Tech unemployment rate falls to 2%

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tech hiring increased during the latest jobs data release, resulting in a corresponding decrease in the tech unemployment rate, CompTIA, the world’s leading provider of vendor-neutral information technology (IT) training and certification products, reported today.

Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) #JobsReport data reveals the tech unemployment rate dropped to 2% in December, the lowest level since November 2023. The national unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.1% for the month.

The base of tech employment throughout the economy increased by a net new 7,000 positions. In the aggregate the core tech workforce totals nearly 6.5 million workers.¹

Employment within the technology industry sector, encompassing all types of workers, declined by 6,117 jobs.² Positions in PC, semiconductor and components manufacturing accounted for the bulk of the cuts. The tech sector employs nearly 5.6 million people, which translates to a percentage decline of 1%.

“This marks the 100th release of the CompTIA Tech Jobs report,” noted Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA. “What an incredible journey in tracking tech workforce trends over the past decade. A true honor to be at the center of such an innovative and dynamic space.”

There were 434,415 active employer job postings for tech positions in December, including 165,189 newly added during the month.³ Both totals were down from November. Positions in software development and engineering, IT project management, cybersecurity, data science and analysis and tech support had the most activity.

Companies with the largest numbers of December job postings included Amazon, Accenture, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, GovCIO, Robert Half, Lumen Technologies and Insight Global.

Employers listed open positions at all career levels. Among postings that specified a work experience requirement, 22% sought candidates with 0-3 years of experience; 28% of openings sought workers with 4-7 years of experience; and 16%, 8 years or more.

Across all tech occupations 45% of December job postings did not specify a four-year degree requirement for applicants. Openings for network support specialists (85%), tech support specialists (72%) and computer programmers (54%) had notably higher percentages.

The “CompTIA Tech Jobs Report” is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/tech-jobs-report.

About CompTIA
CompTIA Inc. is the world’s leading provider of vendor-neutral information technology (IT) training and certification products. CompTIA unlocks potential in millions of aspiring technology professionals and careers changers. Working in partnership with thousands of academic institutions and training providers, CompTIA helps students build career-ready skills through best-in-class learning solutions, industry-recognized certifications and career resources.
Learn more at https://www.comptia.org/.

Media Contact
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
sostrowski@comptia.org
+1.630.678.8468

¹ Monthly occupation level data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tends to experience higher levels of variance and volatility.
² Labor market data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and employer job postings from Lightcast may be subject to backward revisions.
³ Active job postings include open postings carried over from previous months and new postings added by employers.

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SOURCE CompTIA

Partnership will leverage Iktos’s AI-enabled drug discovery platform and Cube Biotech’s advanced protein technologies to develop novel agonists of the Amylin Receptor

PARIS and MONHEIM, Germany, Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Iktos, a leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics for drug design, and Cube Biotech, a pioneer in membrane protein production and purification technologies, today announced a strategic collaboration to discover novel small molecule agonists of the Amylin Receptor.

The partnership combines Iktos’ generative AI-driven drug discovery and robotic synthesis platform with Cube Biotech’s advanced native membrane protein technology NativeMPTM, as well as their purification and biophysical assay expertise, to accelerate the development of breakthrough therapies. This paves the way for a joint collaborative offering directed towards pharmaceutical companies, combining the strengths of both platforms to undertake their most challenging drug discovery programs.

Amylin receptor agonists hold significant promise for addressing unmet medical needs in cardiometabolic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic hepatitis (MASH). The Amylin Receptor regulates appetite and satiety, making it a compelling target for obesity, which affects over one-third of the global population. Existing GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies like semaglutide or the peptide Amylin analogue Pramlintide have limited impact due to high costs, accessibility, and undesirable side effects.

Orally administered novel small molecule agonists of the Amylin receptor could overcome these barriers, offering scalable and effective treatments and providing better management for the growing obesity epidemic and its comorbidities. However, the receptor’s structural and biological complexity has long posed challenges for discovering viable low-molecular-weight modulators.

“By tackling one of the most pressing unmet needs in cardiometabolic disorders, our partnership with Cube Biotech aims to discover improved treatments for patients affected by obesity, diabetes, and related conditions,” said Yann Gaston-Mathé, Co-founder and CEO of Iktos. “We are excited to add the Amylin Receptor to our pipeline as this complex, yet promising target demands innovation at every stage. We see this collaboration as a foundation for future initiatives, extending the reach of our combined platform to address the most challenging membrane targets for the benefit of our pharma partners.”

Iktos has developed a cutting-edge 3D generative chemistry technology for structure-guided de novo design that natively accounts for protein flexibility during molecule optimization—a key advantage over models like AlphaFold, which can only be applied post-molecule generation. Cube Biotech has developed a world-leading protein production platform, based on NativeMP™ technology, which preserves the natural configuration of membrane proteins – a key advantage in accessing biologically active drug targets for testing. The company’s native protein stabilization technology enhances the reliability and precision of functional assays, structural insights, and downstream applications.

“Amylin Receptor is a challenging but highly promising target for metabolic disorders”, said Dr. Barbara Maertens, Co-founder and COO of Cube Biotech. “Through our collaboration with Iktos, we aim to leverage our advanced protein stabilization and structural analysis technologies to validate and accelerate the discovery of novel small molecule agonists. Together, we are setting a new standard for efficiency and innovation in drug discovery.”

