Technology

Research Grid raises $6.5 million to make clinical trials admin-free

Published

2 months ago

November 6, 2024

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Research Grid, the AI startup that helps medical research institutions automate back-office admin for clinical trials, has raised a $6.5m seed round. The company will use the new funding to double down on its mission of making clinical trials faster and more successful.

The round was led by Fuel Ventures, with participation from Arve Capital, Ada Ventures, Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, Arāya Ventures, Ascension Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, and Atomico Angels, with limited availability remaining.

With artificial intelligence poised to rapidly accelerate the speed of drug discovery, the funding comes at a critical time for the clinical trials market, which is now seen as the major bottleneck in the drug development process. This is often caused when using legacy software systems and manual processes to manage trials, resulting in inefficiency, errors, and weak patient engagement. Delays to clinical trials are also phenomenally expensive, costing up to $400 million per year, per trial running to Phase 3, just on back-office admin.

To solve this problem, Research Grid has developed two products, Inclusive and TrialEngine, which together allow its customers to seamlessly manage the full life cycle of clinical trials in one place.

Both products are powered by Research Grid’s patented-pending AI algorithms which automate many of the administrative and data management workflows. This eliminates the monotonous work, freeing up highly qualified medical researchers to focus on more meaningful work.

Research Grid helps its customers cut months off trial timelines while dramatically reducing their costs and driving up success rates. On average, customers of Research Grid see 98% efficiency gains, 45% cost savings, and 145% increase in patient engagement.

The company will use the funding to invest in R&D, developing more AI automations and building out its engineering teams. It also plans to grow its marketing and sales functions as it expands its presence in US and Asian markets.

Products built from first-hand experience

The company was founded by Dr Amber Hill, a former medical researcher with a PhD in biomedical neuroscience and a background in AI research technology. This first-hand experience of the clinical trials means she was uniquely positioned to build a solution, with a deep understanding of the problem.

The recruitment phase is a common source of delays in clinical trials, due to the extremely manual process of sourcing representative samples of patients which are often sourced via adverts on social media. Increased pressure from the FDA to ensure representative patient panels means this has become increasingly important.

Research Grid’s Inclusive product, a patient recruitment and engagement platform, largely solves this problem, providing instant access to a vetted network of more than 91,000 global communities covering 2,050 medical conditions. It also automates all the admin, such as patient outreach, payments, and data management.

The TrialEngine product, which connects seamlessly with Inclusive, handles the administration, data, and reporting workflows during the trial itself. It leverages Research Grid’s AI algorithms to automate tasks such as protocol generation and data extraction.

Dr Amber HIll, Founder and CEO of Research Grid, said:

“I spent 14 years as a medical researcher, and I would spend hundreds of hours copying data from one system to another. The back-office process is completely broken. When you multiply this across the industry the costs for patients and research institutions are astronomical.

“That’s why we’re building the automation engine for admin-free clinical trials. Whether you’re a pharmaceutical company, a CRO, or a clinical research site, we can help run faster, more successful clinical trials. We’ve already seen how AI is accelerating drug discovery and it’s time to do the same in clinical trials.

“We’re delighted to have the support of our investors. Now we’re focusing on expanding our engineering teams and scaling up our R&D efforts, allowing us to deliver more of the features our customers are asking for. We’ll also be growing our sales and marketing team so that we can take advantage of opportunities in the US and Asia.”

Shiv Patel, Partner at Fuel Ventures, said:

“We are committed to backing the most innovative and disruptive businesses in the country, and our investment into Research Grid reinforces this.

“While AI is making significant waves in drug discovery, clinical trials are still the main barrier to medicine reaching the people who need it, and Research Grid is strategically placed to exploit the urgent demand of automating clinical trials at scale. Its rapid growth has shown that the market is largely green-field, with validation from across the industry in the U.S. and Europe, including big pharma, contract research organisations and sites.

“Every investor wants to find unicorns, and with the clinical trial market expected to reach over $95 billion in the next five years, we believe in the mission, proposition and trajectory of Research Grid.”

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Technology

Stora Enso Oyj: Notification of Change in Holdings according to Chapter 9, Section 10 of the Finnish Securities Markets Act (25 December 2024)

Published

1 hour ago

December 27, 2024

STORA ENSO OYJ STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 27 December 2024 at 09:00 EET

HELSINKI, Dec. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Stora Enso Oyj received a notification pursuant to chapter 9, section 5 of the Securities Market Act from BlackRock, Inc on 27 December 2024.

On 25 December 2024, BlackRock’s holding in Stora Enso’s shares decreased below the 5 percent threshold.

% of shares and voting rights (total of 7.A)

% of shares and voting rights through financial instruments (total of 7.B)

Total of both in % (7.A + 7.B)

Resulting situation on the date on which threshold was crossed or reached

4.76% shares

Below 5% voting rights

0.27% shares

Below 5% voting rights

5.04% shares

Below 5% voting rights

Position of previous notification (if applicable)

Below 5% shares

Below 5% voting rights

Below 5% shares

Below 5% voting rights

Below 5% shares

Below 5% voting rights

A: Shares and voting rights

Class/type of shares

ISIN code (if possible)

Number of shares and voting rights

% of shares and voting rights

Direct

(SMA 9:5)

Indirect

(SMA 9:6 and 9:7)

Direct

(SMA 9:5)

Indirect

(SMA 9:6 and 9:7)

