COVID-19 and heightened attention to racism affect American workers’ mental health and relationships

Morneau Shepell’s Mental Health Index™ improves slightly for July at a five-point decline from the pre-pandemic benchmark of 75

CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – Morneau Shepell, a leading provider of total wellbeing, mental health and digital mental health services, today released its monthly Mental Health Index™ report, making July the fourth consecutive month with a negative mental health score, as feelings of…

Morneau Shepell’s Mental Health Index™ improves slightly for July at a five-point decline from the pre-pandemic benchmark of 75

CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – Morneau Shepell, a leading provider of total wellbeing, mental health and digital mental health services, today released its monthly Mental Health Index™ report, making July the fourth consecutive month with a negative mental health score, as feelings of isolation and financial risk continuing to be the top drivers of American employees’ mental health. While mental stress has increased compared to the prior month, the steepness of the increase has, however, been flattening.

The Mental Health Index™ score for July is -5, which measures a decline in mental health from the pre-2020 benchmark of 75, but this month’s score is a one-point improvement from the previous month. The Mental Health Index™ also tracks sub-scores against the benchmark, measuring optimism (-8.0), anxiety (-6.4), depression (-6.1), work productivity (-5.5) and isolation (-4.8). Although the sub-scores remain low, all areas saw improvement in July except for optimism, which declined slightly when compared to last month.

«While parts of the United States started to open up for business in June, some markets have had to slow down their reopening plans. The Mental Health Index™ shows the continued negative impact the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic is having on American workers’ mental health and quality of life,» said Stephen Liptrap, president and chief executive officer. «As COVID-19 cases continue to rise again, workers are starting to lose their early optimism on rebounding from the pandemic and remain very concerned about a potential second mass shutdown, similar to what happened in March.»

Anxiety levels rising across many non-White demographics
When it comes to mental health differences by race, the Mental Health Index saw anxiety scores worsen for most people of color in June during the initial awareness and response to the killing of George Floyd. July showed some signs of improvement as the dialogue on racism continued and early indication of change began. In contrast, White respondents continued to show improvement in their mental health month over month, without the same decline in June.

Overall, 74 percent of individuals surveyed believe that racism is a problem in the United States, though only 17 percent believe that racism is a problem in their workplace. When considering the results by race, 90 percent of individuals identifying as Black strongly agree or agree that racism is a problem in the United States, while 73 percent of individuals identifying as White strongly agree or agree. When asked if racism is a problem in their workplace, 33 percent of individuals identifying as Black strongly agree or agree, and only 14 percent of individuals identifying as White strongly agree or agree.

Americans divided about systemic racism in society and the workplace
One of the major issues facing American society – systemic racism – has received heightened awareness as a result from the many protests held nationwide in response to the number of recent killings of Black Americans. As more Americans begin to give meaningful thought to this issue, their outlook varies. Thirty-five (35) percent of respondents feel that systemic racism is likely to decrease in the United States, 33 percent are unsure, and 31 percent feel that systemic racism is unlikely to decrease. When it comes to their workplace, 24 percent feel that it is likely that systemic racism will decrease, 37 percent are unsure, and 39 percent feel that systemic racism is unlikely to decrease.

Companies with smaller workforces at a mental health disadvantage
July’s report reflects a strong correlation between an individual’s scores on the Mental Health Index™ and the size of the company where they are employed. People who indicate working at companies with 51-100 employees have the lowest mental health scores (-8.2), while those who report working at companies with more than 10,000 employees have the highest mental health scores (-2.4). Sole proprietors (-3.4) and those who work for companies with 2-50 employees (-5.0) scored in the middle.

«While small businesses continue to be disproportionally impacted by the pandemic over large companies, once an organization reaches more than 50 workers, that close-knit familial sentiment felt by employees begins to strain, as managers need to supervise more workers and have less time to do so,» said Paula Allen, senior vice president of research, analytics and innovation. «The fact that employees at larger organizations scored better than average suggests that the benefits and programs that many larger organizations offer are having a positive effect. It’s critical for employers of all sizes to seek ways to support their people’s health and wellbeing, now more than ever. Employee assistance programs are much more cost effective than many small- to mid-size organizations realize and they offer support that can be life changing.»

The full U.S. report includes more insight on changes to mental stress, the impact of a positive outlook on one’s emotional state of mind and variations of the Mental Health Index score by demographics, industries and regions. The full U.S. report can be found at:  https://www.morneaushepell.com/permafiles/92897/mental-health-index-report-usa-july-2020.pdf.