These integrated technologies endeavor to overcome longstanding inefficiencies in drug discovery, shortening timelines, improving success rates, and unlocking new possibilities for targeting complex and historically elusive membrane proteins, such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), membrane transporters, ion channels, and others.

About Iktos

Iktos is a leader in artificial intelligence and robotic solutions applied to research in medicinal chemistry and new drug design. Iktos’ proprietary and innovative generative AI solution enables the design of molecules that are optimized in silico to meet all the success criteria of a small molecule discovery project. The use of Iktos technology enables major productivity gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. Iktos offers its technology through the SaaS software platforms Makya™ for generative drug design and Spaya™ for retrosynthesis, and through strategic collaborations with pharma companies where Iktos mobilizes its unique platform and leading-edge capabilities to expedite small molecule drug discovery for the benefit of its partners. Iktos has also developed Iktos Robotics, a unique AI-driven synthesis automation platform that dramatically accelerates the Design-Make-Test-Analyze cycle in drug discovery and is developing its own pipeline of drug candidates targeting oncology and auto-immune and inflammatory diseases. In March 2023, Iktos completed a 15.5M€ Series A financing round co-led by M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation with contribution by Omnes Capital. In July 2024, Iktos announced the acquisition of Synsight, thereby complementing its Chemistry AI platform with a groundbreaking biology platform for the discovery of new drugs targeting Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI) and RNA-Protein Interactions (RPI).

About Cube Biotech Cube Biotech is a leader in membrane protein production, purification, and characterization technologies. With proprietary copolymer-based solutions that maintain biological integrity in native-like protein states, Cube Biotech enables groundbreaking research in challenging drug targets, including membrane receptors, protein co-expressions, and even larger complexes.

The company’s expertise in assay development, biophysical characterization, and structural resolution supports efficient drug discovery workflows across the pharmaceutical and biotechnical industries. Additionally, an extensive purification resin and magnetic bead portfolio for affinity chromatography and efficient protein purification is manufactured in-house at high quality. For more information, visit www.cube-biotech.com.

Media Contact:
Eleonora Echegaray
P: 35 823189279
E: 388591@email4pr.com

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SOURCE Iktos

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — SAR, a data analytics company specialized in the securities litigation risk of U.S. public companies, today published the Securities Class Action Rule 10b-5 Exposure Report for 4Q 2024. According to the report, securities litigation exposure of public company defendants that trade in the NYSE and NASDAQ peaked during the fourth quarter of 2024, when records were set across the buoyant U.S. equity markets. During the bullish market conditions of 2024, shareholders claimed approx. $665.2 billion in market capitalization losses due to alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 – the most in the last five years.

According to the report, global quarterly Rule 10b-5 securities litigation exposure in 2024 was 17% greater than the average of 2023. Actual monetary settlements with investor plaintiffs last year were, on average, 23% greater than during the last six years.

SAR data and analysis indicate that the litigation exposure of U.S. public company defendants amounts to approximately $380.3 billion in 2H 2024. Shareholders claimed approximately $4.0 billion in market capitalization losses per securities class action filing, and approximately $2.0 billion per allegedly fraud-related stock drop in 2H 2024. The former metric increased by 32.1%, and the latter by 15.4% during the second half of 2024.

“Our data and analyses indicate that securities litigation exposure against U.S. public companies peaked in the fourth quarter of last year. This peak may be short-lived with an expected increase in volatility and new headwinds for U.S. equities given greater shareholder scrutiny of corporate disclosures. With average Rule 10b-5 settlements over 20% greater in 2024 than during the last six years, litigation activity is expected to increase in 2025,” said Anthony Kabanek, EVP of SAR.

According to the report, in 2023 and 2024 investor plaintiffs claimed $13.6 billion and $20.5 billion, respectively, in private Rule 10b-5 securities-fraud class actions that relied on short-seller research.

Key takeaways:

86 U.S. issuers were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 during 2H 2024. Based on allegations presented in the first-filed class action complaint against each defendant issuer, U.S. SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $259.4 billion. U.S. SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure decreased -5.4% relative to 1H 2024.

U.S. SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure peaked in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, followed by a decline to trend in the 4th quarter of 2024.

9 Non-U.S. issuers were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 during 2H 2024. Based on allegations presented in the first-filed class action complaint against each defendant issuer, ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $120.9 billion. ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure increased by 11.3x relative to 1H 2024.

An anomalously high 4th quarter exposure among Non-U.S. issuers contributed to a remarkably volatile year for ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure.

Rule 10b-5 private securities-fraud filing frequency and potential loss severity need not move in tandem. Global exposure increased by approximately 34% in the 2H 2024 relative to 1H 2024, while filing frequency remained relatively stable.

38 U.S. Large Caps were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 in 2H 2024, the same observed frequency as 1H 2024. The U.S. Large Cap SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $233.7 billion, a decrease of 10.1% relative to 1H 2024.

22 U.S. Mid Caps were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 In 2H 2024. The U.S. Mid Cap SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $19.8 billion, more than 3 times the amount in 1H 2024.

26 U.S. Small Caps were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5. The U.S. Small Cap SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $5.9 billion, a decrease of 33% relative to 1H 2024.

9 Non-U.S. issuers that trade via ADRs in the U.S. public markets were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5. The ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure increased by over 11.3x to ~$121 billion, relative to 1H 2024.

Media contact: info@sarlit.com

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SOURCE SAR