Technology

Apriori receives funding boost from CEPI to advance AI platform to protect against viral threats

Published

2 years ago

July 8, 2024

OSLO, Norway and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Biotechnology company Apriori Bio has been awarded US $1.1 million from CEPI to advance its biology-informed artificial intelligence platform Octavia™, aimed at protecting humanity against rapidly-evolving viruses by designing variant-resilient vaccines.

The Octavia platform works by characterising large libraries of viral variants on their ability to bind to cells in the human body and evade the immune response. Then using machine learning, Octavia generates maps to identify the mutations that have the greatest ‘escape potential’ and could therefore pose the greatest threat. These insights can guide how new vaccines are designed and how existing vaccines are updated so that they can protect against worrisome variants for years to come.

Experts can also use Octavia’s real-time variant insights to inform public health decisions and policies against some of the world’s most deadly diseases. Having this information ‘a priori’ – before things appear – can significantly enhance the world’s pandemic readiness and ability to respond to an outbreak in as little as 100 days.

In-Kyu Yoon, M.D., Executive Director of Vaccine R&D (Acting), CEPI, said: “The world was brought to its knees by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic where fast-emerging variants like Omicron outsmarted our medical defences, so we had to constantly play catch-up. To avoid being in this vulnerable position again, we need to shift our global mindset to one of preparedness. By focusing on the range of potential deadly viral variants that could emerge from deadly pathogens ahead of time, we could seriously speed up our response to a future outbreak.”

Lovisa Afzelius, Ph.D., MBA, Co-founder and CEO of Apriori, said: “We are honoured to be recognized by a global leader in pandemic preparedness who shares our commitment to better protecting humanity from rapidly-evolving viruses. With CEPI’s support, we will continue advancing our Octavia platform, focusing on viruses beyond coronavirus, to ensure the global community is better prepared to effectively address future outbreaks with precision and speed.”

Octavia uses both computational insights and experimental biological data to build and train its algorithms. This includes looking at evolutionary trees of viruses to identify the point at which viral variability is most likely to occur and exploring how mutations could affect each other.

Apriori has already explored how Octavia works on COVID-19 variants. The new seed funding from CEPI will focus on pandemic influenza strain H3N2, which has previously affected pigs, birds and humans.

This work is supported by CEPI’s new dedicated biosecurity department, which was established to reduce biosafety and biosecurity risks associated with CEPI research investments, and accelerate responsible AI for vaccine development.

CEPI and Apriori are committed to enabling equitable access to the outputs of their partnership, in line with CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy. Project results, including related data, will be published open access for the benefit of the global scientific community. This includes the potential to share learnings with CEPI partners so that they can quickly get to work using their data to advance their vaccine designs.

This is the second project to be announced as part of CEPI’s call for vaccine innovations that could be critical to helping the world better prepare for future epidemics and pandemics.

About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. CEPI has supported the development of more than 50 vaccine candidates or platform technologies against multiple known high-risk pathogens or a future Disease X. Central to CEPI’s pandemic-beating five-year plan for 2022-2026 is the ‘100 Days Mission’ to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days.

About Apriori Bio
Apriori is working to create a world where humanity is protected against viral threats. Our pioneering approach centers on a unique technology platform, Octavia™, which allows us to survey the entire fitness landscape of existing and potential viral variants to design new vaccines against the most threatening variants. Octavia can also inform public health policy in real time by predicting the impact of emerging variants. Apriori was founded in 2020 by Flagship Pioneering. For more information visit www.aprioribio.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Press Contacts

CEPI
press@cepi.net
+44 7387 055214

Apriori Bio
press@aprioribio.com

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Technology

Bonree Powers Global Digital Finance with Intelligent Observability

Published

35 minutes ago

April 27, 2026

DONGGUAN, China, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — From March 31 to April 2, 2026, the second Huawei Global Financial EcoWeek, themed “Inspire • Collaborate • Achieve: Reshaping the Future of Finance”, was held in Sanyapo, Dongguan. The event brought together over 400 attendees from Huawei partners across more than 30 countries and regions, including over 60 independent software vendors (ISVs) and over 120 system integrators (SIs) in the financial industry. As global financial data volumes surge, customer demands diversify, and regulatory requirements evolve, financial institutions are accelerating their digital and intelligent transformation. Observability and intelligent operations technologies enable institutions to detect system anomalies in real time, optimise performance, and ensure business continuity, while cross-regional and cross-institution collaboration is becoming a key driver of industry innovation.

At the event, NTT Data signed a partnership agreement with BONREE DATA TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd. (Bonree), marking the launch of a renewed global financial ecosystem under the “SI Value Growth Plan.” As the first publicly listed company in China’s Application Performance Management (APM) and observability market, Bonree is advancing its globalisation strategy with established operations in Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Malaysia. The company has already secured orders worth millions in the Hong Kong and Macau region. Bonree complies with internationally recognised standards, including SOC 2 Type II and CMMI Level 5. Its self-developed LLM-powered observability platform has been selected for Huawei Cloud’s international baseline solution library, reflecting recognition from global cloud ecosystems and supporting its expansion with a “global deployment, local compliance” approach.

