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Spencer Trask & Co. Launches Dry Eye Venture Signal12 with Former Aerie Pharmaceutical Executives Thomas Mitro and Marvin Garrett

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2 years ago

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Mitro Named President & Chief Executive Officer, Readies Pro-ocular™ for Phase 3 Trials

The company’s breakthrough drug is the first product for Dry Eye Disease (DED) to utilize transappendageal forehead delivery and the only product to treat DED by targeting the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve.

GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Spencer Trask & Co. (Spencer Trask), the advanced technology development firm, announced today the launch of Signal12 Inc. (Signal12), a clinical-stage dry eye company. Signal12 is revolutionizing treatments for Dry Eye Disease (DED) and eliminating the hassle of eye drop instillation with its first-of-a-kind, patented technology that enables existing drugs to act through unique neural pathways.

Signal12’s breakthrough topical drug, Pro-ocular™, is the first product in eyecare to utilize transappendageal forehead delivery (drug delivery via hair follicles or sweat glands in the skin) and the only product to treat DED by targeting the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. Pro-ocular, when applied to the forehead twice daily, has been shown to be safe and effective for DED of all severity levels. This has been demonstrated through three separate Phase 2 clinical studies. Signal12 licensed the Pro-ocular intellectual property, which included 89 patents that cover 49 countries, from Glia LLC, which is a Spencer Trask venture.

Thomas Mitro was recruited by Spencer Trask to lead Signal12 as president and chief executive officer. Mitro is the former president and chief operating officer of Aerie Pharmaceuticals, where he grew annual sales to more than $100 million and facilitated a $770 million acquisition by Swiss eye-care firm Alcon. Prior to Aerie, Mitro built and led the commercial operations function at ISTA Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Bausch & Lomb. He also spent 24 years at Allergan in multiple leadership roles.

“I am honored to lead Signal12 in its mission to transform the landscape of ocular health,” said Mitro. “The company’s pioneering technology and impressive clinical data for Pro-ocular make it a game-changer in treating dry eye disease. I am eager to leverage our team’s extensive experience and push forward with our Phase 3 trials. The eye health market is ripe for innovation, and Signal12 will play a crucial role in addressing unmet needs and improving the lives of millions affected by ocular conditions.”

The Signal12 management team, board of directors and scientific advisors have decades of experience in ophthalmic product development, FDA and EU submissions, approvals, and market commercialization.

Joining Mitro is former Aerie executive Marvin Garrett as senior vice president of regulatory affairs and safety. Garrett has four decades of experience in the healthcare industry, having held senior leadership positions at many of the leading ophthalmology firms in the United States. During his career, Garrett spearheaded efforts to gain approval for over 60 marketing applications.

Pamela F. Gallin, M.D., F.A.C.S., will serve as the medical director for Signal12. Dr. Gallin is one of the highest-ranking surgeons at NY Presbyterian where she is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the Edward Harkness Eye Institute of NY Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. She is an examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology, a Heed Foundation Fellow, and was a member of the White House Task Force on Medicine under Hillary Clinton.

Neil Edwards was appointed as the company’s chief financial officer. Edwards is an accomplished financial leader with over 25 years of global experience in healthcare, generative AI, supply chain risk management, and technology—in chief operations officer, CFO and board director roles. He has been instrumental in achieving significant milestones, including architecting a strategic AI acquisition that increased the valuation of a Spencer Trask portfolio company from $8 million to $1 billion.

The company is governed by a board of directors who are proven business leaders and eye-care industry veterans. In addition to Mitro and Edwards, the Signal12 Board includes Vincent Anido, PhD, former chairman and chief executive officer, Aerie Pharmaceuticals; Robert Dempsey, president and chief executive officer, AsclepiX Therapeutics; James Mazzo, executive chair and board of directors, Neurotec Pharmaceuticals; Kenneth Sawyer, chief executive officer and co-founder, Glia LLC; and Kevin Kimberlin, chairman, Spencer Trask & Co.

Signal12 is committed to advancing patient care and easing the burden of living with DED. With an estimated 18 million Americans diagnosed with DED, the company’s work is critical for improving the lives of patients grappling with this debilitating ocular condition.

About Signal12 Inc.
Signal12 is a clinical-stage dry eye company that develops novel therapies to address ophthalmic diseases. Through three Phase 2 clinical studies, the company’s proprietary topical drug, Pro-ocular™, has demonstrated efficacy in safely and effectively reducing the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease (DED). Pro-ocular is the first product for DED to utilize transappendageal delivery, and the only product to treat DED by targeting the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. The company has offices in Greenwich, CT and Boston, MA.

