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        Zwipe, a biometric payment card inlay provider, has announced a shift of its focus toward the commercialization of Zwipe Access (biometric access-control cards) while reducing operational costs associated with Zwipe Pay (biometric payment cards).
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        This shift is reportedly due to the market adoption and the pace of commercial launches failing to meet expected levels, especially toward the end of 2023.&nbsp;
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        The company will reduce its operating costs by NOK~40 million (USD 3.8 million) compared to 2023 as a result of the restructuring process driven by the strategic shift. Accordingly, the Zwipe Pay team will be downsized, while the Zwipe Access sales team will be marginally increased. The company also aims to approach breakeven by 2H 2025 through the higher margins from restructuring.&nbsp;
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    <a href="https://www.zwipe.com/news/zwipe-as-announces-company-restructuring-and-new-strategic-direction-creating-path-to-profitability-01-24">
      Press release
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    <a href="https://www.biometricupdate.com/202401/zwipe-dials-back-biometric-pay-product-access-cards-now-the-focus">
      Biometric Update
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Biometric Payments

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 <p>Zwipe, a biometric payment card inlay provider, is shifting focus to commercialize Zwipe Access (biometric access-control cards), reducing costs related to Zwipe Pay (biometric payment cards). This is due to lower-than-expected market adoption and commercial launches.</p>
 <p>As part of this strategic shift, the company plans to cut operating costs by NOK~40 million (USD 3.8 million) compared to 2023, downsize the Zwipe Pay team, and slightly expand the Zwipe Access sales team. It targets to break even by the second half of 2025 from higher restructuring margins.</p>
 
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Zwipe plans to shift strategic focus to Zwipe Access from Zwipe Pay

Artificial intelligence is identifying and testing new therapies faster than ever.

AI Drug Discovery

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 <p>The Hungary-based predictive biology simulation company, Turbine, has received an investment from Accenture Ventures. The financial details of the deal were not revealed. Turbine is part of Accenture's Project Spotlight, a program designed to offer financial and technical support to tech-based startups.</p>
 <p>Turbine aims to use this funding to broaden its services to international biopharma industries. The objective is to speed up their drug development processes by leveraging Turbine’s biological knowledge. </p>
 
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Turbine secures investment from Accenture Ventures

Leveraging personal data for custom-fit diagnosis and treatment

Precision Medicine

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 <p>The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded breakthrough designation to Karius for its DNA-based blood test, the Karius Test. Developed to detect nearly 1,000 different types of pathogens, the test has been commercially available since 2017 and is being utilized at around 400 locations across the US.</p>
 <p>The Karius Test finds its key application in cancer centers, where it is used to monitor patients with compromised immune systems who might have potentially fatal lung conditions. The test is capable of identifying various infectious agents such as bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses from blood samples. In clinical studies, it was able to ascertain the likely cause of pneumonia in 12% of patients tested.</p>
 <p>Karius, an entity operating in the life sciences sector, specializes in infectious disease diagnostics using genomic insights. Its Karius Test is a liquid biopsy test that can non-invasively detect close to 1,000 pathogens from just one blood sample. The test employs advanced genomics and artificial intelligence to analyze microbial cell-free DNA. This provides diagnostic information that can rapidly facilitate treatment decisions.</p>
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Karius Receives FDA breakthrough designation for its DNA-based blood test

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 <p>Metabolon, a metabolomics service provider, recently closed a credit facility led by Trinity Capital, bringing in USD 60 million. This comes soon after a previous investment round in January 2023 which raised USD 25 million. An upfront payment of USD 42.5 million was made at the closing of the new round. Metabolon plans to use the funds to boost its R&amp;D capabilities, upgrade its metabolomics platform, enter new markets and establish strategic partnerships.</p>
 <p>Metabolon offers in-depth biochemical data and insights that are utilized in various scientific and clinical studies. Its proprietary Metabolon Discover global discovery panel is reportedly capable of detecting and identifying more than 5,400 metabolites in any biological sample via its metabolite library, making it the largest in the industry. The company's key services for the biopharma industry include biomarker discovery, target identification, pharmacokinetics, and growth media analysis.</p>
 
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Metabolon raises USD 60 million in debt financing to strengthen R&D capabilities and enhance metabolomics platform

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

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 <p>Accelerated Biosciences is partnering with Spanios tumor therapy research firm to develop cancer therapeutics using its human trophoblast stem cell (hTSC) platform. The goal is to merge Spanios' COMPASS platforms and patient-derived tumor models with AcceleratedBio's hTSC platform for better therapy designs particularly for solid tumor cancers. Accelerated Biosciences will provide ethically sourced pluripotent stem cells for diverse medical and biotech uses. Spanios will use its expertise in tumoroid research to swiftly model preclinical therapeutic performances and generate relevant clinical data for these stem cells. This aims to improve cell-based therapies, particularly for tough cancers like Ovarian and Colorectal. </p>
 <p>Spanios is a precision oncology company that uses its unique patient-derived 3D tumoroid (PDT) platform to study the biological complexity of solid tumors for developing treatments. The platform replicates host tumor environments and allows customizable testing conditions to study drug responses and efficacy.</p>
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Accelerated Biosciences and Spanios partner to advance therapeutic design in solid tumor cancers

