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Avantor® Closes Previously Announced Divestiture of its Clinical Services Business

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RADNOR, Pa., Oct. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Avantor, Inc. (NYSE: AVTR), a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences and advanced technology industries, announced that it has closed the divestiture of its clinical services business to Audax Private Equity in a transaction valued at approximately $650 million. Avantor expects the transaction to result in approximately $500 million in after-tax cash proceeds and a reduction of approximately $50 million in capitalized leases. After-tax proceeds will be used to paydown debt.

“This transaction not only strengthens our balance sheet and reduces interest expense, but also enables us to sharpen our focus on strategic growth opportunities in our lab and production businesses,” said Michael Stubblefield, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We extend our gratitude to the associates transferring with the business for their invaluable contributions and wish them continued success as they embark on this new chapter under Audax’s ownership.”

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as Avantor’s exclusive financial advisor in connection with the transaction and Arnold & Porter LLP served as Avantor’s legal advisor. Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisor to Audax and Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel to Audax.

About Avantor
Avantor® is a leading life science tools company and global provider of mission-critical products and services to the life sciences and advanced technology industries. We work side-by-side with customers at every step of the scientific journey to enable breakthroughs in medicine, healthcare, and technology. Our portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development and production activities at more than 300,000 customer locations in 180 countries. For more information, visit avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedInX (Twitter) and Facebook.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements discuss our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, including our cost transformation initiative, objectives, future performance and business. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “assumption,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “long-term,” “near-term,” “objective,” “opportunity,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “projection,” “prospects,” “seek,” “target,” “trend,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “will,” the negatives thereof and other words and terms of similar meaning.

Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions; they are not guarantees of performance. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Although we believe that our assumptions made in connection with the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that the assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could contribute to these risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, the factors described in “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as such risk factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligations to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise other than as required under the federal securities laws.

Global Media Contact
Eric Van Zanten
Head of External Communications
Avantor
610-529-6219
Eric.VanZanten@avantorsciences.com

Investor Relations Contact
Christina Jones
Vice President, Investor Relations
Avantor
805-617-5297
Christina.Jones@avantorsciences.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avantor-closes-previously-announced-divestiture-of-its-clinical-services-business-302279927.html

SOURCE Avantor and Financial News

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Mila Health Launches AI-Powered Provider Assistant to Close Care Gaps

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Mila improves patient outcomes, lowers no-show rates and communication burden

SEATTLE, Oct. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Mila Health, a leader in healthcare artificial intelligence (AI), announced today the launch of Mila, a state-of-the-art, AI-powered provider assistant that automates patient-provider interactions and closes patients’ care gaps.

Healthcare providers use Mila to autonomously guide patients to manage chronic and other conditions, lowering no-show rates while reducing manual effort. Mila engages patients with empathy, uses behavior change techniques to nudge patients, addresses open-ended questions accurately, learns from past conversations, and motivates them to comply with care plans. Mila integrates with EMRs for seamless provider workflows.  

Increasing patients’ adherence to care plans, such as annual wellness visits and procedures, improves the quality of care, decreases costs, and drives revenue. However, implementing patient-outreach programs requires manual operations, which are expensive and inconsistent. Mila resolves these issues for providers by using AI to autonomously reach out to patients to schedule their appointments, closing care gaps by more than 25% over existing baselines.

Several provider organizations, including Aayu Clinic, MIMIT Health, and Best Practices Inpatient Care, already have deployed Mila to enhance adherence, save staff time, and improve patient outcomes.

“Mila reaches out to patients and communicates in an engaging and effective way to automatically schedule appointments for the practice,” said Dr. Abhijit Shinde, MD, CEO of Aayu Clinic.  “We have increased appointments and patient adherence by 25% and reduced the time my staff spends making outreach calls by 10 hours per week. That’s crucial, since we have over 26,000 patients who need to be contacted and scheduled to meet our HEDIS quality measures. In the past, we sent letters or called patients, both expensive and ineffective methods. Mila, in turn, has been amazing.” 

“At MIMIT Health, we have several clinics that conduct hundreds of procedures per month,” said Dr. Paramjit Chopra, MD, CEO of the physician group. “We need to prepare patients for their procedures and then follow-up with them to ensure that they are adhering to their care plans. Previously, this process was manual. Today, we have integrated Mila Health into our Salesforce Health Cloud, from which we trigger automated tasks to Mila, such as scheduling follow-ups for patients past due for checkups. Mila autonomously completes the task, and when needed, automatically opens a ticket on the appropriate Slack channel. Thanks to Mila, we have saved hours of manual call operations, enabling us to prioritize our patients’ clinical needs over cumbersome administrative tasks.” 

“Mila’s AI-based automation has reduced no-show rates by more than 50%, driving down readmission and significantly improving patient health outcomes,” said Dr. Jeff Kreamer, MD, CEO of Best Practices Inpatient Care. “We discharge over a hundred patients a day from hospitals in the Chicago area and, previously, we manually called and sent scripted text reminders to ensure patient follow-up. Now, Mila autonomously calls patients to guide them in transitioning from their in-patient visits.”