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SOURCE Spencer Trask & Co.

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eSign.AI Named Sole Electronic Signature Technology Provider for Hong Kong Government’s CorpID Project, Building the Foundation for Digital Signing Infrastructure in Hong Kong

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May 8, 2026

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HONG KONG, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As Hong Kong’s Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) counts down to its phased launch, eSign.AI has been appointed as the sole electronic signature vendor in the project, responsible for delivering core digital signing capabilities including digital signatures, certificate management, and signature verification services. CorpID is led by Nexify, a seasoned government systems integrator, as the prime contractor. The platform is expected to launch in phases starting late 2026, with multiple CorpID-based e-government services going live in mid-2027.

CorpID: Government-Grade Digital Identity Infrastructure for Hong Kong Enterprises

The Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) is an enterprise-level digital services platform launched by the Hong Kong SAR Government, developed under the oversight of the Digital Policy Office (DPO). It is designed to serve as the business equivalent of “iAM Smart,” providing a unified digital identity foundation for Hong Kong enterprises. CorpID’s core mission is to build an integrated digital government infrastructure — offering unified identity authentication, digital signing, form pre-filling, and e-licence storage — replacing paper-heavy, cumbersome traditional processes and enabling smart city development through seamless data connectivity.

The platform is open to companies incorporated under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and businesses registered under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310), including sole proprietorships and partnerships. The DPO requires all enterprise-related e-government services to support CorpID within 18 months of launch, and will continue expanding ecosystem coverage through sandbox initiatives, cross-industry identity standard interoperability, and fully online registration processes.

eSign.AI: The Digital Signing Engine Behind CorpID

eSign.AI is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide, offering a complete signing framework from simple electronic signatures to the highest-level compliant digital signatures — meeting diverse regulatory requirements across industries and jurisdictions.

On the identity verification front, eSign.AI has completed integration with iAM Smart, enabling individual identity verification through Hong Kong’s citizen digital identity system, and providing legally valid digital certificate services for both enterprises and individuals.

Looking ahead, the eSign.AI SaaS platform will be deeply integrated with CorpID, providing enterprise and individual identity verification for Hong Kong businesses, and supporting both electronic and digital signing that complies with Hong Kong’s Electronic Transactions Ordinance — connecting the full digital contracting lifecycle for government and enterprise alike.

Getting Ahead of the AI Era: From eSignGlobal to eSign.AI

The electronic signature industry is undergoing a structural shift from “tooling” to “intelligence.” Market data underscores this acceleration: the AI-powered contract analysis tools market has grown from USD 3.32 billion in 2025 to USD 4.3 billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 29.6%. Signing is just one node in the contract lifecycle — document generation, workflow orchestration, compliance tracking, and post-execution management are all being transformed by AI, and the industry window is closing fast.

In April 2026, the company officially rebranded from eSignGlobal to eSign.AI, completing its strategic transformation from an e-signature tool provider to an AI-native contract automation platform. As the company’s spokesperson noted, this rebrand is not cosmetic — it is an acknowledgment of where the product actually is. Customers were already using eSign.AI to automate workflows that go far beyond the signature itself.

eSign Automation Skill was launched alongside the rebrand — an AI-powered signing automation framework for enterprise workflows that enables complete contract signing through natural language interaction, with no manual intervention required. Whether it is single-party approval, multi-party sequential signing, or large-scale parallel execution, an AI Agent can orchestrate the entire workflow in a single call. All signature initiations and status queries return structured JSON outputs, directly parseable by leading large language models and intelligent workflow systems.

eSign Automation is now available in the OpenClaw ecosystem and supports integration via Claude MCP, ChatGPT, and other leading AI platforms.

By combining AI automation capabilities with CorpID’s government-grade digital identity infrastructure, eSign.AI delivers a complete solution for Hong Kong enterprises — from identity verification to intelligent signing to full workflow automation.

About eSign.AI

eSign.AI (formerly eSignGlobal) is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide. The platform serves over 100 countries and regions, covering core industries including financial services, manufacturing, real estate, human resources, and healthcare — with 1,500+ scenario applications and 3,000+ ecosystem partners. eSign.AI holds ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and ISO 27018 certifications and supports major regulatory frameworks including the U.S. ESIGN Act / UETA, EU eIDAS, HIPAA, GDPR, and 21 CFR Part 11. Infrastructure is anchored by independent data centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Frankfurt, Germany.

