Merck & Co., Inc. provides healthcare solutions worldwide. The company offers therapeutic and preventive agents for cardiovascular, type 2 diabetes, chronic hepatitis C virus, HIV-1 infection, intra-abdominal, fungal infection, insomnia, and inflammatory diseases; neuromuscular blocking agents; cholesterol modifying medicines; and anti-bacterial and vaginal contraceptive products. It provides products to prevent chemotherapy-induced and post-operative nausea and vomiting; treat non-small-cell lung, ovarian and breast, esophageal, thyroid, cervical, and brain cancers; and prevent diseases caused by human papillomavirus, as well as vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, shingles, rotavirus gastroenteritis, and pneumococcal diseases. In addition, the company offers drugs for hepatocellular and merkel cell carcinoma; antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs for infectious and respiratory diseases, fertility disorders, and pneumonia in cattle, bovine, and swine; vaccines for poultry; parasiticides for sea lice in salmon; and antibiotics and vaccines for fish. Further, it provides companion animal products; diabetes mellitus treatment and anthelmintic products for dogs and cats; products to treat fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and sandflies; horse fertility management products for swine; and dog, cat, and horse vaccines. Additionally, the company offers services and solutions that focus on engagement, clinical, and health analytics. Merck & Co., Inc. has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Almac Discovery Ltd.; Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc.; Ridgeback Biotherapeutics; Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd.; and FUJIFILM Corporation. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.

Merck

merck

Swedish immuno-oncology specialist BioInvent International (Nasdaq Stockholm: BINV) announced a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD International Business GmbH, a subsidiary of Merck &amp; Co (NYSE: MRK) for a Phase I/IIa study of its monoclonal antibody BI-1910 in combination ...

BioInvent announces new clinical trial collaboration with Merck

Merck &amp; Co., Inc.&#x27;s stock price is up 20% YTD, supported by approvals, a positive outlook for 2024. Check out why I’m going with a buy rating for MRK stock.

Merck: Better Times Ahead On Approvals And Outlook (NYSE:MRK) | Seeking Alpha

We think that this gap in valuation multiple will narrow in favor of Pfizer .

After A 30% Fall In A Year Is Pfizer Stock A Better Pick Over Merck?

The asset in question, dubbed STRO-003, targets the receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) tumor antigen. ROR1 is overexpressed in various cancers—including solid tumors and blood cancers—and the target is also being chased by the likes of Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck &amp; Co.

Ipsen joins ADC race via $900M biobuck deal with Sutro, chasing same target as Merck, Boehringer

MarketWatch provides the latest stock market, financial and business news. Get stock market quotes, personal finance advice, company news and more.

Merck & Co. Inc. stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitors

Shares of Merck &amp; Co. Inc. inched 0.59% higher to $128.12 Wednesday, on what proved to be an all-around favorable trading session for the stock market, with...

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Health Pulse is Crain&#x27;s daily newsletter for the health care industry, available by subscription. We suggest bookmarking this page for quick access in the future. Scroll down for the most recent editions · To subscribe to Health Pulse, click HERE. To inquire about corporate user or multiuser ...

Merck hit with two new wrongful death lawsuits alleging Gardasil vaccine 
killed young women

By Chris Wack Evaxion Biotech shares were up 8% at $4.41 after the company said it has successfully completed the initial phases of its vaccine collaboration...

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Elon Musk on Friday that he found the new Twitter CEO. The billionaire announced Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter. said was the former head of global advertising and partnerships at NBC Universal. She was also the head of advertising and client partnerships at NBC Universal for eight years. Linda Yaccarino NBC Universal announced on Friday morning that Linda was leaving the company. She had been with NBC Universal for over a decade. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657050349608501249?embedable=true Elon Musk previously said that the new CEO would join in six weeks, and after her joining, he will step down as the CTO of but still be the executive head. Elon will now oversee products, software & sysops. Twitter Linda had been with NBC Universal for over a decade, and her work was to find and approach advertisers and improve collaboration with them. She was also the key figure in the launch of NBC’s ad-supported streaming service Peacock. She had previously worked for 19 years at Turner Entertainment and has been credited for increasing the company’s advertisement revenues. She is the perfect person to become Twitter’s CEO because Twitter is seeing a decline in ad revenues. Many advertisers like Coca-Cola, Jeep, Merck Unilever and have stopped their ads on Twitter since Elon Musk took over in October 2022 because of many of Musk’s many controversial actions like firing half the Twitter employees, banning journalists, restricting Substack links and introducing paid verification programme. Meta Elon Musk wants to reduce Twitter’s reliance on advertisers so it can freely support “free speech.” This is also one of the reasons brands are pulling out from Twitter. Elon Musk is also the CEO of the car manufacturing company and rocket manufacturer and launcher SpaceX. Tesla Both companies have seen a decline in stocks since Elon became the CEO of Twitter. Investors of both companies have been complaining since October last year that Elon is spending most of his time on Twitter and not focusing on his two main businesses. Linda has years of experience with advertisers and she can be useful to bring advertisers back to the platform and attract potential advertisers.

Who is Twitter's New CEO?

Take a look at these statistics: Artificial intelligence can according to a recent study by Insider Intelligence reduce drug discovery costs by up to 70% AI can on clinical research while cutting the phase’s length by half save pharma $28 billion a year AI can spare pharma companies on R&D costs up to $54 billion annually It’s not surprising that pharmaceutical companies to cut the costs and time required for drug development. The global AI in pharma market and is estimated to surpass $9,241 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 29.4%. turn to medical AI services was valued at around $905 million in 2021 Motivated to learn more about how using artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical industry can improve your drug development processes? Then continue reading. 5 top use cases of AI in the pharma sector You will notice that it’s common for pharma companies to team up with tech innovators to successfully deploy AI. Accenture conducted a survey where in profit after partnering with a tech vendor, with 76% of pharma executives citing effective partnership as a key success factor. 61% of the respondents reported at least a 5% increase Here are 5 top applications of artificial intelligence in pharmaceutics. Drug discovery The Congressional Budget Office reports that the R&D costs of , which includes research and clinical trials. developing a new drug can exceed $2 billion Deploying AI in pharma enables researchers to sift through enormous datasets, such as small molecule libraries and spot disease patterns, and learn which chemical compositions can be a good fit for various biological targets. AI can generate chemical compounds either as a text string or as a graph architecture. It’s important to validate the resulting compounds, as many of them will not make sense, could be toxic, or could contain a component that shouldn’t be a part of any drug. In addition to discovering candidate compositions, scientists can use AI algorithms to parse medical literature on how to best synthesize the drug and design clinical trials. Research shows that pharmaceutical artificial intelligence can , saving the pharma sector up to $26 billion in annual expenses. cut drug synthesizing and screening time by 50% There are many great examples of pharma companies to facilitate drug discovery. For instance, GSK, a British pharmaceutical company headquartered in London, partnered with California’s Vir Biotechnology during the pandemic with the help of AI and a human gene editing tool, CRISPR. Vir already had an antibody platform that it deployed to discover drugs for different respiratory pathogens in the past. And now, in this collaboration, they discovered sotrovimab, an antibody to neutralize COVID-19. deploying AI solutions to accelerate COVID-19 antibody discovery that binds to a SARS-CoV-2 epitope In another example of collaboration between Europe and the US, a French pharma and healthcare company Sanofi partnered with California-based biotech innovator Atomwise to discover and synthesize drug compounds for five different targets. Sanofi wanted to steer clear of the traditional drug discovery approach and for their innovation and AI capabilities. paid Atomwise $20 million upfront Clinical trials AI has many . One of them is identifying the right candidate participants. The technology can analyze patient data, genetic information, doctor notes, and other information, and pick people who are eligible for a particular trial. AI can even help decide on the optimal population size based on the existing description of similar trials. applications in clinical trials within their target time frame. due to recruitment-associated challenges. 86% of clinical trials fail to recruit enough patients One-third of phase Ⅲ clinical trials have to stop For instance, relies on analytics and natural language processing (NLP) to analyze patient information. The tool can handle unstructured data, like doctor’s notes, and produce an insightful patient summary. Clinical researchers use these highlights to select and recruit patients. IBM Watson As AI helps pharma companies to find patients, it also works the other way around. , a clinical trial patient recruitment platform, uses NLP to analyze their text and screen them for trial inclusion/exclusion criteria. It requires patients to answer a few simple questions on its platform and suggests a list of trials that the person can join. Antidote Drug manufacturing Deploying AI in the pharmaceutical industry offers multiple opportunities to improve the drug production process. The technology could: . AI can inspect drugs on the conveyor belt and spot defects, such as damaged packaging. Moreover, the technology can identify any potential issues by analyzing manufacturing data, like quality control tests. For instance, AstraZeneca employs looking for defects, while Merck applies AI to spot problems in vaccine vials. Assist in drug quality control machine learning to analyze drug images . AI can monitor equipment on the production line and identify potential defects through sensors that measure equipment vibration, temperature, sound, etc. This gives employees time to fix the device before it breaks down, halting production. Facilitate predictive maintenance . AI can analyze data on energy consumption, raw material waste, and other parameters and put forward recommendations on how to . Also, the technology can predict demand, so that pharma manufacturers avoid producing large quantities of drugs that will not be consumed and will otherwise go to waste. Cut down on material waste improve the manufacturing process Drug marketing The pharma sector largely depends on sales. Companies aim to reach as many customers as possible while offering a distinctive user experience and a customized approach. Artificial intelligence in pharma can facilitate drug marketing by: Comparing past marketing campaigns and identifying the most profitable approaches. The technology can also analyze customer engagement tactics and pick the most successful ones. Aggregating customer data in real time to understand their behavior and what they are looking for to create a tailored advertisement. Optimizing pricing of new drugs by considering all involved stakeholders and data on similar medications. Simulating different market scenarios by forecasting changes in demand, competitor behavior, etc. This allows pharmaceutical firms to be prepared for sudden landscape changes. Finding new consumers for existing drugs. For instance, for Chantix (a drug that helps people quit smoking). The tool analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify previously untapped population segments. Pfizer relied on AI to spot and reach new potential customers Drug dosage optimization AI can analyze large quantities of unstructured patient data and calculate the optimal dosage of a particular drug for this person to achieve the best possible results with minimal side effects. Artificial intelligence models in the pharma industry can analyze the following information: Medical history, such as doctor’s notes, lab test results, genetic makeup Medical images, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans Biomarkers, such as protein levels and genetic mutations Drug characteristics, such as its metabolism Potential side effects of a drug and of similar drugs When the optimal dosage is calculated, the technology can monitor its effectiveness and make adjustments when needed. To give a real-life example, a California-based company Dosis built an AI-driven personalized medicine dosing platform that dialysis clinics can use to manage chronic drug intake. In his interview with HealthcareITNews, Dosis’ CEO Shivrat Chhabra mentioned this platform helped clients while improving patient outcomes. reduce drug consumption by 25% Challenges associated with implementing AI in pharma Some of these obstacles are specific to the field, and some are more general and apply to all projects involving this technology. One of the key challenges is the . This is particularly hard as the expenses associated with drug development are already rather high. You can turn to experienced AI consultants to learn how to cut down on costs and still get a viable product. enormous costs associated with artificial intelligence Here are other prominent challenges that you can face during pharmaceutical AI implementation. Data quality and quantity According to a recent study by McKinsey, the on the way to applying analytics in the healthcare field. lack of integrated data sources was the chief obstacle Pharma AI models typically require large datasets to learn. However, it’s a challenge to obtain a sufficient dataset for each disease, especially the rare ones. So, as training datasets are getting smaller, the data that an AI-powered drug development tool has to handle is rather complex. Think of patient data. It includes historical information, genetic makeup, doctor notes, medical scans, etc. Under these conditions, it’s a challenge to build accurate algorithms. When training data is lacking, it’s possible to use synthetic data generators for some pharma applications. For instance, suitable for pharmaceutical usage. Healthcare data is among the most sensitive data types, and privacy is of the essence in such applications. Synthetic datasets can solve this issue. As Andreas Ponikiewicz, VP of Global Sales at Mostly AI, puts it, Mostly AI claims it can generate data “With generative AI based synthetic healthcare data, that contains all the statistical patterns, but is completely artificial, the data can be made available without privacy risk.” Another option for acquiring data for experimenting with AI and pharma is to become a part of a specialized collaboration. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology initiated the Machine Learning for Pharmaceutical Discovery and Synthesis Consortium. 13 pharma companies joined the consortium to design and build AI algorithms for small molecule discovery. You need to make sure that the data used within pharmaceutical applications is all realistic. But it’s rather costly to verify that, as it requires the intervention of human experts. Lack of interoperability and a unified data standard There are still multiple , which means that each hospital can adopt a standard of their choice for data storage and formatting. This makes it hard to integrate and use patient data needed for drug-related research from different medical facilities. healthcare IT standards and regulations These issues of AI in the pharma industry can be addressed on the governmental level. For instance, the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) is a health data unifying initiative by the Swiss government. The that streamlines medical data exchange among Swiss hospitals, research institutes, and regulatory bodies. SPHN was set to build a national infrastructure On an individual level, pharma researchers can benefit from platforms like , which uses NLP to scan and extract data from heterogeneous electronic health record (EHRs) systems. Deep 6 AI Algorithmic bias “All data is biased. This is not paranoia. This is fact.” – Dr. Sanjiv Narayan, professor of medicine at Stanford University. if their training dataset wasn’t representative of the target population. Data bias has specifically been a problem in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Research shows that only a offer evidence on covering the bias issue. AI-powered models can easily develop bias few AI-powered products submitted for FDA approval Some medical professionals if data scientists work more closely with clinicians and learn more about data while building the algorithms. They can request information, such as where the data came from and what was the original goal of gathering it. Then engineers can make tweaks to the algorithms to address any population misrepresentation. believe that it will help reduce bias Algorithms can also acquire bias as they continue to learn on the job. Hence, systematic audits are essential to ensure that all AI-based tools are still relevant and work as expected. Integration with existing systems Deploying AI in pharma implies integrating it with the existing platforms and applications. Many pharma companies still rely on outdated legacy systems that are not designed to work with AI or deal with a large amount of data. Such systems use their proprietary protocols and are hard to . integrate with modern applications Pharma companies that want to use modern technology alongside legacy systems can benefit from designed to fit seamlessly with the existing legacy systems. custom pharma software solutions The complexity of the pharmaceutical applications The use cases of artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical industry are rather complex, and there is a large room for error in the predictions that the technology makes. Here is what makes pharma so intricate: Every patient has individual characteristics and many factors to consider in clinical trials. If you are developing a drug for liver-related issues, you need to find trial participants with no other health conditions that can influence and sway your results. The need to consider the interaction between different drugs as one person might be taking multiple drugs to treat different conditions. Disease variability as one medical condition can have several variants and manifest itself in different ways. Training datasets describing diseases and treatments are not balanced, which can force the algorithm to recommend the most frequently occurring solution even if it’s not the correct one. To sum it up Deloitte reports that have witnessed some progress over the past years. And the consultancy believes AI in pharma can change this. In addition to the applications mentioned above, , which is vital in this field. only a few of the 7,000 rare diseases that we know AI can help pharma companies achieve compliance If you want to incorporate this advanced technology into your business, you are likely to have to team up with a tech vendor of your choice. Also, it’s a good practice to: Make sure your training dataset is realistic, even if the verification process is expensive and requires human expert intervention Incorporate AI into your strategy instead of treating it as a side project Build strong AI skills or outsource this to dedicated teams Encourage a close collaboration between your data scientists and clinicians Beware of the latest regulations regarding using AI in pharma, as these are changing rapidly Build your own ethical expertise to address any concerns associated with AI and pay a special attention to privacy and security if you decide to collaborate with other players in the field and share your data Regularly monitor the algorithms’ performance for bias and inaccuracy, be it for disease discovery, recruitment of trial participants, or even drug advertising. For example, the University of California on social media and discovered that AI models tend to excessively recommend these drugs to Latino and African-Americans customers. conducted a study on advertising mental health medication When using AI to generate chemical compounds, always validate the results, as it can deliver toxic or otherwise unsuitable components Speaking of the future of artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical industry, that will include the following players: PwC predicts the emergence of a new digital health ecosystem Solution vendors, who will offer personalized treatments, drug dosages, etc. Orchestrators, who can use AI and analytics to address patients’ needs Platform providers, who will mediate between the aforementioned players And according to the consultancy, firms who will still refuse to make AI a part of their operations will turn into a mere “contract manufacturers” for the rest of the ecosystem. So, if you haven’t yet considered enhancing your business processes with AI, this seems like a good time to experiment with the technology. Are you looking to save time and money on drug development and clinical trial organization? ! We will help you build and train AI models and integrate them seamlessly into your system. Drop us a line

