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Elsevier acquires Osmosis.org, an innovative digital health education platform and enhances its global medical education portfolio

Elsevier

A growing demand for healthcare workers and medical education, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is driving the need for digital healthcare education solutions The highly engaging visual learning offerings of Osmosis will be applied to other areas in Elsevier’s healthcare portfolio Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, today announced that it has acquired Osmosis, a US-based visual learning platform that has simplified the complex learning journey for millions of current and future healthcare professionals and their patients around the world. There continues to be a growing need for healthcare professionals and medical education, which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Osmosis utilizes evidence-based learning science to create distinct microcontent that turn complex medical concepts into easy-to-follow learning modules. With a broad reach in 195 countries, Osmosis has more than two million subscribers on its YouTube channel, 150+ partnerships with institutions ranging from medical schools to digital health companies, and over a quarter-of-a-billion views of its content. Osmosis will join Elsevier’s Global Medical Education portfolio, complementing its advanced digital solutions, which enable students and healthcare professionals to learn and apply complex healthcare information more effectively. Elsevier intends to enhance other segments across healthcare with the effective microcontent capabilities provided by Osmosis, including supporting the learning needs of medical students and healthcare professionals, nursing students and eventually patients. Shiv Gaglani, Co-Founder and CEO, Osmosis said: “The first health education materials I used in medical school were the iconic Elsevier resources, Gray’s Anatomy and Netter’s. The Osmosis team and I are honored to be joining Elsevier given its incredible global impact on healthcare education and training, our strong cultural alignment and commitments, and its unparalleled legacy dating back over 140 years. We are excited about this next chapter working with the Elsevier team to empower tens of millions of current and future healthcare professionals and their patients around the world.” Elsevier’s broad offerings in healthcare education include content, digital learning tools and analytics for medical and nursing students to prepare them for successful careers in health professions. Elizabeth Munn, Managing Director and General Manager, Global Medical Education, Elsevier, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome the Osmosis team to Elsevier and to continue to deliver on our promise of supporting students throughout their learning journey, ultimately improving outcomes across healthcare. Osmosis has created an extraordinary team, winning culture and top-notch portfolio of health education solutions. We’re looking forward to advancing our mission together.” The acquisition of Osmosis follows Elsevier’s other acquisitions in nursing and health education, including Shadow Health, a developer of virtual nursing simulations, and 3D4 Medical, creator of the Complete Anatomy app, an advanced 3D anatomy platform with AR/VR capabilities. Jan Herzhoff, President, Health at Elsevier, said: “Our mission is to improve every patient outcome today and in the future by helping clinicians make better decisions and improving learning outcomes for future health professionals. We believe in the power of visualization and look forward to bringing together the breadth and depth of Elsevier with the innovative and highly engaging learning solutions offered by Osmosis to support the next generation of healthcare leaders.” Click here to view the announcement video. About Osmosis Osmosis.org is a health education platform that empowers millions of current and future clinicians and caregivers with the best learning experience possible. As pioneers in health education technology, Osmosis takes learning beyond textbooks and lectures by offering online educational video content that's simple, engaging, and informative. Osmosis.org has a library of over 2,100 videos covering pathology, physiology, pharmacology, and clinical practice, complete with questions, flashcards, and notes. For more information, visit www.osmosis.org. About Elsevier As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems. In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, health professionals, institutions and funders. Elsevier employs 8,100 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and health education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on our 2,500+ digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell; our 40,000 eBook titles; and our iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com About RELX RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 30,000 people of whom almost half are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The market capitalisation is approximately £44.8bn, €53bn, $59.7bn. www.relx.com Contact Details Elsevier Communications Teresa Mueller, Vice President, Global Health Markets +31 20 485 2719 t.mueller@elsevier.com Company Website https://www.elsevier.com/

November 29, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

ThreatModeler Launches IaC-Assist and CloudModeler to Reduce Threat Drift from Code to Cloud

ThreatModeler Software, Inc.