About the Mental Health Index
The monthly survey by Morneau Shepell was conducted through an online survey in English from June 22 to June 30, 2020, with 5,000 respondents in the United States. All respondents reside in the United States and were employed within the last six months. The data has been statistically weighted to ensure the regional and gender composition of the sample reflect this population. The margins of error for the survey are +/- 3.2 percent, valid 19 times out of 20. The Mental Health Index™ is published monthly, beginning April 2020, and compares against benchmark data collected in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

About Morneau Shepell
Morneau Shepell is a leading provider of technology-enabled HR services that deliver an integrated approach to employee wellbeing through our cloud-based platform. Our focus is providing world-class solutions to our clients to support the mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing of their people. By improving lives, we improve business. Our approach spans services in employee and family assistance, health and wellness, recognition, pension and benefits administration, retirement consulting, actuarial and investment services. Morneau Shepell employs approximately 6,000 employees who work with some 24,000 client organizations that use our services in 162 countries. For more information, visit morneaushepell.com.

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SOURCE Morneau Shepell Inc.

SPIRE Announces Advances in Construction of SPIRE Village

GENEVA, Ohio, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — When Baltimore-based investment firm AXXELLA, LLC, a subsidiary of Blue Ocean, acquired SPIRE Institute and Academy in 2019, its strategic plan included expanding the mega-facility near Lake Erie in five major areas: athletics, academics, events, recreation and facilities. Construction of SPIRE Village is well underway, and the owners are continuing with their plans by upgrading resident…

GENEVA, Ohio, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — When Baltimore-based investment firm AXXELLA, LLC, a subsidiary of Blue Ocean, acquired SPIRE Institute and Academy in 2019, its strategic plan included expanding the mega-facility near Lake Erie in five major areas: athletics, academics, events, recreation and facilities. Construction of SPIRE Village is well underway, and the owners are continuing with their plans by upgrading resident housing.

SPIRE Village consists of five 2,300 sq. ft. homes built specifically for SPIRE Academy student athletes, with each home having six bedrooms. Each bedroom accommodates two twin beds, a nightstand, wardrobe, two study tables with chairs and a shared six-drawer chest. The student lounge has a big screen TV, a couch, chairs and a dining room table with chairs for house meetings. There are three student bathrooms and a washer and dryer. Picnic tables and some outdoor sports equipment will be placed in between the houses.

Well insulated, outfitted with sprinkler systems and equipped with LED lighting, each house is heated by natural gas and is fully air conditioned. Each student room has its own unique entry key. All buildings are handicapped accessible.

A house parent who is fully trained in safety and COVID-19 precautions will occupy a one-bedroom apartment in each building, complete with kitchen, dining/living area and full bath. Residents will attend weekly meetings designed around personal growth topics jointly hosted by the house parent and a student who lives in the house. In addition to intra-Village competitions for fun and prizes, there will be activities planned where all houses work together on internal and external community projects.

«Everything we do at SPIRE is meant to help our students discover their power and their potential,» said SPIRE Co-managing Director Rich Odell. «The interdisciplinary and experiential options we offer to the student athletes who live on SPIRE’s campus provide multiple ways to help them develop powerful, creative insights—about themselves and others. Our new student housing in SPIRE Village helps create an environment where individuals can not only excel academically but master life’s necessary personal skills so they stand out in their sport or passion and in life in general.»

 

SOURCE SPIRE IA (Institute and Academy)

Acumen Solutions Recognized as Americas Premier Partner of the Year by MuleSoft

MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Acumen Solutions today announced it has been named Americas Premier Partner of the Year by MuleSoft, provider of the world’s #1 integration and API platform. Acumen Solutions was recognized for having the greatest market impact in Salesforce’s FY20 based on ACV and practice development in the Americas and its significant contributions to empowering customers. Acumen Solutions provides customers with expertise and best practices as they realize the power…

MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Acumen Solutions today announced it has been named Americas Premier Partner of the Year by MuleSoft, provider of the world’s #1 integration and API platform. Acumen Solutions was recognized for having the greatest market impact in Salesforce’s FY20 based on ACV and practice development in the Americas and its significant contributions to empowering customers. Acumen Solutions provides customers with expertise and best practices as they realize the power of API-led connectivity to deliver truly connected customer experiences, faster.

According to the Connectivity Benchmark Report, the average enterprise has data in nearly 900 applications and only one-third are integrated, leading to disconnected customer experiences across channels. Partners like Acumen Solutions are trusted advisors that enable customers to accelerate their digital transformation and deliver connected experiences. MuleSoft partners align against business outcomes, deliver MuleSoft technology, templates and best practices and enable organizations to develop a Center of Enablement that empowers a self-service approach to integration – dramatically increasing the clock speed of business.

As a Salesforce Platinum Partner, Acumen Solutions helps IT shift its focus to adding flexibility and scalability to its integration infrastructure and orchestrations using MuleSoft’s robust cloud and on-premise integration platforms.

