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SONGTRADR ACQUIRES BANDCAMP FROM EPIC GAMES

Songtradr

Songtradr, a music licensing platform and marketplace company supporting artists, labels and publishers, and Epic Games, a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology, announced today that Songtradr is acquiring Bandcamp. Songtradr will continue to operate Bandcamp as a marketplace and music community with an artist-first revenue share. Bandcamp is an online music store and community with over 5M artists and labels where fans can discover, connect with, and directly support the artists they love. This acquisition will help Bandcamp continue to grow within a music-first company and enable Songtradr to expand its capabilities to support the artist community. Songtradr will also offer Bandcamp artists the ability and choice to have their music licensed to all forms of media including content creators, game and app developers and brands. This will enable artists to continue to own and control their music rights, and increase their earning capacity from Songtradr’s global licensing network. Epic is exploring ways to partner with Songtradr to build an inventory of music where artists can opt in to have their music licensed for use in Epic’s ecosystem. Epic will continue to collaborate with Bandcamp on projects like Fortnite Radio and is investing in Songtradr to support Bandcamp’s successful integration into Songtradr. "The acquisition of Bandcamp will help Songtradr continue to grow its suite of services for artists. I’m a passionate musician myself, and artistry and creativity have always been at the heart of Songtradr. Bandcamp will join a team of music industry veterans and artists who have deep expertise in music licensing, composition, rights management, and distribution," said Paul Wiltshire, CEO of Songtradr. “Songtradr shares Epic and Bandcamp’s values around ensuring artists are fairly compensated for their work,” said Steve Allison, Vice President and General Manager, Store at Epic Games. “Bringing Bandcamp to Songtradr will make it easier for independent artists to connect with creators and developers looking to license their music and enable Epic to focus on its core metaverse, games, and tools efforts.” ### For more information on Songtradr: www.songtradr.com For more information on Bandcamp: www.bandcamp.com Press Contact: Jalila Singerff / Jive PR + Digital / jalila@jiveprdigital.com Contact Details Jalila Singerff jalila@jiveprdigital.com

September 28, 2023 12:22 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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MYBUNDLE AND TASTEMADE ANNOUNCE COMPREHENSIVE TASTEMADE+ DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

MyBundle.TV

MyBundle, the premier online platform connecting consumers, streaming services, and broadband providers with tools to simplify streaming television, and Tastemade, a modern media company with award-winning video content and original programming in the categories of Food, Travel, and Home & Design, announced details of a comprehensive agreement between the companies for the distribution of the Tastemade+ premium SVOD service. MyBundle is making Tastemade+ available to its broadband partner network representing more than 175 broadband providers and comprising more than 10 million customers nationwide. MyBundle will provide billing and customer care for Tastemade+ as part of its growing portfolio of streaming services. The partnership will make it easier for consumers to learn more about the innovative Tastemade+ content and create convenient and affordable bundling opportunities across the MyBundle broadband partner network, driving incremental new Tastemade+ subscriptions. Tastemade+ offers more than 750 hours of streaming content, 12,000 globally-inspired recipes and cooking videos, weekly meal plans, and diverse programming in the categories of Food, Travel, and Home & Design. The billing integration simplifies the ability to subscribe to Tastemade+ so users may sign up, manage billing and receive customer support directly through the MyBundle platform and its co-branded ISP partner integrations. Customers may find Tastemade+ in the MyBundle Streaming App Marketplace, MyBundle Streaming Choice, and other targeted marketing tactics. “We’re very excited about this partnership with MyBundle; with the expedited continuation of cord cutting, MyBundle gives customers an easy and seamless way to cherry pick their favorite channels and create their own streaming package,” says Taylor Shwide, Distribution & Partnerships Manager, Tastemade. “By tapping into MyBundle’s current reach, customers will have instant access to hundreds of hours of Tastemade’s streaming lifestyle programming as well as weekly meal plans, inspiring audiences with fresh ideas, incredible places, and the tools to live their best life.” “The MyBundle platform simplifies the discovery and purchase process for consumers of innovative streaming services such as Tastemade+ and we are very pleased to welcome Tastemade as a business partner with this agreement,” said MyBundle Co-Founder and CEO, Jason Cohen. “MyBundle - and our broadband partner network - provides an invaluable growth opportunity for streaming services looking to reach new customers. As a fast-growing and independent solution in the marketplace, MyBundle is a trusted resource to make streaming easier for consumers and a growth vehicle for innovative streamers such as Tastemade.” MyBundle offers an integrated billing platform and co-branded streaming video tools and services for broadband and multichannel video providers. Sitting at the cross-section of consumers looking to explore and optimize their streaming service subscriptions, broadband providers looking to deliver choice to current and prospective customers and streaming services looking for efficient ways to reach new customers, MyBundle reduces friction and increases satisfaction for the ever-growing and dynamic streaming video ecosystem. About MyBundle MyBundle is the industry-leading consumer and enterprise platform simplifying streaming TV. MyBundle’s free and easy-to-use tools help consumers discover and manage their streaming service subscriptions, watch free live TV, and find content to watch across their services. Incorporating more than 150 streaming services and partnering with more than 175 broadband providers serving more than 10 million customers and growing, the MyBundle platform helps consumers navigate the streaming video world and creates new growth opportunities for programmers and high-speed data distributors alike. About Tastemade Tastemade is a modern media company that engages a global audience of more than 300 million monthly viewers on all major digital, mobile, and streaming television platforms, garnering 700 million minutes watched each month. We create award-winning video content and original programming in the categories of Food, Travel, and Home & Design that we share with an engaged, passionate, and global community. Tastemade has won a host of awards and accolades for its innovation and original programming, including three James Beard Awards, two Emmy Awards, and was most recently recognized as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” in 2021. For more information, visit Tastemade at: www.tastemade.com. Contact Details MyBundle Eric Becker +1 303-638-3469 press@mybundle.tv Tastemade Brooke Garringer brooke.swilley@tastemade.com Company Website https://mybundle.tv/

