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PR Newswire

Merck Collaborates with Acceleration Consortium on Open-Sourcing AI-Driven Experimentation Planner

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  • Bayesian optimization engine that already powers dozens of use cases at Merck now open sourced to foster adoption
  • Close partnership to enable the self-driving labs of tomorrow

DARMSTADT, Germany, Dec. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Merck, a leading science and technology company, and the Acceleration Consortium, based at the University of Toronto, Canada, today jointly announced that their AI-driven experimentation planner Bayesian Back End (BayBE) is now available open-source on GitHub, with an unrestricted Apache 2.0 license. The joint open-source initiative combines the Merck portfolio of use cases with the Acceleration Consortium’s world-leading excellence in self-driving labs.

“The release and maintenance of open-source code for scientific discovery is imperative for the advancement of self-driving labs. This collaboration moves the needle of multi-stakeholder work in the area of self-driving labs. I am thrilled about our collaboration with Merck on developing and publishing software for AI-assisted experimental planning. As society faces ever-growing challenges, we have no time for science as usual. With this software, we can revolutionize the way experiments are designed and conducted, accelerating discoveries and driving progress in ways we have never imagined before,” said Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at the University of Toronto, and Director of the Acceleration Consortium, which recently launched a seven-year program worth CA$ 200 million, supported by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

“This development is a great outcome of our focus on ‘innovation powered by data and digital’. Together with our partners at the Acceleration Consortium, we continue to push productivity with digital tools such as BayBE. Merck continues to invest in digital technologies that can disrupt the healthcare, life science and electronics industries,” said Laura Matz, Chief Science and Technology Officer at Merck. “BayBE unites several advanced technologies under one umbrella and focuses on making them useful for industrial purposes. While it already has many internal use cases, we are excited to share it with a wider community through open source. What started out as a cross-sectorial advancement can now become a cross-industrial one,” Matz continued.

BayBE was built jointly across all three business sectors of Merck. It is a general-purpose toolbox for smart iterative experimentation with emphasis on important add-ons for chemistry and materials science. It enables a more systematic approach by providing recommendations for the next best experiment, leading to better results faster. BayBE can also act as the “brain” for automated equipment, enabling entirely closed-loop self-driving laboratories.

The traditional approach for design of experiments is largely based on intuition and experience of the experimentalist. This can lead to considerable variation between different labs and is particularly challenging for complex campaigns that aim to optimize numerous properties simultaneously. Merck faces these challenges on an every-day basis, for instance as part of experimental optimization campaigns in research, product development and operations. Artificial intelligence (AI) enables novel ways of tackling these problems and reducing the time needed and money spent as well as increasing sustainability.

The BayBE software already powers dozens of use-cases at Merck, for instance:

  • VRP ExcipientFinder: Part of the viscosity reduction platform service of the Life Science business sector of Merck; a tool to accelerate selection of viscosity reducing excipients
  • BayChem: Self-service experimental planner available to everyone at Merck, directly enabling our lab users
  • Self-driving autonomous flow chemistry at Merck: closed-loop platform in the R&D of the Life Science business sector that optimizes chemical reactions fully autonomously

All Merck press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck generated sales of € 22.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare, and EMD Electronics in electronics.

PR Newswire

Ubie’s AI Symptom Checker Used by 2 Million Americans in First Year, Fueling Pharma Partnerships

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Ubie, a trailblazing AI-driven healthcare company, has achieved a new milestone with its AI Symptom Checker, surpassing 2 million uses in the U.S. in just over a year. Leveraging this expanding user engagement, Ubie is advancing its partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to promote early disease detection and treatment. Collaborations with industry giants like Takeda, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Pfizer exemplify Ubie’s extensive efforts across a broad range of medical conditions, promoting improved patient care through cutting-edge digital health solutions.

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ubie, a forerunner in the digital health arena, proudly announces a notable achievement that underscores its commitment to revolutionizing healthcare: Ubie’s AI Symptom Checker has been used more than 2 million times in the U.S. since its introduction to the market just over a year ago. This milestone demonstrates the significant traction the tool has gained among individuals eager to better understand and manage their health.

Since Ubie’s expansion into the U.S. market, the company has been focused on empowering individuals to recognize symptoms early and pursue timely healthcare discussions. This process provides users with in-depth insights into their symptoms, a comprehensive analysis of potential diseases, signs to look out for, and the ideal specialist to consult.

As an evidence-based AI company, data lies at the core of Ubie’s operations and Ubie’s unique relationship with its users allows the collection of differentiated quantitative and qualitative data. Based on user feedback, approximately 75% of patients plan to seek professional medical advice after checking their symptoms with Ubie, reflecting Ubie’s ability to promote high-value care. U.S. user stories illustrate the benefits of Ubie’s AI Symptom Checker:

  • A woman in her 30s, experiencing eye pain and dizziness, utilized the Symptom Checker, which suggested possible health concerns and the importance of a medical assessment. She was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), validating the importance of early investigation into her symptoms.
  • An 80-year-old man was prompted by Ubie’s AI to consult a pulmonologist, which led to an early diagnosis of lung cancer, emphasizing the Symptom Checker’s role in early detection.
  • A woman in her 50s was guided by the Symptom Checker to seek medical attention for what turned out to be accurate identifications of bone diseases, highlighting the tool’s effectiveness in early symptom identification.
  • A 60s woman with dizziness mentioned, “The questions you asked matched all of my symptoms. Some I didn’t think to mention to my doctor at the time. I will raise them on my next visit. Thank you.”

