NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS ENDORSES RECOMMENDATIONS OF TASK FORCE ON CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES (TCFD)

TOKYO, May 24, 2022 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet --

Nippon Express Holdings, Inc. has recently expressed its support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) (*) established by the Financial Stability Board (FSB).   Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202205191426-O1-YACGnK0u   Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M103866/202205191426/_prw_PI2fl_0GFn2dJi.jpg     The NX Group has identified climate change initiatives as one of the key issues (materialities) to be addressed in realizing its long-term vision of becoming "a logistics company with a strong presence in the global market," and it is working to reduce CO2 emissions in its own business operations as well as creating products and services that help customers cut their CO2 emissions.   The NX Group will be utilizing the TCFD's recommendations henceforth to analyze the risks and opportunities presented by climate change to its business, evaluate their financial impacts, and disclose relevant information. The NX Group is scheduled to make the first such disclosure following endorsement of the recommendations in its integrated report to be issued this fiscal year (in June 2022).   (*) Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): An international initiative established by the FSB in 2015 to encourage companies to disclose information on the financial impact of climate change risks and opportunities on their businesses. The TCFD recommends assessing the financial impacts of climate change risks and opportunities on management and disclosing information on "governance," "strategies," "risk management," and "indicators and targets." TCFD website: https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/   The NX Group will continue practicing sustainable management from a long-term perspective to help realize a sustainable society by tackling climate change.   Nippon Express website: https://www.nipponexpress.com/   NX Group's official LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nippon-express-group/     Source: Nippon Express Holdings, Inc.  http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=43228

Zenas BioPharma: ZB001 IND application in China for Thyroid Eye Disease treatment

KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 (Bernama) -- Zenas BioPharma, a global biopharmaceutical company has announced the submission of an investigational new drug (IND) application to the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical study of ZB001 for the treatment of Thyroid Eye Disease (TED).

According to a statement, this study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy of ZB001.

“The ZB001 IND submission to the NMPA marks a significant milestone for Zenas. There are currently no approved therapies for TED patients in China,” said Hua Mu, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer at Zenas. 

“Treatment options are limited and often involve high doses of steroids associated with serious side effects or surgical intervention. ZB001 has the potential to change the treatment paradigm for TED patients in China.”

ZB001 is a differentiated humanised monoclonal antibody targeting insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) for the treatment of TED.

TED is a debilitating autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and fibrosis within the orbit of the eye, which can cause double vision, pain, and potential blindness. Patients with severe disease often require multiple remedial surgeries to the orbit, eye muscles and eyelids.

Zenas BioPharma licensed the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise ZB001 (Viridian VRDN-001) and other compounds targeting IGF-1R in non-oncology indications in the greater area of China from Viridian Therapeutics Inc (Viridian) in October 2020. 

In October 2021, Viridian submitted an IND for VRDN-001 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in December 2021 initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial to evaluate proof of concept in TED patients in North America.

More details at www.zenasbio.com.

-- BERNAMA

INDUSTRY COMMERCIALIZATION EXPERT, NANCY PHELAN JOINS INDEGENE AS SVP LEADING ITS GLOBAL OMNICHANNEL COMMERCIALIZATION BUSINESS

PRINCETON, N.J. and BANGALORE, India, May 13 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Indegene, a technology-led healthcare solutions provider today announced the appointment of industry commercialization expert, Nancy Phelan, as SVP for its global digital-first omnichannel commercialization business, based in the US.

Nancy is a recognized life sciences thought leader, digital pioneer and change agent with 25+ years of experience in commercial strategy and operations. Prior to Indegene, she co-led the Transformation Management Office at Novartis as its Vice President, Business Transformation and previously was VP, Head, Neuroscience Franchise Patient and Specialty Services. A passionate patient and customer champion, Nancy previously was CEO, Adhera Therapeutics and in the past, has held diverse, senior leadership positions in customer and market engagement, communications and marketing at Pfizer, Wyeth, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Schering-Plough. She also brings significant advisor and board experience from a diverse set of public and private companies and organizations including, FemmePharma Consumer Healthcare, Eved, HATCH@Takeda and the Pharma Digital Health Roundtable.

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Cloudflare-Open Source Community team-up creates API Standards for future applications

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Bernama) -- Cloudflare Inc has announced collaborating with Deno and individual core contributors of the Node.js open source project, bringing together three of the largest JavaScript environments, to give developers flexibility and choice while creating the standards of the future of edge computing.

According to a statement, by collaborating around a common set of standards, the effort will aim to ensure code developed in one environment, will work in another.

Any developer will be able to write and run code conforming to the set of standards–and easily transfer it–between Cloudflare Workers, Deno, and Node.js seamlessly and without the need to rewrite an application.

“Cloudflare Workers has helped to define the standard for edge computing. Since 2017, more than 450,000 developers have built on Cloudflare’s developer platform and more than three million applications have been launched,” said co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, Matthew Prince.

“But we know we're not going to be the only one. We think that standards are important to driving the industry forward. That's why we're proud to be working with these other organisations in the serverless computing space to help define the standard for edge—what we believe will be the standard by which the applications of the future are developed.”