«We are proud to be recognized by MuleSoft as the Americas Premier Partner of the Year,» said Eric Pearsall, managing director of global services at Acumen Solutions. «This award highlights our mutual success in the market over the last year and we look forward to continuing to help our clients achieve their goals on the MuleSoft platform for many years to come.»

Leading organizations in the MuleSoft Partner Program provide consulting and services for MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform™, the world’s #1 integration and API platform. With skills and expertise that leverage API-led connectivity, MuleSoft partners help customers to unlock business capabilities and build application networks that accelerate the speed of IT delivery, increase organizational agility, and enable innovation at scale.

«MuleSoft partners serve as trusted advisors, helping customers adapt to unprecedented change and meet their biggest, most challenging digital transformation projects. Our award winners lead the growing MuleSoft partner ecosystem by prioritizing customer success, leading innovation and growth, and establishing industry best practices that drive the cultural change needed to accelerate digital transformation,» said Brent Hayward, senior vice president of global channels and alliances, MuleSoft. «We look forward to the continued growth of the MuleSoft partner ecosystem and are proud to celebrate the success of our partners as they drive the adoption of application networks and help customers realize new connected experiences.»

To learn more about the MuleSoft Partner Program visit: https://www.mulesoft.com/partner/acumensolutions

About Anypoint Platform
MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform™ is the world’s #1 integration and API platform. It uniquely allows organizations to use API-led connectivity to unlock their data, empower their business with productized APIs, and create connected experiences, faster. Anypoint Platform is the only solution that offers a single, unified platform for iPaaS and full lifecycle API management, both on-premises and in the cloud.

About Acumen Solutions
Clients choose Acumen Solutions for one simple reason: our experience delivers success. Joining forces with our clients, our team of strategists, subject matter experts, and engineers solve problems that can’t be fixed by technology alone. As a Top 10 Partner of Salesforce, Fortune 500 companies trust us to build solutions that grow revenue and strengthen customer relationships. Our groundbreaking solutions for government and not for profit clients streamline operations and improve productivity. We apply the same expertise to our unparalleled social responsibility program, generating sustainable impact across our local communities. To learn more, visit http://www.acumensolutions.com, or follow us on Twitter @AcumenSolutions.

MuleSoft is a registered trademark of MuleSoft, Inc., a Salesforce company. All other marks are those of respective owners.

 

SOURCE Acumen Solutions

IDTechEx: AI Accelerates Materials Science From the Lab to Market

BOSTON, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Nearly every sector is proposing the use of artificial intelligence. Materials science R&D is relatively late to this trend, and there are many industry-specific hurdles, but the opportunities are beginning to be realized and the potential impact is significant.

BOSTON, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Nearly every sector is proposing the use of artificial intelligence. Materials science R&D is relatively late to this trend, and there are many industry-specific hurdles, but the opportunities are beginning to be realized and the potential impact is significant.

Materials informatics is the use of data-centric approaches for materials science discovery and development. This is principally enabled by improved data infrastructures and machine learning solutions; this is set to be a paradigm shift in the way researchers conduct R&D projects and a discussion on why the adoption is now can be seen in a previous article. At this key moment of initial commercial adoption, IDTechEx has released the most comprehensive technical market report on the topic, «Materials Informatics 2020-2030«.

Materials informatics can be used at every stage of an experimental process as outlined in the infographic below. There are multiple potential advantages including identifying new species or relationships, extracting value from existing data, and generating use-case IP on existing compounds, but in most cases it is all about accelerating the time to market and providing a competitive advantage.

Quantifying this accelerated time to market is difficult but essential for external companies to demonstrate and justify any investment. Many claim extensive examples of reducing millions of candidates and/or thousands of experiments to more manageable hundreds, or even tens, of solutions or iterations.

IDTechEx has classified the projects undertaken into 6 main categories outlined in detail within the report. Previous articles have shown how this has been used in multiple applications already.

A key concept is the idea of an «inverse design». In simple terms, this can involve training a model that allows properties to be input and formulations, compositions, process parameters or more to be proposed. The properties do not have to just be physical but could also be cost, toxicity, geographic availability or more. The technology is applicable to anyone that designs materials or designs with materials, an aim is to have this inverse design fully integrated with initial product design. This has been most effectively shown by the collaboration between Citrine Informatics and Siemens. It was stated that they want designers to view material as one of their «degrees of freedom» and allow materials companies to become «partners not vendors».

For clarity, materials informatics is not to be confused with computational simulation (e.g. DFT calculations). This material modeling has seen major progressions over the past few decades (led by the likes of BIOVIA and Schrödinger) and with the continual improvement in computing power this will only increase. The announcement between JSR Corporation and QSimulate is notable recent evidence towards this. The data can be used in the same way as input data from any physical experimentation. In fact, a common approach of MI is used in reducing the number of costly and time-consuming simulations, facilitating these research projects, and drawing novel relationships.