A Pill a Day: What AI Can REALLY Do in the Pharma Sector

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AI drug discovery is exploding. Overhyped or not, investments in AI drug discovery from $450 million in 2014 to a whopping $58 billion in 2021. All pharma giants, including Bayer, AstraZeneca, Takeda, Sanofi, Merck, and Pfizer, have stepped up spending in the hope to that will bring cost efficiency, speed, and precision to the process. jumped create new-age AI solutions Traditional drug discovery has long been notoriously difficult. It takes and costs to bring a new drug to the market. And this is only the case for drugs that succeed in clinical trials (only one in ten does). at least 10 years $1.3 billion Hence, the interest in finding new ways we discover and design drugs. AI has already helped identify promising candidate therapeutics, and it didn’t take years, but months or even days. In this article, we will explore how AI drug discovery is changing the industry. We will look at success stories, AI benefits, and limitations. Let’s go. How drugs are discovered The drug discovery process typically starts with scientists identifying a target in the body, such as a specific protein or hormone, that is involved in the disease. Then they use different methods to find a possible solution, a drug candidate, including: : Scientists can screen libraries of compounds (natural products or chemicals) they made before, to check if any of them have the desired activity or interaction with the target. Screening existing compounds : They can use computer modeling and simulation to develop novel chemical compounds that can do the job. This approach is used to create small molecule drugs, which are chemically synthesized compounds less than 1,500 daltons in size. De novo drug design : Researchers can also generate biological molecules like antibodies, enzymes, or proteins to act as drugs. This involves isolating or synthesizing molecules from living organisms that can interact with the target. Compared with small molecules, such molecules are typically larger and more complex. Biologics : Scientists can take a look at compounds that were developed for something else and see if they have therapeutic potential for the disease in question. Repurposing Once a potential drug candidate (called lead compound) is found, it is tested in cells or animals, before moving on to clinical trials which include three phases, starting with small groups of healthy volunteers, and then proceeding to larger groups of patients suffering from the specific condition. How AI is applied that involve using sophisticated computational methods to mimic elements of human intelligence such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language understanding. Artificial Intelligence covers various technologies and approaches AI began back in the 1950s as a simple series of “if, then rules” and made its way into healthcare two decades later after more complex algorithms were developed. Since the advent of deep learning in the 2000s, have expanded. AI applications in healthcare A few AI technologies are empowering drug design. Machine Learning focuses on training computer algorithms to learn from data and improve their performance, without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning (ML) ML solutions encompass a diverse array of branches, each with its own unique characteristics and methodologies. These branches include supervised and unsupervised learning, as well as reinforcement learning, and within each, there are various algorithmic techniques that are used to achieve specific goals, such as linear regression, neural networks, and support vector machines. ML has many different application areas, one of which is in the field of AI drug discovery where it enables the following: Virtual screening of compounds to identify potential drug candidates Predictive modeling of drug efficacy and toxicity Identification of new targets for drug development Analysis of large-scale genomic and proteomic data collected from living organisms (DNA sequences, gene expression levels, protein structures, etc.) Optimization of drug dosing and treatment regimens Predictive modeling of patient responses to treatment Deep Learning Deep Learning (DL) is a subset of ML based on using artificial neural networks (ANNs). ANNs are made up of interconnected nodes, or “neurons,” that are connected by pathways, called “synapses.” Like in the human brain, these neurons work together to process information and make predictions or decisions. The more layers of interconnected neurons a neural network has, the more “deep” it is. Unlike supervised and semi-supervised learning algorithms that can identify patterns only in structured data, DL models are capable of processing vast volumes of and make more advanced predictions with little supervision from humans. unstructured data In AI drug discovery, DL is used for: Improved virtual screening of compound libraries to identify hits with a higher probability to bind to a target Image-based profiling to understand disease-associated phenotypes, disease mechanisms, or a drug’s toxicity More accurate prediction of how a drug will be absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted from the body (pharmacokinetic properties) Prediction of drug-target interactions and binding affinity Prediction of the structure of proteins that account for most of the currently identified drug targets Generation of novel drug-like compounds with the desired physical, chemical, and bioactivity properties and protocol design Automation of clinical trial processes Natural Language Processing (NLP) NLP relies on a combination of techniques from linguistics, mathematics, and computer sciences, including DL models, to analyze, understand, and generate human language. AI drug discovery research often uses NLP to extract information from both structured and unstructured data to accomplish the following: Text mining of scientific literature to identify associations between chemical/drug entities, their targets, and novel disease-related pathways Extracting structured information from unstructured electronic health records (EHRs), such as patient demographics, diagnoses, and medications Identifying adverse drug events by analyzing text data from social media, news articles, and other sources Determining clinical trial eligibility criteria based on protocols and matching patients to trials Summarizing drug information Why AI drug discovery is the talk of the town now In the last couple of years, companies across the pharmaceutical sector have taken steps to incorporate AI into their research methods. This includes building in-house AI teams, and , backing startups with an AI focus, and teaming up with technology firms or research centers. hiring AI healthcare professionals data analysts A combination of factors is driving this trend. The increasing power of computers and new AI developments Recent tech advances have shifted the traditional focus of AI drug discovery research. As the majority of companies in the sector (around 150 in 2022 according to ) continue to be busy with designing small molecules, which are easy to represent computationally and compare at scale, there is also a growing interest in new applications of AI in drug discovery. BiopharmaTrend AI Report Many companies are beginning to embrace AI for designing biologics (77 companies) and discovering biomarkers that indicate the presence or progression of a disease (59). Others are focused on building all-embracing AI drug discovery platforms, identifying new targets, or creating ontologies — structured representations of relationships between different entities such as chemical compounds, proteins, and diseases. Widening access to AI tools As the shortage of AI talent shows no sign of abating, the entry barriers to AI drug discovery have actually reduced. Tech vendors and pharma giants are releasing increasingly sophisticated AI platforms, including ready-to-use no-code and drag-and-drop systems that enable non-AI experts to integrate artificial intelligence into their research. These developments are playing a major role in the accelerated adoption of AI by the industry. AI-enabled success stories AI drug discovery projects pursued in academia and the industry have already produced the first successful results across the value chain of drug discovery. Examples include: DeepMind has built the AI system AlphaFold that can predict a protein’s 3D structure from its one-dimensional amino acid sequence in seconds rather than months or years that it would normally take. The system was used to predict over 200 million protein structures belonging to animals, plants, bacteria, fungi, and other organisms. University of Washington researchers have developed a deep learning model that uses gaming computers to calculate protein structures within 10 minutes. Deep Genomics has used AI technologies to screen more than 2,400 diseases and 100,000 mutations to predict the exact disease-causing mechanism in a Wilson disease mutation and create a DG12P1 drug in 18 months. Aladdin has released a proprietary AI drug discovery platform for commercial use in virtual screening, hit-to-lead, lead optimization, and the preclinical phase. This platform helped Aladdin identify a number of drug compounds for a potential treatment of age-related diseases. IBM has developed the Watson system with cognitive computing capabilities that is used by the pharmaceutical industry for matching patients to the right-fit clinical trials for their condition. In a clinical trial for breast cancer, the platform demonstrated an increase of 80% in enrollment and a reduction in trial matching time. It has taken less than three months for AbCellera to develop a monoclonal antibody for neutralizing viral variants of COVID-19 and obtain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). BenevolentAI has combined its knowledge graph with AI tools to uncover baricitinib as a potential COVID-19 treatment in several days. BioXcel Therapeutics has accelerated the discovery of dexmedetomidine as a sedative for patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. The company obtained FDA approval for its proprietary sublingual film of dexmedetomidine (IgalmiTM) in less than four years after its first-in-human trials. Using AI, Exscientia has designed three small molecules to enter clinical trials over the span of two years (for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and immuno-oncology). In early 2023, Insilico reported positive topline results in a Phase 1 clinical trial of the first AI-designed novel molecule for an AI-discovered novel target to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In 2021, reached the clinical stage, with their therapy areas including COVID-19, oncology, and neurology. 13 AI-derived biologics Benefits and challenges in AI drug discovery AI is a powerful tool that holds the promise of revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry. With its ability to analyze vast amounts of data and make predictions, artificial intelligence can help researchers overcome the obstacles that have long hindered the drug discovery process by enabling: Reduced timelines for discovery and preclinical stages More accurate predictions on the efficacy and safety of drugs New, unanticipated insights into drug effects and diseases New research lines and new R&D strategies Cost savings through quicker analysis and automation According to Insider Intelligence, AI can save the pharmaceutical industry up to 70% of drug discovery costs. The potential of AI in drug discovery is truly exciting, but there are a few roadblocks that need to be tackled first to exploit it to the fullest. Data When it comes to AI, it always comes down to input data. Data silos and legacy systems that wouldn’t allow their consolidation are big hurdles to AI research in any domain. In the pharmaceutical industry, the problem may be even more pronounced. , be it results from clinical studies or de-identified patient information, while the troves of data they have may provide answers to questions that the original researcher never considered. Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally been bad at sharing data When it ultimately comes to sharing data, it’s often incomplete, inconsistent, or biased, used for predicting protein-ligand binding affinities that are crucial for drug discovery. In some cases, the data may not even be reflective of the entire population and the AI model may fall short in real-world scenarios. as is the case with datasets Complexity The sheer complexity of biological systems makes AI-enabled analysis and predictions of time and spatial changes in their behavior hard. There is a vast number of complex and dynamic interactions within biological systems where each element such as proteins, genes, and cells can have multiple functions and be affected by multiple factors, including genetic variations, environmental conditions, and disease states. Interactions between different elements can also be non-linear, meaning that small changes in one element can have a great impact on the entire system. For instance, a single gene that controls cell division can be responsible for the growth of a tumor, or interactions between multiple proteins can lead to the development of highly specific and complex structures such as the cytoskeleton of a cell. Another challenge is a lack of qualified staff to handle AI drug discovery tools. Interpretability The use of neural networks in AI drug discovery has pushed the boundaries of what is possible, but a lack of their interpretability poses a significant challenge. Referred to as black boxes, such AI models might produce the most accurate predictions possible but even engineers can’t explain the reasoning behind them. This is particularly challenging in deep learning, where the complexity of understanding the output of each layer escalates as the number of layers grows. This lack of transparency can lead to flawed solutions and reduce trust in AI among researchers, medical professionals, and regulatory bodies. To address this challenge, there is a growing need for the development of explainable, trustworthy AI. Wrapping up New drugs that are changing the game for patients continue to emerge. Just 15 years after HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS in the 1980s, the pharmaceutical industry has developed a multi-drug therapy that allows people affected by the virus to live a normal life span. Novartis’ Gleevec prolongs the lives of leukemia patients. Incivek from Vertex Pharmaceuticals has doubled hepatitis C cure rates. Keytruda from Merck reduces by 35% the risk of cancer coming back after patients had surgery to excise melanoma. But not all new drugs are created equal. conducted in Germany has revealed that only 25% provided significant advantages over existing treatments. The remaining drugs yielded either minimal or no benefits, or their impact was uncertain. A recent analysis of over 200 new medicines Given the costly and time-consuming nature of drug discovery, it’s clear the pharmaceutical industry needs major changes. And that’s where AI drug discovery could play a role. There is every chance that artificial intelligence can make a transformational contribution going beyond accelerating time-to-clinic. Thinking about your own AI drug discovery project? . With years of experience in creating AI solutions for healthcare, we are your right partner. Drop us a line

AI Drug Discovery: How It’s Changing the Game

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Khám phá thuốc AI: Nó đang thay đổi cuộc chơi như thế nào