Kota Kubo, CEO of Ubie, expresses his enthusiasm: “Surpassing 2 million uses in the U.S. in just a year is more than a number—it’s a marker of our growing role in helping Americans promptly address health concerns and seek professional care. Our technology is designed to complement the work of healthcare providers, bridging the gap from initial concern to professional care.”

Ubie’s collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies demonstrate the effectiveness of digital health in addressing various medical conditions:

  • In Apr 2023, Ubie partnered with Takeda to tackle Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) through digital transformation initiatives (Press Release).
  • In Mar 2023, Ubie and Pfizer facilitated provider visits for over 17,000 OAB patients in Japan through the integration of “Ubie AI Symptom Checker” and “UUI Consultation Room” (Press Release)
  • In Feb 2022, Ubie worked with Boehringer Ingelheim on a project focused on Pulmonary Fibrosis, enhancing awareness and management of this condition (Press Release).

Recent press releases reflect Ubie’s commitment to enhancing the healthcare experience:

  • The launch of Ubie’s new Generative AI feature for doctors, improving medical record documentation with a 90% User Satisfaction rate (Press Release).
  • Partnership with Google’s Android platform “Health Connect (Beta)” as a launch partner in Japan (Press Release).
  • Successful closure of a $45 million Series C funding round and establish of a New York subsidiary (Press Release).

For more information about Ubie and its AI Symptom Checker, please visit Ubie AI Symptom Checker.

Contact:

Ryosei Hatakeyama
Ubie Inc.
1460 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
Email: pr@ubiehealth.com 

Note to Editors: For more details or to arrange an interview with CEO Kota Kubo, please reach out to Ryosei Hatakeyama at the contact information above.

Source: Ubie, Inc.

PR Newswire

Zhang Yu with Tencent Health: AI-Driven Customer Interaction Solution NGES Effectively Supports Pharmaceutical Enterprises’ Smart Operations

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SHANGHAI, Nov. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — In recent years, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry has been undergoing significant changes in its operational methods, driven by improvements in national regulations and changes in user behaviors and attitudes. Traditional operational approaches and marketing techniques of pharmaceutical enterprises are experiencing diminishing marginal effects, prompting an increasing number of pharmaceutical companies to prioritize and upgrade their digital marketing strategies to adapt quickly to these changes.

Zhang Yu, Tencent Health
Zhang Yu, Tencent Health

As the interaction between pharmaceutical companies and domestic digital platform enterprises becomes more closely intertwined, digital platform companies, known for their rapid iteration and flexible adaptation to customer needs, are providing intelligent and customizable professional tools for pharmaceutical enterprises. In 2023, Tencent released NGES, a new-gen customer interaction solution catering to Health Care Professionals (HCP), marking another milestone in the digital practice of the pharmaceutical industry.

Several renowned pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca and Eisai Co, have adopted NGES for digital innovation, reporting progress in compliant operations, precision marketing, and collaborative work. NGES makes communication between pharmaceutical sales representatives and healthcare professionals as smooth as daily conversations on WeChat, with the system automatically handling the materials and summaries required before and after communication. This allows both parties to focus their energy and time on academic efforts.  

What drives Tencent and numerous pharmaceutical companies into this digital innovation? Zhang Yu, Vice President of Tencent Health and the initiator of the NGES project, has witnessed all these changes. At the T-Inspire industry summit on November 17th, he publicly discussed the current needs and pain points in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as how he and his R&D team adopted innovative concepts and model innovation to promote the precise digital upgrade of medical care.

Pharmaceutical Industry amid Tremendous Changes

Previously, pharmaceutical companies focused on core markets in large cities and internal hospital markets, employing a large number of sales representatives for face-to-face communication with customers. They relied on graded questionnaires to gain insight into customer demographics. However, the profit margins of pharmaceutical enterprises narrowed by medical insurance Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) have necessitated cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Additionally, the crackdown on medical corruption has compelled enterprises to rely more on compliant academic promotion for marketing. The rapidly changing market environment has led to a continuous reduction in the number of offline sales representatives, requiring fewer personnel to engage with a larger number of doctors.

Market changes have also brought about a revolution in marketing strategies. Pharmaceutical companies are expanding their target markets from tier-one and tier-two cities to broader regions. Interaction with doctors is no longer confined to hospital departments, with online content marketing and academic conferences becoming increasingly important. In the post-pandemic era, there is a willingness to embrace new online methods such as virtual academic conferences, with AstraZeneca revealing that around 35,000 meetings per month in the Chinese market are held on Tencent Meeting.

The evolution of online communications has enabled pharmaceutical companies to comprehensively understand user behavior data, which is more objective than those from traditional questionnaires and offers a more diverse customer profile. Based on these data, pharmaceutical companies can implement data mining and label analysis. Utilizing the insights from user behavior data, pharmaceutical companies can recommend personalized content, resulting in a more precise marketing strategy.

Behind these needs of pharmaceutical companies, there is a requirement for comprehensive technological support, such as social contact, big data, artificial intelligence, cloud services, and security. Zhang Yu and his team at Tencent Health have astutely perceived that Tencent has the opportunity to excel in this untapped market space.