ThreatModeler, a leader in securing cloud infrastructure from design to deployment, today announced the launch of IaC-Assist and CloudModeler, enabling organizations to implement true DevSecOps. The latest iteration of the company’s technology provides continuous visibility into undiscovered flaws in application design through infrastructure-as-code (IaC) in real-time. Today, many organizations are adopting IaC to help streamline their operations. However, this can open up businesses of all sizes to a variety of new threats. IaC-Assist allows DevOps teams to continuously evaluate their IaC on-the-fly. It improves developer productivity by identifying the design flaw or vulnerability, explaining the issue represented, and providing just-in-time contextual guidance for revision. ThreatModeler embodies secure-by-design principles to provide actionable insights through continuous monitoring, so DevOps teams can detect and remediate security flaws before they become code vulnerabilities. By enabling developers to understand the full scope of their code, this update’s instant remediation capabilities simultaneously minimize risk and ensure sufficient compliance and governance protocols post-deployment. “We’ve learned that security practitioners are concerned about the speed of cloud migration because security policies are often overlooked during deployment,” said Archie Agarwal, Founder and CEO, ThreatModeler. “With the launch of IaC-Assist, ThreatModeler is bringing security into the development environment, providing real-time guidance as DevOps teams write Infrastructure-as-Code. ” With CloudModeler and IaC-Assist, ThreatModeler now enables organizations to reduce their threat drift from code to cloud. “CloudModeler did not just empower our team with visibility into the threats facing our cloud infrastructure,” said Abhishek Rath, Sr. Product Security Engineer, Sisense. “It also enables us to push security to the left in our CDLC. The real-time capabilities of CloudModeler illustrated the interconnectivity of our product data, empowering us to determine how to secure our growing technology offerings most efficiently.” IaC-Assist eliminates a whole security sprint, reducing the manual labor required to scan and remediate security threats. Its patent-pending technology integrates into the CI/CD pipeline and encourages a more proactive, preventative approach to cloud security that saves organizations time, money and resources. To learn more about the latest updates to ThreatModeler Software, Inc.’s suite of products, please visit here. About ThreatModeler Software, Inc. ThreatModeler Software, Inc.’s suite of products empowers DevOps to measure their threat drift from code to cloud. With a fraction of the time and cost tied to other tools, users can design, build and validate threat drift from development to deployment. Teams can instantly visualize their attack surface, understand security requirements and prioritize steps to mitigate threats. CISOs can make critical security-driven business decisions to scale their infrastructure for growth. Contact Details Lumina Communications Michael Stolyar ThreatModeler@LuminaPR.com

November 29, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

EXCHANGE LISTING, LLC ASSISTS ADVANCED HUMAN IMAGING TO LAUNCH ITS AMERICAN DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ON NASDAQ