FI0009005961

37,609,170 shares

Below 5% voting rights

4.76% shares Below 5% voting rights

SUBTOTAL A

37,609,170 shares

Below 5% voting rights

4.76% shares

Below 5% voting rights

B: Financial Instruments according to SMA 9:6a

Type of financial instrument

Expiration date

Exercise/Conversion Period

Physical or cash settlement

Number of shares and voting rights

% of shares and voting rights

American Depositary Receipt (US86210M1062)

N/A

Physical

596,930 shares

Below 5% voting rights

0.07% shares

Below 5% voting rights

Securites lent

N7A

N/A

Physical

1,036,720 shares

Below 5% voting rights

0.13% shares

Below 5% voting rights

CFD

N/A

Cash

563,510 shares

Below 5% voting rights

0.07% shares

Below 5% voting rights

SUBTOTAL B

2,197,160 shares

Below 5% voting rights

0.27% shares

Below 5% voting rights

Stora Enso has two series of shares. Each A share and every ten R shares carry one vote. Stora Enso has 175,664,079 A shares and 612,955,908 R shares in issue. The Company does not hold its own shares. The total number of Stora Enso shares is 788,619,987 and the total number votes at least 236,959,669.

Investor enquiries:
Anna-Lena Åström
SVP Investor Relations
tel. +46 70 210 7691

Stora Enso

Part of the global bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials and wooden construction, and one of the largest private forest owners in the world. We create value with our low-carbon and recyclable fiber-based products, through which we support our customers in meeting the demand for renewable sustainable products. Stora Enso has approximately 20,000 employees and our sales in 2023 were EUR 9.4 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm AB (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in OTC Markets (OTCQX) in the USA as ADRs and ordinary shares (SEOAY, SEOFF, SEOJF). storaenso.com/investors

STORA ENSO OYJ

Investor enquiries:
Anna-Lena Åström
SVP Investor Relations
tel. +46 70 210 7691

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com.

https://news.cision.com/stora-enso-oyj/r/stora-enso-oyj–notification-of-change-in-holdings-according-to-chapter-9–section-10-of-the-finnish,c4086606

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STORA ENSO Class R_2024-12-25_Issuer

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SOURCE Stora Enso Oyj

Technology

Truecaller continues strong growth, surpasses 400 million Android users

Published

1 hour ago

December 27, 2024

STOCKHOLM, Dec. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Truecaller, the leading global platform for verifying contacts and blocking unwanted communication, reached another important milestone on 24th of December, when the number of monthly active users (MAU) on the operating system Android surpassed 400 million. Truecaller continues to grow rapidly in many geographic markets and the total user base has grown with more than 57 million users during 2024 and has now surpassed 433 million users in total.

“Truecaller’s strong commitment to help businesses and individuals communicate better through both calls and messages, continues to grow. Our geographical footprint is growing each day, and the development in our targeted growth markets is strong. We’re thrilled at achieving this milestone and we look forward to serving the next 400 million Android users,” says Rishit Jhunjuhnwala, Chief Product Officer and incoming CEO of Truecaller.

The growth in India continues to be strong with a growth of approximately 37 million users in but the relative growth in other parts of the world is stronger with a growth of 20 million users during 2024.

Truecaller will continue to report the average number of monthly and daily users on a quarterly basis in connection with interim reports.

For more information, please contact:
Andreas Frid, Head of IR & Communication
+46 705 29 08 00
andreas.frid@truecaller.com

About Truecaller:

Truecaller (TRUE B) is the leading global platform for verifying contacts and blocking unwanted communication. We enable safe and relevant conversations between people and make it efficient for businesses to connect with consumers. Fraud and unwanted communication are endemic to digital economies. especially in emerging markets. We are on a mission to build trust in communication. Truecaller is an essential part of everyday communication for more than 433 million active users. Truecaller is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 8 October 2021. For more information. please visit corporate.truecaller.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/truecaller-ab/r/truecaller-continues-strong-growth–surpasses-400-million-android-users,c4086573

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/20429/4086573/3189667.pdf

400m MAU Android 241227

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SOURCE Truecaller AB

Technology

Xinhua Silk Road: Conference on deepening financial openness and co-op in Northeast Asia held in NE. China’s Shenyang

Published

1 hour ago

December 27, 2024

BEIJING, Dec. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The 2nd Northeast Asia Finance Conference and 2024 “Revitalizing Liaoning with Finance” Excellent Cases Release kicked off on Tuesday in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning Province, aiming to further deepen financial openness and cooperation in the Northeast Asian region and advance construction of a regional financial center.

The main forum held a series of activities, including an opening ceremony, two round-table dialogues on “finance + biomedical industry” and “finance + cultural industry”, a symposium for foreign financial institutions, a seminar on innovative development of financial clusters, a forum on development of technology and finance, a forum on industrial low-carbon transformation and financial innovation, as well as an enterprise project roadshow and industry-finance matchmaking event.

During the conference themed on “accelerating the construction of a regional financial center in Northeast Asia and creating a new highland for opening up”, excellent cases of revitalizing Liaoning through finance in 2024 were unveiled and the index for core areas of regional financial centers in northeast China was released.

The conference also held an unveiling ceremony for the upgrading of the Shenyang finance and trade development zone to a national-level development zone, and a launch ceremony of a platform for Shenyang industrial insights and decision analysis.

The conference was co-hosted by China Economic Information Service, Liaoning Branch of Xinhua News Agency, Shenhe District People’s Government, Shenyang local financial administration under guidance of Shenyang Municipal People’s Government and Liaoning local financial supervision and administration bureau.

Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/343777.html

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SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road