Tencent’s Vision: Facilitating Professional Interactions in the Healthcare Ecosystem

Tencent, with its rich experience in communication, social media, and online marketing, and boasting a national-level application—WeChat—with over 1.3 billion monthly active accounts, has been actively involved in the digital upgrade across various industries. When talking with pharmaceutical companies, Zhang Yu made it clear that at this pivotal moment in enterprise marketing, Tencent aims to leverage its products and technology to facilitate professional interactions between pharmaceutical enterprises and doctors.

Zhang Yu painted a scenario for executives of pharmaceutical enterprises, emphasizing that many successful stories of pharmaceutical companies demonstrate that WeChat is the most frequently used online tool by doctors. Through various channels on WeChat, pharmaceutical companies can reach customers comprehensively, forming a rich ecosystem for the pharmaceutical industry. He cited an example, “Doctors use WeChat Official Accounts to obtain medical information and knowledge. WeCom also provides a solid foundation for efficient internal collaboration within pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical sales representatives and medical science liaisons can share information, leading to more targeted explanations and more efficient summaries after visits.”

“WeChat’s Official Accounts, applets, and Tencent Meeting provide a more convenient way for pharmaceutical sales representatives and doctors to interact online, with data fusion completed in the backend. We have always considered placing HCP at the center, helping pharmaceutical companies find the right audience, push the right content at the right time and in the right way. Ultimately, we have facilitated the integration and innovation of Tencent’s existing resources to create a brand-new NGES for pharmaceutical companies and doctors.” added Zhang Yu.

A multinational pharmaceutical company executive told Zhang Yu, “We really need this platform. After the pandemic, there is an urgent need for iteration in our external meeting systems. We have multiple candidate solutions, but we have found that the primary social tool for pharmaceutical sales representatives and doctors is WeChat. When it comes to non-professional meetings, the most widely used tool is WeChat Meeting. Can WeChat be developed into a professional communication platform that complies with the pharmaceutical industry’s regulatory requirements?”

With nearly 20 years of experience in the field, Zhang Yu, faced with the urgent need of pharmaceutical companies for a solution, showed a mix of optimism and a measured approach, “An ancient Chinese poem goes, ‘Moistening things quietly without making a sound,’ depicting the gradual and comfortable process of adaptation. We hope to adapt to the traditional habits and new demands of the pharmaceutical industry through a gentle and soft progressive approach.”

Innovative Customer Interaction in the Healthcare Sector

Over the past two years, Tencent Health has continuously upgraded NGES based on user feedback in the healthcare industry, creating an all-encompassing platform for customer interaction within the healthcare sector. The platform consists of three layers, with the top layer featuring a new generation of interactive scenes deeply integrated into the Tencent ecosystem. Leveraging widely-used Tencent products in doctors’ daily lives, such as HCP WeChat, Official Accounts, applets, Tencent Meetings, among others, this layer serves as a bridge connecting pharmaceutical enterprises and healthcare professionals. Through bidirectional interactions with doctors via WeCom, pharmaceutical companies can efficiently advance their digital operations, including customer classification, meeting execution applications, new customer requests, speaker management, offline and online visits, medical inquiries, and collection of doctor perspectives, making academic promotion in healthcare more efficient.

The digitized mid-layer of the platform assists pharmaceutical companies in uniformly recording doctors’ identities and behaviors across different channels, generating high-quality comprehensive data. The data are then mined to create a tag system, offering insights into business operations. The accumulated data in the mid-layer are further analyzed and learned by the underlying medical big model through AI, enabling functions such as automated content generation and intelligent customer service.

Eisai Co., Ltd.is one of the first users  of NGES, and a partner providing extensive feedback and industry insights. Faced with continuous improvement suggestions, Zhang Yu and his team have tried to release multiple versions in a day to meet customer demands.. “The medical industry has a very strong demand for timeliness, especially in the face of digital transformation today. We hope that the platform architecture can, from bottom to top, output complete solutions, reduce delivery thresholds, and shorten project timelines. Of course, we are open and cooperative towards industry partners and welcome reliable collaborators to join this ecosystem, serving customers together and achieving accelerated innovation.”

Three Distinct Features of Tencent NGES

Compared to similar digital tools, Tencent NGES boasts three major features.

Integrated All-Channel Marketing: Firstly, it integrates key modules such as CRM, Events, and MCM, completing all-channel marketing scenarios around doctors seamlessly. This integration breaks down data silos within enterprises, forming a unified and complete profile of doctors and representatives, thereby optimizing business operations. Notably, NGES helps address data fragmentation issues caused by using different systems during work, as reported by Eisai Co. Thanks to NGES, the operational maintenance, which previously involved four systems working in parallel, has now been streamlined to just one, leading to cost reduction and significant efficiency improvement.

Strong Social Attributes Based on Tencent Ecosystem: Secondly, NGES leverages the powerful social attributes of the Tencent ecosystem, enabling doctors to interact conveniently with sales representatives through popular applications like WeChat, Tencent Meeting, and applets. This natural fusion of daily communication and academic promotion enhances doctors’ enthusiasm for engagement, providing more diverse communication channels compared to traditional visits.

AI Empowerment from Tencent’s Large Model: Thirdly, NGES benefits from Tencent’s AI capabilities, making Tencent the only service provider in the pharmaceutical industry with self-developed large model capabilities. With the support of large models, more innovative methods can be proposed by enterprise managers, bringing about a revolution in the field of pharmaceutical marketing.

