Paladone WeCool strengthens US leadership team with new appointment

POINT PLEASANT, N.J., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Paladone WeCool, the global consumer products company behind a portfolio of licensed and proprietary toys, gifts and creative play products, has announced the appointment of Matthew Lauderbach as Product Development Director.

Matthew joins Paladone WeCool with more than 25 years of experience in toy design and product development. Throughout his career, he has held leadership roles with organizations including Fisher-Price, Spin Master, Skip Hop and Just Play. His expertise spans concept creation, design management, engineering and commercialization.

Commenting on his appointment, Matthew Lauderbach said:

"I've long admired Paladone WeCool's ability to create products that inspire creativity and encourage hands-on play. I was already a fan of the Compound Kings and iLY Sticker Maker ranges, having seen firsthand how engaging those products can be for kids.

"The company's commitment to innovation, quality and product development made this an exciting opportunity, and I'm looking forward to helping expand the portfolio and bring new products to market."

Jeff Osnato, President of WeCool Toys, added:

"Matthew brings valuable experience and industry insight to Paladone WeCool at an important time in our growth. His expertise across product development will strengthen our US operation and help us continue to deliver products that connect with consumers, retailers and our licensing partners.

"We're delighted to welcome Matthew to the team and look forward to seeing the impact he'll make."

About Paladone WeCool:

Paladone is a global leader in licensed and non-licensed toys, games, gifts and branded merchandise. With showrooms worldwide and a commitment to trend-led, quality products, Paladone continues to delight consumers and build trusted partnerships with retailers globally.

WeCool Toys Inc. is a global designer and manufacturer of innovative toys, compounds, crafts and sensory products. With end-to-end capabilities spanning concept development through to worldwide distribution, the company has launched thousands of products across more than 35 countries. WeCool is focused on redefining creative play through innovation, speed to market and category-leading product experiences.

Together, the two companies combine creative innovation, manufacturing expertise and global retail reach to deliver market-leading products to consumers around the world.

Media contact: Harriette Bond, PMW Communications

T: +44 1403 783400 Ext 211, M: +44 7849 759899, E: [email protected]

SOURCE Paladone WeCool Toys

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Ittikar Is Live and Open to New Members

The private capital network for family offices has been in the hands of its 100 Founding Members since March and has already closed two of Mondevo Group's own acquisitions.

ABU DHABI, UAE and GENEVA, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In November 2025, Mondevo Group announced its vision: to create a private capital network for global family offices, with AI at its core. Four months later the platform was live, ahead of plan. It is now open beyond its founding group.

Ittikar is where family offices analyse deals, invest and raise capital. Behind it sits a family office with a 25-year investment track record and relationships across 500 family offices. Mondevo Group used the platform to acquire Caruso, the Italian menswear house, in February, and Underscore District, the Milan-based brand accelerator behind Magliano, GR10K and the multi-brand retailer WOK Store, in August. Ittikar's due diligence engine carried both deals from analysis through to completion.

"We did not launch Ittikar with a demonstration. We launched it on our own deals, with our own capital. The Group bought Caruso and Underscore District with the same engine our members use: the whole data room read and graded in days, every finding sourced, the investment committee memorandum drafted before the advisers would normally have finished their first pass."

Fabio Brambilla, Co-founder, Ittikar and Mondevo Group

Mondevo Tech, the Group's technology division, builds Ittikar in-house: more than 50 engineers directing 120 AI coding agents. It is developed in alignment with GDPR, NIS 2 and the EU AI Act. Each member family holds its data in its own sovereign Data Pod, in a jurisdiction of its choice, under its own encryption.

"A family's data is the family's. That principle determined the architecture, and it is why we built to the strictest European standards rather than the most convenient ones."

Cristiano Motto, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ittikar and Mondevo Group

The intelligence behind the platform is vertical. Every member has their own assistant, Itti, and the specialist agents behind it work in one domain: private markets. They are calibrated to each family's investment profile, its Capital DNA™, and built on how a deal team reads a data room, how an investment committee weighs risk, and how a raise is structured and matched.

"Generic AI can summarise a document. It cannot take a family office through a transaction. Ittikar's AI was built by people with experience executing real transactions and applying institutional investment standards. The AI does the analysis. Ittikar's investment team reviews every deal before it is published on the platform. The family decides."

Chris Shann, Head of Investment and AI Enablement, Ittikar

The Founding Members are deliberately diverse: founding families, single family offices, multi-family offices, entrepreneurs and family conglomerates, across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, and across industries from consumer and luxury to real estate, finance, industry and Technology. With the first release complete, Ittikar now opens at tiered levels of membership. Details are at ittikar.com.

