With the disruption caused by COVID-19, supply chain risks have never been greater.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (PRWEB)
October 14, 2020

Today apexanalytix announced it has received the best overall score among 20 supplier relationship management and risk solutions evaluated in the Spend Matters Fall 2020 Supplier Relationship Management and Risk SolutionMap. The SolutionMap analysis ranks technology within the procurement and supply chain spectrum and is updated semiannually to show market developments.

The top rating for apexanalytix is based on industry analyst and customer reviews of the company’s supplier relationship management and risk solutions, including apexportal, the fastest growing supplier portal in the industry. apexportal provides a central hub for companies around the globe to support every supplier, enforce every compliance policy and integrate with every source-to-pay system. Supplier records are automatically validated and enriched using more than 650 trusted third-party data sources and a database of 32 million supplier golden records maintained by apexanalytix.

“With the disruption caused by COVID-19, supply chain risks have never been greater,” says Akhilesh Agarwal, SVP of global business partner technology solutions at apexanalytix. “Our clients can establish continuous protections against fraudulent bank account changes, eliminate fines associated with regulatory compliance, and take steps to avoid costly supply chain disruptions.”

Spend Matters reviewers give the company top scores for a wide range of factors related to application functionality, platform technology and supporting services.

One example: Spend Matters says the apexportal business rules editor “is one of the most powerful out there,” allowing companies to tailor apexportal to their workflow and to use “deep verification rules” to make certain only valid data is captured.

This is the fourth consecutive Spend Matters SolutionMap that has ranked apexanalytix as the industry leader. The latest report shows that customers rate the company in the top tier for return on investment, total cost of operation, business value and innovation.

Download the Spend Matters Fall 2020 Supplier Relationship Management and Risk SolutionMap

About apexanalytix

apexanalytix revolutionized recovery audit with advanced analytics and the introduction of firststrike overpayment and fraud prevention software. Today, apexanalytix also leads the world in supplier management innovation with apexportal and smartvm, now the most widely used supplier onboarding and compliant master data management solution in global procure to pay processes. With over 250 clients in the Fortune 500 and Global 2000, apexanalytix is dedicated to providing companies and their suppliers with the ultimate supplier management experience. Learn more at http://www.apexanalytix.com.

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Jill Miller, New SAA Board of Directors Member

I was so well supported by SAA during my ankylosing spondylitis (AS) diagnosis…

ENCINO, Calif. (PRWEB)
October 09, 2020

SAA is pleased to announce today the appointment of Jill Miller to our Board of Directors. Miller is the Director of Key Account Development for Modern Process Equipment, a family-owned business based in Chicago, Ill. that provides customers with grinding, conveying and process solutions.

SAA’s volunteer Board of Directors is made up of recognized leaders across many areas of expertise. They represent the broad diversity of our membership and contribute their time, talent, and energy.

“I was so well supported by SAA during my ankylosing spondylitis (AS) diagnosis several years ago that I was compelled to take this opportunity to give back to the AS Community and support the organization’s mission,” said Miller. “I’ve always been amazed at how SAA is able to support the needs of its community without government funding. I want to ensure its future success by supporting its fundraising and development efforts,” Miller added.

“Jill is a welcome addition to our dedicated Board of Directors,” said SAA’s CEO Cassie Shafer. “She has also been a friend to our community for quite some time serving as a co-leader for our Chicago area support group, and we’re thrilled that she is rolling up her sleeves to help us lead the fight for a cure,” Shafer added.

Miller earned a B.A in German and International Relations from Kent State University and has more than 20 years of business experience in sales and services roles.

About the Spondylitis Association of America

Since our founding in 1983, the Spondylitis Association of America has been the leading national nonprofit providing educational resources, connections, and the critical emotional support that people living with spondylitis need. SAA is committed to increasing awareness of spondylitis, providing information and support to patients and their families, and funding research to ultimately uncover a cure for the disease.

SAA has a wealth of information, educational materials, and resources for medical practitioners, the newly diagnosed, people who are seeking a proper diagnosis, and people who have already been diagnosed and living with the disease.

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Dr. Thomas Reiner, PhD, Recipient of the 2020 Roger Tsien Award at WMIC Virtual

Dr. Reiner demonstrates the type of talent and dedication to science that we as a society want to highlight and bring forward to the community and field of molecular imaging.

