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Ovation.io and PD Theranostics (PDTx) Complete Merger Creating a Multiomic Data Company Which Owns a Unique Population-Scale Biobank of Disease-Specific Biospecimens

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Ovation owns a unique population-scale biobank of consented and linkable disease-specific biospecimens, which includes more than 1.6 million samples from over 600,000 United States-based patients; approximately one-third are tissue samples. Ovation plans to continue expanding the biobank with the addition of 200,000 + patient samples per monthOvation’s biobank includes tissue, blood, and other sample types from patients with diseases of current discovery and development interest including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), liver disease, chronic kidney disease (CKD), cardio-metabolic/GLP-1, various types of cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseaseThe Company plans to produce a database of linked omics and patient/clinical data for each diseaseThe merger combines teams with deep domain expertise in human genetics, disease pathogenesis, and pathology

PORTLAND, Maine and BOSTON, Sept. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ovation.io and PDTx today announced the completion of their merger. The new entity creates an industry-leading multiomics data company managed by a team with deep expertise in genomics data, sequencing, bioinformatics, cell biology, and imaging, AI/ML and data commercialization. The Company’s enhanced platform capabilities and data libraries can drive deeper insights into cellular biology and gene expression for research, drug development, and clinical decision-making, and across a broad range of diseases.

“We believe the two companies are deeply complementary and will provide our customers with best-in-class, diverse multiomics data,” said Curt Medeiros, CEO of Ovation. “These one-of-a-kind data sets will combine Ovation’s DNA and RNA sequencing of patient samples in a given disease state with PDTx’s mapping of cellular footprints, spatial context, immune system functionality and markers, as well as clinical pathology imaging. This will help drive our client’s R&D efforts, from target and biomarker discovery, through optimized clinical trial enrollment.”

Human genomic data has become an increasingly important tool in disease target and biomarker discovery. By analyzing an individual’s genetic makeup, especially in relation to clinical progression and outcomes, researchers are able to better understand the underlying causes of diseases and identify potential therapeutic targets and biomarkers. Ovation is building the world’s broadest commercially available human genomic dataset that brings together whole genome sequences with longitudinal clinical records at the patient level (“clinic-genomics data”) to address the speed and cost at which new research efforts can be powered by human genomics. This clinic-genomics database will enable a depth and breadth of analytics not currently possible due to the scale, continuous flow of new patient samples, and diversity of patients.

“The Ovation and PDTx teams are energized and have been collaborating for the past year to position our first proof-of-concept programs in IBD and prostate cancer for groundbreaking results,” said Patrick Gallagher, CEO of PDTx. “The in-house biobank will allow the team to accelerate data generation and more fully leverage the PDTx platform’s high dimensional, multiomic modalities that characterize cellular status. This includes changes in and predictiveness of proteins, glycans, metabolites and cell-cell spatial relationships that can drive discovery and correlations with pathological features of disease severity, progression and therapeutic response.”

PDTx has developed a disease-agnostic platform to analyze data collected across multiple high-dimensional imaging technologies to discover new drug development targets and identify critical biomarkers of disease progression and therapeutic response. The PDTx platform provides the ability to visualize the presence, concentration, and distribution of molecules and analyze intra- and inter-molecular and phenotypic single-cell relationships and their impact on morphology. Ovation will retain PDTx’s exclusive global license for the platform and its intellectual property from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC) at (MGH).

“Ovation’s ability to continuously scale its biobank and data to expand its curated disease cohorts that are representative of racial and geographic diversity in the United States is completely novel,” noted Mike Self, co-founder of StageDotO Ventures. “Linking this with longitudinal patient data creates a totally unique product that will allow for more targeted and efficient investment in development programs for our clients.”

By combining imaging and sequencing, state-of-the-art multiomics can map the location of specific proteins and chemical products in tissues and identify the location of presence of these chemical entities. This provides a critical perspective about the cellular microenvironment and inter-cellular interactions in biopsies of diseased tissue.

