charges against him.

“Today a Turkish judge ruled against Osman Kavala even though there is not a shred of legitimate evidence against him,” said Mark Malloch-Brown, the president of the Open Society Foundations. “This bogus trial has utterly failed to meet the most basic standards for fairness and procedural justice.”

The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants to 18 years in prison each. The cases against these defendants were also without any merit.

Osman Kavala was first arrested and detained in October 2017. The government has held him, without conviction prior to today, for more than four years.

During that time, Turkish prosecutors have bent over backwards to try to keep Kavala in prison, even having him re-arrested in February 2020, after a previous trial ended with him being briefly released.

“This is not about justice,” added Malloch-Brown. “It is about trying to intimidate and silence anyone who might speak up in defense of human rights in Turkey, including all independent civil society groups.”

In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Kavala’s detention was unjustified, and that the case against him was designed to silence him and to dissuade other human rights defenders from speaking out.

Turkey has so far defied the ECHR ruling.

Kavala is an established businessman and philanthropist, known for his support of human rights, the arts, and culture in Turkey. He also served as a board member with Open Society’s foundation in Turkey. (Open Society Turkey shut its doors in 2018 due to harassment from the Turkish government.)

Kavala is expected to appeal the court ruling.

“It is long past time to end this legal farce,” added Malloch-Brown. “Osman Kavala should be released and his name cleared immediately.”

Office of Communications
Open Society Foundations 
(212) 548-0378
media@opensocietyfoundations.org

April 26, 2022

US VP Harris Tests Positive for COVID-19

Vice President Kamala Harris has tested positive for COVID-19, though she is experiencing no symptoms, her office announced Tuesday.

In a statement, the vice president’s Press Secretary Kirsten Allen said Harris tested positive for COVID-19 on rapid and PCR tests. The statement said she will isolate and continue to work from her residence.

Allen said the vice president has not been a close contact to U.S. President Joe Biden or First Lady Jill Biden, due to their respective recent travel schedules.

“She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The Vice President will return to the White House when she tests negative,” the statement said.

The 57-year-old vice president has been vaccinated and received two booster shots, the latest shot on April 1.

Source: Voice of America

April 26, 2022

CDC Estimates 3 in 4 U.S. Kids Have Had Coronavirus Infections

Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report Tuesday.

The researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans and looked for virus-fighting antibodies made from infections, not vaccines. They found that signs of past infection rose dramatically between December and February, when the more contagious omicron variant surged through the U.S.

For Americans of all ages, about 34% had signs of prior infection in December. Just two months later, 58% did.

“I did expect it to increase. I did not expect it to increase quite this much,” said Dr. Kristie Clarke, co-leader of a CDC team that tracks the extent of coronavirus infections.

The news came as Pfizer sought permission to offer a booster dose to kids ages 5 to 11, just like people 12 and older can get.

In the CDC report, the most striking increase was in children. The percentage of those 17 and younger with antibodies rose from about 45% in December to about 75% in February.

The older people were, the less likely they had evidence of past infections. That may be because older adults have higher vaccination rates and they may be more likely to take other COVID-19 precautions, such as wearing masks and avoiding crowds, Clarke said.

Reported COVID-19 cases had a huge surge in December and January, then fell almost as dramatically as they had risen. But daily case counts have been trending up again in recent weeks.

The case numbers are believed to be an undercount, but officials do think recent increases reflect a true rise in infections. Many COVID-19 infections are mild enough that patients do not seek care or confirmatory lab tests. CDC officials say they plan to release a study soon that estimates that in recent months there were three infections for every reported case.

Another recent trend: U.S. health officials say they have seen two weeks of increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations, though the numbers remain relatively low. Hospital admissions number about 1,600 per day, a 9% increase over the prior week, the CDC reported.

Available evidence nevertheless offers reason to be hopeful about how the pandemic is going, officials suggested.

“We are not anticipating more severe disease from some of these subvariants, but we are actively studying them,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.

The tests that showed how many people had previous infections can detect antibodies for one to two years after infection, and possibly longer. Studies have shown previous infection can protect some people against severe disease and hospitalization, but CDC officials stressed that the previously infected should still get COVID-19 vaccines.

The study looked for any detectable level of antibodies; it did not distinguish how many people had antibody levels that might be protective. Scientists are still trying to understand what role these kinds of antibodies play in protection from future virus exposures.

Officials continue to urge Americans to get vaccines and boosters, which offer additional protection against COVID-19 for all, including those who were previously infected.

Currently the U.S. offers a booster dose starting at age 12, but Pfizer and BioNTech on Tuesday asked the Food and Drug Administration to allow healthy elementary-age kids to also get one — about six months after their last shot. The companies cited a small study showing the extra shot for kids ages 5 to 11 revved up antibodies capable of fighting the super-contagious omicron variant. Pfizer’s kid-size shots are a third of the dose given to anyone 12 or older.

Source: Voice of America