CULVER CITY, Calif. (PRWEB)
October 08, 2020

The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) named Dr. Thomas Reiner, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as the recipient of the 2020 Roger Tsien Award for Excellence in Chemical Biology for making significant contributions to the field of molecular imaging in the area of chemical biology. This includes the creation and/or use of novel chemistries to probe biological systems using noninvasive imaging approaches.

Dr. Reiner is an Associate Member in the Department of Radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with an appointment at the Chemical Biology Program of the Sloan Kettering Institute. He is also an Associate Professor at Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and an Associate Professor of Radiochemistry and Radiopharmacy at Weill Cornell Medical College.

“When choosing a recipient for this award, we carefully evaluate each nominee as a committee and heavily consider each candidate’s scientific accolades as well as their overall contributions and to the molecular imaging community,” said Dr. Martin Pomper, MD, PhD, WMIS Past President, Fellow, and Chair of the Awards Committee. “As a young investigator, Dr. Reiner has accomplished the validation and translation of novel imaging agents and radiotherapeutics that could potentially allow for early detection and better visualization of diseases. Dr. Reiner demonstrates the type of talent and dedication to science that we as a society want to highlight and bring forward to the community and field of molecular imaging.”

While much of his work is based in the preclinical research space, he also pursues several translational clinical projects. Dr. Reiner’s success includes the development of imaging agents, including PARPi-FL, a fluorescent intraoperative probe, which entered clinical trials in March 2017 (IND#133,109, NCT03085147). A second translated drug, [18F]PARPi, a quantitative PET imaging agent, was approved for clinical trials in August 2018 and November 2019 (IND#139974; NCT03631017 and NCT04173104, respectively). His lab has produced Phase I data for both agents and the works were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering (Kossatz et al 2020) and Clinical Cancer Research (Schöder et al, 2020).

“It is a great honor to receive this Award in the name of Roger Tsien,” said Dr. Thomas Reiner, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering. “I am very excited about continuing my work with PARP1 and translating other novel chemistries and biological approaches to improve the life and outcomes of patients.”

ABOUT WORLD MOLECULAR IMAGING SOCIETY

The WMIS is dedicated to developing and promoting translational research through multimodality molecular imaging. The education and abstract-driven WMIC is the annual meeting of the WMIS and provides a unique setting for scientists and clinicians with very diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and follow cutting-edge advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging that impacts nearly every biomedical discipline. Industry exhibits at the congress included corporations who have created the latest advances in preclinical and clinical imaging approaches and equipment, providing a complete molecular imaging educational technology showcase. For more information: http://www.wmis.org.

To follow up with Thomas Reiner or learn more about his lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, please click here: http://ski.edu/reiner.

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WOODBRIDGE, Conn. (PRWEB)
October 08, 2020

P2 Science, Inc. (P2), a renewable chemistry company, today announced the launch of a brand new, unique, bioderived and patented alternative to 100 centipoise dimethicone (silicone) cosmetics fluids. The new product, Citropol® HA is part of the innovative, patented Citropol platform.In a technical seminar session, P2 outlined the 7 key pressure points on the cosmetics industry today and discussed how the new Citropol family of products helps alleviate those pressures. In the second part of the session, the company launched Citropol HA, a superior alternative to 100 cPs silicone fluids. Citropol HA, like all members of the new Citropol platform, is made from wood and is biodegradable and biocompatible.

Commercial manufacturing of the new product is already scheduled at P2’s start-of-the-art green chemistry manufacturing facility in Naugatuck, CT. Samples and product literature are available now at the company’s website, and products can be purchased directly on the company’s e-store – also on the website.

“The cosmetics sector is under pressure from many quarters and much of that relates to the environmental and health impacts of the products. Consumers are also becoming increasingly aware and concerned about the ingredients used in products they apply to their skin, hair, lips, and eyes everyday,” said Neil Burns, CEO of P2. He added, “Citropol HA is one more safe, bioderived, benign product from P2 that brings emollience, moisturizing, slip, shine, and cushion to skincare, haircare and color cosmetics. This new medium viscosity emollient is the latest addition to P2’s innovative green chemistry platform on which we continue to build a family of high-performance cosmetic ingredients.”

Citropol HA is the fourth commercial product to come out of P2’s proprietary Citropol series. Last month, the company launched Citropol V5 – a superior natural replacement for D5 volatile silicone fluids.