"Ittikar is a business enabled by AI. It analyses data at a depth no single family office could resource, and shortens the deal cycle from months to days. It is a buy-side platform, built for family offices, not a place where deals are sold to investors. Members see only what matches their Capital DNA™, rather than the unfiltered deal flow the market is used to."

Hussam Otaibi, Founder, Ittikar and Mondevo Group

Development of the second release began in September. Like the first, it will run for nine months, with capabilities delivered progressively up to June 2027: portfolio analysis, monitoring and reporting in early 2027, negotiation tools in the second quarter, and by mid 2027 the ability for members to tokenise assets and settle co-investments on distributed ledgers, delivered through licensed partners. A first tokenisation proof of concept is planned before the end of this year.

Notes to editors

About Ittikar. Ittikar is the private capital network for global family offices, built by a family office and enabled by AI. It is where family offices analyse deals, invest and raise capital: institutional-grade due diligence, curated co-investment and direct capital raising on one buy-side platform, where every member sees only what matches its Capital DNA™. Live since March 2026. Part of the Mondevo Group.

www.ittikar.com

About Mondevo Group. Mondevo Group is a global private holding company operating at the intersection of investment, technology and luxury. It harnesses AI-native capabilities and a worldwide network of ultra-high-net-worth families to build enduring businesses in sectors with high barriers to entry and strong long-term growth. www.mondevogroup.com

Media contact

Roberta Callegari, Head of Media and Communications, Mondevo Group and Ittikar

[email protected]

This press release is for general information purposes only and does not constitute, and should not be construed as, an offer, invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity, or a solicitation to buy, sell or subscribe for any security or other financial instrument. It is not investment, legal, tax or other professional advice and should not be relied upon in connection with any investment decision. Membership numbers, network figures and references to transactions completed with the support of the platform are stated as at the date of this release, may be approximate, and are provided as illustration only; past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. References to licences, authorisations or certifications described as in process, expected or being finalised indicate an intention only, with no assurance that they will be obtained or obtained on the timetable indicated. Statements about future platform capabilities are forward looking and subject to change; actual outcomes may differ materially. Regulated services, where offered, are provided only by an appropriately licensed entity, in the jurisdictions where it is permitted to do so, under separate agreement. This release is not directed at, and must not be acted upon by, any person in a jurisdiction where doing so would be contrary to applicable law or regulation.

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Hotel Royal Hoi An - The Legacy By The River named Vietnam's Leading Riverfront Hotel 2026 at the World Travel Awards

HOI AN, Vietnam, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotel Royal Hoi An – The Legacy By The River has been named Vietnam's Leading Riverfront Hotel 2026 at the World Travel Awards 2026, recognising its distinctive sense of place, riverside setting and commitment to creating meaningful experiences for guests in one of Vietnam's most cherished cultural destinations.

Set along the tranquil Thu Bon River in the heart of Hoi An, the hotel offers a refined retreat where the spirit of the destination naturally becomes part of the guest experience. Art-inspired interiors, thoughtful design and a deep connection to Hoi An's cultural heritage create an atmosphere that feels both timeless and contemporary.

The hotel's story is closely connected to the historic relationship between Vietnam and Japan, brought to life through the enduring love story of Vietnamese Princess Ngoc Hoa and Japanese merchant Sotaro Araki. This heritage-inspired narrative is reflected throughout the hotel, inviting guests to discover Hoi An through its history, art, architecture and distinctive sense of place.

The World Travel Awards celebrate excellence across the global travel and tourism industry. This recognition marks a meaningful milestone for Hotel Royal Hoi An as it continues its journey to offer thoughtful, memorable hospitality in Central Vietnam.

A Legacy By The River

Rather than simply reflecting its surroundings, the hotel invites guests to experience Hoi An in a more personal way — through its architecture, cuisine, riverside setting and warm, attentive service.

The hotel's dining and lifestyle experiences offer different ways to connect with the destination. Royal Café provides a relaxed setting for coffee and light dining, while The Deck, the highest rooftop bar in Hoi An, offers sweeping views across the Thu Bon River and the historic town. At Wakaku Restaurant, Japanese cuisine and design echo the cultural connection at the heart of the hotel's story.

For moments of relaxation, The River Lounge and The Maison surround the Art Nouveau-inspired pool, creating elegant spaces to slow down, reconnect and enjoy the gentle rhythm of the river.

The hotel also offers distinctive settings for weddings, celebrations and private occasions. From intimate gatherings beside the Art Nouveau-inspired pool to celebrations at The Deck and elegant ballroom events, each venue provides a unique backdrop for memorable moments in Hoi An.