September 28, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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After Achieving 100% Cancer Remission Rates In Preclinical Studies, Starpax Magnetodrones Head For Human Trials

Benzinga

By Rachael Green, Benzinga Starpax Biopharma is preparing to start clinical trials this year with its patented Starpax cancer treatment platform across six unmet needs, including pancreatic, breast, colorectal, head & neck, uterus and prostate cancer. Solid cancers like the ones Starpax will focus on in the upcoming trials account for 89% of all cancer deaths – that’s largely due to the fact that solid tumors are so difficult to treat. But Micheal Gareau, Founder and President of Starpax Biopharma, is on both a public and personal mission to change that after the disease claimed the lives of two brothers and his father and his third brother and sister are presently under treatment for cancer. And he has an impressive team with deep expertise in the space around him to help achieve this goal. The non-exhaustive roster includes such notable names as André Monette, former President at Johnson & Johnson France, Dr. Lisa Matar, former President of Eli Lilly (Canada) and John Helou, former president of Pfizer (Canada), Dr. Jacques Jolivet, holder of the King Georges V Silver Jubilee Medal in Oncology, and Berthe Latreille, who recently retired as COO of JP Morgan Investment Bank in London, all active on the board of directors. Here’s how this never-seen-before cancer treatment platform works. Why Solid Cancers Are Harder To Treat Anticancer drugs are usually injected in the blood network. The drug needs to circulate in 60,000 miles of blood vessels hoping to reach the tumor. Unfortunately studies have demonstrated that just 0.7% of the cancer drug dose actually reaches the tumor while nearly 99% of this toxic agent continues to circulate in the rest of the patient’s body causing unwanted side effects. The second difficulty, after the drug reaches the tumor, is to be able to distribute the drug throughout its entire volume. As the tumor continues to grow, the blood vessels become chaotic, malfunctioning or collapse, creating hypoxic zones (low level of oxygen areas) and making it difficult to diffuse the drug throughout the whole volume of the tumor. Several studies around the world have demonstrated that 90% of the tumor volume receives little or no drug at all creating a major resistance to treatment that systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy have never been able to solve. The Starpax technology has been conceived specifically to solve this resistance problem to treatment. How The Starpax Platform Is Aiming To Overcome Those Challenges Starpax combines the power of four scientific disciplines: microbiology, biochemistry, electromagnetism engineering and AI into a two-part platform – the Magnetodrones and the Polartrak – that work together to deliver cancer drugs directly into tumors, trap them inside the tumors and ensure the spread into every part of them. Starpax Magnetodrones are self-propelled bacteria that are injected directly into a tumor. The non-pathogenic bacteria can swim between tumor cells without the need of blood vessels and are capable of carrying a variety of different cancer drugs. They die about 30 minutes to an hour after injection. In order to ensure they are distributed in the entire volume of the tumor rather than just sitting near the injection site, Starpax uses magneto-aerotactic bacteria. That means they’re sensitive to very specific magnetic fields, and they naturally accumulate in low-oxygen environments. Their sensitivity to magnetic fields comes into play with the PolarTrak, a device inside which the patient is positioned, that creates unique magnetic fields. Instead of leaving the Magnetodrones free-floating throughout the patient’s body, the Polartrak creates a magnetic sphere around the tumor that contains the Magnetodrones and forces them to distribute throughout the tumor’s whole volume without circulating in blood vessels. The combined result of the PolarTrak and Magnetodrones is a platform that can deliver powerful cancer-fighting drugs directly into a tumor and ensure that they are spread throughout its entire volume. Results of preclinical trials, report 100% of the dose reached the tumor delivering 50 times more drug in the tumor with 800 less toxic molecules in the patient’s body, a major improvement over current systemic chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Subjects also reported a 100% remission rate with no significant side effects. Building on those groundbreaking preclinical results, Starpax is preparing to start clinical trials this year to test the patented cancer treatment platform in humans. During those trials, a cancer drug that has already been approved by the FDA and has been in use by humans for over 20 years will be attached to the surface of Magnetodrones. The company is planning to seek fast-track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help get this new technology to the patients who need it as soon as possible. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