Cloudflare, Deno, and Node.js represent three of the largest JavaScript environments available to developers today.

With this effort, developers will benefit from common standards, so they can easily work across all environments based on the needs of their business and have confidence that their code will work for users today, and in the future.

The Web-interoperable Runtimes Community Group is working with leading organisations including NearForm and Vercel to ensure that developers’ voices were heard in the creation of a new community group working within existing standards bodies.

The API Standards allow developers to use the best tool or framework for the job; have a uniform approach to writing server side code; and, move applications as technology needs change.

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Cloudflare Inc is on a mission to help build a better Internet. More details at www.cloudflare.com.

-- BERNAMA

SmartStream unveils Eligibility API for Fast Access to Collateral Optimisation

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- SmartStream Technologies, the financial Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM®) solutions provider, has announced a new solution, Eligibility API for Collateral Management Optimisation – a faster and more efficient way to get eligibility information contained within collateral agreements like CSA, GMRAs and OSLA’s, for both pre and post-trade collateral optimisation.

With the impending UMR (Uncleared Margin Rules) phase 6 regulatory regime being implemented in September 2022, volumes of margin calls are expected to increase and there will be an inevitable squeeze on assets being pledged as collateral.

This will result in a rise in demand for High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA). In addition, with Interest rates forecast to rise – firms are looking at pre and post-trade optimisation so as to efficiently use scarce HQLA and Cash.

With this new solution SmartStream will provide firms with a way to publish eligible collateral for each legal agreement, which can then be consumed by their optimisation engines, according to a statement.

Program Manager, Collateral Management, SmartStream, Jason Ang said: “We realise the UMR deadline is fast approaching, and we have made it easy for clients to deploy our new solution, and to manage future versions without the need for lengthy implementation projects.

“Furthermore, having a public API strategy, lowers the cost-of-ownership of the collateral solution. The demand for this new API is high and we are having conversations with the major banks on how they can use our eligibility to optimise their collateral in preparation for the future.”

To achieve optimisation, a key component is the ability to access eligibility schedules from OTC and repo collateral systems quickly and easily. Seamlessly accessing what is eligible, and what haircuts apply to instruments across all agreements is fundamental. 

SmartStream’s new API allows fast and easy access to collateral, including the ability to upgrade seamlessly. In addition, the new solution allows the sourcing of eligibility information in real-time.

More details at www.smartstream-stp.com.

-- BERNAMA

BEST'S MARKET SEGMENT REPORT: AM BEST MAINTAINS NEGATIVE OUTLOOK ON INDIA'S NON-LIFE INSURANCE MARKET

SINGAPORE, May 5 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has maintained its negative market segment outlook on India’s non-life insurance segment, citing insurers’ reliance on investment income to offset persistent underwriting losses as a key factor.

The Best’s Market Segment Report, titled, “Market Segment Outlook: India Non-Life Insurance,” states that key lines of non-life business, including health, motor and crop insurance, have been challenged for several years by poor underwriting performance. Despite an improvement in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2021, the market’s combined ratio remained unfavourable, at 115%, compared with approximately 120% in the previous two fiscal years. The state-owned insurance companies, which accounted for 45% of earned premium in fiscal-year 2021, posted a combined ratio of over 120%. These companies help to enforce government insurance schemes and increase insurance penetration by offering lower-priced products. While this approach benefits policyholders, it constrains the insurers’ profitability. AM Best expects a deterioration in technical metrics in fiscal-year 2022, driven by a further decline in health insurance results.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=43078

MONETAGO NAMED BEST FINTECH STARTUP IN TRADE BY GLOBAL TRADE REVIEW

LONDON & SINGAPORE & NEW YORK, May 6 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Financial technology solutions provider MonetaGo has been awarded ‘best fintech startup in trade’ by Global Trade Review.

The annual GTR Leaders in Trade awards celebrate the achievements of pioneering institutions and top performers in the trade, commodity, supply chain, export finance and fintech markets.

This award recognises MonetaGo’s systematic progression towards helping industry make trade finance faster, better and safer for all financiers and bona fide borrowers, as the world’s provider of trade finance deduplication technology. In its award submission, MonetaGo was able to demonstrate the track record and maturity of its solution, and how it has built credibility among major global financial institutions through numerous industry partnerships, including the integration of its Secure Financing system onto Swift’s global API-enabled infrastructure as a single point of access for financial institutions worldwide.

“This award is a further testament to our relentless efforts to address fraud to dramatically improve the trade finance experience for lenders and their clients alike,” says Jesse Chenard, CEO and founder of MonetaGo. “By bridging information barriers among and between banks, platforms and regional solutions, MonetaGo makes it possible to prevent double-funding fraud globally in ways that were not possible before. It’s an honour to have been recognised by GTR for our work.”

This recognition follows previous accolades for the Secure Financing system. Most recently, it has been recognised as Best Solution in Trade Finance at the AMTD DigFin Innovation Awards at the Hong Kong Fintech Week 2021, and as Most Effective Bank-Fintech Partnership at the IBS Intelligence Global Fintech Innovation Awards 2021.

A full write-up of the Leaders in Trade winners will appear in the Q3 2022 issue of GTR. 

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