Hotel Royal Hoi An . The Legacy By The River

Hoi An . Da Nang . Vietnam

39 Dao Duy Tu, Hoi An, Da Nang City, Vietnam

https://hotelroyalhoian.vn/

SOURCE HOTEL ROYAL HOI AN, The Legacy by the River

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JIATF-401 coordinates counter-UAS efforts across the U.S. military and federal agencies, working with government and industry partners to address evolving drone threats.

The contract supports JIATF-401's Domestic Shield Program and associated global operational missions, addressing force protection, base defense, and counter-UAS requirements in the United States and overseas. The contract's scope includes hardware, software and updates, training, and support services. The quantity, scope, and timing of future deliveries will be determined through individual delivery orders.

Combining artificial intelligence, computer vision, and advanced target-tracking algorithms, Smart Shooter's lightweight, rifle-mounted SMASH fire control systems track the target, calculate the firing solution, and synchronize shot release when the weapon is precisely aligned. This brings precise kinetic counter-drone capability to the individual soldier through the standard service weapon, while preserving its normal use against ground targets. The operator retains the decision to engage, and the system can connect with external sensors and battle management systems.

The agreement follows Smart Shooter's earlier contract with JIATF-401, announced in March 2026, and a series of new and follow-on awards Smart Shooter secured over the past year to support the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Thousands of SMASH systems are already deployed across U.S. military services.

"Domestic Shield is about giving defenders the tools to stop small, fast-moving drones before they can harm forces, bases, and critical assets," said Michal Mor, CEO and Co-Founder of Smart Shooter. "This award, and the framework it provides for future orders of up to $150 million, marks a significant milestone in the expansion of our activity in the U.S. defense market."

"JIATF-401 is continuously working with industry partners to provide the counter-UAS capabilities needed to protect warfighters and installations," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF-401. "Our approach allows us to identify the right capabilities for specific operational requirements and rapidly deliver those capabilities to the warfighter."

Smart Shooter's SMASH family of fire control systems is deployed by defense and security forces in the United States, Israel, the UK, Germany, and other NATO and allied nations. The company has offices in Israel, the United States, Europe, and Australia. For further information, visit https://www.smart-shooter.com/

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE SMARTSHOOTER

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SALOMON Golden Trail World Series Returns to the Great Wall

CHENGDE, China, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jinshanling Great Wall Trail Race, the penultimate stop of the 2026 SALOMON Golden Trail World Series (GTWS), closed on Sunday as the last points-scoring race before the season-ending Grand Final.

Founded by SALOMON in 2018, the GTWS was built on a simple premise: short, fast racing on spectacular terrain, staged at landmark locations and stacked with the sport's best athletes. Jinshanling, back at the Great Wall for a second year, has become the one race in China where the country's top runners and the world's share the same course on the same day.

A world-class field on an ancient ridge

Thirty-six elite runners toed the line — one of the strongest international fields ever assembled for a race in China — and it raced like it: a hard, tactical fight from the gun rather than a procession.

The course is why the race travels. Ancient stone underfoot, the Yan Mountains on the horizon, and long, grinding climbs that punish anyone who goes out too fast. There is nothing else like it on the GTWS calendar, and that uniqueness is increasingly why international athletes build China into their season rather than treating it as a one-off.

SALOMON international elite athlete Joey Hadorn of Switzerland used the descents to move through the field and took third in the men's race in 2:15:42. In the women's race, SALOMON international elite athlete Caroline Kimutai of Kenya stayed with the front group all day and finished third in 2:43:33. China's Chi Lingjie, one of the most accomplished trail runners in the country, was the leading Chinese finisher, crossing in 2:51:22 for seventh.

From solo speed runs to squad tactics

SALOMON has rebuilt the format this season. A new team ranking system puts eight brand teams — Team SALOMON among them — on a collective leaderboard, and points are now awarded on designated uphill, downhill and sprint segments. Team SALOMON also finished top of the Team Ranking at Jinshanling.

The effect is that racing is no longer a straight test of who is fastest on the day. Runners have to decide where to spend their energy; teams have to decide who runs where. For anyone following the series on broadcast, it also turns a season of one-off results into a story with a through-line.

Bigger prize money, tighter governance

SALOMON has raised the stakes. Prize money across the series is up 50% on 2025, to €451,000, with the men's and women's season champions each taking €30,000 — enough to make committing to the full circuit worth an athlete's season, not just a single stop.

The same logic runs through integrity. Every GTWS race now carries 10 anti-doping tests across multiple substance categories, including EPO screening, with a further 50 out-of-competition tests spread across the season. It is a heavier programme than trail running has generally been used to, and it is deliberate: the series wants to be read as a governed competition, not just a spectacle.

Why Jinshanling matters to trail runners everywhere

For the global trail community, Jinshanling has become the clearest window onto how far the sport has come in China. Now in its third year in the country, the series has given Chinese runners world-class racing at home, and given international athletes a first-hand look at the terrain, the crowds and the culture that define trail running here.