人工智能药物发现：它如何改变游戏规则

The New York Times recently proclaimed It describes Google’s “dread” of interfaces based on the species of artificial intelligence called large language models (LLM), such as ChatGPT, that threaten to displace its dominance in search. . A New Chat Bot Is a ‘Code Red’ for Google’s Search Business Search proved the key factor in the modern economy, propelling far beyond that of the previous most valuable commodity in the world: oil and gas. the value of data Per the Times: “Over the past three decades, a handful of products like Netscape’s web browser, Google’s search engine and Apple’s iPhone have truly upended the tech industry and made what came before them look like lumbering dinosaurs. “Three weeks ago, made its case to be the industry’s next big disrupter." an experimental chat bot called ChatGPT The prime directive for Silicon Valley, coined by the late Andy Grove (former CEO of Intel), still applies: “ .” Yet… rumors of Google’s death are greatly exaggerated. Only the paranoid survive The purported panic fosters a misunderstanding of how Google operates, why it dominates, and how programs such as GPT3 and ChatGPT operate. #A beginner’s guide to Google’s (and LLMs) inner workings Google has the world’s largest (mega-billion dollar) supercomputer, built out of networked Linux devices and storage devices.  Reuters that Google was going to spend an additional $13B in 2019 just augmenting capacity. It keeps this beast fed by regularly crawling the web and by attracting a steady stream of user content including the world’s email, videos, geolocation data, and much much more data. . estimated By one estimate, at least an exabyte It is practically impossible for a mere AI compute function to overcome Alphabet’s massive advantages from its installed base. Unless Google fumbles. Highly unlikely. ChatGPT has a different sort of compute challenge resulting in a different architecture. This keeps it from being an immediate threat to Google. It is predicated on large scale linear algebra operations and can get by with a much smaller data set. Furthermore, the corpus it learns, as opposed to what it searches, is fixed. Searchwise, that’s a fatal limitation. While ChatGPT can search for more recent information about the pandemic, GPT3 knows nothing about  COVID-19. It was trained on a pre pandemic corpus. This prevents it from playing David to Google’s Goliath. AI interfaces, indeed, could create a threat to attracting a stream of user content. That is the case, however, only if the purveyors of LLM-based interfaces, like OpenAI, are already prepared to store, safeguard, and monetize that data. Currently none are so prepared. Furthermore, these programs give no particular advantage to finding data in the middle of a video or detecting piracy of video content.  Remember, Alphabet, Google’s parent, owns YouTube, the Fort Knox of video. #The future of search There are new approaches on the horizon to expanding what is searchable. These almost certainly will prove of great value for accessing the many specialist data repositories that are currently effectively unsearchable by Google’s search engine. GitHub, the go to repository of software code, is a great example. Even if there are in the world, that’s a tiny drop in the bucket of the world’s online population. 30M programmers and software developers Yet, software developers, on average, control vastly more deployable capital than the average citizen of planet Earth. This is not necessarily through their personal wealth. They exercise their market power  through their collective influence on their clients and employers. As such, they, their clients and employers are more able and more willing to pay for expanded capacity to search repositories like GitHub, which is currently only searchable via metadata and social means. Code is opaque to automated investigation of its structure and behavior. There are even fewer biologists and chemists actively involved in drug development. That said, they very likely control even more deployable capital than software developers (on average). Companies like Pfizer, Lily, Merck, and AstraZeneca have enormous capital. They are even more able, and certainly willing, to pay for expanded search capabilities. They are especially keen because it is significantly less expensive to run a computer search than it is to run a physical assay. The potential of the Kyoto Genes and Genomics database, for example, is largely untapped because we cannot see into the dynamics of the data stored there. That’s a spectacularly valuable niche application.  It is, however, irrelevant to the vast majority of rank-and-file web-searchers who vastly outnumber data specialists. For the foreseeable future, the expansion of search will not be in consumer markets. It will be in technical specialist, government, and enterprise markets. One of the first things specialists (like the lead author here) do is to test ChatGPT on common sense reasoning over specialist data sets. At this it fails . miserably #Back to the future Google’s past could be a map to AI’s future. Google missed video search.  It paid for that by with $1.65B in a stock-for-stock swap in 2006.  Great move, as YouTube is , two orders of magnitude greater than what they paid for it. Good deal all around, but to the point Google expanded its search hegemony. buying YouTube now estimated to be worth $180B In , America’s premier futurist, George Gilder, has suggested the end of big data as a siloed commodity behind the firewalls of the big five. Supposedly, this will be due to developments of decentralizing technologies, such as blockchain. Indeed, the co-author’s review of Life After Google suggested that innovation rather than regulation is a better way of domesticating big data. Life After Google However, we can’t look to LLMs as the relevant innovation. While the computer architectures of LLMs and other similar AI-based approaches are not the same as Google’s, they are still massively centralized and run counter to the decentralizing trend. They may yet extend the life of centralized big data, until scalable decentralizing technologies, now on the horizon, come to fruition. Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s holding company),  Meta (Facebook’s holding company), and Microsoft today are the Masters of the Digital Universe. That won’t last. Eventually, sooner than you might think, they are likely .  The penalty for failure to innovate is severe. to go the way of Kodak. Xerox or Blockbuster As the Greek’s taught us, – extreme wealth – tends to lead to – overweening pride.  Which is then, always, slain by the goddess . oblos hubris Nemesis Google’s reported “dread” at the advent of ChatGBT is very much a bullish, not bearish, signal.  It implies that Google’s leadership has not succumbed, and does not appear at risk of soon succumbing to . hubris Only the paranoid survive. By Lucius Gregory Meredith and Ralph J. Benko

Is Google Doomed?  Only the Paranoid Survive….

Straits Research Latest 2022 Report: The Global Microcephaly Industry Analysis Research Report represents a comprehensive study on the Microcephaly industry including current trends and status. The report can help to understand the market in-depth and strategize for business expansion accordingly in the future. In the strategic analysis process, it gives insights from marketing channel and market positioning to potential growth strategies, providing in-depth analysis for new entrants or exists competitors in the now and in the future. Microcephaly Industry Analysis Aimed to offers the most segmented consumption and sales data of downstream consumption fields and competitive landscape in various regions and countries around the globe, this report analyses the latest market data from the primary and secondary authoritative sources also. Global Microcephaly Industry Analysis is expected to grow at a during the forecast period 2019–2026. 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Microcephaly Industry Analysis; Technology Advancement, Trends and Growth 2029

We found drug ads targeted at users interested in everything from bourbon to therapy By Colin Lecher If you’re a drug manufacturer looking for patients, one company has become a major destination in the past few years: Facebook. The social media giant, through its power to target users based on their interests, is especially attractive to pharmaceutical companies looking to sell drugs to potential patients. The Washington Post that health and pharmaceutical companies spent almost $1 billion on just Facebook mobile ads in 2019. The draw? Unlike a traditional TV or radio ad, Facebook’s ad categories help those companies target their drug ads at users who likely suffer from a specific illness the drug treats. reported last year And data from The Markup’s Citizen Browser project—which collects Facebook data from thousands of users—shows how precise and wide-ranging that targeting is. Though Facebook does not offer advertisers categories that explicitly identify people’s health conditions, The Markup identified dozens of ads for prescription pharmaceuticals targeted at people with “interests” in topics like “bourbon,” “oxygen,” and “Diabetes mellitus awareness.” Indeed, The Markup found, “awareness” of a disease is a frequent proxy for illness in targeting decisions made by advertisers. Zejula, a drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, for example, is prescribed to treat advanced ovarian cancer. We found the drug targeted at users who Facebook determined had shown an interest in “cancer awareness.” Piqray, another cancer treatment, manufactured by Swiss company Novartis, was shown to users with an interest in “National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.” Several drugs were targeted at either “Diabetes mellitus awareness” or “Diabetes mellitus type 2 awareness.” “Stroke awareness?” Brilinta, from AstraZeneca. “Multiple sclerosis awareness?” Mayzent and Kesimpta, two other products from Novartis. “Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease awareness?” Trelegy, another GSK product. We also found drugs targeted by close proxies for other health conditions. Ads for Latuda, an antipsychotic from the company Sunovion used in the treatment of bipolar depression, were shown to users with an interest in the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, a nonprofit support group. We also found it targeted at users interested in therapy and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Anoro, a GSK drug also used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an inflammatory lung disease caused by emphysema and chronic bronchitis, was targeted at users interested in cigarettes, or just “oxygen.” Ads for Nurtec, a Biohaven Pharmaceuticals product used for treating migraines, were targeted at users who showed an interest in the “international classification of headache disorders,” a medical scale of headaches. The cancer treatment Keytruda, from Merck, was targeted at an especially wide array of users, including those interested in the chemical industry, Corona beer, and bourbon. In at least one case, we found, the interest targeted was barely even a proxy. Syprine, a Bausch Health drug used to treat a rare genetic condition called Wilson’s disease, was targeted at users who’d signaled an interest in “genetic disorder.” It’s not clear exactly how Facebook decides that a person is interested in topics such as “oxygen” or “genetic disorder.” The company only places some on how users can target health conditions. Advertisers can’t use “sensitive” personal health data to target their ads, meaning a pharmacy, for example, couldn’t upload a list of customers with a specific illness to market to them on Facebook. very specific limits The company has also broadly defended its health privacy practices, that said that “privacy and safety are particularly important for people dealing with health conditions.” releasing a statement in 2019 “We do not use medical history to inform the interest categories we make available to advertisers,” Facebook spokesperson Tom Channick said in a statement to The Markup. “Instead, people are placed into interest categories based on their activity on Facebook, including the pages they like or the ads they click on.” GSK, AstraZeneca, Bausch Health, Merck, Biohaven, and Sunovion, manufacturers of some of the drugs we saw ads for, didn’t respond to requests for comment on their Facebook advertising practices. Jamie Bennett, a spokesperson for Novartis, said the company’s “goal is to reach audiences where it matters” and that it follows all regulations, both legal and those set by services like Facebook. The potential audience size for these ads can be massive. Facebook’s ad-buying system says the number of users who have shown an interest in cancer awareness, for example, is nearly 203 million. Other categories are more narrow. Facebook’s system said the audience for users with an interest in the depression and bipolar support alliance was a relatively slim 250,000 users. Kirsten Ostherr, director of the Medical Futures Lab at Rice University, said there are both practical and moral problems with advertising around such medical conditions. If a work colleague walks by your computer screen and sees a targeted ad for a lung cancer drug, for example, he or she could deduce you have the condition. “Even if the advertiser doesn’t know exactly who you are,” Ostherr said, “if these ads are popping up on your screens everywhere, that potentially exposes information about you.” “If these ads are popping up on your screens everywhere, that potentially exposes information about you.” Kirsten Ostherr, Rice University Beyond that, targeting products by surveilling the sick inherently exploits vulnerable users’ privacy, Ostherr said. “One of the things that is most insidious about this to me is it’s really targeting and exploiting people who are in this vulnerable state and who have found real benefit from online patient communities,” she said. Legally, aside from providing a way for advertisers to disclose side effects, Facebook is under little obligation to shield its users’ health information. The United States’ health privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, only applies to a handful of entities that directly deal with patient health information. Ostherr said the vagueness of Facebook’s targeting could be a “legally defensive maneuver” protecting it from liability in the future by keeping them as distant from protected health data as possible. In 2016, a lawsuit filed against Facebook claimed that the company had unlawfully invaded users’ privacy by tracking their visits to sensitive health-related websites. included a now-outdated list of health targeting options on Facebook, which included options like “cardiac arrest,” “renal failure,” and “West Nile virus.” (Facebook denied the allegations, calling the suit “ ”) The suit an attack on the way the Internet works. Courts have so far in the dispute, saying its users must agree to its advertising practices when they sign up for the service and that health information isn’t necessarily more private than other types of data. sided with Facebook But the data Facebook does have can be enormously sensitive, as some independent researchers have shown. In 2019, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Stony Brook University that they were able to predict whether a Facebook user had any of 21 health conditions through language in status updates alone. reported Many patients may have looked to Facebook for community and help in the past year of pandemic-enforced isolation. When someone finds support for an illness on social media, Ostherr said, it’s unlikely that the health data they’re giving away is at the forefront of their minds. “Their priority really is not being tracked from one website to another,” Ostherr said. “Their priority is surviving.” Originally published as " “ with the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license How Big Pharma Finds Sick Users on Facebook

How Facebook Serves Targeted Ads by Big Pharma

Where would you invest in an endless world of the pandemic? Pharmaceuticals, 5G network, Apple stock, cloud storage? Well, if you believed in no end to lockdowns, you’d probably invest in all the above and diversify. That’s precisely what Buffett and his team at Berkshire Hathaway have done. So, let me walk you through Buffett’s eight most significant moves during the last quarter: 1.Dumping bank stocks Buffett continues along with the trend from the second quarter. He’s only added to 9.2% to Bank of America but drastically reduced all other JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and BNY Mellon positions. He’s bearish on the US financials, and as I wrote in , he probably understands that “the great reset” and the emergence of digital assets and CBDCs will disrupt the traditional banks. my last article 2.Buying pharmaceuticals Four out six new buys for the quarter were pharmaceutical companies. Berkshire has made new positions in Merck, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, and AbbVie.  They invested approximately 1.8 billion in each one of them, which leads me to conclude that he’s merely diversifying into the sector. This allocation is essentially buying him insurance against the pandemic. And it’s an excellent vaccine play as well. 3.Trimming his position in Apple Buffett reduced the Apple position by 3.7%. This was the most impactful move in Berkshire’s portfolio in the third quarter. But overall, he’s still extremely bullish on Apple. It takes almost half of his portfolio. Holding Apple stock during global lockdowns is one of the most brilliant plays. 4.Buying T-Mobile T-Mobile is one of the largest mobile network providers focusing on rolling out the 5G network. After it acquired Sprint, it became the second-largest mobile network in the US. So, if you believed in a prolonged pandemic, you’d want to own a piece of a company providing a fast connection to the confined population. 5.Selling his gold This move is surprising. First, Buffett shocked the world by ; now, he’s quickly selling half of the position. Both things are the most unlike him. If I had to speculate, I would say he’s finally realized that Bitcoin is better than gold. Popular television host and Bitcoin proponent Max Keiser recently that “Buffett will start panic-buying bitcoin at $50,000, just like Peter Schiff.” buying into gold tweeted 6.Snowflake Snowflake is a data platform built for the cloud dealing with giants like Microsoft, Amazon, or Salesforce. Snowflake makes it easier to work from home. One can surmise that he’s making a bet on the unending pandemic and the consequent growth of cloud-based data warehousing. But it could have been just an opportunistic trade since Buffett bought the shares in the private placement for only at $120. That’s about a half-price from the current market price. 7.Bullish on Japan Berkshire acquired a little more than a 5% stake in five Japanese companies: Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo. He made these investments over the previous year, so he likely purchased just a small fraction during the third quarter. Japan has been one of the most rational countries in their approach to Covid-19. Japan has never imposed lockdowns and will likely continue with its model in the future.  That will provide the Japanese economy with an edge over the economies suffering from the draconian measures. So what does it mean for investors? Many investors look to Buffett's wisdom when it comes to investing in turbulent times. Obviously, the Oracle of Omaha does not think the worst of the pandemic is behind us. As he once said, “predicting rain doesn't count, building the ark does.” So go ahead and build your ark too.

