wonderland

BEIJING, Sept. 26, 2025 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Themed ” Together! We Shine! “, the 2025 Beijing Chaoyang International Light Festival will run from September 26 to the end of October, seamlessly integrating modern technology, art, and culture to present a dazzling spectacle for both local residents and global visitors.

This year’s festival once again welcomes internationally renowned director Richard Taylor and international light art teams, including the Singaporean team, to collaborate on creative design. Partnering with the China Urban Sculpture Artists Association and China’s top eight art academies, the event will showcase nearly 60 large-scale light and sculpture installations during the festival.

The festival’s main venue will transform the Liangma River, its banks, and the adjacent Chaoyang Park into a luminous wonderland. Visitors will discover interactive aquatic performances featuring technologically advanced installations like the Blue Whale and Pegasus — mechanical creatures that “swim” across the river. Cultural highlights include the BBC Earth Live Symphony Concert, the UK animated family show Shaun the Sheep , and Yin Ge : Hong Kong Cinema Classics Symphony Concert.

The renovated Shell Theater at Chaoyang Park, Beijing’s first outdoor water-based performance space, will officially open to the public during the festival. Nearby, the floating “Cube” stage on North Lake will create a dreamlike fusion with Beijing’s iconic skyline, becoming a must-visit photo spot along the Liangma River. Over 100 high-quality performances will also be presented in collaboration with the 2025 Liangma River Art Season, featuring renowned domestic and international artists.

The festival further enriches its offerings by collaborating with globally popular pop culture icons: it has created a dedicated “Star Bear” stage at POP MART City, launched Wakuku’s immersive urban pop-up installations along the Liangma River and at the Chaowai UIC Urban Complex, and partnered with INS New Paradise to present waterfront leisure and entertainment experiences.

Visitors to Beijing Chaoyang during this period will enjoy a multifaceted experience blending light, art, dreams, and joyful urban discovery.

Source: 2025 Beijing Chaoyang International Light Festival

–BERNAMA

FUZHOU, China, Sept. 25, 2025 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

On the evening of September 22, the launch ceremony of the 12th Silk Road International Film Festival, co-hosted by China Media Group, Fujian Provincial People’s Government, and Shaanxi Provincial People’s Government, was held in Fuzhou, Fujian.

The ceremony highlighted the Maritime Silk Road vibe, cross-strait exchange, and Fuzhou culture. The stage design featured the Chinese junk element, symbolizing setting sail to connect the world and bringing the audience visual and auditory delights.

This year, the festival is themed “Silk Road Connects the World, Film Festival Illuminates Fuzhou” and focuses on four aspects: international exchange, industrial cooperation, public culture, and cross-strait integration. The high-level event aims to satisfy the community with 12 kinds of activities, including the launch ceremony, the Golden Silk Road Awards, the guest country of honor’s film activities, and outdoor screenings.

The Golden Silk Road Awards received more than 2,800 entries from 125 countries and regions, including 1,850 films from the Belt and Road family, which is significantly higher than previous sessions. The jury, comprising 13 well-respected masters in the industry (e.g., directors, producers, and actors) from 7 countries, will decide on winners of 10 honors such as Best Picture and Best Director.

This year marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of world cinema and the 120th anniversary of the birth of Chinese cinema. With its unique artistic language, cinema transcends borders and connects civilizations, effectively promoting people-to-people bonds. Since its inception in 2014, the Silk Road International Film Festival has been successfully organized 11 times. It is an important international, comprehensive, innovative, and open film culture exchange platform in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The festival showcases the historical and cultural resources of the host city, tells the vivid stories of China, facilitates film cooperation and industrial integration among Silk Road countries, and provides solid support for the growth of young film talents.

Source: Office of the Organizing Committee of the Silk Road International Film Festival (Fuzhou)

–BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) — Healthcare must be recognised as the world’s most strategic investment in security, prosperity, and resilience—not as a financial burden.

This was the core message delivered at the C3 Davos of Healthcare Summit in Tokyo, emphasising the urgent need for global systems to reframe healthcare spending as a long-term investment rather than a cost.

Saudi Royal Court Adviser and King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) Chief Executive Officer, Dr Majid Alfayyadh, delivered this call to action in his keynote address, highlighting how strategic investment in healthcare underpins national strength, economic growth, and crisis preparedness.

Dr Majid emphasised that strong healthcare systems save lives, boost economies, create jobs, and prepare nations for future crises—from pandemics to climate-related emergencies.

In a statement, he also highlighted rising chronic diseases, climate-driven health threats, and COVID-19’s lessons as urgent catalysts for rethinking healthcare funding.