5 days before the race, SALOMON staged the Great Wall Chase Challenge, sending international elites, members of the SALOMON Next-Gen squad and runners from local clubs out along the Wall together. The weekend fell over the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, folding one of China's oldest traditions into a modern trail race — competitors and spectators got the racing, and they got the atmosphere that comes with it.

Through its strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and its work with media partners in China, SALOMON is carrying all of that well beyond the mountains. Chinese landscapes, Chinese racing and Chinese trail culture are now on screens worldwide, which is the point: this is how a scene that has been building for years gets seen.

From China to the world

Athletes are where it becomes concrete. Chi Lingjie returned to Jinshanling and showed again what Chinese trail talent looks like at international level. Alongside her, Zhu Yutao of the SALOMON Next-Gen — with teammates Zhang Ziyue and Chang Miaomiao — represents the wave behind her. Racing the world's best on home terrain gives them a direct read on elite pace and race craft; it also puts China's emerging runners in front of a global audience that is watching closely.

Underneath the racing is a longer project. Over three seasons in China, SALOMON has consistently done four things: imported international race standards, funded a professional prize structure, built a youth pathway through the Next-Gen squad, and used its global broadcast reach to put Chinese racing in front of the world. The aim is not a single race weekend. It is to give a fast-growing national scene a route into the mainstream of the sport — and to let Chinese athletes race at world level at home before they go abroad.

Three years in, Jinshanling is no longer an exotic one-off on the GTWS calendar. It is a fixture: the race that brings the world's best to a Chinese mountainside, and the one that sends Chinese runners back out into the world.

SOURCE SALOMON

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EQT Foundation commits more than €1 million to help unlock new ways of delivering medicines to the brain

- 11 research projects working to improve how therapeutics reach the brain and central nervous system are supported through the latest EQT Foundation Science Grant

- Researchers are pursuing multiple routes through and around the blood-brain barrier, including engineered biological carriers, molecular shuttles, gene therapy vectors, nanoparticles and AI-designed delivery technologies

- The program targets a fundamental challenge in CNS medicine that limits the development of treatments for neurological, neurodegenerative, oncological and rare genetic diseases

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT Foundation has committed more than EUR 1 million to 11 research projects aiming to develop new ways to overcome that challenge, supporting technologies that could make a wider range of medicines viable for diseases of the central nervous system.

The projects, based at 10 research institutions across the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States and Canada, approach brain delivery from very different scientific directions. Some are engineering the body's own transport mechanisms to carry therapeutic cargo. Others are designing new molecular shuttles, viral vectors and nanoparticles, or exploring less conventional routes into the central nervous system. Several of the projects are already applying these technologies to specific diseases, including brain cancer, ALS and rare genetic disorders.

The common challenge is the blood-brain barrier: a highly selective biological interface that protects the brain from potentially harmful substances circulating in the bloodstream, but at the same time makes many otherwise promising medicines difficult to deliver. This has implications well beyond any single disease. New delivery technologies could enable emerging modalities such as gene editing, RNA medicines, antibodies and other large-molecule therapeutics to reach targets in the brain that are currently inaccessible.

Cilia Holmes Indahl, Head of EQT Foundation, said: "I believe that science can now design increasingly sophisticated medicines. For the brain, the question is whether they can get to where they need to go, which makes delivery the problem underneath all the others. This group is trying a remarkably wide set of answers, from borrowing pathways the body already has to building entirely new ones. If any of them work, they could potentially work for many diseases at once. That is exactly the kind of early, step-change science we want to back."

The researchers receiving funding are developing technologies that span both established and emerging approaches to CNS delivery:

- Elga de Vries, Amsterdam UMC (Netherlands): Developing extracellular vesicles — naturally occurring particles used by cells to transport biological material — as carriers capable of bringing therapeutic cargo across the blood-brain barrier.

- Sophia Shi, Harvard University (United States): Developing "GlycoShuttles", a new approach that seeks to use glycans on the surface of brain blood vessels as an entry mechanism for therapeutics and improve their distribution within the brain.

- Maarten Dewilde and Els Henckaerts, KU Leuven (Belgium): Creating a modular VHH-based adaptor designed to redirect AAV gene therapies toward alternative transport receptors at the blood-brain barrier, potentially expanding the options for systemic gene delivery to the brain.

- Ana Raquel Pato Santa Maria, Wyss Institute at Harvard University (United States): Developing dual-target brain shuttles intended to improve both the transport and retention of antibody and oligonucleotide therapeutics in the central nervous system.