Exchange Listing

Exchange Listing, LLC announced that its client, Advanced Human Imaging (Advanced Human Imaging or “The Company”), a rapidly growing medical technology company has commenced its listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) with American Depositary Receipts (“ADR’s”). Based in Perth, Australia, American Human Imaging, is a cutting-edge mHealth technology enterprise that uses artificial intelligence to make human scanning possible from a smartphone. The Company’s ADRs commenced trading on NASDAQ on November 19th, 2021 under the ticker symbol, (NASDAQ: AHI). The pricing of the Company’s U.S. initial public offering of 1,000,000 units is at a price to the public of US$10.50 per unit. Each unit issued in the offering consisted of two American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") and one warrant to purchase one ADS. Each ADS offered represents 7 ordinary shares of AHI. The warrants are exercisable immediately, and expires three years from the date of issuance and have an exercise price of US$5.52 per ADS. The ADSs and warrants are immediately separable and were issued separately. Gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses, were approximately US$10.5 million. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 300,000 ADSs and/or up to an additional 150,000 warrants to purchase up to 150,000 ADSs at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts, and commissions. “ Exchange Listing was instrumental in our achieving a listing on Nasdaq, the world's most prestigious platform for emerging growth companies,” said Vlado Bosanac. “Their guidance and knowledge was immensely valuable throughout the early stages of this complex process. This important step for AHI will allow us to increase liquidity and gain exposure for the Company with institutional and retail investors in the United States.” “Clearly, Advanced Human Imaging has transformed a smartphone into a health risk assessment tool,” said Peter Goldstein, CEO, Exchange Listing. “ The Company’s revolutionary technology can be used to assess and capture chronic disease risks or more simply track fitness goals in under one minute. There’s no doubt about the product's innovation and tremendous U.S. market potential.” Exchange Listing provides companies with cost-effective and efficient direct access to one-stop solutions in the strategic planning and implementation of listing and up-listing on senior exchanges such as the Nasdaq or NYSE. Focusing on company-specific structuring to meet listing requirements, Exchange Listing serves as the primary point of contact with the exchange, investment bankers and lawyers throughout the listing process. With extensive experience in investment banking, securities law, corporate governance and business management, Exchange Listing and its strategic partners facilitate clients' listing and capital markets objectives. About Exchange Listing Exchange Listing provides growth companies with direct access to a one-stop solution in the strategic planning and implementation of listing on a senior exchange such as NASDAQ or NYSE in a cost effective and efficient process. We assist clients in going public whether through an initial public offering, listing from another marketplace, merger or direct offering. We serve as the primary point of contact with the exchange, investment bankers, lawyers and other service providers. Our founders, strategic partners and advisors are entrepreneurs with backgrounds in investment banking, securities law, corporate governance and business management and have served as officers and directors of public and private companies. We pride ourselves in taking a hands-on role with our clients throughout the listing process. For more information, please visit: www.exchangelistingllc.com or contact info@exchangelistingllc.com. About Advanced Human Imaging: AHI has developed and patented a proprietary dimensioning technology that enables its users to check, track, and assess their dimensions in conjunction with known health risk indicators using only a smartphone both privately and accurately. Our goal is to assist our partners by empowering their consumers with this capability. This in return gives our partners the ability to assess, assist, and communicate outcomes with their consumers when navigating day to day life. Whether this is a personal journey to better health, understanding the risk associated with their physical condition, tracking the changes they are experiencing through training, dieting, or under medical regimes, or simply wanting to be correctly sized for a garment when shopping online. The AHI technology delivers this seamlessly, privately, and cost-effectively in under one minute. AHI has developed this capability by leveraging the power of Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and patented algorithms, to process the images and assessments on secure, enterprise-level infrastructure, delivering an end-to-end experience that is unrivalled in the industry. AHI simplifies the collection of measurements and removes the human error present in traditional methods. Contact Details WantLeverage Communications Julie Livingston +1 347-239-0249 julie@wantleverage.com Company Website https://exchangelistingllc.com/

November 29, 2021 08:07 AM Eastern Standard Time

100 Houstonians in Harris and Ft. Bend Counties Awarded a Total of $1 Million Through Comcast RISE, National Initiative to Support Small Business Owners