About P2 Science

P2 Science is renewable chemistry company, co-founded by Professor Paul Anastas, head of the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. P2 has developed and patented green chemistry technologies for converting renewable feedstocks into high-value specialty products. Investors in P2 include BASF Venture Capital, Xeraya Capital, Elm Street Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Ironwood Capital, HG Ventures and Chanel. The company started up its first manufacturing plant in September of 2018 which produces novel renewable aroma chemicals and cosmetic ingredients. For more information, see http://www.p2science.com.

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Xtalks Life Science Webinars

A Phase 1 service provider must modify their work procedures and reconfigure the clinical pharmacology unit in a manner which protects both study participants and clinical operations personnel.

TORONTO (PRWEB)
October 08, 2020

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of “virtual” clinical trials by the drug development industry, also requiring service providers to quickly pivot their offerings to one which emphasizes conducting trials in this manner instead of traditional models. In just a short period of time, companies have changed the way they do business, encouraging options for conducting virtual trials such as: e-consenting, remote monitoring, telemedicine and at-home visits. However, several trials carried out during Phase 1 through Phase 4 of a clinical development plan still require “hands-on” clinical trial provider contact with the study participant in either an in-patient or out-patient setting.

This webinar will primarily focus on the management of study volunteers participating in Early Clinical Development (Phase I) clinical trials. In order to gain confidence from Investigational Review Boards and study sponsors to proceed with a trial safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Phase 1 service provider must modify their work procedures and reconfigure the clinical pharmacology unit in a manner which protects both study participants and clinical operations personnel.

In this webinar, WCCT Global, a CRO dedicated to Early Clinical Development, will draw upon experience gained within its Phase 1 clinical pharmacology unit in order to present a stepwise approach for conducting trials under these conditions. WCCT will also review case studies and data generated from trials that have been conducted at its clinical pharmacology unit in Cypress, CA.

Join Mel Affrime, PharmD, President & Chief Scientific Officer, WCCT Global and David Nguyen, MD, MBA, Chief Medical and Operations Officer, WCCT Global in a live webinar on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 2pm EDT.

For more information or to register for this event, visit When Trials Can’t Go Virtual: Conducting Phase 1 Clinical Trials During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

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Xtalks Life Science Webinars

Good communication plans facilitate effective information exchange and enable timely discussion of progress/questions/changes/hurdles that arise during collaborative manufacturing campaigns.

TORONTO, Ontario (PRWEB)
October 08, 2020

Effective communication, complete and accurate information transfer, risk management, and clear success criteria are essential elements for smooth and effective technology transfers of biologics manufacturing processes. This is true whether the technology transfer is only a protein sequence or involves the transfer of fully developed processes and testing methods. Good communication plans facilitate effective information exchange and enable timely discussion of progress/questions/changes/hurdles that arise during collaborative manufacturing campaigns. They are mutually developed by all parties and identify the individuals involved, along with their contact information, define roles and responsibilities, establish key deliverables and delivery dates, set meeting schedules, and establish guides for ad hoc communication channels.

The information is commonly included in a series of reports, including a product description, process description(s), process development report(s), analytical methods descriptions, analytical methods qualification reports, analytical methods validation reports, formulation development reports, and stability reports. Review of the available data allows the participating parties to identify knowledge gaps and to create plans to address them.

Risk management builds robustness and contingencies into the technology transfer process. Identification of potential pitfalls, their probabilities, and the severity of the resultant consequences informs the technology transfer team’s work plans and the proactive scheduling of contingency activities. Finally, establishing clear criteria for a successful transfer, along with the mechanisms to demonstrate their achievement, complete the technology transfer process. This usually includes performance of the transferred processes and analytical methods at one or more scales in a way that meets the agreed criteria. Diligent attention to these essential elements establishes a strong foundation for a successful technology transfer and future collaboration activities.

Join Louise Duffy, Ph.D. SVP & Head of Scientific Project Leaders at Abzena in a live webinar on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK).

For more information or to register for this event, visit Elements for Smooth Technology Transfers of Biologics Manufacturing Processes.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

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Sustainable Ocean Alliance

With nearly 300 applications to the 3rd cohort, the latest wave of applications demonstrates that ocean solutions are an ever-growing urgent priority among global innovators, founders, and entrepreneurs.

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB)
October 06, 2020

Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), a global non-profit organization that advances the impact of ocean leaders and ocean solution startups, today announced its 3rd ocean tech cohort.