“Manually delivering value-based care is costing the U.S. $234 billion annually in lost revenue, avoidable readmissions, and burnout on clinicians and staff. We are building Mila to be the most engaging assistant to deliver value-based care,” said Shailu Verma, CEO and co-founder of Mila Health. “We are building Mila to automate comprehensive post-visit care management, including symptom tracking, medication adherence, appointment management, and logistics coordination related to Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), such as scheduling transportation and care companions.”

About Mila Health
Mila Health is an innovative healthcare company from Swan AI Studios. Mila Health’s mission is to empower every individual to a better health outcome with personalized and trusted guidance. Mila is an AI-powered provider assistant that uses behavior change techniques, empathy, and nudges to engage and guide patients in their care journeys before and following visits. Patients can ask Mila questions and get clinically validated care instructions and educational resources when they need them – without additional provider involvement. To learn more, visit milahealth.com.

Media Contact:
Philip Anast (Amendola for Mila Health)
312-576-6990
panast@acmarketingpr.com

 

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SOURCE Mila Health

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BE OPEN Art launches the last regional competition of 2024 to support emerging artists of Southern Africa

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LONDON, Oct. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BE OPEN Art, an online gallery set up by Elena Baturina’s humanitarian think-tank BE OPEN, continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art, the regional competition for emerging artists aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities.

Throughout 2024, the BE OPEN expert community will continue selecting those artists who best represent the artistic tradition of a certain region to feature in the BE OPEN Art gallery and offer them greater visibility.

The fourth stage of the second year of the programme run will cover the countries of Southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The stage will traditionally last three months, and the regional winner for Southern Africa will be announced and awarded 500 euro at the end of December 2024. In the meantime, artworks by 20 emerging artists from the listed countries will be posted at the online gallery every month, and a public vote will select the Regional Artist of the Month. At the end of the stage, one of the monthly winners will become the Artist of the Region, based on the amount of votes by the public and the BE OPEN art community members.

The regional competition runs alongside the regular ongoing work of BE OPEN Art, whose experts every month select 20 new artists for the gallery, using online voting to name the Artist of the Month and the Artist of the Year. 

Aiming to support emerging talent, BE OPEN Art selects artists at an early stage of their career who emphasize social consciousness and aesthetical solutions to the wrongs of the contemporary world. The project sees its mission in looking for new influencers in the art scene, and invites everyone to contribute.

BE OPEN is a global initiative to foster creativity and innovation, a think-tank whose mission is to promote people and ideas today to build solutions for tomorrow. It is a cultural and social initiative supported by Austria-based international philanthropist and businessperson Elena Baturina.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/be-open-art-launches-the-last-regional-competition-of-2024-to-support-emerging-artists-of-southern-africa-302280498.html

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NASA, Artemis Accords Signatories Progress on Sustainable Exploration

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A record number of Artemis Accords signatories, including the United States, gathered at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the world’s largest global space conference taking place in Milan this week, furthering discussions on the safe and responsible use of space for the benefit of all.

During the space conference, top space agency leaders and other government representatives met Oct. 14 to continue advancing implementation of the Artemis Accords, marking the most comprehensive engagement yet among Accords signatories.

“As we send humans further into the solar system, collaboration and shared responsibility among nations are more critical than ever,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “The Artemis Accords provide a common sense set of principles to guide our work together, and our recent efforts to further their implementation is fostering a remarkable environment of trust and cooperation where all nations can contribute to and benefit from these endeavors.”

The high-level meeting was co-chaired by NASA, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and Italian Space Agency. With 42 of 45 signatories participating, established and emerging spacefaring nations from every region of the world were represented to help create a foundation for future space exploration for the Artemis Generation.

Leaders from each nation reflected on how the group can contribute to and advance existing multilateral forums, further technical discussions to inform policy deliberations, and promote and encourage the participation of emerging space nations including the adoption of the Artemis Accords by additional countries. They agreed on recommendations on non-interference, interoperability, release of scientific data, long-term sustainability guidelines, and registration to advance implementing the Artemis Accords. A method of operations was established for the ongoing work of the signatories.

“Promoting the participation of emerging space nations and encouraging the adoption of the Artemis Accords is crucial for the entire space,” said Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian Space Agency. “This is a matter of strategic importance in order to ensure the active and meaningful engagement of emerging space nations, both those already part of the Artemis Accords, and those poised to join in the future.”

The conversation in Milan built on previous work during a workshop in Montreal in May 2024, where participants delved into the topics such as non-interference and interoperability.

Canada is pleased to be part of a growing group of countries committed to the safety and sustainability of outer space activities,” said Lisa Campbell, CSA president. “We are strong supporters of the Artemis Accords and are pleased to have hosted the most recent workshop that advanced work on key aspects of the Artemis Accords. We look forward to continuing this important work in the coming months and years.”

In October 2023, signatories agreed on an initial set of mission data parameters to advance transparency and non-interference in conducting space activities. The data parameters identify relevant information about planned lunar surface missions including expected launch dates, the general nature of activities, and landing locations. Recent progress also included work on a database to house them. Several space agencies, including NASA, have submitted mission data to the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs for dissemination.

Potential focus areas for the next year include further advancing sustainability, including debris management for both lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon.

In 2020, the United States and seven other nations were the first to sign the Artemis Accords, which identified a set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for humanity. The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data. 

The commitments of the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/ 

 

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SOURCE NASA

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