September 28, 2023 09:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time

This Company Is Using AI To Establish Trust In A Digitally Connected World

Benzinga

By Faith Ashmore, Benzinga In today's increasingly digital world, the prevalence of fraud is a growing concern. The rapid advancement of technology and the widespread use of the internet have created new opportunities for unscrupulous individuals to exploit unsuspecting individuals and organizations. With the convenience and anonymity offered by the digital space, scammers can carry out illegal activities from anywhere in the world with greater ease than ever before. From online identity theft to phishing scams, digital fraud has become more sophisticated, making it harder for people to detect and protect themselves. The sheer volume of personal and financial information being shared online also increases the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. Trust Stamp (NASDAQ: IDAI) is a company looking to revolutionize digital security and increase its penetration. The company is a global provider of AI-powered, privacy-first trust and identity services used across multiple sectors – such as banking and finance, real estate, communications, regulatory compliance and government. Trust Stamp offers a range of innovative services. Their biometric capture and analysis technology enables secure and convenient identity verification, allowing businesses to streamline onboarding processes. By integrating advanced document verification, Trust Stamp helps verify the authenticity of important documents, reducing the risk of fraud. In the face of increasing threats, Trust Stamp also provides cryptocurrency security and compliance solutions. Their expertise in this area assists businesses in safeguarding their digital assets, ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks and protecting against unauthorized access or misuse. By facilitating accurate and reliable identity verification, Trust Stamp helps build trust between parties engaging in digital transactions, fostering secure interactions in a digital world. Unlike other companies that may enable AI to make complex decisions regarding users' authentication and identification, Trust Stamp has constructed a process that uses ML and various metric and statistical methods to audit the AI system. Their AI is used to extract information needed for identity verification but does not make the final decision, which helps to ensure that all decisions made using their systems are transparent and auditable. While Trust Stamp’s mission is similar to companies like Mitek (NASDAQ: MITK) and Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN), Trust Stamp has developed a proprietary process for tokenizing identity using an irreversible transformation via a convolutional neural network, creating an identity token known as IT2. The IT2 is generated by these AI processes, and data is removed and destroyed, making the token safe to store and reuse in the future. This process allows Trust Stamp to offer two unique value propositions to its customers: reauthentication and deduplication. Reauthentication enables users to reauthenticate using biometrics with ease, and deduplication allows for deduplication at scale to prevent synthetic identity fraud. Additionally, Trust Stamp is utilizing AI to improve the capture process and enhance users' experience. Its work focuses on using AI and language models to dynamically instruct users on how to take a quality picture, guiding them on the necessary changes to phone position, lighting and head position, among other parameters. This technology not only makes facial matching accessible to those with special needs but also vastly reduces bias in outcomes from AI-powered decision processes. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, Trust Stamp's emphasis on privacy and data protection is aimed at ensuring that users’ personal information is safeguarded at all times. By providing secure and trusted identity services, Trust Stamp positions itself as a crucial ally in the ongoing battle against fraud and identity-related issues, supporting a safer and more secure digital environment for all stakeholders. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