In the Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations, SDG14 outlines the need to conserve and sustainably use ocean, sea and marine resources. However, since the publication of the 17 Development Goals in 2015, SDG14 remains one of the least addressed SDG solutions with a lack of recognition, corporate sponsorships and solutions.

“SOA was founded in response to the United Nations’ SDG 14, and we view it as our responsibility to identify and uplift the voices that are shaping the ocean’s future,”

says Daniela Fernandez, Founder and CEO of SOA. “We launched one of the first ocean’s solutions accelerators to address ocean threats and to ensure meeting the goal of protecting Life Under Water.”

As the pace of climate change accelerates, and ocean pollution and acidification reach perilous levels, the need to develop sustainable solutions for the ocean has become life threateningly critical.

With nearly 300 applications to the 3rd cohort, the latest wave of applications demonstrates that ocean solutions are an ever-growing urgent priority among global innovators, founders, and entrepreneurs. SOA remains committed to supporting these solutionists by accelerating companies dedicated to preserving and restoring the health of our ocean.

“Having overseen our past accelerators, I was particularly encouraged by this year’s applicant pool to see the varying types of solutions, as well as an increase in the number of entrepreneurs that are actively building technologies to address the critical challenges that face the ocean. This year, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw our largest and most diverse applicant pool to date,” says Craig Dudenhoeffer, Chief Innovation Officer at SOA and Co-Founder of the Ocean Solutions Accelerator.

The companies accepted into the cohort represent SOA’s global presence and address a wide range of ocean threats using technological advancements in areas of habitat destruction, seafood supply chain, water treatment systems and plastic pollution. Over 50% of the cohort’s startups are led by female CEO’s.

The nine accepted startups will begin SOA’s Virtual Program on October 5th and will run for a full four weeks, culminating in a virtual demo day on November 5th, where the founders of each company will showcase their solutions before the media and investors.

• Aquaai: Norway. Aquaai US/Norway: Aquaai is a data and marine robotics company with a vision to help keep humanity alive through sustainable and environmentally friendly practices by combining risk management and biomimicry. Aquaai has developed a specialized, flexible, fishlike Autonomous Underwater Vehicle loaded with cameras and sensors that “swims” close to the source unobtrusively for superior data acquisition then transmit the visual and environmental data in near real-time to an online dashboard for customer access.
• AKUA: Brooklyn, New York. The Beach, Our Planet. AKUA creates plant-based foods that can feed us sustainably while reversing climate change, and restoring health to our world’s oceans. Products like their award winning Kelp Jerky and forthcoming Kelp Burger are made from ocean-farmed kelp, which is one of the most healing and healthy forms of food on the planet.
• ARC Marine: Brixham, UK. ARC Marine is a eco engineering company pioneering nature inclusive design & accelerating reef creation. ARC Marine have developed Reef Cubes, the patented building blocks for the ocean which provide sustainable habitat & nursery and spawning grounds whilst performing a useful subsea and/or coastal asset protection role. Reef Cubes are made from 95% recycled materials, do not contain any plastics and are carbon neutral.
• Desolenator: Maastricht, the Netherlands. Desolenator is pioneering low-cost, ocean-safe desalination with a technology powered 100% by solar energy, and without the use of harmful chemicals. Desolenator supports the resilience of communities and thought-leading businesses experiencing high water stress.
• FlyWire: Lexington, Kentucky. Flywire aims to increase the percentage of wild-caught seafood that is harvested sustainably – using required fishing gear, fair labor, and data-driven fisheries management. FlyWire has built the world’s first “Fitbit” for fishing boats to give customers the operational insights they need to achieve efficiency comparable to other industries and boost profitability.
• microTERRA: Mexico City, Mexico. Alternative protein for animal feed grown in aquafarms, reducing waste water output and fresh water input for farms and allowing the uptake of more sustainable aquaculture methods.
• Oceanworks: Los Angeles, CA. Oceanworks® is the largest global marketplace for recycled ocean plastic. Oceanworks’ mission is to accelerate the market for recycled ocean plastic to clean-up the ocean, reduce the use of new virgin plastic, and eliminate demand for new plastic production.
• PlanetCare, Ljubljana, Slovenia. PlanetCare has designed the only purpose built microfiber filter that has been independently tested to capture over 90% of the fibers of all size ranges before they leave the drain pumps. The filter is installed as an external attachment to washing machines. As part of a closed loops system, cartridges are collected after use and reused/recycled.
• Trademodo: Vancouver, Canada. Supporting sustainable trade by providing a platform for users to easily find, research and connect with ethical seafood businesses throughout all levels of the supply chain. Trademodo is the trusted source for great seafood industry businesses and makes data gathered from governments, NGOs, and seafood professionals digitally accessible.

