huma-signs-partnership-with-merck-kgaa,-darmstadt,-germany-to-support-cancer-care

Huma signs partnership with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to support cancer care

 

Huma Therapeutics (“Huma”), a leading global digital health company, and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today announced a partnership to develop a digital solution that aims to help cancer patients better understand and manage their conditions and treatment. The Cross-Indication Disease Management Platform will be made available to patients being treated with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s cancer therapies.

Set for initial launch in 2024, the preliminary direct-to-patient solution will support urothelial carcinoma patients in the UK.

Regulated platform will drive improved treatment adherence

Utilising Huma’s disease-agnostic Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) technology platform, the first of its kind to achieve both EU MDR Class IIb regulation and FDA Class 2 510(k) clearance, the collaboration between Huma and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany aspires to (with local specifications):

  • Increase patient understanding of their condition and treatment protocols, encouraging adherence to prescribed treatment
  • Encourage discussions between patients and their care team
  • Deliver timely educational content
  • Support connections between patients and caregivers, fostering a supportive community network

Dan Vahdat, CEO and Founder of Huma, said: “Huma is dedicated to advancing the frontier of digital-first care and research. Our collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is a pivotal step towards amplifying our impact on patient care both at the individual and systemic level. Our recent regulatory achievements mark a significant milestone, streamlining our ability to introduce innovative digital companion applications, alongside more sophisticated AI algorithms that may support patients and healthcare professionals alike. We are thrilled to join forces with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to develop this ambitious oncology platform.”

Dr Mert Aral, Chief Medical Officer, Huma, said: “A number of well-designed scientific studies have underscored the pivotal role digital health technologies can play in optimising care pathways in oncology, improving patient outcomes. In this significant collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, the project strives to simplify the complex journey that cancer patients often face. The goal is straightforward – to deepen the understanding of patients about their condition, help them to navigate intricate care pathways seamlessly and to facilitate sustained adherence to therapies.”

athinia-to-accelerate-the-use-of-ai-and-big-data-to-solve-critical-semiconductor-challenges

Athinia to Accelerate the Use of AI and Big Data to Solve Critical Semiconductor Challenges

 

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, and Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR), a leading builder of operating systems for the modern enterprise, today announced a new partnership to deliver a secure collaborative data analytics platform for the semiconductor industry. The Athinia platform will leverage AI and big data to solve critical challenges such as chip shortages, improve quality and supply chain transparency, and time to market. Laura Matz, Chief Science and Technology Officer of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will lead the partnership as CEO of Athinia.

Athinia will bring semiconductor manufacturers and materials suppliers together to share, aggregate, and analyze data to unlock efficiencies. The platform will also enable industry actors to understand on a deeper level the interaction between materials and processes at semiconductor fabrication plants.

“The semiconductor industry is facing unprecedented disruption. This has created a critical need for a secure data collaboration platform that can provide the transparency and data intelligence companies need to solve challenges such as chip shortages and supply chain issues,” said Kai Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and CEO Electronics. “Partnering with Palantir, we’ve combined our collective expertise in materials science, data analytics and security to increase our customers’ efficiencies and time to innovation.”

“We are excited to partner with market leaders in this space to create an ecosystem that will enable semiconductor companies and their suppliers to collaborate to make better decisions, combatting simultaneous demand and supply shocks,” said Palantir COO Shyam Sankar.  “Athinia will help companies across the value chain bring new products to market faster and accelerate their product differentiation and growth.”