- Praveen Raju, University of California San Diego (United States): Developing a targeted nanomedicine approach that aims to transport drugs into the brain specifically where disease has altered the blood-brain barrier, with an initial application in pediatric brain tumors.

- Jeroen Pasterkamp, University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands): Investigating engineered extracellular vesicles as carriers for gene-editing tools targeting motor neurons, initially focusing on a genetic form of juvenile ALS.

- Niek van Til, Amsterdam UMC (Netherlands): Developing an approach with the aim to enable therapeutic intracellular proteins to move across the blood-brain barrier through transcytosis, with an initial application in neurometabolic disease.

- Saman Fatima, Seattle Children's Hospital / University of Washington (United States): Using artificial intelligence to design compact macrocyclic peptides that could act as reusable shuttles for carrying different therapeutic payloads into the brain.

- Umar Iqbal, National Research Council Canada (Canada): Developing lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery to the central nervous system, combining blood-brain barrier targeting with receptor-mediated transport.

- Servio Ramirez, University of Florida (United States): Developing next-generation AAV vectors designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and selectively deliver therapeutic genes to microglia, the brain's resident immune cells. The platform is being developed initially for CSF1R-related disorders, a group of rare and devastating neurodegenerative diseases, with the potential to be adapted to other disorders involving microglial dysfunction.

- Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke, VIB and Ghent University (Belgium): Examining whether the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier could provide an alternative route into the central nervous system, and how its effectiveness compares with delivery directly across the blood-brain barrier.

The grants are intended to provide researchers with early, flexible capital with the aim to generate the evidence needed to help advance promising concepts toward further translational development.

The initiative sits within EQT Foundation's Science program, which backs entrepreneurial researchers developing early-stage climate and health technologies with the potential for significant impact. Alongside grant funding, researchers can access commercialization expertise and EQT's global network of scientific, industry and entrepreneurial experts as they work to move their discoveries beyond the laboratory.

Contact

EQT Press Office, 

[email protected] 

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

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Milestone initiates Newronika's international pivotal study comparing adaptive and conventional deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease

MILAN, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Newronika S.p.A., a medical technology company developing adaptive deep brain stimulation therapies, today announced that the first participant in the pivotal ADVENT study has received the αDBS® implant. The procedure was performed on September 21st at the Hospital Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori in Monza.

The milestone marks an important step in the ADVENT pivotal study, which is currently enrolling participants.

ADVENT is evaluating Newronika's αDBS® adaptive deep brain stimulation system in people with Parkinson's disease who have been referred for bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus.

"Completing the first implantation procedure in the ADVENT study at an Italian study site is an important milestone for Newronika and for the clinical development of adaptive deep brain stimulation," said Lorenzo Rossi, Co-Founder and CEO of Newronika. "This study is designed to generate rigorous evidence by comparing adaptive and conventional stimulation in the same participants. We are grateful to the participant, the clinical team, and all the investigators contributing to this international study."

"Performing the first implantation in ADVENT marks an important milestone for the study and for the neuromodulation program at Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, reflecting our multidisciplinary team's commitment to advancing surgical care for people with Parkinson's disease," said Prof. Giorgio Carrabba, Principal Investigator for ADVENT at Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori. "We thank the participant for their trust and the entire clinical team for their dedication as we begin this important phase of clinical research."

About the ADVENT study

ADVENT—registered on ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT06891781—is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind crossover study comparing the safety and effectiveness of adaptive and conventional deep brain stimulation delivered by Newronika's αDBS® system.

The study is expected to enroll 104 adults with idiopathic Parkinson's disease who have been referred for bilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Up to 18 specialist clinical sites across the United States and the European Union are expected to participate.

Because ADVENT uses a crossover design, each participant experiences both conventional and adaptive modes of stimulation in a randomly assigned order. Participants and the clinicians assessing their outcomes remain blinded to the active mode during the comparative study periods.

Newronika received FDA approval of an Investigational Device Exemption, allowing the company to initiate the ADVENT pivotal study in the future. The study is intended to support a future Premarket Approval application for Newronika's DBS system in the United States.

Enrollment is currently underway at participating study sites in Italy and soon in the United States. Additional information about the study, including general eligibility criteria, is available on ClinicalTrials.gov under NCT06891781.

In the European Economic Area, the AlphaDBS® is CE-marked for conventional or adaptive deep brain stimulation as an adjunctive therapy to reduce symptoms of levodopa-responsive Parkinson's disease that are not adequately controlled by medication.

About Parkinson's disease and deep brain stimulation

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological condition that can cause a range of symptoms, including movement-related symptoms such as slowness of movement, stiffness, and tremor.