How Buffett Is Hedging Against The Endless Pandemic

In June 2017, a variant of the Petya malware worm, NotPetya, wreaked global havoc. Global enterprise networks from Ukraine to the shores of New Jersey’s commercial shipping depots were eviscerated. The worm, which basically locked companies out of their own platforms without recourse, was developed (allegedly) by the Russian cyber-warfare branch (Sandworm) to target Ukraine in the countries’ ongoing stealth war. However, the worm quickly spread like a plague to systems running a distinct accounting software platform -- condemning enterprise networks to one path, restart from scratch. The fallout was an estimated in damages. In its wake, global shipping behemoth Maersk was left to reboot almost its entire network, as were companies like pharmaceutical giant Merck and FedEx subsidiary TNT Express. $10 billion And however lucky other firms may feel to have dodged such a fatal bullet, collateral effects of cyber warfare may become the new normal. After all, there are no geopolitical boundaries in digital space. The problem is that cyber warfare appears only to be gaining momentum. Fought behind computer screens, digital highways, and silicon, the conflicts are invisible but include the likes of China, the US, and Russia. According to recent book on cyberwarfare, every person’s device is now part of the security perimeter for an organization or network. Pair that notion with the galvanization of the IoT sector, and the picture of a landscape ripe for ratcheting up the cyber hacks begins to crystallize. Dr. Chase Cunningham’s So how do enterprises respond? How do they avoid being the collateral victim of the next NotPetya? Quite simply, fight technology with technology. Then, one of the ancillary advantages will be enterprises building network infrastructure congruent with the rise of the edge computing paradigm. The Phoenix for Cyberwarfare Consequences If state-backed hacking groups are constructing devastating worms that can spread like a viral pandemic, enterprises need to have the ability to: Spin up and manage networks with speed and ease. Begin using encryption by default Spinning up networks with volumes of endpoints quickly remains a legitimate problem in enterprise and cloud computing -- malware like NotPetya aside. Many systems are not congruent with the variety of new IoT and edge devices, nor are they capable of supporting an expanding generation of devices necessary to reach the full potential of IoT technology. For context, Maersk, a global shipping giant and the centerpiece of Wired Magazine’s coverage on NotPetya was still running Windows 2000 on some of its systems. Microsoft hasn’t supported Windows 2000 for years. The costs of outdated systems and ones susceptible to outages and hacks continue racking up. IT downtime costs businesses more than $700 million per year already, . according to the IHS Those costs, in many cases, result from far less onerous causes than cyber warfare products. Maybe it’s just a in a Cloudflare update or an internal mistake by an IT employee. bad snippet of code Cloud computing needs to revamp its core infrastructure. It needs to be protective against large-scale cyber warfare forces and bring cloud computing to the level that an IoT revolution requires. One of the optimal methods is by welding together IPv6 and Segment Routing -- called SRv6. One emerging internet startup, NOIA, refers to itself as building the “Waze” of Internet traffic, enabling enterprises to spin up and manage networks via an intuitive UI rapidly. They are already working with and expect their model to become popular because of its costs, performance, and management ease. firms like Oracle In the context of malware like NotPetya, should an enterprise fall victim to the collateral effects of a state-sponsored malware (almost certain to happen again), the firm will need to repair its core network rapidly. Even more so if that enterprise consists of thousands of user endpoints, those pesky security perimeters detailed by Dr. Cunningham. For example, stories from inside Maersk during NotPetya that were anonymously elicited to Wired Magazine indicate a laborious effort of thousands of employees, along with consulting giant Deloitte, to revamp Maersk’s multi-national global shipping logistics operations. NotPetya had destroyed the company’s entire set of domain servers save for one computer that happened to be offline at the time in Ghana. Like a Phoenix, Maersk was able to re-emerge from the ashes, but only at an exorbitant cost and effort. Public, decentralized infrastructure solutions like NOIA Network would be a boon for future instances of what Maersk experienced. Instead of waiting for the worst to upgrade their cloud computing security and Windows 2000-infused logistical hubs, enterprises would be prepared for the vociferous spread of malware. Networks could be preserved via DLT’s distributed infrastructure, and rapidly spun up again in the case of catastrophic losses. But more to the point of security; encryption, along with new developments like , are the future of enterprise security. Zero Trust Security Default Encryption Encryption has myriad benefits, but it is primarily to protect against third-party eavesdropping and black hat threats concurrently. Cryptocurrencies, blockchains, and zero-knowledge technology have pushed the notion of encryption into a golden age, but it may be the current backdrop giving it the extra nudge for more consideration by enterprises. Whether its government surveillance, hacker threats, or the security concerns of companies promoting work-from-home policies, encryption is set to take a major role this decade. Encryption by default gives enterprises peace of mind knowing that their network is automatically secure. Within the context of the growth of IoT (e.g., the security perimeters of a network), think about how much private data can be mined via a single vulnerability. Instances of hacks exposing user data populate the headlines seemingly every day. End-to-end encryption from the cloud infrastructure to the edge devices themselves is rapidly becoming a necessity. Otherwise, firms will face similar circumstances of Maersk, who downloaded the infected accounting malware on a single computer that eventually brought down its entire network. If there’s a demonstration of how negative convexity wreaks havoc on interconnected systems -- it doesn’t really get any better than Maersk. The type of intrusion from NotPetya is different than the typical BGP hijacks and service disruptions that NOIA Network solves. Still, it serves as a reminder about how a single vulnerability can upend everything. Combining NOIA with concepts like Zero Trust Networks, which assumes there is no implicit trust granted to user accounts of a network, and enterprises can make significant progress in the race to more performant, secure infrastructure. The premium on encryption and clever security models will only increase from here. The initial exploration of better cloud computing may have been focused on the rise of IoT and how companies can cater to a changing market, but it will be security threats that force their hand. If enterprises prepare for the worst (e.g., NotPetya) first, deploying more agile performant networks, then the benefits of being up to par on IoT requirements will follow. NotPetya is a warning of what’s possible when malicious technology escapes its cage, so enterprises need to meet those looming threats with technological ingenuity of their own.

Analyzing The NotPetya Malware, Cloud Computing, And Cybersecurity Risks

A Brief Look At Those Who Laid The Foundation of Blockchain, Decentralization and DeFi