By harnessing Palantir’s unique experience in building inter-organization ecosystems, Athinia will enable advanced data analytics, in turn limiting the costly impact of quality or performance excursions across the value chain, from supplier to semiconductor fabrication plants. It will also help fabs manage faster innovation in manufacturing processes in a single, secure platform that will support improved incoming material quality and increase supplier engagement. Suppliers will benefit from internal efficiency gains through smart data integration and can be a better partner for the fabs they serve. The partnership will help solve such challenges by creating a platform to analyze previously siloed data in a holistic way.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Palantir have already proven to be successful in using collaborative data analytics to help common customers minimize quality deviations and increase efficiencies. Athinia will build upon this experience and leverage Palantir’s expertise to help customers improve their decision-making in optimizing semiconductor materials.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has recently worked with leading semiconductor companies to leverage AI and data analytics for solving key challenges. “We worked with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to create a data sharing platform that enabled advanced predictive manufacturing for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), a critical step in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Through this collaborative partnership, we implemented an AI-driven methodology to enable smart data collaboration that drove process and quality improvements. By extending this approach to the broader supply chain and enabling a data ecosystem, we believe advanced predictive manufacturing can be accelerated for the broader semiconductor industry,” said Raj Narasimhan, Corporate Vice President, Global Quality, Micron Technology, Inc.

The Athinia platform is powered by Palantir Foundry, which enables users to structure and analyze data from disparate sources, generate powerful insights and support operational decisions, all while helping to ensure that sensitive data is processed in accordance with applicable data privacy rules, regulations, and norms. Palantir Foundry is designed to provide world-class security, access controls, partitioning, auditing, and accountability functions to support responsible data use. Athinia acts independent from the Electronics business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and enables data sharing only on codified and anonymized data and customers will retain full control of their data, including intelligent purpose-based access control management. The secure data collaboration environment will provide continuous feedback through a holistic view and a common operating picture of in-fab performance that can help solve quality deviations.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Palantir already started collaborating in 2017. Through the partnership “Syntropy” both companies are determined to unleash the power of biomedical data and revolutionize cancer therapy and accelerate research. Syntropy’s aim is to provide researchers with intuitive analytics techniques to enable them to aggregate, analyze and then also share data from disparate sources.

For more information about Athinia, visit the website or social media channels:
LinkedIn
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All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the EMD Group Website. In case you are a resident of the USA or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register for your online subscription of this service as our geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

emd-electronics-announces-$1-billion-investment-in-us-to-support-semiconductor-customers

EMD Electronics Announces $1 Billion Investment in US to Support Semiconductor Customers

 

EMD Electronics, the North American Electronics business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced approximately $1 billion in investments through 2025 in the US to accelerate growth opportunities in the electronics market. EMD Electronics will heavily invest in R&D and capacity. Over the next five years, the company plans to spend around $2.5 billion globally in long-term fixed assets (CapEx) in Semiconductor and Display Solutions.

“The chip shortage needs industry-wide cooperation to resolve the supply chain issues consumers are currently facing. We are investing in the US to expand our production capacity and innovation footprint to support our customers’ ambitious growth plans,” said Kai Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and CEO Electronics.

In the US, EMD Electronics plans to invest primarily in its ArizonaCaliforniaTexas, and Pennsylvania sites. As part of the “Level Up” growth program which includes a global investment of significantly more than $3.5 billion, the company seeks to capture the growth opportunities that come along with the significantly accelerating global demand for innovative semiconductor and display materials. This demand is driven by exponential data growth and highly impactful technology trends such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things and 5G. The global investment also adds to the ambition of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to accelerate growth by investing in its “Big 3” businesses, including the Semiconductor Solutions business unit as a key driver.

The Level Up growth program focuses on four mutually reinforcing key priorities: Scale, Technology, Portfolio, and Capabilities. Further investing in these four areas builds the foundation of the company’s more ambitious growth targets, in conjunction with the strong demand for electronics materials, particularly semiconductors. The priorities Scale and Technology support the massive capacity expansion that is happening globally in the semiconductor and electronics industries fueled by large-scale investments from its customers. Under the priority area Portfolio, the company seeks to exploit attractive, external growth opportunities via selected bolt-on acquisitions. Furthermore, Level Up will initiate or accelerate important internal initiatives under the Capabilities priority.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the EMD Group Website. In case you are a resident of the USA or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register for your online subscription of this service as our geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.