The main problem is the limitations of the materials dataset. This is not like recognizing objects in autonomous vehicles or sophisticated internet search engines, materials science brings numerous specific problems. The data is typically sparse, high-dimensional, biased, and noisy which means that understanding the uncertainty in the proposed output is essential; projecting out into the «unknown» is very challenging given the clustered, complex data.

There are many approaches to dealing with small datasets, this could involve generating one through high-throughput experimentation, leveraging external data repositories and most importantly integrating domain knowledge.

Generating and leveraging data repositories is a core theme of materials informatics. There are a wide number of very bespoke or more general repositories collecting published structures, properties, and other data. These are run by public or private organizations and, although may have limitations (such as unknown confidence in the data and biased by only having «positive» published results), they can be an unparalleled source for training models or screening for candidates. Not to mention large datasets opens the opportunity for utilizing more sophisticated deep learning methods.

Accelerating the time from materials design to market is essential. The material development cycle is normally far slower than many end-user products and in certain sectors this development and qualification can be the bottleneck. Materials informatics can change that. For more information on this market see the IDTechEx report, «Materials Informatics 2020-2030», www.IDTechEx.com/MaterialsInformatics.

IDTechEx also covers many of the relevant application areas highlighted throughout the report, for deeper-dive in each of these markets including additive manufacturing, graphene & other nanomaterials, energy storage, organic electronics, wearable electronics, sensors and more visit www.IDTechEx.com/research.

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

Media Contact:
Natalie Moreton
Digital Marketing Manager
press@IDTechEx.com
+44(0)1223 812300

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SOURCE IDTechEx

Elios Therapeutics Personalized Cancer Vaccine Demonstrates Long-Term Survival Benefit Among High-Risk Melanoma Patients in Phase IIb Final Analysis

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Elios Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines, today announced final data from a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb clinical trial evaluating adjuvant use of its personalized tumor lysate, particle-loaded, dendritic cell (TLPLDC) vaccine in patients with Stage III or Stage IV melanoma at high risk of recurrence following complete surgical resection.

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Elios Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines, today announced final data from a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb clinical trial evaluating adjuvant use of its personalized tumor lysate, particle-loaded, dendritic cell (TLPLDC) vaccine in patients with Stage III or Stage IV melanoma at high risk of recurrence following complete surgical resection.

«We now have long-term data demonstrating that use of the TLPLDC vaccine for the adjuvant treatment of high-risk melanoma correlates with a 93 percent increase in patients alive at three years without their disease returning. This trial also significantly improves our understanding of the optimal method of vaccine production,» said Buddy Long, chief executive officer of Elios Therapeutics. «These new data, combined with the doubled rate of disease-free survival among patients treated with the vaccine and standard of care checkpoint inhibitors, further strengthen our confidence that the personalized TLPLDC vaccine provides a clinically meaningful benefit for people with high-risk melanoma. We look forward to advancing this vaccine with a registrational Phase III trial that will move us one step closer to bringing this important treatment to patients as soon as possible.»

The TLPLDC vaccine is a personalized treatment that is created using a patient’s own blood and tumor cells. Samples are collected at resection, frozen, and sent to the lab where they are used to create autologous tumor lysate, which is loaded into yeast cell wall particles. This combination is then introduced to the patient’s dendritic cells, leading to the creation of the final TLPLDC vaccine. The time from resection to injection of the vaccine takes approximately three weeks.

The vaccine has been studied in a large randomized Phase IIb trial, and the newly reported data is from the pre-specified 36-month disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) assessment by vaccine formulation, stage, and checkpoint inhibition. The analysis included all randomized patients in an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. Two versions of the vaccine, one produced by isolating dendritic cells (DCs) from 120 mL of blood (vaccine-A) and one with DCs isolated after a single injection of filgrastim followed by 50-70 mL of blood (vaccine-B), were tested in 144 participants who were randomized to receive either version of the vaccine or placebo to prevent recurrence.

A key finding showed that treatment with vaccine-B resulted in clinical outcomes similar to placebo. Producing the vaccine with filgrastim was intended to increase white blood cell and dendritic cell counts, requiring less blood to be drawn from patients to create the vaccine. While the use of filgrastim increased DC production, it takes only 72-hours to create the vaccine which was not enough time for the DCs to mature, rendering vaccine-B ineffective. 

Importantly, vaccine-A, when compared to vaccine-B and placebo, resulted in a statistically significant improvement in 36-month DFS (51.8% vs. 23.4% vs 27.1%, respectively; p=0.027) and OS (92.9% vs. 62.8% vs 70.3%, respectively; p=0.022) in the ITT population.