September 28, 2023 09:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Shopistry Launches White-Label eCommerce Platform Enabling Banks, Merchant Acquirers, and Payment Processors

Shopistry

Toronto, Ontario -- Shopistry, a leading commerce solution provider powering local merchants to leading brands, today announced the launch of Private Label Commerce, the industry’s first white-label eCommerce solution. Banks, merchant service providers, payment providers, and software companies can now offer merchants a modern, no-code online store and omni-channel solution, integrated with their existing offerings, growing client value, gaining revenue, and reducing churn. The innovative approach is designed to empower traditional fintechs to deepen client relationships and compete with software providers that are increasingly offering payments and financial products to business owners as a catalyst for growth. “Owning the customer relationship is critical and the more indispensable you become to your merchant’s business the better. This why eCommerce software companies have increasingly moved into payments, loans, and more, putting pressure on traditional fintech companies. Shopistry’s Private Label Commerce levels the playing field; it’s a game changer to offer your clients a Shopify-like solution without the work,” said Jaafer Haidar, CEO at Shopistry. Private Label Commerce is the latest from Shopistry and introduces a focus on small/medium businesses to compliment the company's existing products for leading brands and media and entertainment that powered growth at Oura Ring, Black Rifle Coffee, NEON and other leading brands. “We’re focused on running our business and needed a solution that’s easy and integrated with our payments and banking so we can manage everything in one place. We tried others but Shopistry is easy to use and has a lot of features. The fact that it’s offered by our payments company means we only have one place to go for anything we need,” said Matt Boom, partner at Boomerz Boxing & Fitness.” Shopistry has partnered with major merchant service providers and is now open for additional partners. Key benefits include: White-Label & Supported: End-to-End software, videos, managed support by Shopistry Sales Enablement Program: Sales support and training to enable your sales effort Turn-key Mobile & Web Stores: Merchants quickly start selling online Dynamic Checkout: Single-page checkout, integrated payments, BOPIS, Shipping more Simplified Operations: Automatic product, inventory, order, and payment integration enables seamless operations without changes to business processes Seamless Omni-channel: Integration with in-store terminals and systems to deliver a seamless omni-channel solution Continuous Innovation with AI, Social and more: Ongoing product innovation drive further value to clients, keeping partners ahead of the game without costs To learn more about how Shopistry Private Label Commerce can benefit your organization, please visit shopistry.com contact partners@shopistry.com. For press inquiries please contact press@shopistry.com. About Shopistry Shopistry commerce software and solutions empower partners and merchants of all sizes to innovate and grow their business online hassle-free. Shopistry powers SMBs to leading growth brands like Oura Ring, Honed, NEON Studios, and more with modern functionality, simplicity, performance, and flexibility to adapt and grow as commerce continues to evolve. To learn more visit shopistry.com. Shopistry® is a registered trademark of Shopistry Inc. Third-party trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Contact Details Bryanne Baker press@shopistry.com Company Website https://www.shopistry.com

September 27, 2023 11:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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WagerWire Announces Partnership with Sportsbook Platform Provider SB22