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 <p>Telo Genomics has formed a partnership with Emery Pharma to combine their technologies and offer clinical research and development solutions to their clients in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics sectors.</p>
 <p>This collaboration aims to improve their capacity to give cellular and molecular bioanalytical solutions. Telo Genomics is contributing its TeloView platform, which can identify genomic instability, while Emery Pharma is contributing services like mass analysis, peptide mapping, glycan analysis, post-translational modifications, immunogenicity analysis, as well as general research and development and good laboratory practice support.</p>
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Telo Genomics and Emery Pharma put together their technologies to provide clinical R&D solutions

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 <p>UK-based biotech company Oxford Biodynamics (OBD) has joined forces with King's College London to capitalise on its EpiSwitch technology in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), subsequent to a successful APIPPRA trial of the biological therapy Abatacept. This therapy strives to fight arthritis by pinpointing the root of inflammation.</p>
 <p>Through OBD’s unique EpiSwitch platform, the partnership aims to pinpoint high-risk RA patients who could see benefits from Abatacept treatments. EpiSwitch, an epigenetic platform, has the ability to identify and authenticate biomarkers for a range of diseases, including cancer, as well as autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions. It has been reported that the APIPPRA trial showcased encouraging results, with a noteworthy 92.8% of patients who underwent Abatacept therapy maintaining an RA-free status after a year.&nbsp;</p>
 <p>Positioned in the UK, Oxford BioDynamics specialises in the development of precision medicine tests, delivered through its patented EpiSwitch 3D genomics platform. This platform affords the creation of molecular diagnostic classifiers, designed for a variety of uses, such as predicting drug response, patient diagnosis, and prognosis. Included in OBD’s headline products are EpiSwitch CiRT (devised for the prediction of cancer immunotherapy responses), EpiSwitch PSE (Prostate Screening Test), EpiSwitch CST (Covid Severity Test), and the EpiSwitch Explorer for 3D genome profiling.</p>
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Oxford Biodynamics partners with KCL to enhance rheumatoid arthritis treatment using EpiSwitch technology

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 <p>Monte Rosa Therapeutics is planning a public offering with the aim of raising around US$100 million. This offering will include the sale of 10,638,476 common shares at a cost of US$4.70 per share. Additionally, there will be the opportunity to purchase pre-funded warrants for 10,638,524 shares, each priced at US$4.69.</p>
 <p>The closing of this offering is set to be on or about May 20, 2024. The lead on the round is Dimension, accompanied by a life-sciences-focused investor. A mix of new and existing investors are also set to take part in this offering.</p> 
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Monte Rosa Therapeutics prices USD 100 million underwritten public funding

Generating, collecting, and analyzing enterprise data will never be the same.

Edge Computing

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 <p>Nearby Computing, an Edge computing and orchestration solutions specialist, has partnered with the public safety communications platform Alea. The aim is to simplify and improve the efficiency of deploying Alea's MCXPTT (Mission Critical Communications Push-to-Talk) application using the NearbyOne platform. </p>
 <p>Through this partnership, the companies target to streamline the deployment of Edge management and orchestration (EMO) solutions, lower entry barriers, reduce operational complexities, cut down costs, and speed up application deployment compared to earlier methods. </p>
 <p>Nearby Computing, established in 2018, focuses on Edge computing and orchestration solutions. Its main products, the NearbyOne platform and the Nearby Ops solution, are designed to optimize performance, enhance scalability, and minimize latency across various industrial and enterprise applications.</p>
 
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Nearby Computing and Alea partner to streamline mission-critical communication app deployment

Foundation Models

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 <p>Snowflake, a cloud data platform, is reportedly negotiating to acquire Reka AI, an AI model producer, for over USD 1 billion. The alleged reason for these discussions is Reka's GenAI capabilities.</p>
 
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Snowflake reportedly in talks to acquire Reka AI for more than USD 1 billion to expand language model capabilities

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

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 <p>Stability AI, creator of Stable Diffusion text-to-image AI, is said to be in talks about an equity investment with Sean Parker, previous Facebook president. Prem Akkaraju, former CEO of Weta Digital, is also reported to be an investor.</p>
 <p>Stability AI plans to use the potential funding to settle its existing debt of USD 100 million to various parties, including cloud computing providers.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake</b> :<br>
 This news comes amid Stability AI <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/28637"> laying off 10% of its workforce </a> due to its strategic restructuring plan last month.</p>

All Updates

Zwipe plans to shift strategic focus to Zwipe Access from Zwipe Pay

Turbine secures investment from Accenture Ventures

Karius Receives FDA breakthrough designation for its DNA-based blood test

Metabolon raises USD 60 million in debt financing to strengthen R&D capabilities and enhance metabolomics platform

Accelerated Biosciences and Spanios partner to advance therapeutic design in solid tumor cancers

Telo Genomics and Emery Pharma put together their technologies to provide clinical R&D solutions

Oxford Biodynamics partners with KCL to enhance rheumatoid arthritis treatment using EpiSwitch technology

Monte Rosa Therapeutics prices USD 100 million underwritten public funding

Nearby Computing and Alea partner to streamline mission-critical communication app deployment

Snowflake reportedly in talks to acquire Reka AI for more than USD 1 billion to expand language model capabilities

Stability AI to reportedly raise funds to settle debt

Biometric Payments

Zwipe plans to shift strategic focus to Zwipe Access from Zwipe Pay

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