2019 is the year of adoption. We have weathered the storm of early 2018, lived through the ensuing drought and we can see glimpses of the promised land on the horizon. At , we are strongly passionate about overall adoption of blockchain technology as we believe it can benefit many people and industries. As such, we are always on the look-out for news of increasing adoption and collaboration. aelf Last year I wrote an article with a as I found it very difficult to find a single source for this information online. Comprehensive List of Banks using Blockchain tech Although there was a strong interest in blockchain tech over the last 24 months, due to a mixture of issues, including the volatile ‘unproven’ market and rampant ICO scams, many companies avoided public exposure linking them to the blockchain industry. Many would agree we have seen a shift in this mindset as more high profile individuals and companies are now being more open about their association with blockchain. Take for example, the #1 YouTuber, . Pewdiepie, who has recently partnered with Dlive In fact, according to a by Gemalto, adoption of blockchain to help secure IoT doubled in 2018. report Deloitte recently released survey results in regards to . The companies represented by these executives all have an annual revenue of over $100M USD. One point to note, was that over 75% of respondents believe they will lose a competitive advantage if they do not adopt blockchain. Did someone say FOMO? executive’s views on blockchain adoption Also, according to the survey, over 90% of respondents are already participating in or planning to within 12 months, a blockchain consortium or alliance. According to the , global spending on blockchain development will almost double to $2.9 Billion this year, and increase exponentially to reach $12.4 billion by 2022. International Data Corporation The financial sector will lead the charge with an estimated of $1.1 Billion to be spent in this sector alone. The Manufacturing and resources sector will see the fastest growth this year with a growth rate of 77.6%. Notably, of (Statisca.com), over 50% are included in this list; and in particular, 9 out of the top 10 with a combined market value of over $5.6 trillion USD in 2018. the 100 largest companies in the world by market value Surprisingly, the largest industry in this list is Transport, Shipping & Logistics. There could be a few reasons due to this, firstly, there were a few large alliances that have been created specifically to aid in blockchain adoption with members in the hundreds. Secondly, this is one of the biggest industries in which there is a high degree of interdependence and cross company reliance. The finance industry was always going to be in the top of this list, but another exciting development is the high rank that government received with many countries showing a clear positive attitude towards the technology. In light of all this, it is safe to say, blockchain is here to stay and 2019 is the Year of Adoption. So let’s take a look at the enterprises who have already taken the leap. This list is focusing on active enterprises in 2019. For those that are wondering, this list has almost 1,000 Enterprises in it. *There may be early adopters that are not in this list due to having little activity in the first quarter of this year. If there are ones that are active and not on this list, comment below with the links and I’ll aim to add them in **Accomodation** Cheval Blanc The Dolder Grand **Agriculture** Bayer Crop Science Bumble Bee FoodsCargill **Auto Industry** Hyundai BMW Ford General Motors Genuine Parts CompanyGreat DaneHummer Jaguar Karamba Security Volkswagen Waymo Data **Automated Retail Companies**AAEONAR SystemsFastcorp VendingGlobal Vending GroupGreenbox RoboticsInvendaIVMIVSRetail Automated ConceptsSandenVendoThe-Venders and Wemp **Communication** Deutsche Telekom NEC Europe Smart Communications Solace Corporation Swisscomm Broadridge China Mobile Comcast FarEasTone Kakao OrbcommOrange SoftBank Sprint Telefónica **Consultancy**21 Consulting GmbHAccentureAdaptive Financial Consulting Bain & CompanyBCS ConsultingBerkeley Research Group CH & CoCOMPELLIO DNV GL Business Assurance Group Everis InfosysJDX Post Oak LabsProtivitiRaoof Consultancy Limited Scrypt.MediaSynechronSynpulse XLNTEC Thomas ReutersThoughtWorksTigerRiskTomorrow Labs AizoonAONAsset Balance Solutions Cambridge Associates Deloitte enVista EY J.J. Keller & Associates Inc KPMG RevUnit ThreatAdvice Tata Consultancy Services **Data Managemen**Accuity CommodDT EverisInterxion RoyaltyRange Ansonia Credit DataApplya Connected Holdings Docusign Nielsen Ocean Protocol **Digital Security**CrossVerifyGemaltoGuardtimeObjectTechSLIBSovrinUtimacoYoti **Education** RMIT Duke University Harvard University Swinburne University The Air Force Institute of TechnologyThe University of TennesseeUniversity of Central ArkansasUniversity of Denver University of Colorado Boulder University of Memphis University of Michigan University of Nevada Yale University **Finance**ABN AMROAIBAl Rajhi Banking & Investment CorporationAlawwal BankAlfa Bank Allied Irish Bank ANZ Banking GroupATB FinancialB3Banca Intesa SanpaoloBanca MediolanumBanca MifelBanco BICEBanco BisaBanco Bradesco Banco de Crédito del PerúBanco de Investment GlobalBanco de SabadellBanco de Galicia y Buenos AiresBanco IndustrialBanco Mercantil del NorteBanco Mercantil Santa CruzBanco Nacional de BoliviaBanco Popular DominicanoBanco RegionalBanco SantanderBangkok BankBank ABCBank Al Habib LimitedBank BusanBank Frick & CoBank of America | Merrill LynchBank of CyprusBank of Montreal BankinterBanorteBanreservasBanque Internationale de Commerce — BRED (Suisse)Banque ThalerBarclays BCIBladex BNY Mellon Bolsa de MadridBPCE BRAC Bank LimitedBradescoCBH Compagnie Bancaire HelvétiqueChina Banking AssociationChina Merchant BankChina CITIC Bank International LimitedChina Guangfa BankChong Hing Bank LimitedCIBCCIM Banque S.A GeneveCitiBankCLS GroupCommercial Bank of Africa LimitedCommerzBankCommonwealth Bank of AustraliaCooperatieve RabobankCredicorp BankCredit Agricole S.A.Credit Libanais SAL CTBC BankDaiwa Securities GroupDanske BankDavivienda DenizBank A.S. Deutsche BörseDigiledgeDianrongDNB Ernst & Young European Central Securities Depositories Association First America BankFulton Financial CorporationGazprombank Habib Metropolitan Bank LimitedHo Chi Minh City Development JS CommercialHQLA ICICI Bank LimitedIndovina Bank Ltd Intesa SanpaoloItaú Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of VietnamJoint-Stock Company BCS-Investment BankJPMorgan ChaseJS Bank Limited KASIKORNBANK Public Company LimitedKB Financial GroupKEB Hana BankKuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi Macquarie Bank MauBank LimitedMizuho Bank National Bank of CanadaNational Bank of EgyptNational Bank of Kenya LimitedNational Bank of KuwaitNatixis Norddeutsche Landesbank GirozentraleNordeaNorthern TrustOmidyar NetworkOP Financial Group Paris Europlace PKO Bank PolskiPortal FinancePrime Bank Ltd.Privatbank IHAG Zurich PT Bank Central Asia TbkPT Bank CIMBNiaga TbkQiwiRaiffeisen BankRBCRBSRCBCRCI Bank & ServicesResona Bank, Ltd. Reyl & Cie SA Satoshi Systems ScopusSEB Group Shinhan BankShuttle HoldingsSIA SMBCSnapCheck SRI Capital Stock Exchange of ThailandSuMi TRUSTSunTrust Synchrony Bank Temasek Holdings The First International Bank of Israel Ltd The Toronto-Dominion Bank TradeCloudTradeIXTradeWindTurkiye Finans Katilim BankasiUBSUniCreditUnion Bank Of The PhilippinesUSBancorpVietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade Volksbank Mittweida Wells FargoWestpac Woori Bank Alipay Ant Financial Banco BTG Pactual Bank MellatBank Melli IranBank Pasargad BBVA Bloomberg BNP Paribas Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures BP PLC Credit Suisse DBS Deutsche Bank DTCC Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Employees’ Retirement System eToro Fidelity Investments Goldman Sachs HSBC ING International Chamber of Commerce International Securities Services Association Jamica Stock Exchange Julius Baer Linx Partners London Metal Exchange London Stock Exchange Luxembourg Stock Exchange Mastercard Morgan Creek MUFG NASDAQ Nomura Pakistani Central Bank Paypal Proof of Capital Revolut Santander SBI Holdings SGX Signature Bank Silvergate Bank SIX Group Société Générale SoFi Square Standard Chartered Bank Swissquote SWIFT Telenor Microfinance Bank Thai Stock Exchange The National Payments Corporation of India Thomson Reuters Eikon Tora Virginia’s Police Officer’s Retirement System Visa WEG Bank Western Union **Government** Caisse des dépôts et consignations CSIRO United NationsU.S. Department of Agriculture Australian Federal Government AUSTRAC Brazil’s Ministry of Planning, Budget & Management Canadian Municipality of Innisfil City of Denver Colorado State Government Colorado Water Institute Commerce Committee of Connecticut General Assembly County Auditors’ Association of Ohio Department of Homeland Security Government of Kyrgyzstan Government of Rwanda Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation Illinois Department of Transportation Luxembourg Government Malta Financial Services Authority Ministry of Land & Natural Resources, ZambiaMunicipal Government of Tulum, Mexico Municipal Government of Tsukuba, Japan New York City Economic Development Corporation Pennsylvania’s Economic Development Office (Venture Capital Arm) Seoul Digital Foundation Singapore Government South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Program Administration South Korea Internet & Security Agency Thailand’s Ministry of Science & Technology UK Parliament U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Department of State U.S. House of Representatives West Virginia State Government Wyoming State Government **Insurance** MetLife Ping An Insurance Aegon AIA Allianz AXA Generali Health Care Service Corporation MAPFRE RE Munich Re State Farm Swiss ReTokia Marine TrueNorth XL Catlin ZhongAn Zurich **Internet** Google Twitter Baidu Digital Garage Facebook Opera **IT Solutions**7CommAKonceptsAmazon Web ServicesAOS SASAppwayAt.cashaXpireBillon Group LtdBlanc LabsBoleroBRQ Digital SolutionsCalypso TechnologyCanonical Česká fintech asociace, z.s. CIeNETCMACOCUS AGCodeITCognizantcoIB Eclipse FoundationEPAMEvernym FinastraFinFabrik GFT TechnologiesGiant MachinesGoogle CloudGuildOne Hewlett Packard EnterpriseIBM Inacta AGInfosys Finacle iSiDLG CNSMagiaDigitalMicrosoftNec NTT Data PCCW SolutionsRedhat Vyoma SoftwareWiproZirconTech Capgemini Cass Information Systems Inc. CISCO Collabrian EXL Fujitsu Technology Solutions HCL Imaginnovate Intel Neuro Red Oracle Salesforce SAP SE VMWare **Legal**ACCORD ProjectCOALA National Council of Clerks (France) Linklaters Orrick Taylor Associates **Medical** COCIR European Federation of Nurses Associations Abbvie AnthemBig Blue Cardinal Health Ciox Health CVS Health Genentech HumanaMultiplan NMC Healthcare Optum Pfizer Quest DiagnosticsUnited Healthcare **Media**Les Échos _CBS_Fox Business Network **Mining** BHP Billiton GoldcorpKutcho CopperLG CorpOcean Partners USAWheaton Precious Metals **Non-Profit** Oxfam Freshwater Trust UNICEF **Online Marketplace** Moonlighting **Pharmaceuticals**Amgen MerckPfizer Sanofi Boehringer Ingelheim Roche **Real Estate** Convexity Properties Emaar Group Greenbrier Management Growth Capital ServicesICP Medici Land Governance St. Regis Aspen Resort **Retail & Manufacturing** Acqua di Parma Ardbeg BelvedereBenefit CosmeticsBerlutiBodega Numanthia BulgariCaffe-Pasticceria CovaCape Mentelle CelineChandonCharles & KeithChâteau Cheval BlancChâteau d’YquemChaumetCloudy BayDFSDiorDom PerignonEmilio PucciFendiFenty Beauty by Rihanna FREDFresh (Cosmetics & FragrancesGivenchyGlenmorangie GuerlainHennessyHouse of BijanHublotKalaKat Von D BeautyKenzo KrugLa Grande Epicerie LoeweLoro pianaL’Oreal Maison Francis KurkdjianMarc JacobsMercierMoet & ChandonMoynat Naja Newton VineyardNicholas Kirkwood RimowaRuinartSephoraStarboard Cruise ServicesTAG Heuer Terrazas de los AndesThomas Pink Veuve ClicquotVolcan di mi tierra WenjunZenith A. Favre & Fils AB InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev Albertsons Companies BASF Bridgestone Carrefour Foxconn Golden State Foods Kroger Levi Strauss Louis Vuitton Naked Brand Group Nestle Nike Overstock Parfums Christian Dior Rakuten Target Unilever Walmart **Sports Teams** U.S. LA Kings (Ice Hockey) **Technology** Dell HuaweiLenovo T-Mobile Aidant Technologies AMD Apple Avnet Bosch Foxconn Fujitsu Hewlett PackardHitachi HTC LG NASA Nvidia PitneyBowes RCS Global Samsung Sapphire Technology Seagate TechnologySiemens Sony SweetSense Tencent TSMC **Transport, Logistics & Shipping** CMA CGM ERTICO Feadship Penske 10–4360dataABAQ.USAble FreightAdventAGForceAITAgistixAltriaAmaltoAmerican Global LogisticsAmerican Short Line & Regional Railroad AssociationAMTRAMXAnhueser-BuschApex APL ArcBest CorporationAriaLogisticsAriesArrive LogisticsArrowATSAxle LogisticsBCGBest TransportBlueGraceBlue HorseshoeBourque LogisticsBP BNSF Railway BoyleBoxLockBreakthrough FuelBucklandBurris LogisticsC.H. RobinsonC & K TruckingC.R. EnglandCargoChainCarrier DirectCDL MarketingCenturyCerasisChopTankCitizens ReserveClearDestinationCJ Logistics CNColumbia TransportConvoyCovenant TransportCowan SystemsCoyoteCRST InternationalCSXCTSI GlobalCustoms DirectDaimlerDAMCODasekeDATDDCDecker Truck Line Inc.DeringerDescartesDexFreightDicomDleveredDLT LabsDMTBDreamOrbitDriverReachEagle TransportationEast Coast TransporteCapitalEchoEdge LogisticsEnergy Transportation GroupEnvio360Eroad eShipGlobaleVansEXPAK Logistics FedExFirstFleetFleetCompleteFleetPalFLSFMIFontinalis PartnersForward AirFourKitesFR8StarFraightFreight RoverFreight SourceFullbayGateHouse LogisticsGebruder WeissGE TransportationGlobalTranzGT SolutionsHill Bros Hyundai Merchant Marine IMCInnovativosIntelligent AuditIrvingITLIts LogisticsJ.B. HuntJD LogisticsKamionKansas City Southern LinesKencoKingsgate LogisticsKion GroupKleinschmidtKochKonexial Kuehne & Nagel LabelmasterLandStarLanehubLazer SpotLDILiquid FreightLivingstonLoad OneLoadblockLoadDeliveredLogiflexLogistics+Logistyx TechnologiesLotte Global LogisticsLyncAmericaMach1 Maersk Manhattan AssociatesMatch FactorsMaven MachinesMaverickMcLeod SoftwareMedallion Transport & LogisticsMercerMercuryGateMMM ExpressMode TransportationMorpheus.NetworkMSTSNascentNavistarNBTGNFINGLNorfolk SouthernNT LogisticsNTGNVision GlobalOAROmnitracsOpenPortOOIDAOrigintrailP & GP & S TransportationP.B. IndustriesPackygePAMPanalpinaPantos LogisticsPaschall Truck LinesPavestone CapitalPegasus TransTechPeir Phillips Connect TechnologiesPhoenix Capital GroupPilot Freight ServicesPitt OhioPlatform SciencePLMPolarisPrecisionPrime3Project44ProTransPTIPurolatorPWCQITR & R ExpressRaider ExpressRail IncRay-Mont LogisticsRedwoodReliance PartnersRIMRoadrunner Transportation SystemsRoadSyncRouteiqueRSI LogisticsRTWAirRUANRyderSAIASaint John Capital Schneider Trucking SCLogicScopelitisSeaboard MarineSharelogisShawSheerShipwellSimpleLogisticsSinglePoint CapitalSkyBitzSmartHopSMC3SolarisSouthEastern Freight LinesSource Alliance NetworkSpireonSuddathSunsetSupplyOnSyfan LogisticsTadmoreTAFSTeam WorldwideThe Home DepotThird Coast LogisticsTideworks TechnologyTMCTMW SystemsTRAC IntermodalTraffixTransCardTransfixTransfloTransLytixTransPlaceTransportationInsightTransProTranzlogixTranzportTrinity LogisticsTrinium TechnologiesTriumphPayTrucker PathTruckstopTruck ToolsUber FreightUNISUnion Pacific UPS U.S. XpressUSA TruckVelocity TransportVHI TransportVitesseVnomicsWataco Supply Chain ServicesWELWernerWhirlpool CorporationWhite ArrowWiseTech GlobalWolf DirectWOLTWorldwide ExpressWWS TradingXLNTECYRC WorldwideZoof-It **Utilities** ENGIE Repsol WASSHA (DIGITAL GRID Corporation) Concentric Gazprom Petroteq TEPCO Wien Energie **Noteworthy Individuals** — Russian Opposition Leader — U.S. Presidential Candidate — South Korean Actor — Inventor of World Wide Web — Founder SpaceX & Tesla — French President — CEO Twitter & Square — Retired NBA Basketball Player — №1 Youtube Channel — LinkedIn co-founder — Professional Tennis Player — CEO Berkshire Hathaway & Billionaire investor Alexei Navalny Andrew Yang Bae Yong-joon Tim Berners-Lee Elon Musk Emmanuel Macron Jack Dorsey Kobe Bryant Pewdiepie Reid Hoffman Serena Williams Warren Buffet <a href="https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href">https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href</a>

A Comprehensive List of Enterprises Partnering with blockchain in 2019

In this blog, I have listed new ideas that smart use in order to code in a magical way. These ideas help them to code their programs in easier as well as quicker ways. web developers Ultimately, it results in the faster completion of a web project and software businessmen can better know the value of this quick completion. So, here is the list: Avoiding online inspiration. Collaborating with others. Trying at least one thing different Thinking outside the box Cursor movement shortcuts Generic windows shortcuts IDE Shortcuts Browser shortcuts Let’s have a deep look at all these innovative ideas that a smart web developer uses: 1. AVOIDING ONLINE INSPIRATION Smart web developers use strategies in order to create the best output in the least time with least efforts. These strategies have quite special value in the heart of developers as they make it easy for them to code and execute. Such developers do not look at what other developers have done in the past. This is the key thing to include if we want our project to be truly unique and innovative. It gives a direct indication towards that a developer should not start the innovative web development project by looking at previously developed showcases. Online sources and various blog posts having inspirational instances of web codings which can be useful for getting inspiration. Smart developers keep on looking at various websites and blog posts as it helps them to know about the coding level and strategies of other web developers. It is really not interesting to start a new web development work with someone else’s code in the mind. So, it is difficult. These developers try their own ideas and sometimes they fail but ultimately, they hit the aim. Smart web developers avoid the trap of doing good in the competition rather they try to take out something better from the deep inside of their mind. 2. COLLABORATING WITH OTHERS Working as a team member can be both. Either it can be an amazing experience or it can be a frustrating experience. On the one hand, dedicated web developers often create better results in less time consumption while sometimes it can become a challenge to communicate your own thoughts to another member of your team. This is because everyone gives his own views. However, collaborating with other web developers can be a beneficial and productive decision. That’s what these smart web developers do. They actually collaborate with other web developers and create the finest product. 3. TRYING AT LEAST ONE THING DIFFERENT With an increase in experience and creating N number of projects, web developers develop their own standard and easy way to complete a web project. But, this procedure does not work for the long term as the industry keep evolving with new ideas, technology, and demands. So, keep trying new things, strategies and technologies can be really beneficial and helpful for the overall growth of the company and web developer itself. These smart web developers take care of this thing and keep trying the newest technologies, strategies, and ideas in order to stay at the top in the competition era. Trying new things is the only way towards innovation. Until you try anything new, how can you innovate a system, a code or a process? 4. THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX Smart web developers try to think which is not following the same track on which they are working for years. They keep trying new codes, the new way of coding the same programme and performing similar activities. They think after coming out of all the limitations that are given in the project. And then they try whether there can be a better way of coding this project leading to the fulfillment of all the requirements of the clients. Ultimately, this way of working leads them to produce the finest code that results in best client satisfaction. 5. CURSOR MOVEMENT SHORTCUTS Smart web developer use keyword shortcuts to enhance their coding speed. It helps them to use their time to concentrate on what to code rather than simple orientation setup of the coding page. These shortcuts can add an additional property to a web developer’s entire carrier. At the time of coding, developers mostly prefer to use the keyboard only. It is not too much comfortable to jump to mouse and then move the cursor and then come back to the keyboard. That is why expert web developers like to user cursor shortcuts that increase efficiency and effectiveness of the coding work. Some of the cursor movement shortcuts are written below, have a look at these: Arrows: move character by character Ctrl + Arrows: move word by word End: Go to the last character of the line Home: Go to the first character of the line Ctrl + Home: Go to the start of the file Ctrl + End: Go to the end of the file Shift + Cursor Movement: In this case, it moves as mentioned above, but this time it selects text. 6. GENERIC WINDOWS SHORTCUTS These are generic windows shortcuts that are often used by expert web developers in order to save their time and make their work easier. Ctrl + C — Copy Ctrl + Ins — Copy Ctrl + V — Paste Shift + Del — Paste Ctrl + S — Save Shift + Ins — Save Ctrl + Z — Undo Ctrl + Y — Redo Ctrl + F — Find in window/app Windows + D — Minimize all the windows, go to Desktop Windows + Up arrow — Maximize current window/app Windows + Left/Right Arrow — Move current window/ app to left/ right side of the screen Alt + Tab — Window Tab move Shift + Alt + Tab — Reverse window tab move Ctrl + Arrow — move the cursor across the word to next special character or space Ctrl + Shift + Arrow — move the cursor across the word to next special character or space and highlight that 7. IDE SHORTCUTS This list of shortcuts is incorporated into Visual Studio code. Have a look at all these IDE shortcuts that expert web developers use to make their coding process easy. Alt + Left Arrow- Go back — Last cursor position. Alt + Right Arrow — Go forward — Last cursor position. Ctrl + Shift + F — Find in all the files. Ctrl + K + C — Comment Ctrl + K + U — Uncomment Ctrl + / — Toggle Alt + Shift + Up arrow — Duplicate line above Alt + Shift + Down arrow — Duplicate line below Ctrl + Shift + R — Refactor F12 — Go to definition F2 — Rename Ctrl + D — Multi cursor, choose next occurrence Ctrl + shift + L — Multi cursor, choose All in File Ctrl + P — Quick Find — Files, Etc. 8. BROWSER SHORTCUTS It takes time to jump to the next tab of the browser or to open the recently closed browser with the help of the mouse. Hence, browser shortcuts add speed and ease to the coding work. Ctrl + Shift + T: Opens recently closed tab in the browser This is a browser shortcut that is used often by the smart web developers. Wrapping Up I have listed all the innovative ideas and shortcuts that smart web developers use in order to make their work easy and efficient. With this, they can give their precious time to do required brainstorming on the coding process. However, if you think that there are certain other shortcuts and ideas that can be added to the list, please let me know through your comments in the comment box. I will look at these and will take the decision accordingly. Moreover, In order to ease your work, I am listing some top where you can hire Web Developers. These are as follows: web development companies PIXELCRAYONS Indian based top Software Development Company that is serving its client across the globe from 14+ years. Some of its clients are Adobe, Puma and Warner Brothers. : 97% Client Retention Rate : 100% money back guarantee, in case the client is not satisfied. Plus point CODE BREW A leading app development company. It has created 300+ apps for its clients across the globe. : The times of India, Idea Key Clients PEERBITS A mobile application development agency in India. It has more than 100 employees. In the past 7 years, it has completed 300+ IT projects successfully. Hence, it has a good track record. Plus Point: STX NEXT A European hybrid mobile app development firm serving its clients across the globe from the past 12+ years. It uses a unique approach towards helping its clients. Moreover, it has 200+ well-trained and skilled team members. Extra to know: APPINVENTIV An enterprise mobile app development firm from India. It has created more than 700 apps in the previous 4 years. It has several global clients such as Merck etc. All the above-mentioned companies are among top web development companies and have been rewarded best ratings on esteemed platforms like Good firms and clutch.