WagerWire

WagerWire, a marketplace technology and media company serving sportsbooks and bettors, announced today it has signed a technology integration partnership with innovative sportsbook platform provider SB22. As part of the deal, WagerWire’s proprietary marketplace technology will be integrated into the sports betting products that SB22 builds for its customers. With WagerWire, SB22’s customers will have the option to have bets be tradeable inside their own applications via an in-sportsbook marketplace as well as on the WagerWire app. “WagerWire’s mission is to improve the betting experience through advanced betting capabilities, open market efficiency, and engaging content and media,” said Zach Doctor, Co-founder and CEO of WagerWire. “It’s refreshing to work with the forward-thinkers at SB22. WagerWire fits like a glove into their focus on building innovative, high-tech and industry-changing platforms for gaming operators. By unlocking secondary market activity for sports bets, and the social engagement that happens on top of this marketplace, WagerWire is an engine for leveraging an operator’s audience into the most active, engaged and passionate customer base in the industry.” SB22 joins WagerWire’s growing roster of companies in its flagship partnership group that are looking forward to bringing bet trading to a mass audience. This announcement comes on the heels of WagerWire’s recent partnership with industry innovator Betr, founded by Joey Levy and Jake Paul. Earlier this year, an independent survey of sports bettors commissioned by WagerWire found that 90% of bettors would prefer to sign up for a sportsbook with a secondary marketplace, signaling the strong consumer demand for this product. The survey also found that 76% of bettors would place more bets and 72% would place larger bets if a secondary market was offered, demonstrating the value to sportsbook operators of adding this functionality. “During our discussions with the WagerWire team, it was abundantly clear that integrating WagerWire’s technology into our business offering is not only an incredible value add for our customers, but also puts us miles ahead of other platform providers,” said Vik Shrestha, Chief Commercial Officer of SB22. “Our mission is to offer the best possible experience for sports bettors. Integrating WagerWire into our products does that.” WagerWire first came onto the scene when it announced its seed round in 2022 with backing from the likes of Miami Marlins co-owner Roger Ehrenberg (IA Sports Ventures and Eberg Capital), Joey Levy’s 305 Ventures, NBA All-Star Richard Jefferson, and SimpleBet co-founder Scott Marshall, among others. About WagerWire WagerWire empowers bettors to take control of their action and treat their bets as assets that can be bought and sold at any time. WagerWire’s proprietary marketplace technology can be directly embedded into sportsbook apps, and also powers the WagerWire app that serves as an aggregated marketplace of bets across partner sportsbooks. WagerWire also has a Media Network that generates daily content “By Fans, For Fans”. You can find WagerWire @WagerWire on Twitter and LinkedIn, or @WagerWireLive on TikTok and at WagerWire.com. WagerWire is dedicated to providing users with a responsible gaming environment. If you think you or someone you know may have a gambling problem, resources are available. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. About SB22 SB22 has created the definitive next generation sports betting platform certified for GLI-33 and designed for the US market. It is modern, scalable, and modular, with all its functionality, including its proprietary PAM, completely integrated from the ground up. SB22 is the first mobile-centric, fully automated, cloud capable, and VR/AR-ready tech platform in the sports betting industry. For more information on Product: www.sb22.com Contact Details Bailey Irelan birelan@hotpaperlantern.com Company Website https://www.wagerwire.com/

September 27, 2023 09:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time

How Altius Minerals Is Building An ESG-Compliant Portfolio With The Potential To Deliver Sustainable Royalties For The Next 100 Years