Comcast Houston

Comcast today announced the 100 recipients of the Comcast Rise Investment Fund grants. Each small business will receive a one-time $10,000 grant from the fund. More than 100 businesses in the area will also receive technology and marketing resources. The recipients are among nearly 6,700 entrepreneurs nationwide who have been selected through the Comcast RISE program, which provides marketing, technology, and capital support to small business owners. “We are proud of all of our small businesses, the impact they have in Fort Bend County is invaluable. Many of our business owners, particularly our minority owned businesses, have faced unprecedented challenges over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and require a wide range of support to help their businesses survive,” stated Fort Bend County Judge KP George. “The Comcast Rise Investment Fund Grant provides these business owners with the critical financial lifeline and the resources needed so they can sustain and grow their businesses.” Through Comcast RISE, the company also announced it is on track to support 13,000 small businesses by the end of the year with marketing or technology support such as a TV campaign, production of a TV commercial or consulting services from Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, or computer equipment, internet, voice or cybersecurity services from Comcast Business. “Since we launched Comcast RISE a year ago, we have assisted more than 200 small businesses throughout the Houston area with either marketing, technology, or monetary grants. This round of Comcast RISE grants will provide even more small business owners of color with the resources and tools they need to thrive,” said Ralph Martinez, senior vice president for Comcast’s Houston region. “We look forward to empowering their success.” To further build on the program’s success and provide support to even more small businesses, Comcast also announced today a major expansion to eligibility, enabling all women-owned small businesses nationwide to apply. This expansion recognizes and seeks to help address the persistent inequities women continue to face in accessing the resources and funding that are critical to success. Comcast RISE and the Comcast RISE Investment Fund, initially launched as a response to help small businesses owners of color hardest hit by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, continue to focus on uplifting small businesses, ensuring they continue to prosper in an ever-shifting post-pandemic economy. “As we continue to rebuild and emerge from the effects of the pandemic, small businesses will continue to be the backbone of our economy – and we must take every opportunity to help them thrive,” said Dave Watson, President and CEO, Comcast Cable. “Looking forward, this expansion will enable Comcast RISE to further empower and strengthen even more small businesses that are the heart of our local communities across the country.” In the year since its inception, Comcast RISE has awarded more than $11 million in grants and $50 million in in-kind support for marketing and technology services, impacting more than 6,700 entrepreneurs of color in 432 cities across 34 states. By the end of 2022, 13,000 businesses across the country are expected to benefit from the Comcast RISE initiative, either through the grant program or from the resources provided through Effectv and Comcast Business. In addition to the financial and business support services provided, a key part of the program is ensuring the long-term sustainability of businesses. To help address this, Comcast invests in and partners with organizations such as Ureeka to provide ongoing mentorship and resources to help small businesses succeed over the long-term. Comcast RISE, which stands for Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment, is part of Project UP, Comcast’s comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and help provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive. Over the next 10 years, Comcast has committed $1 billion to programs and partnerships that will reach an estimated 50 million people with the skills, opportunities, and resources they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world. The program will continue to be open to racially and ethnically diverse small business owners and the expanded Comcast RISE eligibility to all women-owned businesses will be effective on January 16, 2022. More information and the applications to apply for either the grant program or marketing and technology services are available at www.ComcastRISE.com. To help drive outreach and awareness about Comcast RISE and provide additional support, training and mentorship, Comcast has also awarded $50,000 in grants to local community partners – Houston Hispanic Chamber, Houston Black Chamber, Empresarios Latinos Foundation, Houston LGBT Chamber, Asian Chamber of Commerce, Greater Houston Women’s Foundation and East End Chamber of Commerce. About Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We are principally focused on broadband, aggregation, and streaming with 57 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information. About Comcast Business Comcast Business offers a suite of Connectivity, Communications, Networking, Cybersecurity, Wireless, and Managed Solutions to help organizations of different sizes prepare for what’s next. Powered by the nation’s largest Gig-speed broadband network, and backed by 24/7 customer support, Comcast Business is the nation’s largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and one of the leading service providers to the Enterprise market. Comcast Business has been consistently recognized by industry analysts and associations as a leader and innovator, and one of the fastest growing providers of Ethernet services. For more information, call 866-429-3085. Follow on Twitter @ComcastBusiness and on other social media networks at http://business.comcast.com/social. About Effectv Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, helps local, regional and national advertisers use the best of digital with the power of TV to grow their business. It provides multi-screen marketing solutions to make advertising campaigns more effective and easier to execute. Headquartered in New York with offices throughout the country, Effectv has a presence in 66 markets with nearly 35 million owned and represented subscribers. For more information, visit www.effectv.com. Contact Details Comcast Foti Kallergis +1 832-986-0196 Foti_Kallergis@comcast.com Comcast Misha McClure +1 832-547-6783 Misha_McClure@cable.comcast.com Company Website https://houston.comcast.com/