10 Shortcuts Web Developers Use to Get Results in Record Time

Top Custom Software Development Companies

The State of The Market — February 14, 2019 : $3,611.84 (-0.52%) : $121.70 (-0.93%) : $0.302635 (-0.38%) BTC ETH XRP The market is in negative today, as Bitcoin is testing its support at $3,600. It is not a strong support yet, and if bears have it their way, Bitcoin could once again crash to $3,400 over the weekend when the volumes are low. The total market cap lost $1 Billion in the last 24 hours, and all of the top 10 cryptocurrencies have posted small losses. The market is following Bitcoin’s price movement right now and Bitcoin dominance remains unchanged. In other news, . The function adds a new attack vector to the platform and allows a smart contract to be created at an address that can be determined beforehand by different parties. The new function is designed to allow interaction with a smart contract that does not yet exist on the blockchain and it would be included in EIP-1014. Also, . Hyundai Pay has developed a blockchain platform and a cryptocurrency wallet. The partnership is to promote the growth of fintech startups and jobs in Busan. Hyundai Pay will relocate its headquarters to Busan and build the needed infrastructure. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has suggested that a new smart contract function called “Create2” be integrated into the upcoming Constantinople upgrade Busan, South Korea’s second-most populated city after Seoul has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with blockchain company Hyundai Pay According to Intel, the blockchain suite is designed for businesses desiring to launch their own blockchain fast and effectively. The platform will allow users to develop blockchain-based applications and it uses Xeon processors along with other Intel hardware. Intel says the suite includes all the necessary components to launch a hyperledger-driven blockchain and Intel says that the package is “enterprise-ready”. ( ) 1) Market materials from Intel show that the company has launched a commercial blockchain package based on Hyperledger’s ecosystem. Read More XBT launched the world’s first Bitcoin tracker, Bitcoin Tracker One in 2015 and subsequently launched Bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN). XBT said it needs more knowledge about hard forks and different communities before listing coins. XBT’s CEO Laurent Kssis said, “If we get it wrong, these assets will drop and if they’re part of the basket we can’t go back because it’s in the final term-sheet.” XBT wants the crypto market to settle and give further clarity before revisiting its plans. For now, it has been shelved without a launch date. ( ) 2) Sweden’s XBT Provider has canceled the launch of its cryptocurrency basket due to volatility. Read More The company is hoping to improve trust, transparency, patient safety, and patient improvement in clinical trials using blockchain. Currently, clinical trial processes and records are often erroneous or incomplete. Boehringer will test the integrity of blockchain in this sector with IBM. Early last year, Pfizer, Amgen and Sanofi were considering blockchain for developing and testing new drugs and another pharma firm Merck filed a patent to use blockchain in manufacturing medicines. Also, the Indian government plans on using blockchain to prevent counterfeit drugs. ( ) 3) German pharmaceutical multinational Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that it is set to trial IBM Blockchain in clinical trials. Read More Subscribe to the Berminal Brief Newsletter Download Berminal App for Free The Berminal Website Berminal Official Telegram Berminal Twitter

Intel Launches A Commercial Blockchain Suite, And XBT Postpones The Launch Of Its Crypto Basket

Real world Use Cases of Blockchain in Pharma and Healthcare The blockchain technology is well suited for use cases involving track-and-trace, product provenance and supply chain governance. The pharmaceutical industry is actively exploring the blockchain technology to help with several real world use cases. Many of these explorations already have proof-of-concept implementations that have generated tractable interests in the Pharma industry. In this post we will review the top 5 of these use cases. Use Case 1: Verifying the Authenticity of Returned Drugs In the Pharma industry, drugs are frequently returned to the pharmaceutical manufacturers. For instance, wholesalers may have ordered excess inventory and accordingly may need to return unsold stock to the pharmaceutical manufactures. While the proportion of the returned drugs is small compared to the sales (about 2–3% of sales), the per year volume is in the range of $7- 10 billion. In 2016, the US pharmaceutical manufacturer sales were . The 2018 forecast revenue for the top ten global pharmaceutical companies (which represent half of the sales of the top fifty companies) is . Based on these estimates, the saleable returns market at 2–3% of total sales is 7–10 billion. $323 billion $355 billion Instead of destroying these perfectly good drug shipments, pharmaceutical companies instead opt to . However before they can re-sell these returned drugs, the pharmaceutical companies have a re-sell them legal obligation to verify the authenticity of the returned drugs. In the US, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) stipulates that all US manufacturers must implement serialization or barcoding of drugs at a package level by November 2018. Also, by the same time next year these serial numbers must be used to verify the authenticity of the returned drugs. Europe has a similar regulatory enactment called the Falsified Medicine Directive (FMD), requiring all drugs to be serialized or barcoded by February 2019. While the EU has opted for a (allowing manufacturers to upload serial numbers to a centralized EU regulator’s database, and distributors to connect to this centralized database to verify drug authenticity), centralized approach in the US there is no centralized database regulator. Without such a centralized database, one option is for every distributor to integrate data with every pharmaceutical manufacturer, which is logistically prohibitive! A far better and recommended approach is to have pharmaceutical manufacturers record the serial numbers of their packages on a blockchain, which serves as a decentralized and distributed ledger. Wholesalers and customers can then verify the authenticity of a drug package by connecting to the blockchain. Industry Proof-of-Concept Currently, Merck in partnership with SAP has developed the SAP Pharma Blockchain POC app for this Use Case. SAP launched this first Proof of Concept in Q3 2017, and a second one in early 2018. The PoC for the Use Case works as follows, SAP’s existing solution (unrelated to blockchain) called ATTP (Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals), generates unique identifiers for a drug package. When a manufacturer ships a package they register the item on the SAP Pharma POC blockchain, with the four pieces of information generated by the ATTP; the item number (based on GS1 standard), a serial number, a batch number, and an expiration date. The distributor can extract the four pieces information from the packaging’s barcode, using a simple scanner mobile app, allowing them to verify returns . Counterfeiter copies of barcodes can be avoided, since SAP has the added ability to track every time a package changes hands. A map view within the mobile app also helps ensure that the drugs are in the expected geographical region. Use Case 2: Prevention of Counterfeit Drugs and Medical Devices Blockchain’s ability to establish provenance of data makes it especially suited for this supply chain use case. ​Drug companies that manufacture, ship and deliver products have a difficult time keeping track of their products, thereby allowing counterfeiters to introduce fake drugs into the system. The problem of counterfeiting is not just limited to drug manufactures, but extends to medical instruments manufactures. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 8 percent of the medical devices in circulation today are counterfeit copies. Counterfeit drugs and medical devices pose a major risk to consumers, and also lost revenue for the legitimate manufacturers. When the mandate goes into effect by November 2018 every drug package will be uniquely serialized or barcoded. This will provide a unique product identifier for each drug package, and allow the verification of the authenticity of every product sold. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) As the drug moves through the supply chain the transactions can be recorded on a blockchain, thereby providing a distributed provenance ledger. This will make it possible for all parties to track drugs through the entire supply chain life-cycle. This will make it harder for counterfeit drugs from being introduced into the supply chain, and distributed to unsuspecting consumers. Industry Proof-of-Concept Novartis is experimenting with blockchain to identify counterfeit medicines and track temperature with real-time visibility for all participants in the supply chain, using Blockchain and IoT. The initiative is led by Fritz, the Novartis’ Domain Architect Supply Chain, and Cuomo, Novartis’ Applied Technology Innovation Manager. Novartis is also currently engaged in developing a consortium blockchain network between the European pharmaceutical industry and the EU, called the Innovative Medicine Initiative(IMI) Blockchain Enabled Healthcare program. The consortium will comprise SME blockchain companies, universities, clinical labs, hospitals, patient representatives and others; and aims at exploring use cases in counterfeit drug detection, supply chain, patient data, and clinical trials. Use Case 3: Compliance in Pharma supply chain As drugs move through the supply chain, logistics companies need to adhere to drug handling, transport and storage guidelines. Several operating constraints may need to be tracked. These may include maintaining temperature range, humidity, air quality within specified limits etc. Environmental conditions within the supply chain may have a direct impact on the quality and efficacy of the drug. For example temperature sensitive products like vaccines need to be properly monitored throughout the supply chain. Today drugs are monitored throughout the supply chain using smart IoT devices and temperature, humidity and other factors can be recorded using smart devices throughout the supply chain life-cycle. However since each participant of the supply chain i.e. the manufacturer, the logistics company, the stores and the pharmacies etc, maintain their own separate ledger, a problem within any particular segment of the supply chain is difficult to track. Blockchain technology provides the pharmaceutical supply chain a better way to add compliance and governance within the supply chain. Due to its inherent transparency, immutability and distributed nature, Blockchain technology provides a mechanism that allows any participant in the supply chain to ensure that the supply chain logistics and transportation guidelines (including handling and storage conditions of the drugs), were adhered to. Additionally smart contracts can be programmed that automatically execute when compliance conditions are not met, there by alerting the relevant parties in the supply chain. So for example suppose, if there is a temperature excursion during a transportation, with blockchain technology the consumer can easily see at what point the event occurred. Additionally, smart contracts may be automatically invoked within the blockchain, which will reduce the invoice amount due to the logistics company, based on its level of non compliance of storage conditions. Use Case 4: Transparency and traceability of consent in Clinical Trials Informed patient consent involves making the patient aware of each step in the Clinical Trial process including any possible risks posed by the study. Clinical trial consent for protocols and their revisions need to be transparent for patients and traceable for stakeholders. However, in practice the informed consent process is difficult to handle in a rigorous and satisfactory way. The FDA reports that almost 10% of the trials they monitor feature some issues related to consent collection. These include: failure to obtain written informed consent, unapproved forms, invalid consent document, failure to re-consent to a revised protocol and missing Institutional Review Board approval to protocol changes; among others. Frequently also there are reported cases of document fraud such as issues of backdating consent documents. Blockchain protocols in clinical trials can provide transparency and traceability of consent. Blockchains provide a mechanism for unfalsifiable time-stamping of consent forms, storing and tracking the consent in a secure, and publicly verifiable way, and enabling the sharing of this information in real time. Additionally, smart contract can be bound to protocol revisions, such that any change in the clinical trials protocol requires the patient consent needing renewal. Use Case 5: Improving the quality and reliability of Clinical Trials data Since the passage of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act in 1992 (which allowed the FDA to receive funding from pharmaceutical companies), the FDA has collected $7.67 billion in user fees from pharmaceutical manufacturers. This trend of annual funding to the FDA from drug manufacturers is expected to continue to increase. Patients and physicians have begun to question the current standards for Clinical Trial funding, leading to growing concerns due to the conflict of interest and the high stakes involved. Blockchain with its decentralized, immutable ledger and a mechanism to ensure transparency provides a solution. Clinical trials data can be stored in a secure, unfalsifiable and publicly verifiable manner on the blockchain. This prevents tampering with clinical trials results, thus improving the reliability of the clinical trials data. Blockchain technology can also be used to directly increase the quantity and quality of patients recruited for clinical trials in a number of ways. Using blockchain individual patients can store and control access to their medical data, and make it visible to trial recruiters, who could then reach out to the patients if their data qualifies for the clinical trial. The decentralized nature of blockchain gives to the patients, control over their data, and consent and its revocation. Industry Proof-of-Concept Pfizer, Amgen, and Sanofi are currently working side-by-side to leverage to blockchain technology. Use cases range from storing patient health data safely, to speeding up clinical trials, and ultimately lowering drug development costs. Exochain (a blockchain Pharma startup) manages secure storage of patient health information on the blockchain. Exochain allows individuals to control how clinical trial researchers may interact with their medical data. This can potentially lead to increased quantity and quality of patients recruited for clinical trials, while at the same time giving individuals precision control over their medical information. Enjoyed reading the article? for related articles and the latest updates! Follow me on Medium 👏 Found this post useful? Hit the button to show how much you liked it :) Related articles: Read Next: Is your Healthcare App HIPAA compliant? Other Articles: 5 Common Myths about Blockchain and Bitcoin How to Innovate like a Startup!