Tencent AI Empowering Innovative Healthcare Scenes

Not long ago, Tencent, in collaboration with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, released China’s first vector database standard. The vector database is a foundational component for training AI large models, signifying Tencent’s leading position in the industry. Zhang Yu mentioned that his team has explored the potential of products built with AI large models and listed several typical innovative scenes achieved by NGES through AI large models:

Personalized Material Generation: Through AI-driven interactive tools, NGES utilizes Tencent’s accumulated professional content in the medical industry, combined with compliant content from the enterprise’s material library, to achieve personalized material generation. In various scenarios, it completes professional Q&A, assists representatives in preparing topics and content before visits, and provides action recommendations. Eisai Co. revealed that the company is exploring the application of NGES’s AI technology to enable sales representatives to input different academic topics, allowing the backend to retrieve corresponding content from a vast amount of data, automatically filter and sort it before delivering refined academic presentation.

ASR Speech Recognition in Medical Conferences: In medical conferences, NGES utilizes Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology to accurately convert speech into dialogic transcripts. After the conference, AI can quickly extract key information from the content, generate meeting summaries, offer questions and answers aimed at the meeting content, and even actively highlight compliance risks in the meeting content. Eisai Co. said that the audiences were afflicted with the regional accent of speakers during meetings, but now AI digital finds a way out.

Voice Recognition for Content Reporting: During meetings, NGES employs voice recognition technology to help sales representatives automatically fill in content, improving the efficiency of report submission and gather more valid data. Simultaneously, NGES collects authentic feedbacks from customers, quantifying sales representatives’ competences from multiple dimensions, such as academic capabilities, communication skills, and compliance performance. After a visit, NGES can quickly provide scores for sales representatives’ academic abilities, communication skills, and compliance performance, offering improvement suggestions to continually enhance sales capabilities.

Zhang Yu stated that Tencent Health has mapped out a well-defined plan for the future development of the NGES customer interaction management platform in three years to come. The goal for 2023 is to leverage Tencent’s experience and advantages in product design and user experience to create a product that pharmaceutical companies and doctors will love to use. By 2025, based on the accumulated real data, NGES will extend its empowerment from sales representatives to enterprise executives. Through big data analysis and mining, it will provide insights into business operations, optimize resource allocation and layout, and identify compliance and business risks to support high-quality decision-making.

PR Newswire

Wonder Tech’s Breakthrough in Language Agnostic Voice AI to Bring Scalable Depression Screening to One Billion People Globally

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SINGAPORE, Nov. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Wonder Technologies PTE. LTD (“Wonder Tech” or “the Company”), a leading AI-driven mental health solutions company based in Singapore, has reached a breakthrough in its acoustics-based AI for depression screening. The AI model, which identifies depression through detecting nuanced vocal changes, has reached an industry-leading 83% in detection accuracy, surpassing the 80% threshold required for clinical depression detection. With this milestone, Wonder Tech has proven its potential to enable a scalable and adaptable diagnostic tool to help the one billion people affected by mental health disorders worldwide.

By analyzing a 60-second voice sample, Wonder Tech’s voice AI platform can detect and continuously monitor the risk of mental health conditions, categorized on varying levels of severity, to enable personalized treatment in a clinically reliable and scalable way.

This breakthrough was achieved in collaboration with Prof. John Wong at the National University Hospital (NUH) as well as Singapore’s top psychology and medical research institutes. Wonder Tech also received financial and clinical support from Singapore’s Ministry of Health to scale out the solution with leading mental health institutes.

Wonder Tech’s AI model is unique in that it’s pure acoustics-based rather than language-based. Since it does not rely on the content of speech and only requires a 60-second voice sample, the AI model can effortlessly adapt to virtually all languages while maintaining clinical accuracy. Additionally, the solution is hardware-independent, allowing implementation on consumer-grade smart devices, such as smartphones. These flexible features address the critical issues of adaptability and scalability, significantly improving accessibility to an accurate and immediate depression diagnostic tool.

Depression can cause psychomotor function changes that impair cognitive and vocal cord functions. The effects are often exhibited in pitch, intensity, aspiration, jitter and other characteristics in voice. Wonder Tech’s acoustics-based AI system can accurately assess for depression by detecting these subtle signs (objective biomarkers) using a large AI model with over 300 million parameters.

Wonder Tech’s solution is the first acoustics-based AI model for depression screening trained using multidimensional, clinically validated datasets following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-V), which is the gold standard for diagnosis of mental health conditions.

Mental health disorders are prevalent worldwide. By 2030, global loss in productivity for major depressive disorder alone is forecasted to reach US$16 trillion. In the U.S., 21% of adults—nearly one in five—experienced a mental health condition in 2020. Similar trends have been observed in the Middle East, where two-thirds of respondents in a McKinsey Health Institute survey reported poor mental health or a mental health condition diagnosis. To broaden the applications of its solution for greater impact, Wonder Tech is working on adapting its AI model to screen for various disorders, including anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

“Socioeconomic barriers continue to hinder access to treatment for the one billion people experiencing mental health disorders worldwide,” said Wendy Wu, Founder and CEO of Wonder Tech. “In Singapore alone, anxiety and depression have been estimated to cost around S$16 billion (US$11.7 billion) in lost productivity annually, the equivalent to 2.9% of the nation’s GDP. Globally, depression and mental health disorders result in a staggering US$1 trillion in lost productivity each year, underscoring an urgent need to improve their care systems.”