Bonree serves over 1,000 leading clients worldwide with system monitoring, performance optimisation, and intelligent operations solutions. Leveraging proprietary unsupervised knowledge graph root cause analysis technology and AI-driven intelligent analytics, Bonree delivers plug-and-play monitoring and fully managed adaptive alerting systems that detect anomalies quickly and accurately with minimal noise. With 56 authorised invention patents and 135 software copyrights, as well as 24/7 global technical support, Bonree maintains an NPS of 79 and a client satisfaction rate of 95%, reflecting its deep overseas market presence and trust among international financial institutions. With these core strengths, Bonree continues to lead in global fintech and digital operations, helping clients ensure business continuity and digital transformation while striving to become a leading global player in APM and observability.

CONTACT:
Yao Xiaohan
yaoxiaohan@bonree.com
+8618210189324

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Technology

HZICC: The 2025 Hangzhou Highlights Awards Celebrating Visionaries Elevating the City’s Global Profile

Published

35 minutes ago

April 27, 2026

HANGZHOU, China, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — What does the world see when it looks at Hangzhou? The Hangzhou & Friends: 2025 Hangzhou Highlights Awards, unveiled on February 4, offered an answer—not through statistics alone, but through the stories of connection that unfolded across the year.

The awards were born from a simple recognition: that a city’s global presence is built not only on grand events, but on the countless moments when people reach across borders. To honor this, the organizers structured the awards into four chapters: Dialogue of Civilizations, Industrial Narratives, Social Innovation, and Moments of the Year, each capturing a different way that Hangzhou touched the world.

Across these categories, moments of quiet resonance stood out. In the realm of cultural dialogue, ten friends from ten nations explored Hangzhou for the first time, their journeys later echoed by the city’s own return visits to Istanbul and Cairo. After the visits, a German photographer’s image of Qiandao Lake’s giant net fishing found its way to the pages of The Times, Hangzhou’s bond with Verona deepened into a year-long romance of music, art, and shared celebration, proving that sister-city ties can bloom into something far richer than ceremony.

On the Liangzhu Day of 2025, the “Liangzhu and the World: Dialogue between Liangzhu Ancient City and Rome Ancient City” was held—one of several moments when the region’s archaeological treasures found new resonance on the global stage. Beyond culture, the awards recognized how Hangzhou’s industries are telling Chinese stories overseas, from Geely’s global development to the rise of cross-border e-commerce that brings Hangzhou products，and the culture behind them directly to international consumers.

Yet there were also countless other people and moments that helped the world know Hangzhou. An international student from Pakistan filmed the city he had come to call home, capturing not just its landmarks but the feeling of belonging. A volunteer from Zimbabwe found himself holding hands with local police and strangers in a human chain at West Lake to maintain traffic order, discovering that being welcomed means being trusted to help. The Hangzhou International Conference Center became a stage for cross-cultural encounter, while Hangzhou’s tech-themed travel routes offered visitors a chance to explore the city’s cutting-edge innovations.

Together, these moments traced a portrait of Hangzhou not as a place that simply welcomes visitors, but as one that listens, shares, and grows, through the people who carry its stories onward.

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Technology

Flagship Tablet to Highlight Huawei Innovative Product Launch in Bangkok

Published

35 minutes ago

April 27, 2026

BANGKOK, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei officially announced the “Now Is Your Spark” Innovative Launch Event, due to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on May 7, 2026. This launch event will unveil a comprehensive lineup of flagship tablets, wearables, and smartphones. Empowering daily life with technology and exploring future frontiers through innovation, Huawei aims to inspire every user through intelligent experiences across all scenarios.

As one of the highlights of this launch event, the flagship tablet HUAWEI MatePad Pro Max will make its global debut. The HUAWEI MatePad Pro series has consistently delivered comprehensive experience breakthroughs with best-in-class productivity and creativity. This new device is Huawei’s best tablet yet, with a lightweight design, PC-level productivity, and PaperMatte Display, opening new possibilities for work, creation, and creative expression.

In the wearables sector, the HUAWEI WATCH FIT Series continues to gain widespread recognition from global consumers. By April 2026, shipments have exceeded 24 million units, setting a new benchmark in the fashion sports smartwatch market. The series offers a lightweight, comfortable wearing experience while providing professional sports guidance and health management features. At the Huawei Innovative Launch Event in Bangkok, the all-new HUAWEI WATCH FIT 5 Series will debut. It is set to become the ideal companion for users to express personal style, explore sports enjoyment, and monitor health around the clock. Additionally, this launch will introduce the HUAWEI WATCH GT Runner 2 Racing Legend Edition, specially designed for marathons with its upgraded data analysis capabilities to scientifically support every step of the run. Moreover, Huawei plans to unveil its first jewelry smartwatch designed in partnership with renowned international jewelry designer Francesca Amfitheatrof—the HUAWEI WATCH ULTIMATE DESIGN Spring Edition. Also making a grand return after five years is the next-generation premium kids watch, the HUAWEI WATCH KIDS X1 Series.

In the smartphone segment, HUAWEI nova 15 Max will deliver an upgraded experience for global consumers. Leveraging strengths in imaging technology, battery life, and reliable quality, it is an ideal companion for young people to capture life’s moments and unleash their creativity.

Now Is Your Spark— every individual can light up the world to drive change, and technology serves as the torch to ignite, connect, and amplify this force. By giving passion a voice, inspiration a purpose, and expression a stage, Huawei aims to empower consumers worldwide to write their own stories with innovative technologies.

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