Deep brain stimulation is an established treatment option for selected people whose symptoms are not adequately controlled by medication. Conventional DBS delivers stimulation using clinician-programmed settings that remain constant until they are adjusted. Adaptive DBS is designed to respond dynamically to recorded brain activity and adjust the stimulation within parameters established by the treating clinical team.

About Newronika

Newronika S.p.A. is a Milan-based medtech company and spin-off of two of Italy's leading research institutions — Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and the University of Milan. Built on more than 20 years of advanced research and development, Newronika develops αDBS® technology that continuously senses, analyzes, adapts to, and learns from brain signals.

Parkinson's disease is where we start. The brain is where we're going.

For more information, visit www.newronika.com

In the United States, the device is investigational and limited by federal law to investigational use only. It has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. αDBS® is a registered trademark of Newronika S.p.A.

Media contact

Communications & Investor Relations

Newronika S.p.A.

Tel: +39 02 84109381

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.newronika.com

SOURCE Newronika S.p.A.

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Accountants and CPAs say goodbye to outsourcing mid-year payroll processing by switching to ezPaycheck payroll software from Halfpricesoft.com.

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Halfpricesoft.com today announced mid-year payroll accommodation features within its flagship ezPaycheck payroll software. The application offers a budget-friendly alternative for accounting professionals and small businesses looking to bring payroll in-house mid-year without losing data or incurring high migration fees.

Download your free 30-day trial of ezPaycheck today to stop paying high outsourcing fees and simplify mid-year payroll processing!

New reports show that CPAs and small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs) are saving substantial amounts on operating expenses by switching mid-year to ezPaycheck. Designed for single location businesses and multi-client accounting practices, the software fully accommodates year-to-date (YTD) payroll history imports.

"Our goal is to put payroll control back in the hands of SMBs and accountants," said Dr. Ge, Founder of Halfpricesoft.com. "With ezPaycheck, clients can manage payroll in-house, seamlessly input year-to-date figures at any point in the calendar year, and dramatically reduce overhead costs."

Why Switch to ezPaycheck Mid-Year?

- YTD Payroll Accommodation: Easily input current-year tax and wage data to maintain accurate quarterly and annual reporting without starting from scratch.

- No Monthly Fees: Pay a single upfront cost with no recurring subscription fees, unlimited check printing, and support for unlimited companies.

- Network & Multi-User Discounts: Affordable network editions allow multi-user environments to share data seamlessly while reducing overall software spend.

- In-House Control: Simple, intuitive setup lets businesses manage internal payroll and compliance without relying on costly third-party outsourcing services.

Multi-User Payroll Management Made Easy

For accounting firms and growing businesses requiring access across multiple workstations, ezPaycheck's network edition provides:

- Centralized Payroll Management: Consolidate client or employee records in one accessible location.

- Enhanced Data Security: Protect sensitive financial data with customizable user access controls.

- Flexible Cloud & Server Integration: Share data effortlessly across local servers, Google Cloud, shared folders, or Dropbox for remote and distributed teams.

- Annual Compliance Updates: Automated and timely updates ensure full compliance with evolving federal, state, and local tax regulations.

Pricing and Availability

Pricing for ezPaycheck starts at $169 per installation, with tiered discounts available for multi-user and multi-seat orders. Halfpricesoft.com offers a free 30-day trial with complete access to all features (printed checks and forms will display a "TRIAL" watermark during the evaluation period).

Download ezPaycheck Today to Simplify Mid-Year Payroll and End Outsourcing! Visit Halfpricesoft.com to start the free trial.

About Halfpricesoft.com

Halfpricesoft.com is a leading provider of affordable desktop and cloud business software designed for small businesses, accountants, and CPAs. In addition to its flagship ezPaycheck software, the company offers ezW2, ez1099, ez1095, ezCheckPrinting, and ezACH direct deposit solutions to streamline daily financial administration.

SOURCE Halfpricesoft.com

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Maier is a global powerhouse in healthy longevity: one of TIME magazine's top 12 longevity leaders in the worldfor 2026 and co-leader of the team recently named one of the 20 finalists in the $101 million XPRIZE Healthspan competition

MIAMI, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Wellness Summit™ (GWS), the foremost gathering of leaders in the global wellness economy, takes place November 10–13 at Angsana Laguna Phuket in Thailand.

With longevity recently redefining the wellness space and quickly becoming a multi-billion-dollar market and a new consumer mindset, the conference will explore the rapid transformation of this new medical-wellness pillar. In a few short years, we've seen longevity evolve from a niche obsession among tech bros into a mainstream movement, along with a shift of focus from lifespan to healthspan—the number of years lived in good health. The field has also moved beyond protocols designed exclusively for men to interventions specific to women's biology of aging. Longevity has also become more serious: it's no longer just the individual pursuit of wealthy elites, but a new effort by governments to create policies that drive more healthy, productive years in the face of a rapidly aging world. The space now spans everything from complex biotech experiments to the "natural longevity" of the Blue Zones; it's about both the clinical and human connection.

