News

Singapore – October 02, 2026 -- AhaSlides has won the 2026 Training Magazine Network Choice Award in the Gamification & Game-Based Learning category, a prize decided entirely by votes from working L&D professionals rather than editorial judges.

Voting pool of 2,207 trainers cast 11,692 votes across 296 companies

The Choice Awards, run by Training Magazine Network's 100,000+ member base, collected ballots between April 28 and June 30, 2026, spanning seven categories. Training magazine Editor/Publisher Lorri Freifeld announced the results on September 29, 2026.

Suzhou – October 02, 2026 -- Novartis has agreed to pay Abogen Biosciences an upfront fee of USD 575 million to secure worldwide rights to ABO2203, an mRNA-encoded CD19xCD3 T-cell engager for autoimmune diseases, with total deal value reaching up to approximately USD 7.2 billion if all milestones and options are exercised.

Novartis secures exclusive worldwide license to Abogen's lead autoimmune asset ABO2203

The licensing and option agreement grants Novartis an exclusive global license to ABO2203, which Abogen describes as the first mRNA-encoded T-cell engager to enter clinical evaluation for autoimmune diseases. The molecule uses mRNA to direct endogenous production of T-cell engagers in vivo, targeting B-cell depletion through a mechanism the companies say differs from traditional recombinant T-cell engagers.

Beijing – October 02, 2026 -- iQIYI's AIGC film series "The Ferry Man" has generated cumulative revenue-sharing earnings exceeding RMB 8 million (US$1.2 million) as of September 23, validating artificial intelligence as a financially viable film production model. The milestone arrives as the third installment, "The Ferry Man: The Dream of the Princess", debuts October 1 on iQIYI and iQIYI International.

Production costs recovered within first week of release

The series, produced jointly by iQIYI and GHY Culture & Media, recovered its full production costs within seven days of launch and crossed the RMB 8 million revenue-sharing threshold within its first month, according to the company. The first two titles, "Butterfly Dream" and "The Dream of the Celestial Maiden", released simultaneously on August 22.

Milan – October 02, 2026 -- Hansoh Pharma's dual-biased GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist Olatorepatide (HS-20094) achieved a mean weight loss of 19.3% at Week 48 in the 15 mg dose group of a Phase III Chinese trial, with no plateau observed in the weight-loss curve.

The data, presented as a Late-breaking Abstract oral presentation at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting running September 28 to October 2, 2026 in Milan, come from the LIGHTEN study, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolling 604 Chinese adults with overweight or obesity.

Trial enrolled 604 participants across four dose arms over 48 weeks

Participants with a BMI of 28 kg/m2 or above, or 24-28 kg/m2 with a weight-related comorbidity, were randomized 1:1:1:1 to once-weekly subcutaneous Olatorepatide at 5mg, 10mg or 15mg, or placebo. A total of 90.1% completed the full 48-week treatment period.

San Francisco -- October 1, 2026 -- MontoHealth is developing an AI-driven action layer designed to execute routine healthcare tasks—not just discuss them—across existing hospital and clinic software systems.

MontoHealth targets the gap between digitized records and automated work

Despite two decades of healthcare digitization, tasks such as rescheduling an appointment, routing a prescription refill, coordinating a referral or resolving an insurance query still require manual phone calls and handoffs across disconnected systems. Healthcare organizations typically operate EHRs, scheduling platforms, billing systems and patient portals as separate applications, each governed by distinct privacy and security controls. MontoHealth argues that digitizing a workflow has not equated to automating it, leaving staff to perform the connective work between systems.

Miami – October 01, 2026 -- Nuix used Sibos 2026 to position its Nuix Neo platform as a tool for financial institutions to convert unstructured data into usable financial crime intelligence, citing that up to 90% of enterprise data remains unreadable by conventional systems.

Nuix Neo processes over 1,000 file types to surface hidden risk signals

The platform's patented processing engine extracts information from emails, chat logs, counterparty data, transaction records, case files and voice recordings at a binary level. Deterministic natural language processing classifies and risk-scores the data, while semantic search surfaces relevant documents across languages based on meaning rather than keywords alone.

"AI is only as good as the data beneath it, and in complex financial crime investigations seeing and connecting all evidence is critical," said Chris Stephenson, Head of Industry Advocacy at Nuix.

Los Angeles – October 01, 2026 -- Dunn-Edwards Corporation has designated French Press Coffee (DEBN07), a deep brown with a subtle plum undertone, as its 2027 Color of the Year, signaling a commercial shift away from the cool grays and flat beiges that dominated paint specifications in recent years.

Dunn-Edwards color experts identify a market pivot toward warm, earthy neutrals

The company's internal color team tracked a decisive move away from stark whites and charcoal tones, positioning French Press Coffee as a moody neutral alternative to black that is gaining traction in upscale residential and commercial interiors.

Chicago – October 01, 2026 -- Ballard Power Systems has launched Fleet360, a fuel cell lifecycle program that guarantees power output performance for up to 250,000 miles of operation, unveiled at APTA TRANSform & EXPO 2026 in Chicago.

Fleet360 ties a performance guarantee to data, parts and training for North American transit fleets

The program is available with new FCmove-HD+ module sales in North America and bundles fuel cell health data, technical support, parts assurance, technician training and refurbishment options into a single service structure. Its FCcare+ coverage package provides the headline 250,000-mile power output guarantee, while the base FCcare package covers full parts coverage with defined response, spare-part delivery and resolution commitments.

Toronto – October 01, 2026 -- Manulife Financial Corporation has closed a reinsurance transaction transferring biometric risk on a block of long-term care policies carrying $3.2 billion in reserves to Munich American Reassurance Company, a US subsidiary of Munich Re Group.

Manulife offloads $3.2 billion in long-term care reserves to Munich Re Life US

The deal shifts biometric risk exposure tied to the long-term care block off Manulife's balance sheet and onto Munich Re Life US, a subsidiary specializing in life and disability reinsurance for North American carriers. The transaction was first announced on August 5, 2026, and has now reached formal closing.

San Clemente, Calif. – October 01, 2026 -- Angelalign Technology Inc. (6699.HK) has launched Pressure Points in the European market, a feature that replaces its existing Torque Ridges and delivers a 25% increase in tooth surface contact in its single pressure point configuration.

Angelalign replaces hand-made dimples with a digitally scalable force-control feature

Pressure Points is engineered to apply force at or near the center of the contact point, a departure from the hand-made dimples orthodontists have long used to correct torque and rotation. The company states the simplified dimple shape improves predictability of force application compared with current methods.