“We are incredibly excited to collaborate with the research team at Ovation,” said Mark Poznansky, M.D., Ph.D, director of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. ” Connecting genetic data with cellular, structural and chemical details of tissue affected by IBD or prostate cancer can lead to important translational medical progress. For example, our combining a multiomics platform that provides information on both the genetic and protein signature in blood as well the location of specific chemicals and cells within a tissue, can help identify new sets of biomarkers that are potentially impactful diagnostically and prognostically as well as revealing of new disease related therapeutic targets.”  

About Ovation
Ovation is an omics data company committed to accelerating the development of precision medicine. Ovation provides life sciences R&D teams access to high-quality omics data linked to rich, longitudinal clinical data, across therapeutic areas, at population scale. Ovation’s data increases the probability of success for drug discovery by enabling the identification and validation of biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The company has an extensive biobank of more than 1.6 million geographically diverse, consented biospecimens from over 625,000 unique patients. For more information, visit www.ovation.io or follow the company on LinkedIn.

About PD Theranostics
PDTx is a data driven healthcare company focused on leveraging proprietary workflows and using multi parameter imaging-based methodologies to generate robust, one-of-a-kind multi-omic cellular biology based databases for numerous disease states. Our proprietary imaging processes, driven by a multi-omics approach, will generate spatial roadmaps of human cancers and other diseases, leading to unparalleled data richness and depth. Through our ability to map tissue structures and immune populations, we believe we could more clearly define disease stage, and likelihood of disease progression, and identify the most efficacious treatment regimens for each patient.

Contact Information
Info@ovation.io

Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the advancement and development of the Ovation Platform and other information that is not historical information. When used herein, words such as “anticipate”, “being”, “will”, “plan”, “may”, “continue”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based on Ovation’s current expectations and various assumptions. Ovation believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. Ovation may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, market conditions. Consequently, forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as Ovation’s current plans, estimates and beliefs. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Ovation cannot guarantee future results, events, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Ovation does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update, republish, or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrences of unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.

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SOURCE Ovation.io

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Visier Debuts Talent Agents, Closing the Gap Between HR Programs and Business Impact

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New AI agents turn Visier insights and plans into guided action for every manager, fixing the #1 reason HR programs fail: manager follow-through

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Visier today announced Talent Agents at HR Tech 2026. Built on the Visier Workforce Intelligence Platform, these new AI agents guides every manager to the next right action in their organization’s HR programs in real time, and give talent leaders evidence of what each program actually changed for the business.

Talent management devotes a great deal of money and effort into HR programs every year, and many still can’t show the ROI or outcomes. New Visier research* found:

62% of HR leaders name manager follow-through as the single biggest reason programs fail77% of enterprises run HR programs on spreadsheets or a patchwork of tools, and are three times less likely to measure results while a program is underway.

Visier Talent Agents are built to close these gaps, helping talent management tackle its most critical challenges as organizations plan, grow and retain their talent. They leverage the latest in AI developments to pair best-in-class program frameworks with personalized, in-workflow guidance delivered to whoever needs to act next, and a closed-loop system for continuous learning and improvement based on every program’s goals.

“Good program design has never been enough. What HR has lacked is a GPS for every manager, so the moment someone drifts off track, they’re guided back before the program goes sideways,” said Dave Weisbeck, Chief Strategy Officer at Visier. “That’s what Talent Agents deliver, along with proof of what the program actually changed for the business.” 

“The space between HR program design and the actual business result is exactly where most HR investment gets lost,” said Madeline Laurano, founder of Aptitude Research. “Guidance that activates the manager at the moment they need to act, with proof of what changed afterward, is the piece of talent management that’s been missing and what Visier is solving for.”

Unlike HCM suites that teams would spend a year customizing, or point solutions that only see one piece of the picture, or even an internal-built tool that puts employee data at risk, Visier’s Talent Agents are built to run programs end-to-end and prove impact, not just track activity.

The agents reach every stakeholder in a program at the moment they need to act, not just when someone remembers to ask. They’re built to match how an organization actually operates, and the outcome of every action it recommends feeds back into the AI learning engine, so guidance gets sharper with each cycle. Because guidance runs on Visier’s proprietary Workforce AI rather than routing every follow-up through a person, organizations can scale their programs without being constrained by HRBP headcount.