Depression has been estimated to have a 65% misdiagnosis rate. To resolve this issue, Wonder Tech has introduced its AI system as a B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to global healthcare facilities and enable hardware integration. The system is currently integrated with online healthcare platforms for early detection of mental health conditions. This ensures care providers can offer effective and timely personalized mental health treatment. It also couples with existing chronic disease prevention and management systems to improve patients’ mental health, especially for cardiovascular disease and cancer patients, to increase the cure rate and decrease claims for insurance providers. This system has received positive feedback from enterprise employee benefit programs, government healthcare programs for remote areas, postpartum depression prevention programs and senior care communities.

Supported by Singapore’s Ministry of Health & Temasek Foundation, Wonder Tech is currently collaborating with SingHealth in a broader piloting program in Singapore. The Company is preparing its solution for global English-speaking populations.

About Wonder Technology

Wonder Tech is a Voice Al platform for mental health. Our biomarker technology empowers full cycle of mental health solutions from screening, monitoring & personalized solutions for healthcare platforms, online hospitals, employee benefit programs, production safety, and insurance providers.

Learn more at www.wondertech.ai.

Media Contact
Frank Yu
frank@wondertech.ai 

PR Newswire

“Industrial Finance Empowerment, Cohesion and Win-win” – The Fourth China-Korea-Japan Asset Management Summit Forum Draws to a Successful Close

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CHANGZHOU, China, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — To cope with the new economic changes in the world and create a new economic development pattern in the Asia Pacific region, the 4th China-Korea-Japan Asset Management Summit Forum was held on November 22 in Zhonglou District, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. The forum convened under the theme “Industrial Finance Empowerment, Cohesion and Win-win”. Representatives of multiple institutions, business leaders, experts and scholars from China, South Korea, and Japan were invited. In-depth exchanges and discussions were held on topics of China-Korea-Japan economic and trade cooperation and cross-border investment under the new situation, further development of industries assisted by diversified capital, and new trends in the development of asset management industries. Sheng Lei, Mayor of Changzhou Municipal People’s Government, attended the event and witnessed the contract signing. Yuan Huaizhong, Chairman of Beijing ALAN Asset Management Co., Ltd. (ALAN AMC), Lee Seung Lyul, President of Hana Bank, and Takakura Toru, President of Mitsui Sumitomo Trust Holdings, delivered speeches. Zhou Chengtao, the Secretary General of Changzhou Municipal People’s Government; Liu Min, Director of Changzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau; and leaders of Zhonglou District including Shen Dong, Li Chaokun, Wang Xufeng, and Wu Wei attended the event.

This forum is co-organized by the People’s Government of Zhonglou District, Changzhou Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau, and Beijing ALAN AMC, with the cooperation of Hana Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, and Changzhou Zhonglou Jinlong Holding Group Co., Ltd. The forum was simultaneously live-streamed online on multiple platforms, including Beijing Private Equity Association (BPEA), Yicai.com, IFENG.com, Sina.com, hexun.com, Chinese Venture, PEdaily.cn, Chinaventure.com.cn, and Ruisi China.

The forum started with an opening speech by Li Chaokun, the mayor of the People’s Government of Zhonglou District, Changzhou City. Li stated that Zhonglou District was implementing the city’s “532” development strategy, focusing on the overall layout of the city’s “double-city” and “double-capital” construction. It is fully implementing the “dual-core linkage” strategic deployment of the “two lakes” innovation zone and the old downtown area and promoting the construction of first-class modern urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta with high quality to contribute to the entire region. He said that Zhonglou District would always adhere to the main theme of open cooperation, focus on the overall goal of financial services for the real economy, firmly adhere to the good practice of combining industry and finance, and strive to create a “Zhonglou model” of industry-finance combination, to help the “Trillion GDP city” become more convincing and efficient.

Yuan Huaizhong, Chairman of Beijing ALAN AMC, said in his speech that in the future, they would continue to actively leverage their international advantages, follow the strategic requirements of China’s high-quality economic development, actively invest in cutting-edge fields such as technological innovation, green transformation, industrial upgrading, and ESG, and play a guiding role in resource allocation with funds. “Changzhou, located in the core area of the Yangtze River Delta, has unique geographical advantages, a friendly business environment, and a complete industrial cluster. In the future, we hope to integrate more resources from South Korea and Japan and high-quality domestic financial resources into Changzhou and Zhonglou District, empowering industrial development.”

Lee Seung Lyul, President of Hana Bank, talked about Hana Finance’s global business. Together with ALAN AMC, they particularly regard China as the core country in the global market and work with Chinese partners such as ALAN AMC to gain success and profits in the Chinese market. He stated that the theme of this forum – “Industrial Finance Empowerment, Cohesion and Win-win” – perfectly matches the core vision of asset management industry development. He hoped that in the future, the cooperation between China, South Korea, and Japan in the financial field could be further strengthened, thus providing important support for the economic development in Asia.