The Summit today announced that Andrea B. Maier, MD, PhD, one of the world's top experts in healthy aging, longevity medicine and precision geroscience, will join the conference to spearhead the exploration of what's next in longevity and healthspan and what it means for the wellness industry. She will keynote on "Health Optimization: Integrating Consumer-Led Health and Precision Geromedicine."

Maier's achievements are extraordinary and her vision is unique. She's professor of medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where she is co-founder and director of the clinical trial center, the NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity, leading the team just named one of the 20 finalists in the $101 million XPrize Healthspan competition, which identifies the boldest science and most promising therapeutics helping people to live not just longer, but healthier lives. NSU and Maier's finalist project PROMETHEUS is a new, personalized framework for longevity, using multimodal interventions (lifestyle and diet interventions, a slate of nutraceuticals and repurposed drugs), all precision-prescribed based on the person's specific gerotype and dynamically adapted based on treatment response. Her team will now conduct rigorous trials in advance of the XPrize winner being named in 2030.

Maier is also the author of over 500 peer-reviewed publications, advises influential organizations such as the UN and the World Health Organization, and is professor of gerontology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in The Netherlands. She is founder of Chi Longevity, Asia's first evidence-based longevity medicine clinic, grounded in The Maier Method, which tests people's unique biology (whether their genetic, epigenetic or metabolic measures) to identify precision interventions.

As a longevity scientist, Maier is different. She's passionate about solving longevity's evidence problem. Her methods are firmly grounded in an integrative, medical-wellness approach: precision diet, exercise and psychosocial health interventions are key. And rather than simply providing concierge services to the rich, she works hard to bring longevity medicine to all. She co-founded the NUS Academy for Healthy Longevity to conduct the trials needed to give longevity medicine a solid scientific base, to translate that science into real-world, right now solutions, and critically, to train doctors in longevity science. As she has noted, we now have zero capacity to do that and are accepting anyone that calls themselves a "longevity physician"—a dangerous problem that is also making it impossible to grow private clinics and programs. For her deep, innovative body of research, for her commitment to evidence and bringing longevity to the masses, TIME magazine just named her one of the 12 longevity leaders for 2026.

"After seeing Dr. Maier present at the Roundtable of Longevity Clinics at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging last year, I immediately knew that we had to have her drive the discussions on the future of longevity and healthy aging at this year's Summit," said Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO. "She is brilliant, an activist for evidence-based, truly integrative and democratic longevity approaches—and brings a much-needed woman's perspective to a male-dominated field. Her work is not about some far-off magic longevity drug, but creating the science-based interventions that can make a difference now."

In addition to keynoting, Maier will lead an intimate "After Dinner Conversation" on November 10.

Maier joins a rich, diverse group of keynotes on the future of longevity and healthspan, including Dan Buettner, founder of the Blue Zones movement; George Gaitanos, MSc, PhD, chief operating and scientific officer of Chenot Group, which has spent over 50 years redefining conventional thinking on aging at its global wellness resorts; Christopher Asandra, MD, founder and medical director of AsandraMD in California, a precision and age-management medicine leader, with a unique focus on women's longevity; and Tanupol Virunhagarun, MD, CEO of BDMS Wellness Group, a leading preventive healthcare and scientific longevity provider in Thailand.

Apply to attend the Summit now, as rates go up October 1.

Accredited media can apply to attend here.

About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $6.8 trillion global wellness economy. In addition to an annual conference held at a different location around the globe, GWS also hosts annual in-person events such as the Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium, along with virtual gatherings, including Wellness Master Classes and Wellness Sector Spotlights. The organization's Future of Wellness report forecasts the top wellness trends for the year ahead and is oft-quoted in the media. The 20th annual Global Wellness Summit will be held in Phuket, Thailand, November 10-13, 2026.

SOURCE Global Wellness Summit

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Advancing support for foundational learning, patient communication, and continuous learning in clinical pharmaceutical education

TOKYO, Sept. 30, 2026/PRNewswire/ -- The Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science (Location: Tokyo, Japan; President: Yoshihiro Mimaki; TUPLS) and transcosmos inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; Representative Director & Co-president: Masaaki Muta/Takeshi Kamiya; transcosmos) today announced the launch of a joint initiative to optimize "trans-AI Tutor," an AI-powered dialogue-based training tool provided by transcosmos, for pharmacy students and pharmacists and deploy the tool effectively for practical pharmaceutical education. By combining the expertise of TUPLS and transcosmos, the two organizations aim to build a learning environment that enables pharmacy students and pharmacists to deepen their practical learning effectively while promoting the standardization of know-how in medical settings. Starting with support for clinical learning prior to pharmacy practice training, the initiative also looks ahead to supporting responses to advanced and complex clinical cases and incidents, as well as the continuous acquisition and provision of information. Toward a planned release in November 2026, the two parties will begin full-scale preparations for a pilot program targeting fourth-year students at TUPLS.