The agents are built on Visier’s Workforce Intelligence Platform, so every program comes with the context, governance, and security an enterprise expects, backed by over 16 years of experience solving HR’s toughest problems.

Talent Agents are Visier’s answer to what the company calls the “activate” layer of Workforce AI, building on the platform’s existing strength in helping organizations understand their workforce data and plan around it. The offering pairs Visier’s technology with a dedicated implementation team that customizes each program to a customer’s specific processes and goals.

Attending HRTech 2026 in Las Vegas this week? Head over to Visier Booth #5209 to explore Talent Agents, or visit visier.com to learn more. The Visier team will also be at UNLEASH World in Paris (booth #106) and Total Talent Asia (booth #3).

About Visier
Visier Workforce AI is the context foundation for talent management. The Visier Workforce Intelligence Platform turns scattered, sensitive people data into one governed understanding of the entire workforce, so organizations can understand, plan, and activate all of their talent priorities in one place. More than 85,000 of the world’s most complex organizations, including Ford Motor Company, eBay, Experian, and Domino’s Pizza, rely on Visier’s over 16 years of workforce domain expertise, ranked #1 in vendor satisfaction and user experience for three consecutive years by the Sapient Insights HR Systems Survey. Learn more at Visier.com.

*Research from fall 2026, conducted by the Visier, Inc. Research Team surveyed verified senior HR and Talent leaders from 80 organizations with more than 10,000 employees across North America.  

visierpr@walkersands.com

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SOURCE Visier

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HSG Laser Unveils New Flagship Machine at EuroBLECH 2026, Powering Productivity for European Manufacturers

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HANNOVER, Germany, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HSG Laser is showcasing its latest laser cutting and intelligent manufacturing solutions at EuroBLECH 2026, held from October 20–23 at the Hannover Exhibition Centre. Under the theme “Powering Productivity with HSG,” HSG is presenting its latest innovations at Booth 15-F42, including the European debut of its new flagship GV, alongside the launch of GFA PRO and AI CutPilot, as well as the European debut of its high-speed laser solutions G3015T and R2 PRO.

Expanding High-Performance Laser Solutions

The new GFA PRO is engineered for large-format metal processing, addressing challenges such as large footprints, low speed, unstable thick-plate performance, and high operating costs. Making their European debut, the G3015T and R2 PRO expand HSG’s high-speed laser lineup for sheet and tube processing, helping manufacturers improve throughput, flexibility, and production efficiency.

“HSG Laser’s European footprint has grown steadily, with more than 2,000 units delivered and a new showroom opening soon this year,” said Shawn Wang, Vice President of HSG Laser. “Our latest launches at EuroBLECH mark another step forward, combining high-performance equipment with intelligent technologies and localized support to deliver greater productivity for European customers.”

Recognized by MM MaschinenMarkt Germany

Built for the European market, HSG Laser earned the “International Spotlight” award from MM MaschinenMarkt Germany’s Chief Editor for its GV and AI CutPilot. The GV combines cutting, beveling, countersinking, and chamfering in one machine to streamline pre-welding workflows and boost efficiency. AI CutPilot is HSG’s industry-first, self-developed AI system that turns laser-cutting expertise into a reusable, scalable machine capability, helping reduce trial work and improve first-pass yield. The award further highlights HSG Laser’s technological strength and growing presence in the European market.

Strengthening Local Operations in Europe

As part of its continued commitment to supporting manufacturers worldwide, HSG Laser is further strengthening its localized operations in Europe. On 10th November, HSG will open its new showroom in Düsseldorf, Germany under the theme “Go Global, Link Local.” The new showroom will bring HSG’s latest machines, technologies, and expertise closer to European customers, creating more opportunities for direct engagement and local support. This expansion further strengthens HSG’s presence in Europe and its ability to provide responsive, customer-focused solutions tailored to local manufacturing needs.