Takakura Toru, President of Mitsui Sumitomo Trust Holdings, said in his speech that the “Era of 100-year life” was a social problem that all countries in Asia will face, also an area where trusts can play the added value. The scale of Japan’s real estate investment market (including REIT and private equity funds) is currently over JPY55 trillion (approximately CNY 2.7 trillion), which is continuously expanding, providing abundant investment opportunities. There are also challenges in the transformation. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings hoped to promote global common prosperity by solving social issues and striving to contribute to further developing asset management markets in China and Asia.

At the opening ceremony, the People’s Government of Zhonglou District signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with ALAN AMC, pledging to make the investment more free and convenient, attract more foreign investment, help put more high-quality funds in science and technology innovation, green, and digital industries, and promote the high-quality development of the real economy.

Experts from China, South Korea, and Japan shared exciting information on the economy, society, and population in the forum. The three round-table forums held in-depth and high-quality discussions on topics of China-Korea-Japan economic and trade cooperation and cross-border investment under the new situation, the in-depth development of industries assisted by diversified capital, and new trends in the development of asset management industries, respectively. The forum actively explored investment opportunities of “Industrial Finance Empowerment, Cohesion and Win-win” to jointly create a new pattern of economic development in the Asia Pacific region. So far, the 4th China-Korea-Japan Asset Management Summit Forum has reached a successful conclusion!

The economic pattern has experienced great changes over the unprecedented transition in the last century, affecting the process of globalization. It has been a long and arduous journey for China, South Korea, and Japan to work together for a common destiny and promote joint development. We hope this forum can build a bridge for further exchanges and cooperation between China, South Korea, and Japan in the future. The three countries can enhance understanding, strengthen exchanges, and promote exchanges and cooperation in higher levels and broader fields.

Source: Beijing ALAN Asset Management Co.ltd.

PR Newswire

uLab® Announces Smart Outcomes™ for a Smart Office™–The Power and Flexibility of One Platform for Clear Aligners and Retainers

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MEMPHIS, Tenn., Nov. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — uLab Systems™ announces Smart Outcomes for a Smart Office, one powerful, flexible platform designed exclusively for orthodontists, providing them with the ultimate cost-effective tool to easily create bespoke aligner treatments for each patient. The ability for orthodontists to order uSmile™ clear aligners with custom branded packaging, a streamlined uAssist™ treatment planning assistant program, and an unparalleled mix-and-match bundle and a la carte pricing platform is unique to uLab.

“The core of our mission has been to offer a platform designed specifically for the orthodontist, with tools to treat every type of case, including comprehensive aligner cases, and hybrid, finishing, and relapse cases, without pricing limitations,” says Amir Abolfathi, CEO of uLab. “Orthodontists can order uSmile aligners from our facility in Memphis or print them in their own office. The release of our new mix-and-match pricing bundles brings the ‘smart’ platform full circle. uLab has enabled the industry to choose a smart approach to aligner treatment.”

What does Smart Outcomes for a Smart Office mean?

  • High customer satisfaction. Ninety-four percent of orthodontists are satisfied with uLab Systems*.
  • Workflow flexibility. Treatment planning assistance provides orthodontists with customized support and enables them to make minor adjustments themselves rather than requesting a revision from the service team.
  • Quality plans. Three out of four uAssist cases are accepted by the orthodontist after one round of planning. Nine out of ten are accepted on the second round. uAssist plans are generated within three business days, with an average turnaround time of twenty-one hours*.
  • Flexible pricing options. Mix-and-match bundles and a la carte pricing options save orthodontists up to thirty percent compared to competitors*.
  • Practice branding. Nearly half of orthodontists choose custom packaging options, thereby differentiating themselves from other practices*.

“For many years, orthodontists accepted limited options. Today, uLab’s flexible approach has made a huge difference in treatment planning, giving me and each patient greater control of the outcome,” says Dr. Jason Horn of Jason Horn Orthodontics in Elmira, New York. “Utilizing one platform where I can design, order, and print aligners, or send them to uLab in Memphis, makes my workflow so much easier. The release of mix-and-match bundles has also allowed me to offer patients aligner choices at significant savings. The more experience I have with uLab, the more satisfied I am with my decision to give them my business.”

uLab continues to innovate to make things easier for the orthodontist.  Upcoming updates will encompass additional AI-driven utilities alongside a user-friendly web interface that integrates simplified prescription forms for seamless submission to the uAssist service.

 * Data on file

About uLab Systems
uLab Systems is led by an experienced team of healthcare innovators helping to transform options for orthodontic practices to provide the best outcomes for their patients. uLab’s mission is to advance the orthodontic industry with aligner products and digital treatment planning software that let orthodontists take back control of their treatment plans. uLab sustainably manufactures uSmile aligners in Memphis, TN, recycling over 80% of manufacturing mold materials. uSmile clear aligners, the uAssist concierge service and the uDesign software are available to orthodontic practices in the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. To learn more visit www.ulabsystems.com. Contact: David Thrower, Chief Commercial Officer, pr@ulabsystems.com

© 2023 uLab Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. uLab Systems, uSmile, uAssist, uView, Smart Outcomes, and Smart Office are trademarks and uLab and uDesign are registered trademarks of uLab Systems, Inc. MAR-0001538 Rev 1

Source: uLab Systems, Inc.

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PR Newswire

Lunit Joins as an Associate Partner with the World Economic Forum

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– Lunit joins as an Associate Partner of the World Economic Forum, propelling global expansion and collaboration in the realm of AI-driven cancer care

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Lunit (KRX:328130.KQ), a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, has expanded its collaboration with the World Economic Forum by joining as an Associate Partner of the forum.