For more information, please contact Haley Steinhauser: Haley@soalliance.org

About Sustainable Ocean Alliance

Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) is a global non-profit organization that advances the impact of startups, social enterprises, and initiatives that are developing solutions to protect and sustain our ocean. SOA’s pipeline of ocean leaders is cultivated through a hub-based model, led by students at the collegiate and young professional levels.

Founded in 2014 as a college-room idea, SOA has created the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders through establishing a presence in over 165 countries, launching the first-ever Ocean Solutions Accelerator in 2018 to support ocean tech startups, and partnering with corporations and governments to develop technological solutions that can address the greatest threats facing our planet.

To date, SOA has accelerated 20 ocean solutions through the Accelerator and granted 72 microgrants towards ocean grassroots projects through our Leadership Program in an effort to complete their commitment to accelerate 100 ocean solutions by 2021.

Connect with Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using handle @soalliance.

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Andrew Magis, PhD, Director of Data Science in ISB’s Health Data Science Lab.

“These results support the value of deep phenotyping seemingly healthy individuals to prospectively infer disease transitions.” — Andrew Magis, PhD

SEATTLE, Wash. (PRWEB)
October 01, 2020

By analyzing blood plasma samples taken at several time points, ISB researchers have identified specific proteins that persistently presented as outliers and signaled metastatic cancer well before patients were diagnosed.

Scientists analyzed about 1,200 proteins from the longitudinal blood samples of 79 participants of a commercial wellness program, including samples collected pre-diagnosis from 10 cancer patients. For three patients who went on to be diagnosed with three distinct types of metastatic cancer, the research team found specific proteins that were significant outliers when compared to other program participants. 

One protein — CEACAM5 — was a persistent outlier for every metastatic diagnosis (breast, lung and pancreatic cancers), and appeared as early as 26.5 months before diagnosis. Importantly, CEACAM5 was not an outlier for any non-metastatic cancer diagnosis or control patient. 

Two proteins — CALCA and DLK1 — were specific to metastatic pancreatic cancer, and were outliers at least 16.5 months before diagnosis. Another protein — ERBB2 — was specific to metastatic breast cancer, and spiked significantly between 10 and four months before diagnosis.

“These results support the value of deep phenotyping seemingly healthy individuals to prospectively infer disease transitions,” said Dr. Andrew Magis, who led the study. The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

A central premise of P4 medicine (predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory) is identifying the early markers that signal transitions from health to disease. For cancer patients, identifying cancer before it metastasizes enables localized treatment options to remove the primary cancer, which improves survival and reduces the likelihood of recurrence.

Typically, studies seeking to identify cancer biomarkers compare samples of diagnosed cancer patients with non-cancer controls. However, there is greater learning potential when analyzing pre-diagnosis samples from healthy individuals who are later diagnosed with cancer. While these opportunities are rare, they can yield insights into early signals and mechanisms of disease transitions.

“While follow-up studies examining more study participants are clearly needed to validate the clinical utility of these observations, CEACAM5 represents a promising candidate for much earlier warning of metastasis than was previously known,” said Dr. Nathan Price, ISB professor and associate director and co-leader of the Hood-Price Lab.

This research builds on other important ISB findings, notably that genetic risk for disease is often reflected in our blood; molecular and physiological information can determine an individual’s biological age, which can serve as a more effective and reliable predictor of overall health than chronological age; that the alpha diversity of an individual’s gut microbiome can be accurately predicted by examining metabolites in the blood; and that combining personal, dense, dynamic data (PD3) clouds with tailored behavioral coaching can optimize wellness and the PD3 clouds can identify early transitions into disease states and facilitate the reversal of some disease states back to wellness.

About ISB

Institute for Systems Biology is a collaborative and cross-disciplinary non-profit biomedical research organization based in Seattle. We focus on some of the most pressing issues in human health, including COVID-19, brain health, cancer, sepsis and aging, as well as many chronic and infectious diseases. Our science is translational, and we champion sound scientific research that results in real-world clinical impacts. ISB is an affiliate of Providence, one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the United States. Learn more at isbscience.org.

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