About HSG Laser

Founded in 2006, HSG Laser is a leading global manufacturer of intelligent metal processing equipment, specializing in laser cutting, tube processing, bending, and welding automation systems. With a presence in over 100 countries and regional centers across Europe, North America, Japan, India, and Asia-Pacific, HSG Laser is committed to driving the transformation of manufacturing through innovation, reliability, and artificial intelligence.

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Mérieux NutriSciences Completes Acquisition of Certified Group, Becoming North America’s Leading Food Testing Provider

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CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mérieux NutriSciences, a global leader in food safety, quality, and sustainability, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Certified Group.

First announced in August 2026, this strategic transaction unites two complementary leaders in the Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) sector. With approximately $300 million in revenue, Certified Group brings 31 laboratories and over 1,600 talented employees into Mérieux NutriSciences’ global network. The integration also adds a robust roster of more than 170 independent regulatory consultants across the United States and Canada.

With this expanded coast-to-coast footprint, Mérieux NutriSciences is positioned to provide customers with broader service offerings and enhanced regulatory support. The integration deepens the company’s capabilities in key Food & Beverage segments, most notably in animal protein through its Food Safety Net Services (FSNS) network, where Certified Group has built a strong reputation as a bellwether for safety and quality, alongside leading positions in dairy, packaged foods, nuts, and spices.

Customers will also benefit from high-value expertise in cosmetics, OTC products, and dietary supplements through the Certified Laboratories vertical, and reduced-harm nicotine product testing via Labstat International. These core verticals are further bolstered by specialized expert services, including contract research (Lab Plus), regulatory consulting (EAS Consulting Group), and comprehensive certification and audit programs (FSNS Certification and Audit).

“We are thrilled to officially welcome the talented teams from Certified Group to the Mérieux NutriSciences global network,” said Nicolas Cartier, CEO of Mérieux NutriSciences. “By combining our respective strengths, we are vastly expanding the depth and breadth of our capabilities. This milestone allows us to be closer to our customers, meeting their localized, time-sensitive needs with unmatched speed and reliability, while furthering our shared purpose: Better Food. Better Health. Better World.”

“Our priority is to ensure a seamless transition for all customers while delivering immediate, enhanced value,” added Sébastien Moulard, President North America at Mérieux NutriSciences. “Through this nationwide analytical network, customers now have access to a truly comprehensive portfolio of routine testing, specialized analysis, expert regulatory support, and more. We are excited to leverage the best of both worlds to drive innovation and provide practical solutions right where production happens.”

“Certified Group has built a differentiated platform with a strong reputation for quality, scientific excellence and exceptional customer service,” said Deborah Kerr, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus & Executive Chair, Certified Group. “We are proud to have supported Certified Group’s evolution and look forward to seeing the company continue to thrive as part of Mérieux NutriSciences.”

The financing of the acquisition brings new minority shareholders Peugeot Invest and Continental Grain Company (Conti) alongside Mérieux NutriSciences’ long standing shareholders: Institut Mérieux, Sofina, and Dassault Group. This collective support underscores strong market confidence in the company’s strategic vision. Ultimately, the successful integration of Certified Group solidifies Mérieux NutriSciences as the leading provider in North America and a top player in the global food TIC market, further cementing its role as the trusted partner for customers navigating a rapidly evolving landscape.

About Mérieux NutriSciences:

At Mérieux NutriSciences, we leverage 60 years of scientific and entrepreneurial expertise to answer food industry needs. Today’s global challenges transform the way food is produced, marketed and consumed, which is why we know our clients need more than reliable analytical results; they need practical and innovative solutions that will contribute to make food systems safer, healthier and more sustainable. Present worldwide, we are more than 160 accredited laboratories and a team of over 11,600 committed employees. We strongly believe that together, we can create solutions to offer our planet: BETTER FOOD. BETTER HEALTH. BETTER WORLD. na.mxns.com

MERIEUX NUTRISCIENCES
Stephen Nichols (North America)
stephen.nichols@mxns.com 

Marion Bertrand (Global)
media@mxns.com 

Ashton van den Bergh (Global)
media@mxns.com

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SOURCE Mérieux NutriSciences

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