This achievement marks one of the first instances in Asia and among medical AI companies worldwide, where a company has progressively elevated its collaboration with the forum from its initial status as a Technology Pioneer to an Associate Partner. 

Lunit’s journey with the forum began in 2020 when it joined as a member of the Technology Pioneer community, earning recognition as one of the 100 leading global tech companies—the sole Korean company on the prestigious list of the year.

Building upon this foundation, in 2022, Lunit solidified its position as a key player in the global AI-driven healthcare landscape by becoming a member of the forum’s Unicorn community. In this capacity, Lunit shared insights into the future of AI-driven global healthcare during the forum’s events, including annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland and in Tianjin, China.

“As a global platform, the Forum is thrilled to welcome companies like Lunit in their mission to combat cancer through AI and promote the best possible healthcare, contributing to the well-being of individuals in societies and nations,” said Dr. Shyam Bishen, Head of the Centre for Health & Healthcare at the World Economic Forum.

“The partnership extension, especially the unique access to a global platform at the highest level at forum meetings, strongly supports our commitment to advancing the landscape of the entire cycle of cancer care through AI-driven solutions,” said Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit. “We are excited to harness the network to accelerate our expansion, make significant strides in combating one of the most formidable global health challenges – cancer -, and addressing inequities in healthcare access.”

Lunit’s dedication to forming global alliances aligns with its mission to combat cancer through AI solutions for precision diagnostics and treatment support. The flagship Lunit INSIGHT suite for early detection of chest and breast cancer is now operational in approximately 2,500+ hospitals and medical institutions across 40+ countries, marking significant progress in advancing the field of medical AI.

About Lunit

Lunit is a deep learning-based medical AI company on a mission to conquer cancer. Our focus is on developing AI solutions for precision diagnostics and therapeutics, ensuring the right diagnosis, and treatment, at the right cost for each patient. Lunit is devoted to developing advanced medical image analytics and AI-based biomarkers via cutting-edge technology.

Founded in 2013, Lunit has been acknowledged around the world for its advanced, state-of-the-art technology and its application in medical images. As a medical AI company grounded on clinical evidence, the company’s findings are presented in major peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology and JAMA Network Open, and global conferences, including ASCO and AACR.

After receiving FDA clearance and the CE Mark, our flagship Lunit INSIGHT suite is clinically used in approximately 2,500+ hospitals and medical institutions across 40+ countries. Lunit is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, with offices and representatives worldwide. For more information, please visit lunit.io

About World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial, and not tied to any special interests.

PR Newswire

Linq Wins Samsung Open Collaboration with LLM-Enhanced Underwriting AI Solution

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SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Linq, an AI startup, won first place in the 2023 Samsung Open Collaboration, one of the most prestigious startup competitions in South Korea. Linq showcased its AI-powered underwriting solution, which was made possible by its AI risk models and an advanced vector database management platform for large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT.

On October 26, 2023, Linq (formerly known as Wecover Platforms) emerged as the winner of the 2023 Samsung Open Collaboration, held in South Korea.
On October 26, 2023, Linq (formerly known as Wecover Platforms) emerged as the winner of the 2023 Samsung Open Collaboration, held in South Korea.

Previously known as Wecover Platforms, Linq secured its win after a 4-month collaboration with Samsung Life Insurance in October. Linq was a standout among the 14 startups that advanced to the final round from an initial pool of 317 participants. This AI Underwriting chat solution, trained and embedded over tens of thousands of pieces of data, not only allows underwriters to evaluate the risk associated with insuring a potential client for cancer insurance but can also explain the reasons behind its results—a feature that was not possible in prior AI-powered underwriting solutions.

For the first time, Linq has successfully demonstrated the combination of advanced AI, including Bayesian neural networks with LLMs. Linq has taken measures to backtrack the significant factors that determine the results in AI models, addressing a notable challenge that previous AI models faced. Their method reflects which factors overcome the limitations of prior AI models that could not explain the reasons for the results by AI. Jacob Choi, Founder and CEO of Linq, stated, “Working closely with South Korea’s leading insurance company gave us access to a wealth of high-quality data. This collaboration reinforced our belief in the power of LLMs to innovate in the underwriting sector.” He continued, “Our goal at Linq is to make it simpler for businesses to integrate their own knowledge with large language models using our advanced vector database management platform.” He also highlighted plans to incorporate multimodal embedding models to deepen the understanding of corporate documents.

About Linq:

Linq is dedicated to building a vector database management platform that empowers companies to harness large language models, unlocking the full potential of their internal knowledge. Linq’s precise and user-friendly API solution is starting to be used by leading legal and insurance firms in South Korea. In addition, it provides solutions for the technical support sector within the US market.

Contact Information:

Jacob Chanyeol Choi, Founder & CEO
jacob.choi@getlinq.com

PR Newswire

A Safer Tomorrow: AESOP Technology’s Battle Against Look-Alike, Sound-Alike Medication Errors

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SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Medication errors are a critical problem in healthcare, and Look-Alike, Sound-Alike (LASA) medication errors pose a particularly daunting challenge. Studies show that LASA errors account for approximately one in four medication errors, making them a significant threat to patients. AESOP Technology is thus pleased to announce remarkable results from its recent clinical research, demonstrating its exceptional effectiveness in preventing LASA errors.