November 23, 2021 09:31 AM Central Standard Time

ONCOTELIC ANNOUNCES POSITIVE TOPLINE DATA FOR OT-101 C001 COVID STUDY

Oncotelic Therapeutics

Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. ("Oncotelic" or the "Company") (OTCQB:OTLC), a leading developer of TGF-β therapeutics for oncology and virology, today announced that its COVID-19 trial (“C001”) for OT-101 has successfully met its safety and efficacy endpoints. OT-101 is a first-in-class anti-TGF-β ribonucleic acid (“RNA”) therapeutic that has exhibited single agent activity in relapsed/refractory cancer patients in multiple clinical trials. OT-101 has also demonstrated activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19, and is currently being evaluated in the Company’s C001 clinical trial against hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients. Both tumor cells and SARS-Cov-2 induce TGF-β as part of their immune evasion mechanism. Consequently, inhibiting TGF-β by OT-101 is expected to impact both cancer and COVID. By targeting the host protein, OT-101 is expected to work against multiple respiratory viruses, including related emerging variants, unlike traditional antiviral drugs and vaccines. On October 18, Data lock and Study Data and Analysis Data Models (SDTMs & ADaMS Databases) were generated for a Phase 2 C001 Covid Study: “A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Multi-Center Study of OT-101 in Hospitalized COVID-19 Subjects”. The trial compares OT-101 + Standard of Care (“SOC”) versus Placebo + SOC (N= 32 patients, at 2:1 randomization ratio). SOC includes dexamethasone, the only drug known to improve outcomes in severe cases of COVID-19. The top line data is: Safety endpoints met. OT-101 as a TGF-β inhibitor was safe to administer to COVID-19 patients including severe/critical COVID-19 patients. Efficacy signals were obtained. End of treatment (Day 7) mortality for the entire study population was 4.5% OT-101 versus 20% for placebo. Incidence of >96% viral load knockdown on End of Treatment (Day 7) was 89% for OT-101 versus 67% for placebo. Overall survival improved 3X for critical COVID-19 patients (4 days for placebo versus 14 days for OT-101, p < 0.0166). “It is gratifying that the TGF-β concept that we put forward has now been validated,” said Dr. Vuong Trieu, CEO and Chairman of Oncotelic. “The data form the basis for further development of OT-101 as a viable treatment for severe respiratory viral infections, including flu and COVID-19. We thank the patients and investigators involved, especially Dr. Carbajal of Calle Mariscal Sucre, Chancay, Huaral, Lima, Peru, who drove the study to its conclusion.” “The resulting data clearly suggest a favorable clinical response to OT-101 in the treatment of patients with COVID-19,” noted Dr. Anthony Maida, Chief Clinical Officer – Translational Medicine. “Additionally, we were able to demonstrate that there is no evidence of delivering OT-101 and any effect relating to cytokine release syndrome.” Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. ("Oncotelic" or the "Company") (OTCQB:OTLC), a leading developer of TGF-beta therapeutics for oncology and virology. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this communication regarding strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may", "expect", "anticipate" "hope", "vision", "optimism", "design", "exciting", "promising", "will", "conviction", "estimate," "intend," "believe", "quest for a cure of cancer", "innovation-driven", "paradigm-shift", "high scientific merit", "impact potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about future plans, the progress, timing, clinical development, scope and success of future clinical trials, the reporting of clinical data for the company's product candidates and the potential use of the company's product candidates to treat various cancer indications. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical studies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment, failure of collaborators to support or advance collaborations or product candidates and unexpected litigation or other disputes. These risks are not exhaustive, the company faces known and unknown risks, including the risk factors described in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 15, 2021 and in the company's other periodic filings. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, whether as a result of new information future events, or otherwise. About Oncotelic Therapeutics Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. (f/k/a Mateon Therapeutics, Inc.) ("Oncotelic"), was formed in the State of New York in 1988 as OXiGENE, Inc., was reincorporated in the State of Delaware in 1992, and changed its name to Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. in 2016, and Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. in November 2020. Oncotelic is an artificial intelligence driven immuno-oncology company with a robust pipeline of first in class TGF-beta immunotherapies for late stage cancers such as gliomas, pancreatic cancer and melanoma. OT-101, the lead immuno-oncology drug candidate of Oncotelic, is a first-in-class anti-TGF-beta RNA therapeutic that exhibited single agent activity in relapsed/refractory cancer patients. OT-101 also has shown activity against SARS-CoV-2 and has completed a phase 2 trial against COVID-19 with data cleaning and datalock ongoing. Oncotelic is seeking to leverage its deep expertise in oncology drug development to improve treatment outcomes and survival of cancer patients with a special emphasis on rare pediatric cancers. Oncotelic also has rare pediatric designation for DIPG (OT-101), melanoma (CA4P), and AML (OXi 4503). The Company also acquired PointR Data Inc. ("PointR") in November 2019. For more information, please visit www.oncotelic.com. Contact Details Oncotelic Therapeutics Inc Amit Shah ashah@onoctelic.com Company Website https://www.oncotelic.com