Furthermore, the DFS improvement with vaccine-A was seen across both Stage III (49.7% vs. 29.4%; p=0.066) and IV (68.6% vs. 9.4%; p=0.0582) patients. Importantly, the addition of vaccine-A to current standard of care checkpoint inhibitors led to a statistically significant increase in 36-month DFS in the ITT population compared to treatment with checkpoint inhibitors alone (48.5% vs. 24.1%; p=0.039). As previously reported, treatment with the vaccine was well-tolerated with 34.7 percent of patients experiencing a treatment-related adverse event, and >90% being grades 1 or 2.

«To demonstrate a long-term survival benefit with low toxicity in a therapeutic is what we hope for in every clinical trial. Achieving this with an aggressive disease like melanoma offers great promise for patients,» said Mark B. Faries, M.D., co-director of the Melanoma Program and head of Surgical Oncology at Cedars-Sinai at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, and principal investigator of the study. «With data showing a two-fold increase in disease-free survival with the vaccine alone and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, we hope to one day change the narrative for people with melanoma – turning this disease into a chronic condition that can be treated and managed over time.»           

About Melanoma
Melanoma is more likely to grow and spread than other types of skin cancer. When diagnosed and treated at an early stage, melanoma has a high cure rate, however patients with later stages of the disease carry a high risk for melanoma recurrence because some melanoma cells can remain in the body, even after surgery. In the U.S, the incidence of melanoma has increased over the past decades, with 91,270 estimated new cases and 9,320 related deaths in 2018. 

About the Phase IIb TLPLDC Study
This Phase IIb study is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the TLPLDC (tumor lysate, particle-loaded, dendritic cell) vaccine in patients with resected Stage III and IV melanoma. The primary endpoint of the trial is two-year disease-free survival (DFS), and the secondary endpoint is three-year DFS and overall survival (OS).

In the study, 144 participants were randomized to receive either the vaccine or placebo to prevent recurrence. TLPLDC or placebo vaccines were initiated within three months of completion of standard of care (SoC) therapies and were given at 0, 1, 2, 6, 12, and 18 months. The protocol was amended to allow concurrent checkpoint inhibitor therapy once approved for the adjuvant setting. Study participants were followed for recurrence per SoC. The primary efficacy analysis was performed on the intent-to-treat (ITT) and the per treatment (PT) populations as co-primary analyses given the high early recurrence rate often seen in patients with advanced melanoma. Secondary endpoints include 36-month DFS and overall survival (OS) which will be compared between the vaccinated and control groups as well as by vaccine formulation.

About TLPLDC
The TLPLDC (tumor lysate, particle-loaded, dendritic cell) vaccine is a unique type of immunotherapy, both in how it is made and how it is delivered. The vaccine is personalized, meaning it is made from a patient’s tumor and blood. Every patient’s tumor has a unique antigenic profile unlike any other, and dendritic cells found in the blood are the most potent antigen-presenting cells in the body. Once TLPLDC is administered, it delivers the patient’s complete repertoire of tumor antigens to the immune system, creating a dual innate and adaptive immune response, activating fighter T cells, and triggering the immune system to recognize, and seek out and destroy any cells containing the antigens and specific mutations from their tumor. 

Historically, autologous cancer vaccines have been rather onerous to develop, sometimes taking months between the tumor biopsy and administration. Elios has simplified the process so the time from resection to injection is approximately two weeks. This makes the vaccine highly feasible and will ultimately be easy for community and academic oncologists to adopt into their practices.

The TLPLDC vaccine is currently being studied as a monotherapy and in combination with standard-of-care checkpoint inhibitor therapies in a Phase IIb clinical trial for the treatment of late-stage melanoma at leading academic cancer centers in the United States.

About Elios Therapeutics, LLC
Elios Therapeutics, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Perseus Holdings, LLC., is a biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of innovative personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines targeting unmet medical needs across a broad range of tumor types. Elios’ lead therapeutic candidate is the TLPLDC (tumor lysate, particle-loaded, dendritic cell) vaccine, a personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine that uses a proprietary particle delivery system to stimulate the body’s immune system to recognize cancer cells as foreign pathogens and fight a patient’s specific cancer. For more information, please visit www.eliostherapeutics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward–looking statements relating to the Company’s strategy, objectives, business development plans and financial position. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this document, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, strategy, anticipated investments, costs and results, status and results of clinical trials, size of patient population, plans, outcomes of product development efforts, and objectives of management for future operations, may be deemed to be forward–looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as «anticipate,» «believe,» «could,» «estimate,» «expect,» «intend,» «may,» «plan,» «potential,» «predict,» «project,» «should,» «will,» «would,» or the negative of those terms, and similar expressions that convey uncertainty or future events or outcomes. These forward–looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance, or achievements or industry results to be materially different from those contemplated, projected, forecasted, estimated or budgeted, whether expressed or implied, by these forward–looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward–looking statements as a prediction of actual results. None of these forward–looking statements constitutes a guarantee of the future occurrence of such events or of actual results. These statements are based on data, assumptions, and estimates that the Company believes are reasonable. The forward–looking statements contained in this document are made only as of the date hereof. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates of any forward-looking statements contained in this document to reflect any change in its actual results, assumptions, expectations or any change in events, factors, conditions, or circumstances on which any forward–looking statement contained in this document is based.