“Accurately identifying LASA errors can be challenging due to their complex origins. Surprisingly, only about 15% of intercepted wrong drug errors during our study could be clearly categorized as LASA errors, in the sense that the medications had similar names that contributed to the mix-up. The LASA errors also did not follow predictable patterns, with only 9 out of 71 cases repeating. These findings underscore the limitations of conventional human-defined rule systems, even when augmented with reinforcement learning. RxPrime (formerly MedGuard) not only detects errors that were not previously identified but also highlights the essential need for AI with advanced medical knowledge, demonstrating a breakthrough in patient safety in healthcare,” said Jim Long, CEO of AESOP Technology, explaining the intricacies of detecting medication errors, specifically LASA errors.

AESOP also leverages its proprietary AI technology to overcome the limitations of traditional clinical decision support systems and address the issue of alert fatigue.

“AESOP has taken additional steps to improve problem list documentation to reduce alert fatigue from LASA error detection. Many alerts contributing to physician fatigue result from poor problem list documentation within electronic health record systems. Thus, AESOP intervened at the source by helping physicians complete clinical diagnoses and documentation more effectively while prescribing,” Long added.

More than half of all medication errors occur during the prescription phase, making it a critical focus for improving patient safety. AESOP’s innovative approach offers a beacon of hope. Applying advanced AI technology to this complex problem has yielded impressive results and holds great promise for the healthcare industry. As we address patient safety challenges, AESOP Technology’s contributions stand as a testament to the potential of innovative solutions in ensuring the well-being of patients worldwide.

About AESOP Technology

AESOP Technology harnesses advanced artificial intelligence to develop its exclusive clinical deep reasoning network technology. This technology, driven by sophisticated medical knowledge and data association analysis, is designed to improve clinical decision-making and the medical coding process, primarily focusing on improving patient safety and quality.

PR Newswire

Zepp Health Sponsors Cal Hacks 10.0, the World’s Largest Collegiate Hackathon, for the Second Consecutive Year

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– Winners with the best apps will receive Zepp’s Amazfit smartwatches and cash award

MILPITAS, Calif., Oct. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Zepp Health Corporation, a global leader in smart wearables and health technology, is excited to announce its sponsorship of Cal Hacks, the world’s largest collegiate hackathon, for the second consecutive year in a row.

Cal Hacks, now in its 10th edition, aims to empower individuals with technology to create innovative solutions that better the world. Every year, it attracts over 2500+ hackers from around the world.

“We’re delighted to return as sponsors of the Cal Hacks event, having been truly impressed by the remarkable talent showcased at last year’s event. Zepp Health had the privilege of working alongside some exceptionally gifted tech enthusiasts, creating innovative solutions that left a lasting impression. We firmly believe that these students, with their unwavering passion and dedication, represent the future thinkers that Zepp Health needs to fulfill our mission: empowering individuals to take control of their well-being through intelligent healthcare tools and creating a world where healthcare brings empowerment, inspiration, and joy to all,” shared Wayne Huang, Founder & CEO of Zepp Health.

Zepp Health will sponsor US$15,000 (USD Fifteen Thousand Dollars) and will offer a $1,000 cash prize along with Zepp OS-enabled flagship Amazfit smartwatches to winners in the Apps categories. The winning criteria will be based on the most innovative apps developed using Zepp OS APIs.

In addition to the generous prizes, Zepp Health has gathered a panel of esteemed judges who have graciously volunteered their time to support this initiative. Notably, among the external judges is Jay Ryan Freeman, a renowned software engineer known for creating the Cydia software application and related software for jailbroken iOS – a modified version of Apple’s iOS.

“Cal Hacks has built a reputation for attracting talented and engaged students from around the world who are eager to build innovative solutions to challenging problems,” said Nick Jiang, Cal Hacks Director, representing Cal Hacks. “We are grateful to work with brands like Zepp Health, who share our passion for the developer community, innovation, and inclusivity.”

Although applications have closed, Cal Hacks is looking for mentors and judges to support hackers throughout the weekend. Individuals with a passion for innovation are encouraged to apply! Cal Hacks will take place from October 27 to 29, 2023, at The Metreon in San Francisco. For more information, visit https://www.calhacks.io/

About Zepp Health

Zepp Health (NYSE: ZEPP) is a global smart wearable and health technology leader, empowering users to live their healthiest lives by optimizing their health, fitness, and wellness journeys through its leading consumer brands, Amazfit, Zepp Clarity, and Zepp Aura. Powered by its proprietary Zepp Digital Management Platform, which includes the Zepp OS, AI chips, biometric sensors, and data algorithms, Zepp delivers cloud-based 24/7 actionable insights and guidance to help users attain their wellness goals. To date, Zepp has shipped over 200 million units, and its products are available in 90+ countries. Founded in 2013 as Huami Corp., the company became Zepp Health Corporation in February 2021. Zepp has 1,300+ team members and offices across North America, EMEA, and APAC regions. For more information, visit www.zepphealth.com.

About Cal Hacks

Calhacks is the world’s largest collegiate hackathon based in San Francisco Bay Area. Annually drawing 2500+ hackers from around the world, Cal Hacks is dedicated to fostering a culture of hacking and empowering the next generation of innovators to drive positive change in the world. Visit calhacks.io for more information.