Author: jezzabellemente

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 (Bernama) — European pioneer for integrated therapies for rare diseases and in critical care, the AOP Health Group has signed an agreement with Leukos Biotech, a spin-off company founded by the Barcelona-based Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in early July.

The agreement signed covers the option for the development of newly discovered chemical substance within any treatable indication, not limited to oncological or rare diseases, according to a statement.

At first, AOP Health will focus on the development of treatment options for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Both are special disease types of leukemia that often start in the bone marrow.

Chief business officer of AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals GmbH, a member of AOP Health, Agnes Kohl said: “Based on positive data, our plan is to expand the development for further orphan indications even outside of AML and MDS at a later stage.

“With this agreement, we may be able to broaden the portfolio within our therapeutic areas offering even more treatment options for patients.”

As AOP Health focuses on rare, hemato-oncological cancers and has many years of experience in the development and commercialisation of hemato-oncological treatments, the company will drive the further development of the substance in cooperation with Leukos based on a new mode of action.

The company focuses on research, development and global sales of innovative treatment solutions and specialises in therapies for rare diseases and intensive care.

— BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) — New findings from the HPTN 084 long-acting cabotegravir (CAB) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) study has revealed that reductions in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) incidence were sustained in the 12 months following trial unblinding (Nov 5, 2020 through Nov 5, 2021).

Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) presented the updated results of the study at the AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal, Canada, HPTN said in a statement.

“These results are encouraging as CAB efficacy was sustained during the 12 months following unblinding, confirming a high level of protection against HIV acquisition among study participants assigned female at birth,” said Dr. Sinead Delany-Moretlwe, HPTN 084 protocol chair, director of research at Wits RHI, and research professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

HPTN 084 is an ongoing Phase 3 randomised, controlled trial that previously demonstrated the superiority of ViiV Healthcare’s CAB compared to daily oral tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) for HIV prevention in individuals assigned female at birth.

HPTN 084 enrolled 3,223 cisgender women at research sites in Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Dr Myron Cohen, HPTN co-principal investigator, and director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said: “HIV infection continues to threaten the health of women worldwide.

“Empowering women with safe and effective PrEP options is critical to reducing HIV as a global health threat.”

HPTN is a worldwide collaborative clinical trials network that brings together investigators, ethicists, community members, and other partners to develop and test the safety and efficacy of interventions designed to prevent the acquisition and transmission of HIV.

— BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) — AGC Biologics, a leading global Biopharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation, has announced a new partnership with gene therapy company, Altheia Science.

“We are pleased that Altheia Science has placed their trust in our cell therapy and viral vector services, and our Milan site, at this important stage in their product’s lifecycle,” said AGC Biologics chief business officer JB Agnus in a statement.

Through this partnership, Altheia Science will advance its development of autoimmunity treatments.

“The AGC Biologics Milan site has a long-standing expertise in successfully developing stem cell-based gene therapies, from clinical testing up to commercialisation,” said Altheia Science chief executive officer Paolo Rizzardi.

“We believe this partnership is key in supporting our gene therapy programmes and making these innovative therapies available to patients.”

The AGC Biologics Milan facility has one of the strongest development and manufacturing track records in the global cell and gene industry, working with virtually any cell type and lentiviral, retroviral and adeno‐associated viral vectors.

AGC Biologics’ cell therapy services and viral vector capabilities leverage the latest technology and processes, including proprietary platforms developed to address the evolving advanced therapies industry.

More details at http://www.agcbio.com.

— BERNAMA

AsiaNet 97196

TOKYO, July 27, 2022 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/ —

On July 26, ahead of the Tenth NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference that opens on August 1 at UN Headquarters in New York, Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda called on the five nuclear-weapon states to declare that they will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict: the principle of “No First Use.”

Today the risk that nuclear weapons will be used is at its highest level since the Cold War. Ikeda, a passionate campaigner for nuclear abolition for over 60 years, urges the five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT — the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China — to give substance to a joint statement made by their leaders on January 3, 2022, that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” by declaring policies of No First Use.

He proposes that the following points be included in the Final Document of the Review Conference:

-That the five nuclear-weapon states pledge to continue to abide by their January Joint Statement, immediately pursuing measures to reduce the risks posed by nuclear weapons in accord with their Article VI nuclear disarmament commitments.

-That the five nuclear-weapon states, as a matter of highest priority, declare their commitment to the principle of No First Use at the earliest possible date.

-That in order to give concrete form to the joint statement’s declaration that “none of our nuclear weapons are targeted at each other or at any other State,” the principle of No First Use be universalized as the security policy of all states possessing nuclear weapons as well as the nuclear-dependent states.

Ikeda urges: “We must remember that it was never the purpose of the NPT to establish continuing nuclear threat and confrontation as the inevitable fate of humankind.” He asks us to learn from the world’s hibakusha — the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and the testing of nuclear weapons — who insist that no one anywhere should suffer what they have endured.

Ikeda argues that commitment to No First Use would also free resources to protect people from shared threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

On August 4, during the NPT Review Conference, the SGI will hold a side event promoting No First Use together with other like-minded organizations.

Read full statement:
https://sgi-peace.org/resources/2022-statement-calling-for-no-first-use

Daisaku Ikeda (1928 – ) is a Buddhist philosopher, author and president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an NGO promoting peace, culture and education in consultative status since 1983 with UN ECOSOC. Every year since 1983, Ikeda has authored peace proposals offering concrete approaches to resolving the complex global issues facing humanity, centering on the need to abolish nuclear weapons.
www.daisakuikeda.org


Source: Soka Gakkai International

Contact:
Joan Anderson
International Office of Public Information
Soka Gakkai
+81-80-5957-4711
anderson[at]soka.jp

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) — Yili Group has become the dairy partner for the G20 Indonesia Summit to be held this year.

Joyday, produced by PT Yili Indonesia Dairy, will bring the cool taste of ice cream to participants from worldwide, it said in a statement today.

This is Yili’s second collaboration with the G20 summit since the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit, and it is in keeping with the company’s commitment to achieving “World Integrally Sharing Health” and values shared with the G20 Committee.

The Yili Indonesia Dairy Production Base, which opened in December 2021, manufactures Joyday brand ice cream for the Indonesian and Southeast Asian markets.

On completion of its second phase, the production base will become the country’s largest ice cream factory, with a daily production capacity of four million ice cream products.

“As one of the world’s top five dairy companies and Asia’s largest player in the industry, Yili has been actively embracing resources, markets and talent across the globe and fostering synergies and collaborations throughout the global industrial chain,” the group said.

Currently, Yili owns 74 production bases and 15 global innovation and research and development centres globally and has established partnerships with more than 2,000 enterprises in 39 countries and regions.

Yili adheres strictly to its New Vision for Value Creation in its global development. The company continues to innovate in order to provide high-quality dairy products and services to global consumers while meeting their nutritional needs and inspiring healthier lifestyles.

On July 13, Yili announced a new collaboration agreement with the G20 Committee to jointly support coral reef conservation in the Komodo National Park of Indonesia, covering reef restoration, beaches and underwater cleaning.

Yili has been actively assisting local communities, both domestic and global, in combating the pandemic, providing preferential subsidies to local partners’ businesses and donating masks and dairy products to help safeguard people’s physical and emotional health.

— BERNAMA