Contacts:

Media Relations
Vikki Christian 
Elixir Health Public Relations
+1 (424) 610-1241
vchristian@elixirhealthpr.com

1 Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2018. CA Cancer J Clin 2018; 68:7–30_Accessed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29313949

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SOURCE Elios Therapeutics, LLC; Perseus Holdings USA

TE Connectivity sets new sustainability, charitable goals for 2030

SCHAUFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, today unveiled a long-term sustainability and corporate responsibility strategy to better focus on the company’s vision for the future.

SCHAUFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, today unveiled a long-term sustainability and corporate responsibility strategy to better focus on the company’s vision for the future.

TE’s One Connected World strategy details a series of goals to make the world a better place as the company serves its employees, customers and shareholders.

«At TE, we have had an ongoing and transparent record of environmental, social and governance reporting through our annual corporate responsibility report and I’m proud of our progress over the past 10 years,» said CEO Terrence Curtin. «Now, we are evolving our strategy to the next level with One Connected World, which builds on our purpose of creating a safer, sustainable, productive and connected future and provides a roadmap for us to make a measurable impact over the next decade.»

TE has set nine strategic goals to meet by 2030:

  • Embed sustainability in product creation at TE
  • Partner with our direct and logistics suppliers to strengthen the sustainability of our supply chain; align our new construction with the Sustainable Facility Initiative
  • Zero-accident workplace
  • 100% of facilities in water-scarce locations meet reduction targets
  • Decrease waste disposed
  • 35%+ reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
  • Strengthen our workplace culture, in which all differences are valued and all opinions count
  • Impact 3 million people in next-generation technology education
  • Implement a global human rights program

The company will measure its progress toward these goals and report out annually in its corporate responsibility report starting with the FY2020 report. Some of the work TE already does in pursuit of its vision of One Connected World is detailed in the FY2019 report. As one example, the report showcases how TE has incorporated sustainability into its operations over the past decade. The company has met greenhouse gas and energy reduction goals in 2012, 2015 and 2018.

This report also marks the first year TE’s corporate responsibility report aligns with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. TE reports to the SASB standard specific to its industry as identified in the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®): Resource Transformation Sector — Electrical & Electronic Equipment Sustainability Accounting Standard.

To view the full FY2019 corporate responsibility report, visit TE.com/responsibility.

ABOUT TE CONNECTIVITY

TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) is a $13 billion global industrial technology leader creating a safer, sustainable, productive, and connected future. Our broad range of connectivity and sensor solutions, proven in the harshest environments, enable advancements in transportation, industrial applications, medical technology, energy, data communications, and the home. With nearly 80,000 employees, including more than 8,000 engineers, working alongside customers in approximately 150 countries, TE ensures that EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS. Learn more at www.te.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, WeChat and Twitter.

 

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SOURCE TE Connectivity Ltd.

Grocery Outlet Raises Over $11 Million to Support over 400 Local Food Agencies During ‘Independence from Hunger®’ Campaign Since 2011

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, extreme-value grocery retailer, today announced its tenth annual Independence from Hunger® Food Drive campaign raised over $3 million, and made an additional $1…

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, extreme-value grocery retailer, today announced its tenth annual Independence from Hunger® Food Drive campaign raised over $3 million, and made an additional $1 million contribution to match the efforts of its participating store locations to support families in need – bringing the total donation for 2020 to $4 million. From June 24 through July 31, over 350 Grocery Outlet stores nationwide raised funds and collected monetary donations from customers, employees and Independent Operators to donate back to local food agencies. In the current state of school closures, children and their families in vulnerable and disadvantaged communities throughout the US are at risk of experiencing food insecurity.

According to the USDA’s latest analysis of Food Insecurity in America, over 11 million households undergo limited access to food sources and suffer from food insecurity [1]. In the COVID-19 era, Brookings estimates households with insufficient food supply was estimated between 22-38 percent [2]. This year, food agencies have experienced a staggering demand and growing need to provide food for children who have been prematurely released from annual school schedules and unable to attend summer school – resulting in record lows for food bank inventories across the country. Now more than ever, Grocery Outlet has strengthened its commitment that was born a decade ago with its Independence from Hunger campaign to find solutions that ensure all families have access to high-quality meals.