Top 5 Blockchain Use Cases in Pharma and Healthcare — that you should know about!

Corporate Venture Capital is , and while traditional VCs , startups are. New investors bring friendlier term sheets for growing startups as competition increases in the early-stage investment landscape. Now CVCs just have to make sure they don’t develop a negative reputation in the startup ecosystem. Is it too late? growing aren’t all fond of the trend (Note not all traditional VCs are upset about the competition. Many CVCs carry an excellent reputation and are ideal co-investors for VC firms. See this week: Foxconn , American Express , GE Ventures ) Investor Challenges Corporate Venture arms are tasked with and objectives. The financial side is more of the same, it’s the strategic element that have VC’s mudslinging, founders wondering, and CVCs scraping together qualifying offers. Joe Volpe, Managing Director of Merck Global Health Innovation, to the challenge of aligning corporate strategy with smart investments, “It is difficult digging up innovative investments in our focus areas, as well as finding companies ready to invest, as well as those entities understanding our thesis or investing strategy, as well as aligning all parties’ timing, as well as mixing venture, growth equity and M&A.” financial strategic Financially — return the money plus some. Strategically — invest in ideas or companies that serve our mission. spoke _How does a company that started as a noodle shop become a massive corporation with more yearly patents than Apple or…_www.acast.com Ep. 23 - Christina Bechhold w/ Samsung and Empire Angels | Inside Outside Innovation on acast Aligning the investment moons is more difficult for venture arms who may have a for self-serving, short-term partnerships with startups that need durable investors. Jack Young, Senior Director at Qualcomm Life Fund, addressed the overarching in this year’s Rising Stars report from Global Corporate Venturing, “The venture capital industry is becoming increasingly sophisticated and competitive. Many major firms are retooling their businesses by offering value-added services that run the gamut from project design to executive recruiting. CVC needs to dig deeper to bring its own set of unique assets to the table, while not pursuing deals for short-term commercial interests.” reputation challenge Investor relations aside, new venture arms are worried that the broader reputation in the community will cripple their program’s chances of signing the next industry unicorn. Many corporates have even their venture arms to appear as standalone firms. The primary concern remains — renamed are startups attracted to us? Samsung Samsung is a -turned-technology company with more patents than Apple or Google. upwards of $14 billion per year on R&D, that’s $40 million per day. 70k engineers operate 36 R&D centers globally. They have an (VR, IoT, more) and investment teams in New York, Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv. Every member of their innovation ecosystem is responsible for understanding the current mission of each business leader in the organization so that they can connect a young company to the right person when they meet at Demo Days, in personal networks or through the Entrepreneur in Residence program. They invest at the Seed Stage, Series A, and Series B. They have over 300,000 employees, and they want to invest in you. noodle They spend accelerator What’s holding you back? CBInsights CVC Trends 2016 For many startups, it’s a mix of not wanting to commit to one corporation, to feeling the company won’t provide proper support, to worrying that they’ll accept a lopsided deal wherein their passion is navigated towards corporate agenda. Startup Corporate Relations Recently, we with growing startups in the AI and FinTech spaces about their perception of corporations as long-term partners. Each of the teams we interviewed graduated from a corporate accelerator program in 2015. spoke We heard mostly positive feedback when we interviewed graduates of the Microsoft and Barclays Accelerators. All of the teams accomplished what they had set out to do before the program. The companies were generous with their time, money and connections. Relationships with corporate teams and fellow cohort members extended beyond the accelerator program, some developed into joint ventures. But the startups also had recommendations for their hosts: Be more careful with our time. Train your employees to understand our urgency and priorities. Be more transparent when lining up corporate introductions for our team. And we continue to hear and read more of the same in the venture space: corporations don’t understand a startup’s problems, and so you should avoid them as investors. Clearly, there is some misunderstanding between corporate and startup teams that prevents the sides from always working together effectively. But, as we’ve seen at Capital One and Samsung, two companies that filled the ranks with startup founders and previous investors, that is a solvable problem, and the benefits to partnering with a CVC (assets, knowledge, connections) should still far outweigh this avoidable cost. One of the founders suggested the corporate teams “read a bunch of Paul Graham essays” before working with a startup. That could help employees visualize startup priorities during short-term projects, but investors are expected to guide the teams through long and trying times. Startups expect investors to have experience wading the downturns, and that’s where you’ll find the root of the schism that we’re hearing about. CVCs make the mistake of staffing their venture arms with business development and strategy people with no startup experience. Reputation problems ensue. Staffing a CVC As Fred Wilson alluded to in this post, there are basically two kinds of CVCs: passive corporate VC arms and active strategic investments. Passive corporate VC arms are supportive, long-term, hands on investors. Active strategic investments are high on lip-service, low on follow-through. The difference, says Samsung’s , is the makeup of the team. blog Christina Bechold Do they have investment experience? Do they have startup experience? “Often times they take people from corporate development or strategy side and repurpose them from venture investing, which is not the way we do it at Samsung. Our venture teams all come from an investing and operating background.” (Christina joined us on the I/O podcast to discuss CVCs vs. Traditional VCs, the rise of startups outside of the Valley and more). Capital One, Neopost, Ericcson, Konika Minolta are all recent I/O guests that have recruited new staff with startup experience to manage corporate-startup relations. There are still questions that competing investors can plant: But on the front lines, recruiting and staffing could be the key to a successful collaboration model. Do they have your best interest in mind? Will they support you in future rounds? On the Path to Mutually Beneficial Startups must be lightening up to CVC money, as corporate venture capital investors provided more than $ in funding over the course of 2015, the highest level since 2000. Plus, Citi Ventures Managing Director Vanessa Colella says, corporations have been hard at work improving their relationship capital: “Having commercialized the majority of our portfolio, we have deep experience guiding our startups in how to engage and interact inside a multinational enterprise — something they might otherwise have been hard-pressed to navigate — and pinpointing for them the areas in which they can potentially add value.” (see Global Corporate Venturing’s Rising Stars report for Vanessa’s quote.) 7.5bn downloadable If the self-serving shops haven’t already stopped operating, they’re busy restructuring their models to copy the likes of Intel Capital, GV and other reputable firms. While corporations look for with potential disruptors, and more startups launch in , startup-corporate collaboration models will continue to inform the structures and term sheets deployed by CVCs. It appears they’re already learning to get along just fine. any way to connect more places Subscribe to the I/O Podcast ______ ________ iTunes E-mail a.Cast Thanks for reading — We’re and we help companies map and execute innovation. If you liked this post, we’d love for you to share it. Click the green heart below and Tweet it. Econic Email us at team@econic.co • https://twitter.com/econicco

Corporate Venture Capital’s Reputation Challenge

We live in exciting times where humankind is rapidly evolving and improving its standard of living through innovation. As says, All we need are committed individuals who envision a positive future and want to match their skills and passions with the biggest challenges that are blocking their country’s . Africa is about to create their own positive far away from the eyes and limited imaginations of other developed countries. Peter Diamandis “We live in an era where we have the tools to take on any challenge.” development future Last February in Ghana, and organized the largest hackathon to ever take place in Africa. At the time, I was struck by the potential and resilience of the new generation of entrepreneurs, and also by the sense of urgency they possess to tackle healthcare issues. Everyone needs access to . Hack For Big Choices Impact Hub Accra healthcare This is why we have recently launched with a Impact Hub Accr I Care 4 Africa , the biggest healthcare program to date that will empower entrepreneurs and medical professionals to use their first-hand experiences and talents to match business opportunities in the healthcare space. Universal healthcare is within our grasp and it can happen if we catalyze a new healthcare system. African entrepreneurs will help make this a reality. Sub-Saharan Africa, with just 13% of the world’s population, carries 24% of the world’s disease burden. Yet, it only has . It is common knowledge that Africa faces the largest healthcare challenges in the world, and that these issues may continue to worsen due to inadequate systems for prevention and care. As the population of Africa continues to boom, solving these health crises is imperative. 2% of the world’s doctors If we take a closer look at the reasons for lower mortality in the continent, we see that such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, tuberculosis, ebola, etc. amount to , while such as heart disease, various forms of cancer, diabetes, etc. account for in the continent. communicable diseases 61% for cause of death non-communicable diseases 28.6% of all deaths Epidemic diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV have been contained or overcome in most countries because we possess the knowledge and medications to fight them. However, Africa still faces these preventable diseases mainly due to two factors. First, there isn’t a systematic approach and model in place. This means that every time there is a new pandemic, it is treated as an emergency and all the resources become dedicated to it. Instead, what needs to be built is a complete system that can avoid reaching critical mass. Second, this burden should not be the sole responsibility of only a few stakeholders. After the Ebola crisis, The World Bank acknowledged that “No country or organization has wanted to own the issue of pandemic preparedness and response.” They estimate that “we could face an annual funding gap of US$35 billion by 2031” if there is no proactive action taken. These trends are in stark contrast with the rest of the world. While the entirety of Africa is still working to contain and diminish pandemics and communicable diseases with existing cures, Policies and resources are mainly dedicated to fighting the infectious diseases of today. HIV, malaria and tuberculosis are the big targets. However, over the next 15 years, chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and kidney failure will become the major killers. According to the World Health Organization report in the Economist Intelligence Unit, by 2030, it is estimated that chronic non-communicable disease will account for 42% of all deaths in the region, up from 25% today. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing a healthcare tipping point. Africa has the opportunity to better manage and reduce the suffering of chronic diseases than current developed worlds by building early diagnostic systems and creating better healthcare education. African countries are not as heavily invested in a half-century old monopolistic system adverse to change, as developed countries are. Africa is a blank slate ready to adopt the best solutions Africans can imagine. India currently presents a strong case where the lack of traditional health-care infrastructure is being turned into tremendous business opportunity. General Electric has been behind this effort. They have developed breakthrough technologies for portable electrocardiogram machines that have had an impact in other developing countries as well. Vijay Govindarajan, first Professor in Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant at General Electric, explains that the initial obstacle that GE encountered was adopting a globalization strategy before recognizing that reverse innovation was the only way to address unique market needs. In 2005, GE offered in India “a version of its high-end product for $3,000, the low end of the premium price range. The results had been underwhelming. By then, the company saw that a more sophisticated approach was required, but it hadn’t yet entrusted its local talent with the challenge of designing breakthrough products for Indian consumers.” Today, GE healthcare is the leader in the ultrasound market and in 2014 they had 4.1 billion in revenue. African countries, therefore, don’t have the arduous task of adapting archaic healthcare systems centered on the doctor’s role of providing reactionary care rather than preventative care. There is a great opportunity within our grasp when we finally decide to approach the African healthcare system at a structural level and let local innovation enable solutions that fit the African market. Current local healthcare systems and international organizations are unprepared for a major health disaster and the emergence of non-communicable disease. Most of the reports about the status and future of healthcare in Africa don’t take into account entrepreneurship as a force that can contribute to the development of the continent. For example, the last healthcare report by the Economist Intelligent Unit1 mentions critical stakeholders, such as governments, NGOs (Unicef, American Red Cross, Save the Children, One Foundation), and international organizations (UN, USAID, The World Bank), without any mention of entrepreneurs. I believe entrepreneurs are the missing key element needed to create innovative, sustainable solutions. Entrepreneurship is recognized worldwide as the fuel of innovation. Africa is not following the same path of development as developed countries. This gives Africa the key advantage of being able to tackle old problems with new technology. What has been achieved in decades, can now be done in a few years. Educating medical professionals can be done through technologies like VR or online courses that are much cheaper, offered on demand, and are scalable. Also, patients can become “power-patients” who learn on their own about their health and interact with professionals to determine their next steps towards building healthier lives. Specifically, in the case of Sub- Saharan Africa, innovative business models can succeed because of the high number of entrepreneurs able to enter the market and the modern accessibility of tools. African entrepreneurs do not fear failure and are willing to take risks to discover ways to introduce high-impact innovations to the growing markets. Developing countries are the most ripe for adapting breakthrough technologies due to their lack of infrastructure and urgent need for innovative solutions. African entrepreneurs have the right mindset to adopt these tools to innovate at local levels. These local entrepreneurs are the ones who experience the world’s toughest issues first hand. They have a deep understanding of their cultures and present fresh perspectives that are unlimited by preconceived notions of conventional practices. This is the key advantage African entrepreneurs have, and it is core to having an innovative mindset. What’s next? After realizing what is happening and seeing the big opportunity of empowering entrepreneurs to leapfrog the current system, I’ve decided to take action and work together with Impact Hub Accra to design a program that can catalyze the healthcare system in Africa and provide access to healthcare for everyone. This is why we have created They, like us, see big opportunities where others see problems. Connecting problems to innovators can actively reshape markets by creating sustainable and inclusive businesses that translate to a higher quality of life for all. I Care 4 Africa , the biggest healthcare program to date that will empower entrepreneurs and medical professionals to use their first-hand experiences and talents to match business opportunities in the healthcare space. With the support of and , we will start , a 10 month program starting in March, 2016. The program will also include the Multi-stakeholder collaborations are necessary to address complex challenges. We are currently scouting organizations, institutions, universities, NGOs, and private companies that can bring funding, knowledge, expertise, and technologies that can add value to and catalyze the healthcare system in Africa. Merck Facebook I Care 4 Africa biggest hackathon of the continent taking place from June 24th — 26th, 2016. Until now African healthcare has depended heavily on international aid organizations that are not unified in their approach of creating sustainable innovation to solve healthcare issues. I believe that local entrepreneurs, who until now have been left out of the equation, are the trigger that can leapfrog the system. We intend to prove that, through collaboration with the world’s leaders and local stakeholders, it is possible to structure an innovative and sustainable healthcare system. As Vijay Govindarajan says “The new reality is that the future is far from home. If rich nations and established multinationals are to continue to thrive, the next generation of leaders and innovators must be just as curious about needs and opportunities in the developing world as they are about those in their own backyard.” We look forward to building a future together that provides access to healthcare for everyone. You can to be invited to the upcoming events. sign up here Aurora Chisté P.S. If you want to be part of I Care 4 Africa as amentor, sponsor or partner, email me at aurora@h4bc.org