November 23, 2021 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

U.S. Government Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $1 Million After Suicide Outside Georgia VA Medical Center

Bertling Law Group

The estate of a Navy veteran, who died by suicide after he was denied medical treatment at a Department of Veteran’s Affairs medical center, recently negotiated a $1 million settlement with the U.S. government as compensation for the 35 days of pain and suffering the veteran experienced before his death. The lawsuit, filed by the Bertling Law Group on behalf of the estate of Gary Steven Pressley, continues against Bobby Dodd Institute, an independent contractor responsible for operating the switchboard at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center. The lawsuit alleges that Pressley’s family notified an employee of Bobby Dodd Institute that Pressley was in the parking lot with a loaded gun and intended to shoot himself. The lawsuit states that employee Elaine Carswell did not call the onsite VA police who could have reached Pressley in minutes with officers trained to deescalate such situations. Pressley died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the parking lot of the VA Medical Center. According to the lawsuit, Pressley’s referral to a pain specialist was never scheduled and he experienced excruciating pain after being denied pain medication previously prescribed by a community pain specialist. Pressley took his own life after his VA primary care physician negligently reduced his pain medication and failed to ensure he saw a new community pain management specialist in a timely fashion. Pressley’s referral to the pain specialist was never scheduled because the VA employee responsible for processing the appointment was overworked, overwhelmed and her department was understaffed. Pressley was honorably discharged from the United States Navy with an exemplary record following a tragic car accident that left him with serious injuries to his legs, hip, pelvis, and back. He required assistance to walk and managed considerable pain daily. He had previously been seen by a community pain specialist who was referred through the VA and his life had improved considerably. The community pain specialist stopped treating veterans because the VA was not paying for her services. Pressley was furthering his education and making plans to lead a long and healthy life when the VA failed to assign him a new pain specialist. His condition deteriorated because he did not receive needed prescription pain medicine for several weeks. He reached a breaking point on April 5, 2019 and shot himself in the chest. According to attorney Peter Bertling, Pressley’s death was imminently preventable. “Gary Steven Pressley served his country admirably and had been on a path to lead a long and happy life before the negligence of the Bobby Dodd Institute brought his life to a tragic close,” said Bertling. “Had Ms. Carswell paid attention to the family’s direct warnings, Pressley would still be here today.” Bertling Law Group can help you access all available resources for compensation. Prior to providing veteran advocacy, our attorneys spent three decades defending hospitals, nurses, and doctors accused of wrongdoing, helping to spare insurance companies millions of dollars in unsubstantiated damages. We now use that insight to help injured patients recover the damages to which they are entitled. More information is available at 844-295-7558 or BertlingLawGroup.com Download a copy of the complaint here and at www.LawsuitPressRelease.com. Contact Details LawsuitPressRelease.com John P. David +1 888-859-6637 john@lawsuitpressrelease.com Company Website https://www.bertlinglawgroup.com/

November 22, 2021 01:44 PM Eastern Standard Time

American Kidney Fund Commends the U.S. House of Representatives for Including Provisions for Kidney Patients in the Build Back Better Act