He identified five pillars essential for sustainable healthcare, namely modern hospital infrastructure, digital health and artificial intelligence, precision medicine laboratories, workforce development including data scientists, and resilient pharmaceutical supply chains with local vaccine production.

Reflecting on medical history, Dr Majid noted that breakthroughs—from vaccines to surgery—succeed only with robust delivery systems and organised infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Health Sector Transformation Program embraces this, with KFSHRC pioneering robotic heart transplants, CAR T-cell therapies, and genomic research as part of the Kingdom’s shift from healthcare as an expense to an innovation engine.

Inviting Japanese and global partners to collaborate on research and technology, Dr Majid positioned Saudi Arabia as a hub for integrated healthcare innovation.

“The future of healthcare will be defined by integration, modernisation, and collaboration. By redefining healthcare as an investment, we are building not only resilient national systems but also a stronger and healthier global community,” concluded Dr Majid.

— BERNAMA

• Angelini Pharma secures exclusive option to license global development and commercialization rights for SVG105¹, a pre-clinical investigational novel compound with broad potential to treat brain health diseases, excluding the Republic of Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
• Sovargen receives upfront payment and is eligible for future milestone-dependent payments and royalties
• Agreement further expands Angelini Pharma’s strong portfolio and deep therapeutic expertise in brain health, following a series of strategic partnerships in the space, including in orphan and rare epilepsy
   

ROME, Sept 23 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Angelini Pharma, part of the privately owned Angelini Industries, and Sovargen, a South-Korean biotechnology company, announced today that they signed an exclusive global option agreement for the development and commercialization of Sovargen’s innovative brain health asset SVG105.

Under the terms of the agreement, Angelini Pharma and Sovargen will collaboratively lead the pre-clinical development efforts for SVG105 and, following an initial option period, Angelini Pharma will have the right to advance the compound into clinical development and commercialization outside of the Republic of Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. SVG105 is a potentially first-in-class anti-sense oligonucleotide technology to target mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathways. mTOR is a genetically validated target for a number of brain health disorders, including drug-resistant childhood epilepsy.ⁱ

Sovargen will receive an upfront payment and will also be eligible to receive additional payments upon pre-defined development and commercial milestones of up to approx. US$550 million, as well as tiered royalties on post-approval net sales.

The announcement follows a number of strategic acquisitions and collaboration agreements that Angelini Pharma has entered over the course of the past two years, which have bolstered the company’s pipeline in brain health, adding to its strong portfolio in the space through sustained investment. In May 2025, Angelini Pharma and GRIN Therapeutics Inc. announced a collaboration for the development and commercialization rights outside of North America for radiprodil, an investigational drug currently being studied in multiple rare genetic epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders. A few days earlier, the company signed an asset purchase and assignment agreement for the development and commercialization of OmniAb’s innovative preclinical asset RO’599, a novel preclinical-stage investigational compound with broad potential to treat various brain health diseases. Last year, Angelini Pharma entered into a strategic partnership with Cureverse, a Korean spin-off of the Korean Institute of Science and Technology, which is developing small molecules with broad CNS applications. In 2023, the company partnered with JCR Pharmaceuticals, a Japanese biotech company with a breakthrough blood-brain barrier technology based on a transferrin receptor mechanism, allowing biologics to cross the barrier. Consequently, Angelini’s brain health pipeline now includes diversified and modern therapeutic modalities ranging from innovative small molecule compounds to biologics and anti-sense oligonucleotides.

“This partnership with Sovargen further solidifies Angelini Pharma’s leading role in the field of brain health, adding additional breadth to our robust portfolio and pipeline,” said Jacopo Andreose, Chief Executive Officer of Angelini Pharma. “Neurological disorders like epilepsy are major contributors to global disease challenges.ⁱⁱ For example, many people living with epilepsy are still unable to reach seizure control despite combination treatment of several anti-seizure medications.ⁱⁱⁱ Our work on SVG105 will be motivated by the ambition to bring much-needed solutions to people living with brain health conditions across the world.”

“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with Angelini Pharma to further advance SVG105,” said Cheolwon Park, Chief Executive Officer at Sovargen. “Our research so far demonstrates great potential for SVG105 to transform the treatment landscape in brain health and we are confident that Angelini Pharma’s strong therapeutic expertise will propel our research further and bring us closer to identifying new treatment options for patients in need.”