Benzinga

By Faith Ashmore, Benzinga As the United Nations wraps up its 78th General Assembly in New York City, the most pressing issue at hand has been putting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track and aligning political agendas with the ever-important environmental goals. While governments will shape policy, companies have substantial sway in affecting the economy and direction of environmental action. ESG investing has been one of the fastest growing investment classes, even after public pressure around green-washing that occurred in 2022. This backlash has caused asset managers and regulators to be more cautious about what styles of investing get classified as ESG investments. This caution around using the term ESG more deliberately likely contributed to a report issued in 2022 by the US SIF, which classified $8.4 trillion in U.S. investment assets at the beginning of 2022 held by firms that factor ESG into their decision-making. Although this is a huge number, it’s less than half the $17.1 trillion assets that were classified as ESG assets under management in 2020. Altius Minerals (OTCQX: ATUSF) (TSX: ALS) has built an ESG-friendly royalty portfolio. Altius is part of the broader mining sector, an industry that has been under criticism for its long history of causing significant harm to the environment, from deforestation and habitat destruction to water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. But materials that go into electronics, electricity generation, transportation and virtually all 21st-century lifestyle infrastructure are dependent on the mining industry. Altius is a royalty company that, unlike most of its competitors, has very little gold royalty exposure. Although gold has properties that make it uniquely adaptable for uses including medical and technology applications, its main demand source is jewellery and coins. Contrast that with copper, which along with potash, are Altius’s main exposures. Altius is working towards creating a portfolio that is sustainable. The company is targeting potash, electrification battery metals and iron ore for green steel, along with their core holding in subsidiary Altius Renewable Royalties (OTCQX: ATRWF) (TSX: ARR). These markets align with multiple UN sustainable development goals, such as eradicating poverty, ensuring renewable energy, responsible procurement and more. This strategic focus aligns with the values of stakeholders who believe in these goals. One significant aspect of Altius Minerals' sustainable portfolio is the emphasis on long mine lives. Unlike typical gold mines that run for 10-15 years, potash mines, for instance, are expected to have a lifespan of up to 100 years or more. This longevity ensures employment opportunities for entire careers or even generations. Long resource lives are also the best predictors of expansion opportunities. While potash mine lives can be long at 100+ years, renewable energy resources are potentially infinite, making the business of ARR unique in that the resource is never subject to depletion. That is a significant contrast to other energy forms, like shale wells. Revenue from Altius Renewable Royalties is accelerating, with new project royalties expected to be operational by 2024 from investments already made. Their commitment to renewable energy aims to align with the global transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources. Altius claims it doesn’t avoid industries where emissions are considered “hard to abate” like steel-making. Altius wants its investments to fall on the side of steel-making that is sourcing high-purity iron ore for electric arc furnace steel making, aiming to eliminate the use of metallurgical coal inputs. Altius’s iron ore exposure is Labrador Trough iron ore, considered to be among the highest grade and lowest impurity sources globally. One of the most significant ESG transitions in the world, along with the energy transition, is the transition from internal combustion engine transport to electric vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electric car markets have witnessed exponential growth, with sales exceeding 10 million in 2022; 14% of all new car sales in 2022 were electric, a notable increase from around 9% in 2021 and less than 5% in 2020. The IEA further projects that the global market value of electricity for EV charging is set to grow significantly, reaching approximately $190 billion by 2030. The Climate Action Tracker report suggests that to align with the 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway, fully electric vehicles will need to account for 75-95% of global annual passenger vehicle sales by 2030 and 100% by 2035. This growth demonstrates the increasing demand for EVs and the need for the materials and infrastructure to support this growth. As an example, an electric vehicle uses almost 2.5 times the copper of a car with an internal combustion engine, and S&P Global forecasts that copper demand will nearly double between 2022 to 50 million metric tons and 2035 to 50 million metric tons. By 2050, demand will reach more than 53 million metric tons. To illustrate just how strong the demand growth is, S&P Global noted that that’s “more than all the copper consumed in the world between 1900 and 2021.” EV demand is similarly driving the need for mining of other materials such as lithium, which is commonly used in EV batteries. Copper is one of Altius’s largest royalty exposures. Mining producers of these critical materials will need financing partners who support the impact they’re making and their sustainability goals. Altius Minerals aims to position itself as a leading diversified royalty player with positive impacts on climate, electrification and food security, as well as a front-runner in the ESG space – an ideal financing partner for sustainable miners. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

September 27, 2023 09:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time

With Cancer Immunotherapy Market Set To Grow At Double-Digit CAGR Till 2032, This Company Plans To Ride The Wave Through Treatments For Complex Cancers

Benzinga

By Faith Ashmore, Benzinga Oncotelic Therapeutics Inc. (OTCQB: OTLC) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Its primary focus is on developing innovative drugs for the treatment of orphan oncology indications, with an emphasis on rare and underserved cancer types including pancreatic cancer, glioma and glioblastoma. Oncotelic's pipeline includes several promising drug candidates. One of their key products is OT-101, a targeted immunotherapy designed to inhibit the production of a specific protein critical for cancer evasion of host immunity. By targeting immune evasion specifically, OT-101 aims to reduce the effectiveness of traditional immunooncology (IO) drugs and improve patient survival. This drug has also been shown to be successful in helping treat immune evasion by COVID-19. Oncotelic is undertaking combination trials with IO drugs such as PD-1, PDL-1 and CTLA4, among others. Over the next 12 months, it is expected there will be reports available on these combination trials. In August, the company announced a collaboration between their joint venture partner, Sapu Bioscience, LLC (wholly owned by GMP Biotechnology Limited), and Cromos Pharma, LLC. This collaboration’s goal is to conduct a registrational trial for OT-101 in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The company is expecting to report interim analyses in the near future. This trial leverages the ability of OT-101 to counteract chemoresistance that frequently arises during the treatment of cancers with chemotherapies. In many ways, OT-101 was designed to improve existing cancer treatments, such as Keytruda. Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda – also known as pembrolizumab – is an immunotherapy used to treat various types of cancer, including lung cancer, melanoma and triple-negative breast cancer. It blocks the PD-1 pathway, allowing the immune system to detect and fight cancer cells. What makes Oncotelic an industry innovator is its embrace of AI in its workflow. By leveraging AI, the company is mining its existing database to design the optimal clinical pathway for each of its drugs. Through their dedication to incorporating cutting-edge science and engineering, Oncotelic is positioning itself at the forefront of advancing novel drugs in oncology. In addition to OT-101, Oncotelic is advancing other drug candidates, as well, including CA4P and Oxi4503. These drugs utilize different mechanisms of action to target blood vessels feeding the tumors and disrupt their growth. This diversified pipeline strategy allows Oncotelic to explore multiple approaches to cancer treatment and increase the likelihood of success in addressing different types of cancer. By leveraging AI, Oncotelic's drug candidates can overcome the limitations of conventional clinical trials, avoiding unintended confounding factors that plague traditional clinical trials. Long before a clinical trial is initiated, extensive in silico modeling would have been completed at Oncotelic, derisking every aspect of the clinical trial and optimizing it for success. Oncotelic Therapeutics is an innovative player in the cancer immunotherapy market, which is expected to reach a value of $647 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 13.8% over 2022-2032. The company has completed promising phase 2 trials in pancreatic cancer and melanoma, as well as in glioblastoma, achieving robust efficacy and safety in all three cases. With the company’s cutting-edge research and impressive track record, Oncotelic is setting the bar high for innovation in cancer treatments. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