American Kidney Fund

The American Kidney Fund (AKF) applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for including provisions in the Build Back Better Act that will help people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and kidney failure (end-stage renal disease, or ESRD). “Access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance and primary care physicians is the first step to ensuring that CKD is found early, which can provide kidney patients with early interventions that can slow or halt the progression of the disease,” said LaVarne A. Burton, President and CEO of the American Kidney Fund. “Enhancing Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits and strengthening the Medicaid program so more people in the United States can access affordable health insurance has been a longstanding policy priority of AKF. We are so pleased to see these provisions in the Build Back Better Act, as they will help kidney patients who rely on Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance.” Medicaid, which currently provides health coverage for one in five low-income individuals, plays a vital role in helping people prevent and manage chronic health conditions. Expanding Medicaid is an important step in helping people with CKD and ESRD. Compared to states that did not expand Medicaid, people living in states that expanded the program had lower mortality rates after going on dialysis and more patients were preemptively placed on the transplant list so they could be on dialysis for a shorter time. Medicaid expansion also resulted in improved measures of blood pressure and glucose, which is meaningful because diabetes and hypertension account for 75% of new cases of kidney failure. The Build Back Better Act includes a provision that would provide access to ACA coverage to individuals who live in states where there is a coverage gap because the state did not expand Medicaid. These individuals have incomes too high for Medicaid, but too low to qualify for ACA tax subsidies. The Build Back Better Act would expand ACA tax credits until 2025 to the lower income threshold, so they could gain access to health insurance. Additionally, AKF advocated for increased Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), which is the federal portion of the federal-state funded program of Medicaid. The Build Back Better Act would expand FMAP from 90% to 93% from 2023 to 2025. As many states are facing budget shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, states could roll back Medicaid services. The additional funding is necessary to better ensure people retain access to the health care services they need. Access to medically-appropriate prescription drugs for kidney patients must be preserved amid federal efforts to address the rising cost of prescription drugs. Patients with CKD, ESRD and who are living with kidney transplants rely on prescription drugs to manage their kidney disease and comorbidities. Most people in the U.S. who are on dialysis are on Medicare, and AKF supports policies that would result in lower drug costs and lower out-of-pocket costs for them, including a restructuring of the Medicare Part D benefit that creates a true out-of-pocket cap for beneficiaries with a smoothing mechanism. The Build Back Better Act includes a $2,000 cap. Patients who reach that $2,000 prescription drug cap in the first month will have a mechanism to pay that $2,000 over the course of months to ensure affordability. The ACA expanded access to health insurance for millions of Americans, which has helped CKD patients receive early interventions to slow the progression of their disease. AKF supports expanding advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) so insurance is more affordable. The American Rescue Plan expanded APTCs to those who make more than 400% of poverty and capped insurance premium costs to 8.5% of the income. The Build Back Better Act would extend these provisions until 2025. The provision will allow millions of Americans to retain their health insurance, which is vital for those with diabetes, heart disease, CKD and ESRD. ### About the American Kidney Fund The American Kidney Fund (AKF) fights kidney disease on all fronts as the nation’s leading kidney nonprofit. AKF works on behalf of the 37 million Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk, with an unmatched scope of programs that support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease—from prevention through transplant. With programs that address early detection, disease management, financial assistance, clinical research, innovation and advocacy, no kidney organization impacts more lives than AKF. AKF is one of the nation’s top-rated nonprofits, investing 97 cents of every donated dollar in programs, and holds the highest 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator and the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Contact Details American Kidney Fund Stefanie Tuck +1 202-470-1797 AKF@jpa.com Company Website https://www.kidneyfund.org/

November 19, 2021 11:53 AM Eastern Standard Time

Variational AI Secures $US3.5 Million in Seed Funding to Apply State-of-the-Art AI Platform to Generate Novel Small Molecule Therapeutics for Drug Development

Variational AI

Variational AI, developer of state-of-the-art generative AI technology to redefine the economics of drug development by accelerating the discovery of novel and optimized small molecules, today announced that it has raised $US3.5 million ($CDN4.3 million) in seed funding. The investment round was led by Flying Fish Ventures, Alliance of Angels and A&E Investments, with participation from Lip-Bu Tan and Amarjit Gill, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, investors and advisors. Variational AI’s Enki algorithm learns from a training set of molecules screened against drug targets from both experimental and computational sources and then generates novel molecular structures with multiple pre-defined parameters/properties optimized to avoid common causes of drug attrition. This optimization is performed in parallel and can deliver results in months versus years and requires significantly less data than competing AI offerings. “The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of accelerating drug discovery and reducing the cost and risk to developing therapeutics,” said Frank Chang managing partner, Flying Fish. “We are thrilled to invest in Variational AI’s machine learning approach to discovering new molecules, which has the potential to dramatically impact the biopharma industry.” The seed funding will enable Variational AI to accelerate existing discovery programs for COVID-19, cancer and other disease areas. The company will also utilize the new capital to hire additional leaders in medicinal chemistry, cheminformatics, and machine learning, and recruit a Scientific Advisory Board. “The Variational AI team is excited to welcome our investors in sharing our vision for redefining the economics of drug development,” said Handol Kim, co-founder and CEO, Variational AI. “We look forward to accelerating our current programs and identifying new drug targets that Enki is uniquely suited to tackle to rapidly address unmet medical needs.” About Variational AI Variational AI uses state-of-the-art machine learning in a data-efficient method to rapidly generate novel and diverse compounds that are optimized for multiple properties to avoid the most common causes of drug attrition and increase clinical probability of success. Variational AI works with leading biopharmaceutical partners and is developing its own internal pipeline. To learn more, visit https://variational.ai. Contact Details Sage Morander +1 401-490-9700 variationalai@svmpr.com Company Website https://variational.ai/