【Points】

- Practical clinical capability development before pharmacy practice training: Establish an environment where students can repeatedly practice clinical responses through role-play exercises with flexible patient persona settings and faculty-supervised scenarios aligned with the Model Core Curriculum.

- Application to complex and challenging cases: Provide learning opportunities to develop practical response skills through responses to advanced and complex clinical cases and incidents, as well as dialogues with diverse customer personas.

- Visualization of learning progress and feedback design: Enable visualization of learning progress and immediate feedback by incorporating expertise in service quality management and feedback design developed through contact center operations into AI evaluation criteria.

- Continuous learning beyond graduation: Build a foundation that supports continuous learning, from foundational learning for pharmacy students to professional education and ongoing learning after graduation, through the phased deployment of features that provide the latest information, including legislative and regulatory updates.

【Overview】

This initiative aims to implement an integrated learning platform that connects pharmacist education and medical settings through AI. As pharmacists are expected to take on increasingly patient-facing responsibilities toward 2040, students are being called upon to develop practical clinical capabilities before pharmacy practice training, while practicing pharmacists must be prepared to respond to complex clinical cases and incidents and continuously adapt to legislative and regulatory changes. Against this backdrop, by combining TUPLS's educational expertise with transcosmos's expertise in service quality management and feedback design cultivated through contact center operations, the initiative seeks to expand learning opportunities beyond what can be sufficiently provided through role-play exercises conducted solely among faculty members and students, while promoting the standardization of know-how in medical settings.

Specifically, the initiative will establish an environment in which students can repeatedly practice fundamental clinical response skills required before pharmacy practice training, including gathering and providing information, through role-play exercises that allow patient personas to be flexibly configured by age, personality, and medical history. In addition, the project will examine the implementation of functions that enable learners to develop responses to more advanced and complex clinical cases and incidents, provide visualization of learning progress and immediate feedback, and support access to information on future legislative and regulatory updates.

As a result, students will be able to secure practice opportunities tailored to their individual needs while reducing the impact of time and staffing constraints. Faculty members, in turn, will be able to focus more on individualized instruction, curriculum design, and educational activities that deliver greater learning outcomes, rather than being limited to supporting repetitive foundational practice. Over the medium to long term, the initiative envisions expanding the platform into a foundation that consistently supports learning from foundational pharmacy education through continuous learning after graduation. Through implementation and validation in educational settings, TUPLS and X aim to make pharmaceutical education more effective and practice-oriented while contributing to the development of next-generation pharmacists who can respond to an ever-evolving medical environment.

【Comments from project representatives】

Satoshi Takayama, Corporate Executive Officer, transcosmos inc.

Through this initiative, we will combine TUPLS's educational expertise with the expertise in service quality and response quality management that we have cultivated through contact center operations to shape a practical approach to learning support tailored to pharmaceutical education. By transforming learning opportunities and know-how that cannot be sufficiently delivered through human resources alone into practical forms that can be used in educational settings, we aim to contribute to the advancement of pharmaceutical education.

Yoshihiro Mimaki, President, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science

This initiative, which aims to support learning through a single platform, from responding to complex and challenging cases encountered during pharmacy practice training and in professional practice to the continuous learning of the latest legal and regulatory information, is highly significant in that it expands learning opportunities in pharmaceutical education. Through scenarios supervised by practitioner faculty members and AI-powered repetitive practice and automated assessment, we hope to enhance the effectiveness of preparatory training and bring learning that is closely aligned with clinical practice into educational settings.

■ Background to the development of "trans-AI Tutor" and internal use results

"trans-AI Tutor" is a voice-interactive generative AI role-play service developed in-house by transcosmos to address the workload associated with agent training and inconsistencies in response quality in its contact center operations. Traditional role-play training had limited learning effectiveness when conducted among new agents. Moreover, having experienced agents or supervisors act as customers created additional operational burden and workload.

【Internal use results (reference figures)】

Within transcosmos's contact center operations, implementation of the tool increased the number of role-play sessions per trainee agent by approximately sevenfold and replaced training effort equivalent to 2,945 supervisor hours. Additional results included a 50% reduction in training time, a 129% improvement in productivity, and 305 additional successful contracts. This initiative aims to optimize these operational results and insights for pharmaceutical education and apply them in that context.

SOURCE transcosmos inc.

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