September 27, 2023 09:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Analysts Predict Net Zero Energy Transition Will Push Most Battery Metals Into Shortage By 2030 – How Investors Can Potentially Get Exposure

Benzinga

By Rachael Green, Benzinga Shares of Sprott Energy Transition Material ETF (NASDAQ: SETM) could be positioned for growth as the quest for new supplies of key battery metals like lithium and nickel intensifies. Sprott Asset Management launched the ETF at the beginning of the year as a way to give investors pure-play access to critical minerals that will be key to the global clean energy transition currently underway. Battery Metals Are Quickly Approaching Extreme Shortages According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), lithium demand has tripled since 2017, and it’s forecast to increase tenfold from 2022 to 2040 in order to meet the battery and electricity storage needs of countries aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The soaring demand for lithium is almost entirely tied to the net zero transition. The mineral is a key component of EV batteries and clean energy storage platforms. About 56% of the demand for lithium in 2022 came from EV batteries exclusively. That’s only expected to get higher in the decades ahead as the typical battery contains about 8 kilograms (17.5 pounds) of lithium and about 2 billion electric vehicles (EVs) will need to be on the road by 2050 in order to meet the net zero emissions target. Meanwhile, while EV batteries and storage only represent about 11% of the current demand for nickel, the IEA estimates that it’ll account for over half of total nickel demand by 2040. A similar trajectory is forecast for cobalt and other minerals that are used to make various kinds of EV batteries and other storage units. To meet that demand, McKinsey & Company estimates that over 380 new mines would need to be added on top of the approximately 500 mines currently operating today. The Sprott Energy Transition Materials ETF (SETM) Gives Investors Broad Upstream Exposure to Critical Minerals SETM tracks the Nasdaq Sprott Energy Transition Materials TM Index, which is composed of over 100 global companies directly involved in energy transition materials including copper, lithium, nickel, uranium, cobalt, graphite, manganese, rare earths and silver. Currently, the index is heavily weighted toward lithium-, uranium-, and copper-related stocks, with each group accounting for about a quarter of the portfolio’s weight. With an even mix of large, medium and small-cap stocks all over the world, this gives investors broad exposure to the companies poised to benefit most from the net zero transition. It’s also concentrated on upstream companies – including producers, developers, explorers, refiners, recyclers and other companies involved in providing raw materials to EV makers, power plants and other downstream companies that will need those critical materials. With a supply shortage looming, upstream exposure might not only give investors a way to capture returns from surging battery metal prices but also to limit exposure to downstream companies that might not be able to keep up with competitors as costs increase. While the need for clean energy is clear and policymakers are enacting increasingly stricter emissions standards, it still remains to be seen which companies will come out on top and exactly what the clean energy mix will look like in the future. But what is fairly certain is that these critical minerals will be key to building the infrastructure to store and distribute that clean energy. This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Benzinga +1 877-440-9464 info@benzinga.com Company Website http://www.benzinga.com

September 27, 2023 09:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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