«We are extremely proud to support food agencies in our back yards across the nation, raising over $11 million since the campaign began is a big milestone we’ve reached,» said Eric Lindberg, CEO at Grocery Outlet Inc. «To celebrate Independence from Hunger’s 10th year anniversary, it was important to augment the great work our Independent Operators do with local partners, as a company we’re excited to contribute $1M to match their efforts.»

Since its launch in 2011, the Independence from Hunger campaign efforts have collected over $11 million in total donations nationwide. Throughout the campaign, Grocery Outlet customers and employees were encouraged to contribute to the campaign through:

  • Purchase of a pre-made food bags filled with an assortment of nonperishable items
  • Give $5, Get $5 at the register. Donate $5 or more in a single transaction and receive a $5 coupon
  • Contribution of a monetary donation through in-store and online platforms

Each of Grocery Outlet’s 350-plus stores identified local food agencies in their respective locations to partner with throughout the campaign. Grocery Outlet’s San Francisco Bay Area partner, Alameda County Community Food Bank, will receive all donations completed online at GroceryOutlet.com/Donate. In addition, Grocery Outlet has partnered with regional area partners such as, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Oregon Food Bank, who will also receive generous donations from long-time supplier partners Campbell’s, ConAgra, Frito-Lay, Gamesa-Quaker, Harris Ranch, Kellogg’s, MW Polar Foods, PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, Sanderson Farms, Thomas Foods and United Salad (Del Monte).

No administration or collateral fees are deducted from the funds collected by Grocery Outlet.

For more information on the Independence from Hunger campaign and Grocery Outlet, visit GroceryOutlet.com.

About Grocery Outlet
Extreme-value grocery retailer Grocery Outlet, based in Emeryville, California, offers big savings on brand name products every day, at more than 350 locations in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Grocery Outlet carries a full range of products from fresh produce, meat, deli and dairy to a wide assortment of natural and organic choices. They also offer a large selection of beer and wine, health and beauty care, as well as seasonal items. A third-generation, family-led company founded in 1946, Grocery Outlet exists to provide customers an exciting place to find WOW deals on name brands they trust. Grocery Outlet stores are run by an Independent Operator in the local community.

For more information about Grocery Outlet, please visit www.GroceryOutlet.com

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SOURCE Grocery Outlet

Real Estate’s No. 1 Coach Launches Budget-Friendly Agent Training Subscription

SANTA ANA, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Real estate coach Tom Ferry is putting his money where his mouth is.

SANTA ANA, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Real estate coach Tom Ferry is putting his money where his mouth is.

With «Deliver Value» being a guiding principle of his No. 1-ranked real estate coaching company, he’s developed a new, economical subscription training model for agents to get the guidance and information needed to grow their businesses – even in the face of unprecedented uncertainty.

For $149 per month, agents gain access to the company’s brand-new «Pulse» weekly webinar series, providing actionable training on today’s most relevant topics direct from top speakers and real-world top-producing agents.

Tom Ferry Training also provides access to a wealth of additional educational opportunities such as:

  • Online training courses covering Ferry’s «Core 4» lead generation pillars, Sales Mastery and more.
  • Membership in illūm, a proprietary online business-building platform
  • Resource library
  • Business and marketing plans
  • Activity tracking tools
  • A powerful referral network
  • Video role plays and much more.

«A lot of people need help with their businesses right now, so in March, 2020 we launched a short-term, low-cost training program to keep people moving forward powerfully through the pandemic,» says Tom Ferry, Founder and CEO, Ferry International, LLC.. «We got such great feedback from that initial program, we decided to take it up a notch and make it a permanent offering in addition to our existing coaching programs.»

Tom Ferry Training is available to real estate agents on Monday, August 3 with thousands of agents already subscribed.

For a full rundown of everything included in the monthly subscription, visit: tomferry.com/training

About Tom Ferry:
As the #1 ranked Real Estate Educator by Swanepoel Power 200 and founder/CEO of real estate’s leading coaching company, Tom Ferry brings 30+ years of coaching experience to agents worldwide. His ever-growing influence impacts professionals in a wide variety of ways – including rigorous accountability coaching, the popular #TomFerryShow delivering free, fresh and relevant real estate tips weekly, highly engaging training events, two best-selling books, and his legendary keynote speeches.

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SOURCE Tom Ferry

Monarch Gold Commences Trading on The OTCQX Market

MONTREAL, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – MONARCH GOLD CORPORATION («Monarch» or the «Corporation») (TSX: MQR) (OTCQX: MRQRF) (FRANKFURT: MR7) is pleased to announce that the Corporation has qualified to trade on the OTCQX® Best Market. Monarch upgraded to the OTCQX market from the Pink® market.