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SOURCE eSignGlobal

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The 9th AskGamblers Awards Finalists Announced as Voting Starts

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3 hours ago

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May 8, 2026

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The highly anticipated 9th AskGamblers Awards has officially moved into the voting phase. Following a rigorous selection process, the finalists across 5 premier categories have been revealed: Best Casino, Best New Casino, Best New Slot, Best Sportsbook, Best Provider. Players are invited to cast their votes until 11 June.

BELGRADE, Serbia, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The voting stage of the 9th annual AskGamblers Awards has officially begun. The list of finalists is announced, and the first votes are already coming in. 

Players will have a chance to vote for their favourites until 11 June, when the winners will be announced at the gala ceremony in Belgrade. There’s a total of 5 categories where popular votes are taken into consideration:

Best CasinoBest New CasinoBest SportsbookBest New SlotBest Game Provider

There aren’t any big changes to the voting process compared to last year. The votes from the prominent members of AskGamblers Forum will be counted in as well, while some award winners will be announced directly by the AskGamblers teams. 

These include: Best Crypto Casino, Best Partner, and Best Manager categories, while the AskGamblers Superstar Award is expected to be handed to the operator that illustrates the brand values best.

Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, is excited for voting to start: “We’re seeing some familiar contestants, but there are a lot of new names, so it will be exciting to see who comes up on top.”

“We invite players to vote for their favourites! This is a chance for you to speak your mind and support operators and games that shape this industry,” Radunović added.

Before the AskGamblers Awards Ceremony that takes place on 11 June, Charity Night is scheduled for 10 June.

About AskGamblers

AskGamblers.com strives to provide current, objective, and accurate information and guide its users towards a safe gaming experience. The way we deliver our services, from the online casino, sportsbook, slot, and bonus reviews to our trusted Complaint Service, is best described by our motto: ‘Get the truth. Then play.’

For more information about AskGamblers and AskGamblers Awards, please contact dijana.radunovic@g2m.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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SUNMI Wins 2026 Red Dot Design Awards with Five Products, Leading Global Commercial Industrial Design

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3 hours ago

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May 8, 2026

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SINGAPORE, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The winners of the 2026 German Red Dot Design Award were officially announced. Five of SUNMI Technology’s flagship products won awards: the CPad Business Tablet, CPad PAY, FLEX 3 Interactive Display, the V3 handheld POS Terminal and L3 Industrial PDA. These products stood out with three core design concepts: integration, versatility and human-centricity.

Known as “The Oscars” of global industrial design, the Red Dot Award has strict evaluation criteria covering aesthetics, ergonomics, scenario adaptability and sustainability. SUNMI adheres to original commercial scenario customization, rejecting crudely modified consumer devices. All winning products are originally developed for real commercial scenarios such as cash register, food delivery, industrial inspection and store operations, covering the entire commercial track with high scenario adaptability. Meanwhile, it practices ESG concepts, adopting eco-friendly materials and modular structures to extend equipment service life, reduce consumable consumption, and implement low-carbon and long-term design, which perfectly meets the Red Dot’s sustainability evaluation criteria.

Simplify Complexity: With highly integrated design, SUNMI eliminates the “patchwork feeling” of cluttered devices and tangled cables in traditional commercial scenarios, streamlining store operations and saving space.All-in-One Versatility: Beyond a single tool function, SUNMI’s products achieve flexible transformation through modular and multi-form designs to proactively adapt to changing business needs. The CPad series with modular accessories and FLEX 3’s Lego-style modular design enable multi-scenario application and long-term reuse.Human-Centric Design: Every detail is human-oriented, focusing on real pain points to enhance scenario experience. The L3 Industrial PDA reduces high-frequency work fatigue through scientific weight distribution; the V3 Smart POS Terminal balances large-screen visibility and grip comfort; CPad PAY integrates full-link functions to simplify workflows.

These honors stem from SUNMI’s long-term commitment to a sustainable society, original commercial R&D and ESG. In the future, SUNMI will uphold its core concepts, expand the boundaries of commercial industrial design, and empower global businesses with user-oriented, eco-friendly and high-value products.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sunmi-wins-2026-red-dot-design-awards-with-five-products-leading-global-commercial-industrial-design-302766777.html

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