Everyone needs access to healthcare. African entrepreneurs will make it happen

CHICAGO, United States, April 17th, 2024/Chainwire/-- Liquid Mercury, a leading crypto trading technology provider, announced today that it is providing a request for quote (RFQ) platform to GFO-X, the UK’s first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue dedicated to digital assets derivatives. Institutional traders will be able to source deep liquidity for trading listed options and futures contracts in large trade sizes that can be transacted as single-leg or complex, multi-leg strategies. Liquid Mercury’s institutional-grade platform, combined with GFO-X’s regulated derivatives marketplace, provides a secure and efficient trading environment for institutional trading firms and professional investors. This technology allows market participants to manage digital asset exposure and hedge underlying portfolio risks. Liquidity providers can provide two-sided quotes in response to RFQs generated by hedge funds, asset managers, and other buy-side participants initiated from Liquid Mercury’s professional-grade trading interface or FIX and web socket APIs. Trades will print on GFO-X’s exchange and be cleared through a GFO-X general clearing member at LCH SA, LCH Group’s continental Europe clearing house, which is part of the largest and most sophisticated clearing services in financial markets. Brokers will also use Liquid Mercury’s platform to intermediate trades between buyers and sellers in order to cross-block trades on GFO-X’s exchange and conduct other sell-side trading workflows. “Looking at the equity derivatives market, where the growth in number of options exchanges has fueled the growth in trading participants, added more liquidity in the market, and driven record volumes of contracts traded, I see GFO-X’s entrance into crypto derivatives as a key development for a more vibrant exchange landscape. This is a prime opportunity to grow the entire crypto options market,” said Liquid Mercury CEO, Tony Saliba. “In addition to providing the technology solution that will power GFO-X’s block liquidity network, Liquid Mercury will be operating as a strategic partner, introducing our clients and broad network of traditional market players as new participants to GFO-X’s exchange.”“We chose Liquid Mercury as a partner due to the team’s pedigree in building successful technology-focused franchises in traditional markets, combined with a track record of delivering institutional-grade solutions to the professional crypto trading community,” said GFO-X CEO, Arnab Sen. “Our shared vision of a regulated derivatives market that is purpose-built for digital assets using the best market standards and technology from traditional finance underpins what we expect to be a long and very fruitful strategic partnership.” For more information about Liquid Mercury’s suite of crypto trading technology solutions, users can visit www.liquidmercury.com. About Liquid Mercury Liquid Mercury powers professional crypto trading. Liquid Mercury is the #1 choice for sophisticated buy-side and institutional sell-side legacy trading professionals moving into crypto. Institutional grade infrastructure, access to deep liquidity, and best-in-class trading tools and workflow automation; Liquid Mercury was built by professionals for professionals. For more information about Liquid Mercury, visit www.liquidmercury.com. About GFO-X Global Futures and Options Ltd (GFO-X) is the UK's first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue dedicated to digital asset derivatives. UK FCA authorized and regulated GFO-X, which is connected to the world's largest financial institutions, and has partnered with leading clearing house LCH SA, solving counterparty and credit risk. GFO-X services the significant unmet need of large global institutional participants who require a highly regulated, institutional-grade trading venue for digital asset derivatives. GFO-X’s mission is to deliver enhanced liquidity, institutional connectivity, and risk mitigation through high-performance technology and optimized contract specifications. Further information can be found at www.gfo-x.com Contact Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Hansen Liquid Mercury team@liquidmercury.com This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. CHICAGO, United States, April 17th, 2024/Chainwire/-- Liquid Mercury, a leading crypto trading technology provider, announced today that it is providing a request for quote (RFQ) platform to GFO-X , the UK’s first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue dedicated to digital assets derivatives. Institutional traders will be able to source deep liquidity for trading listed options and futures contracts in large trade sizes that can be transacted as single-leg or complex, multi-leg strategies. GFO-X GFO-X Liquid Mercury’s institutional-grade platform, combined with GFO-X’s regulated derivatives marketplace, provides a secure and efficient trading environment for institutional trading firms and professional investors. This technology allows market participants to manage digital asset exposure and hedge underlying portfolio risks. Liquidity providers can provide two-sided quotes in response to RFQs generated by hedge funds, asset managers, and other buy-side participants initiated from Liquid Mercury’s professional-grade trading interface or FIX and web socket APIs. Trades will print on GFO-X’s exchange and be cleared through a GFO-X general clearing member at LCH SA, LCH Group’s continental Europe clearing house, which is part of the largest and most sophisticated clearing services in financial markets. Brokers will also use Liquid Mercury’s platform to intermediate trades between buyers and sellers in order to cross-block trades on GFO-X’s exchange and conduct other sell-side trading workflows. “Looking at the equity derivatives market, where the growth in number of options exchanges has fueled the growth in trading participants, added more liquidity in the market, and driven record volumes of contracts traded, I see GFO-X’s entrance into crypto derivatives as a key development for a more vibrant exchange landscape. This is a prime opportunity to grow the entire crypto options market,” said Liquid Mercury CEO, Tony Saliba. “Looking at the equity derivatives market, where the growth in number of options exchanges has fueled the growth in trading participants, added more liquidity in the market, and driven record volumes of contracts traded, I see GFO-X’s entrance into crypto derivatives as a key development for a more vibrant exchange landscape. This is a prime opportunity to grow the entire crypto options market,” said Liquid Mercury CEO, Tony Saliba. “In addition to providing the technology solution that will power GFO-X’s block liquidity network, Liquid Mercury will be operating as a strategic partner, introducing our clients and broad network of traditional market players as new participants to GFO-X’s exchange.”“We chose Liquid Mercury as a partner due to the team’s pedigree in building successful technology-focused franchises in traditional markets, combined with a track record of delivering institutional-grade solutions to the professional crypto trading community,” said GFO-X CEO, Arnab Sen. “In addition to providing the technology solution that will power GFO-X’s block liquidity network, Liquid Mercury will be operating as a strategic partner, introducing our clients and broad network of traditional market players as new participants to GFO-X’s exchange.”“We chose Liquid Mercury as a partner due to the team’s pedigree in building successful technology-focused franchises in traditional markets, combined with a track record of delivering institutional-grade solutions to the professional crypto trading community,” said GFO-X CEO, Arnab Sen. “Our shared vision of a regulated derivatives market that is purpose-built for digital assets using the best market standards and technology from traditional finance underpins what we expect to be a long and very fruitful strategic partnership.” “Our shared vision of a regulated derivatives market that is purpose-built for digital assets using the best market standards and technology from traditional finance underpins what we expect to be a long and very fruitful strategic partnership.” For more information about Liquid Mercury’s suite of crypto trading technology solutions, users can visit www.liquidmercury.com . www.liquidmercury.com www.liquidmercury.com About Liquid Mercury Liquid Mercury powers professional crypto trading. Liquid Mercury is the #1 choice for sophisticated buy-side and institutional sell-side legacy trading professionals moving into crypto. Institutional grade infrastructure, access to deep liquidity, and best-in-class trading tools and workflow automation; Liquid Mercury was built by professionals for professionals. For more information about Liquid Mercury, visit www.liquidmercury.com . Liquid Mercury Liquid Mercury www.liquidmercury.com www.liquidmercury.com About GFO-X Global Futures and Options Ltd (GFO-X) is the UK's first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue dedicated to digital asset derivatives. UK FCA authorized and regulated GFO-X, which is connected to the world's largest financial institutions, and has partnered with leading clearing house LCH SA, solving counterparty and credit risk. GFO-X services the significant unmet need of large global institutional participants who require a highly regulated, institutional-grade trading venue for digital asset derivatives. Global Futures and Options Global Futures and Options GFO-X’s mission is to deliver enhanced liquidity, institutional connectivity, and risk mitigation through high-performance technology and optimized contract specifications. Further information can be found at www.gfo-x.com www.gfo-x.com www.gfo-x.com Contact Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Hansen Liquid Mercury team@liquidmercury.com This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. here. here.

Liquid Mercury Partners With GFO-X To Provide RFQ Platform For Trading Crypto Derivatives

So you’ve been offered a good deal on Mercari, but you’re not quite sure if it’s a reputable website. Or, you’ve heard about different Mercari scams online, and you’re not sure if you should avoid the site altogether or not. First, it’s important to establish that the company itself is legitimate and not a scam. Mercari is an online marketplace where users can buy and sell used items. The company was founded in Japan in 2013 and quickly gained popularity internationally. Users can list their items for sale easily through the Mercari app, which is available for free on both the App Store and Google Play. Is Mercari Safe to Use? Mercari is generally considered a safe platform and provides a secure environment for users to trade safely. However, like any other online marketplace, there may be risks involved, such as dealing with unreliable or dishonest sellers. If you’re a Mercari user, it's important to exercise caution, as the more popular the site gets, the more likely fraudsters will gravitate toward it. Overall, yes, Mercari is safe to use. Six Common Mercari Scams to Avoid on the Platform Yes, Mercari is safe, but it’s not fraud-free. Here are five of the most notorious scams to look out for on the platform: 1) The Fake Listing Scam The number one rule when it comes to shopping online is to not trust every deal you see. Some deals are too good to be true. If you find a handbag you would normally pay $1,100 for in the store and on Mercari, it’s only $100 bucks, you should automatically assume it’s a scam. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people looking for a good deal and are willing to cast all doubt aside to find it. It’s that type of mindset that leads people to fall for scams like this: https://youtu.be/X4bMgLaRORk?si=Edt_rF5jrHsPZbUB&embedable=true Thankfully, you can avoid this scam by: Only deal with sellers who have positive reviews and ratings. Sellers who have a reputation to protect are less likely to pull the wool over your eyes. Try to ask the seller as many questions as you can. Questions are like scam repellant for those trying to make a quick “deal.” Ask the seller for extra photos of the item. If it’s a real item, they shouldn’t mind snapping a few extra pics as proof. 2) The Switcheroo Scam This scam is as old as time when it comes to selling online, but people still do it today, thinking they’re going to get away with it. If you’re a seller on Mercari, this is one you’ll want to look out for. The Switcheroo is when someone buys one of your items and then randomly returns it. When you get the item back, you quickly realize that it’s not the item you shipped out. Instead, you’re left with a cheap knockoff of the item or a broken/ruined version of it.  Or even worse, the scammer sends a completely different item that weighs about the same as the original. If you’ve been a seller online for a while, there’s a good chance that you’ve had to deal with this scam already, and Mercari is no different. The bad news is, if you’re a seller on Mercari, there’s not much you can do about it, as Mercari is known for refunding the buyer once the return looks like it was delivered. It’s still worth trying to for help; just be prepared to write off the item later if there’s nothing the company can do for you. contact Mercari’s customer service 3) The Offsite Payment Mercari Scam This scam is one of the easiest ones to avoid on your part, but only if you know about it. This scam looks innocent at first, but its effects can be devastating. It works like this: You’re interested in an item on Mercari. You contact the seller to make sure they’re the real deal. The seller messages back telling you there’s a problem with their Mercari account, and they need you to pay with Zelle or another outside payment system. You send them money through the third-party payment service. You never get your product, you never hear from the seller again, and you don’t get a refund. The best way to avoid this scam is to make all your transactions on the platform. Don’t believe any of the seller’s lies. You should always be able to send payment through Mercari itself. 4) The Misrepresentation Scam Here’s another classic scam you may run into on Mercari: selling fake or damaged items that appear to be perfectly fine. There are multiple ways that scammers try to pull this off: Altering images through Photoshop. Listing a used item as “new.” Lying about major damage to the item or claiming it works when it clearly doesn’t. There are a few ways to avoid this one. First, check for the “verified seller” icon to make sure it’s not a fake profile. If the profile has a few followers and some good reviews under their belt, that’s even better. If you’re still skeptical, you can also check to see if they have any : Seller Badges Basically, look for anything about the seller that can prove that they have a reputation. If the seller has a reputation, they’re going to want to keep it, and selling fake or damaged items is just not worth it for them. 5) The Changing Address Scam Yes, some sellers do try to pull this off, and many of them succeed. It works like this: You order an item. The “seller” fills a box full of ripped-up paper or garbage. The “seller” uses a third-party shipping company to ship the box full of garbage to your home. The garbage box gets accepted by the carrier. The “seller” calls the shipping company and changes the address to a random house somewhere in your city. The package gets delivered to some random person’s home. From here, it’s a waiting game. The “seller” knows that you only have three days before the return window passes. Three days have passed, and you realize you don’t have your item yet. You contact Mercari, but at this point, it’s too late. To avoid this tricky scam, just remember to keep an eye on your tracking. Your app may say that it was delivered, but it may have been delivered to some random house. If this happens, make sure to inform Mercari right away, and they’ll take care of everything. 6) The Fake Customer Service Representative Scam Here’s an insidious Mercari scam that could do a lot more damage than cheat you out of a few bucks. The fake customer service representative scheme works just like any other type of phishing scam: You get a random message on Mercari or an email informing you about an “issue with your account.” You’re told that you need to resolve the issue immediately, or you risk losing your account altogether. You click on the provided link and fill out the form, including all of the personal information that’s requested. Once you send out the form, the fraudster has everything they need to ruin your life. To avoid this scam, all you need to do is remember that a real Mercari representative would never send you an unsolicited message outside of the platform itself. And if you’re worried that your account may be in danger, you can also contact the company yourself to confirm. How to Report a Mercari Scammer If you or someone you know becomes a victim of a scam on Mercari, don’t just brush it off or pretend like it didn’t happen. It’s better to make the platform a safer place by reporting the scammer to Mercari. You can report any type of fraud you find on the platform by calling 1-888-578-5870. You can also visit the at any time to report your concerns. Mercari Help Center Mercari takes fraud very seriously, and most of the scammers they catch are suspended on the platform for life. Final Thoughts It’s important to reiterate that Mercari is a legitimate website where you can buy and sell goods, just like eBay or Etsy. But just like with any website online, you can’t trust that you’re dealing with a reputable seller or buyer just because they present themselves as one. Feel free to use the platform as much as you’d like; just keep an eye out for the Mercari scams on this list as you do. For more online scams to watch out for, check out these articles: The 8 Most Dangerous Cash App Scams (with Screenshots) Payment Fraud Stats From the World's Most Popular Apps: Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, Paypal, and More 5 Notorious Paypal Invoice Scams & How to Avoid Them

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