Monarch begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol «MRQRF». U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on

MONTREAL, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – MONARCH GOLD CORPORATION («Monarch» or the «Corporation») (TSX: MQR) (OTCQX: MRQRF) (FRANKFURT: MR7) is pleased to announce that the Corporation has qualified to trade on the OTCQX® Best Market. Monarch upgraded to the OTCQX market from the Pink® market.

Monarch begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol «MRQRF». U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. Upgrading to the OTCQX Market is an important step for companies seeking to provide transparent trading for their U.S. investors. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws.

«We are very pleased to be trading on the OTCQX,» said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch. «This is another important milestone for Monarch, which will facilitate trading in our stock for US investors as we continue to expand our shareholder base to a larger pool of retail and institutional investors. The timing is perfect as we’re seeing an increase in volume coming from US investors over the last three months.»     

ABOUT OTC MARKETS GROUP INC.
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX® Best Market, the OTCQB® Venture Market and the Pink® Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities.  Through OTC Link® ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services.  We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com.

ABOUT MONARCH GOLD CORPORATION
Monarch Gold Corporation (TSX: MQR) is an emerging gold mining company focused on becoming a 100,000 to 200,000 ounce per year gold producer through its large portfolio of high-quality projects in the Abitibi mining camp in Quebec, Canada. The Corporation currently owns over 315 km² of gold properties (see map), including the Wasamac deposit (measured and indicated resource of 2.6 million ounces of gold, which includes proven and probable reserves of 1.8 million ounces of gold), the Beaufor, Croinor Gold (see video), and McKenzie Break advanced projects, the Camflo and Swanson exploration projects, and the Camflo and Beacon mills. It also offers custom milling services out of its 1,600 tonne-per-day Camflo mill.

Forward-Looking Statements
The forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Monarch’s actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

www.monarquesgold.com

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SOURCE Monarch Gold Corporation

Bausch Health Resolves Canadian Securities Class Action

LAVAL, QC, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) («Bausch Health» or the «Company»), today announced that the parties in the Canadian securities class action (Cattuci et al. v. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. et. al., Court File No.: 500-06-000783-163)) (the «Action») have agreed to resolve the Action for $94 million CAD (approximately $69 million USD), plus an additional amount for…

LAVAL, QC, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) («Bausch Health» or the «Company»), today announced that the parties in the Canadian securities class action (Cattuci et al. v. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. et. al., Court File No.: 500-06-000783-163)) (the «Action») have agreed to resolve the Action for $94 million CAD (approximately $69 million USD), plus an additional amount for settlement administration costs, subject to court approval. The Action, filed in the Quebec Superior Court in 2015, alleged violations of Canadian securities laws regarding substantively the same matters as in the U.S. securities class action, which the Company also successfully settled. Once approved by the court, the settlement will resolve and discharge all class claims against the Company and the other defendants in the Action (the «Settlement»).

«This Settlement, together with our U.S. securities class action settlement and recent successful resolution of the legacy SEC investigation, puts an end to several of the more significant legal matters from the Valeant era and enables us to continue to focus our attention on Bausch Health today and our future,» said Joseph C. Papa, chairman and CEO of Bausch Health.

As part of the Settlement, the Company and the other defendants admit no liability and deny all allegations of wrongdoing whatsoever.

About Bausch Health
Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) is a global company whose mission is to improve people’s lives with our health care products. We develop, manufacture and market a range of pharmaceutical, medical device and over-the-counter products, primarily in the therapeutic areas of eye health, gastroenterology and dermatology. We are delivering on our commitments as we build an innovative company dedicated to advancing global health. More information can be found at www.bauschhealth.com.

Forward-looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, which may generally be identified by the use of the words «anticipates,» «expects,» «intends,» «plans,» «should,» «could,» «would,» «may,» «believes,» «estimates,» «potential,» «target,» or «continue» and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in the Bausch Health’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and detailed from time to time in Bausch Health’s other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which factors are incorporated herein by reference. They also include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties caused by or relating to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and the fear of that pandemic and its potential effects, the severity, duration and future impact of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, and which may have a material adverse impact on Bausch Health, including but not limited to its project development timelines, and costs (which may increase). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Bausch Health undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect actual outcomes, unless required by law.

Investor Contact:

Media Contact:

Arthur Shannon

Lainie Keller

arthur.shannon@bauschhealth.com

lainie.keller@bauschhealth.com

(514) 856-3855

(908) 927-1198

(877) 281-6642 (toll free)

Bausch Health logo (PRNewsfoto/Bausch Health Companies Inc.)

 

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SOURCE Bausch Health Companies Inc.