November 17, 2021 10:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

ATAP ACTION NETWORK PHYSICIANS & PATIENT ADVOCATES MEET WITH CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES

Alliance for Transparent & Affordable Prescriptions

Today, physician and patient advocates on behalf of the Alliance for Transparent and Affordable Prescriptions (ATAP) Action Network (AN) will meet virtually with congressional lawmakers’ offices as part of its 2021 Capitol Hill Day. In these meetings, ATAP member organizations are advocating for lowering prescription drug prices for their patients by bringing accountability to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry. ATAP is an active advocate for patients in federal and state battles to amplify the voices of patients and physicians – especially as it relates to exposing PBM abuses and the impact on access to therapies (medications) needed for the treatment of patients. In the meetings today, ATAP AN will speak to congressional offices about three pieces of legislation, including: the PBM Accountability Study Act (H.R. 1829/S. 298), the Drug Price Transparency Act (S. 1523), and the Prescription Pricing for the People Act (S. 1388). “We are proud to bring policymakers the voices of patients and providers, two groups grossly underrepresented in the drug pricing debate’” said Dr. Robert Levin, the President of ATAP. “These voices from our members, combined with supporting advocacy organizations, and individuals fearing drug cost affordability, will surely inspire national leaders to take action to fix problems created by the PBM industry.” ATAP AN will meet with congressional member offices from Florida, Wisconsin, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Maryland, and California. Michael Schweitz, President of ATAP Action Network and Member of the Florida Society of Rheumatology, stated, “Officials in Washington understand that our members, those on the front lines of medical care, offer a valuable perspective. We see the struggles and confusion that patients are put through by this completely unnecessary middleman industry. We appreciate to opportunity to share these experiences and help more legislators see the light – and shine it on the PBMs.” Several ATAP member organizations are participating in meetings including, the American College of Rheumatology, the Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations, Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc., and many others. Kathleen A. Arntsen President & CEO of Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, (an ATAP member organization) stated, "As a patient-led organization representing those facing serious health conditions, we have direct experience with the frustration in struggling to access affordable and appropriate treatments due to PBM interference. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share this information with elected officials and are hopeful that they will stand with patients and support fair drug pricing legislation that holds the PBM industry accountable." “PBMs generate significant profits while patients struggle to afford the cost of care,” said Steven Newmark, Director of Policy at the Global Healthy Living Foundation (an ATAP member organization). “We will show elected officials and policymakers what is really happening in exam rooms, and the stress patients experience due to PBM interference. There is a better way.” Updates from the meetings will be shared at https://atapadvocates.com/ and on Twitter with the hashtag, #ATAPHillDay21. About ATAP ATAP was created in 2017 with a mission to address prescription drugs costs and patient access to affordable treatment by regulating PBM practices and reforming the drug industry through educational outreach and grassroots advocacy initiatives at both the state and federal levels. Driven by the reality that many patients struggle to afford their medications, the physician and patient advocacy organizations joined to shine a light on the abusive practices of PBMs. ### To schedule an interview with an ATAP spokesperson please contact Dan Rene of kglobal at 202-329-8357. Please visit http://www.atapadvocates.com ATAP's mission is to address prescription drugs costs and patient access to affordable treatment by regulating PBM practices and reforming the drug industry through educational outreach and grassroots advocacy initiatives at both the state and federal level. Contact Details Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 daniel.rene@kglobal.com Company Website http://www.atapadvocates.com

November 16, 2021 10:58 AM Eastern Standard Time

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