Brain Health

Brain health as a therapeutic area includes both neurological and mental health conditions.^iv Brain health is defined by the World Health Organization as a state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the course of their life, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders.^v

Brain health represents an urgent global health priority. An estimated 179 million Europeans are living with brain health conditions^vi and more than 18% of all health loss around the world is associated with brain conditions.^vii Additionally, brain health conditions are responsible for considerable individual, economic and societal impact, including loss of independence, reduced productivity, strained relationships, increased risk of suicide as well as high healthcare costs.^viii There is an urgent need to raise awareness, and reduce stigma, prejudice and discrimination, to ensure that brain health is valued, promoted and protected for all.^v

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the most widespread neurological diseases in the world, affecting globally approximately 50 million people of all ages.^ix In Europe, up to six million people are estimated to be living with this disease.^x Epilepsy can have multiple potential causes, including structural, metabolic, genetic and other factors, though approximately half of cases worldwide do not have a known cause.^ix

The complications associated with epilepsy are severe, with a risk of premature mortality up to three times higher than the general population.^ix The recurrent seizures associated with this condition also have wide-ranging effects on a person’s broader physical and mental health, education and employment opportunities and other quality of life factors.^ix

Treatments are available to help reduce seizures and improve quality of life, however approximately 40% of people living with epilepsy are still uncontrolled despite the treatment with two anti-seizure medications.ⁱⁱⁱ

Angelini Pharma
Angelini Pharma is an international pharmaceutical company, part of the privately owned multi-business Angelini Industries. The Company researches, develops and commercializes health solutions with a focus on the areas of Brain Health, including Mental Health and Epilepsy, and Consumer Health. Founded in Italy at the beginning of the 20^th century, Angelini Pharma operates directly in 20 countries, employing more than 3,000 people. Its products are marketed in over 70 countries through strategic alliances with leading international pharmaceutical groups. More information: https://www.angelinipharma.com.

Angelini Industries
Angelini Industries is a multinational industrial group founded in Ancona in 1919 by Francesco Angelini. Today, Angelini Industries represents a solid and diversified industrial reality that employs approximately 5,800 employees and operates in 21 countries around the world with revenues of over 2 billion euros, generated in the health, industrial technology, and consumer goods sectors. A targeted investment strategy for growth; constant commitment to research and development; deep knowledge of markets and business sectors, make Angelini Industries one of the Italian companies of excellence in the sectors in which it operates. More information: www.angeliniindustries.com.

Sovargen
Founded in 2018, Sovargen is a Korean biotech company pioneering treatments for intractable brain diseases caused by somatic mutations—genetic changes acquired during brain development or aging. These mutations underlie serious conditions like focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type II, hemimegalencephaly, and brain tumors, yet remain largely unaddressed.

Sovargen’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) platform enables precise gene modulation in the brain. Its lead program, SVG105, is a first-in-disease ASO therapy in preclinical development for drug-resistant epilepsy caused by FCD type II. With a growing pipeline and a differentiated scientific approach, Sovargen is advancing next-generation CNS therapies to bring new hope to patients worldwide. More information: www.sovargen.com.

Contact
Chiara Antoniucci
Global Head of Brand and Media Communications, Angelini Pharma
+39 3477133926
chiara.antoniucci@angelinipharma.com

Rosie JH Lee
Director of Corporate PR, Sovargen
+82-70-5222-2771
rosielee@sovargen.com

¹ SVG105 is an investigational compound, not approved for use by regulatory authorities.
ⁱ Data on file (Sovargen).
ⁱⁱ Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Global burden of conditions affecting the nervous system. Available at: https://www.healthdata.org/research-analysis/library/global-burden-conditions-affecting-nervous-system Last accessed: July 2025.
ⁱⁱⁱ Chen Z, Brodie MJ, Liew D, Kwan P. Treatment Outcomes in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Epilepsy Treated With Established and New Antiepileptic Drugs: A 30-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study. JAMA Neurol. 2018 Mar 1;75(3):279-286.
^iv Winkler AS, et al. Lancet Glob Health. 2024;12(5):e735-e736.
^v WHO. Optimizing brain health across the life course: WHO position paper. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022.
^vi Nutt D, et al. Eurohealth (Int) 2017;23:21–5.
^vii IHME. Understanding brain health around the world. Available at: https://brainhealthatlas.org/ Last accessed: July 2025.
^viii WHO. World mental health report: transforming mental health for all. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022.
^ix WHO. “Epilepsy Key Facts.” N.p., 9 Feb. 2023. Web. 24 Aug. 2023.
^x Behr et al. Epidemiology of epilepsy. Revue Neurologique 2016 Jan; 172(1):27-36. doi: 10.1016/j.neurol.2015.11.003.

SOURCE: Angelini Pharma

–BERNAMA