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Thousands of Students Leave School Before Graduation in Vientiane
Vientiane Capital has fallen short of government goals to reduce school dropouts, with financial pressures and barriers to attendance keeping children out of classrooms, education authorities reported on 10 November.
The primary school dropout rate stood at 2.38 percent, compared with the government’s goal of keeping it below 0.4 percent. At lower secondary level, the rate reached 5.35 percent, against a goal of less than 4.5 percent.
Bouavone Souklaseang, head of the Vientiane Department of Education and Sports, said some outlying districts recorded considerably higher rates.
In Sangthong district, 12.35 percent of lower secondary students dropped out, alongside 2.70 percent of primary students and 9.94 percent of upper secondary students. In Pakngum district, dropout rates reached 8.17 percent at lower secondary level and 9.01 percent at upper secondary level.
Bouavone attributed the problem to household financial pressures, difficulties at school, and barriers to attending classes.
Some students leave to earn money, while others lose interest after struggling academically or repeating grades. Families moving for work may take their children out of school, and some parents or guardians encourage children to work rather than continue their education.
Deteriorating school buildings and equipment, travel difficulties, and a lack of money for supplies and clothing also affect attendance, Bouavone said.
Measures to Keep Children in School
The department plans to help more children stay in school through scholarships, financial assistance for poorer families, and alternative classes for students who have not completed compulsory lower secondary education.
It will also seek support from development partners to repair schools, provide learning materials, and offer incentives to teachers and students.
Other measures include keeping better records of students and schools, monitoring attendance, and working more closely with parents to prevent children from dropping out.
At upper secondary level, the department proposed incorporating more vocational training into the curriculum to give students practical skills and prepare them for employment.
Vientiane Capital has 1,170 schools, comprising 555 public and 615 private institutions, serving 215,833 students. The report listed 4,569 public-sector teachers and 6,032 private-sector teachers.
Ayam Brand™ Nurtures Healthier Futures with #AyamBersamaMu: Bekal Sihat Masa Depan
The CSR initiative promotes healthier habits among school children through nutrition education, practical food skills, and sustainability, alongside nationwide food donations to orphanages and welfare homes
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 November 2026 – Ayam Brand™, a household name with over 130 years of heritage, has recently completed its #AyamBersamaMu: Bekal Sihat Masa Depan CSR initiative, reaching 10 primary schools across 10 states in Peninsular Malaysia while supporting over 700 beneficiaries through food donations to 20 orphanages and welfare homes nationwide.
Ayam Brand™ has recently completed its #AyamBersamaMu: Bekal Sihat Masa Depan CSR initiative, reflecting the brand’s continued commitment to making nutritious food more accessible, encouraging sustainable habits among younger generations and supporting communities in need.
The school-based programme combines nutrition education, hands-on meal preparation, and sustainability activities to help students develop healthier eating habits and a better understanding of environmental responsibility. Through these activities, students gained practical knowledge and skills to make more informed choices in their everyday lives. Together with its nationwide food donation initiative, #AyamBersamaMu reflects Ayam Brand™’s continued commitment to making nutritious food more accessible, encouraging sustainable habits among younger generations and supporting communities in need.
Learning and Practicing the Foundations of Healthy Eating
The programme featured an interactive Ayam Brand Nutrition Health Talk led by Puan Shazwani binti Magini from the Jabatan Kesihatan Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya, introduced students to balanced eating, food groups, and portioning through the familiar “Suku-Suku Separuh” concept promoted by the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Students learnt about key nutrients found in Ayam Brand™ products, such as protein and Omega-3, and their roles in supporting growth and overall wellbeing.
Students then put their learning into practice during their Kemahiran Hidup classes, preparing simple, nutritious meals such as Pulled Chicken sandwiches, wraps and Teriyaki Pulled Chicken rice bowls using Ayam Brand™ products.
Ayam Brand™ team bringing Kebun Ayam Brand to life through gardening, creative upcycling, and interaction with students and school representatives.
Giving Everyday Cans a New Life
The learning journey continued through Kebun Ayam Brand, where students worked with their schools’ Kelab Kelestarian or Kelab Alam Sekitar to repurpose Ayam Brand™ cans and other recyclable materials into creative additions to their school gardens. Through the Kebun Ayam Brand contest, students learnt about upcycling, waste reduction, and environmental responsibility while developing their creativity and teamwork. The initiative reflects Ayam Brand™’s ongoing commitment to encouraging sustainable habits among younger generations and supporting communities in need.
“At Ayam Brand™, we believe that nurturing healthier futures goes beyond providing nutritious food. Through #AyamBersamaMu: Bekal Sihat Masa Depan, we hope to make learning about nutrition, food preparation and sustainability meaningful and enjoyable, while encouraging healthy habits that stay with children as they grow,” says Teoh Wei Ling, Marketing Director, Ayam Brand™.
Extending the Impact Beyond Schools
Beyond the school programme, Ayam Brand™ has also completed its nationwide food donation initiative, reaching more than 700 beneficiaries from 20 orphanages and welfare homes across Malaysia. The initiative reflects the brand’s continued commitment to supporting underprivileged communities by helping make nutritious and convenient food more accessible.
With all 10 school activations completed and food donations delivered to 20 orphanages and welfare homes nationwide, #AyamBersamaMu: Bekal Sihat Masa Depan brings together education, practical skills, sustainability and community support. Through these efforts, Ayam Brand™ continues to contribute towards healthier communities today while nurturing better habits for generations to come.
Hashtag: #AyamBrand
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Ayam Brand
Ayam Brand™, a 134-year-old Malayan heritage brand famed for its wide range of quality, preservative-free, no added MSG, healthy, convenient and Halal certified canned food. Ayam Brand™ products are manufactured in state-of-the-art facilities that meet the highest international standards with worldwide-recognized certifications (HACCP, ISO 9001). All Ayam Brand™ products are on the JAKIM (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia) whitelist of Trusted Halal Food Brand. Ayam Brand™ has been ranked in the Top 10 as Malaysia’s most chosen FMCG brands, according to Kantar Malaysia Brand Footprint Study 2024.
For more information on Ayam Brand™, please visit www.ayambrand.com.my or join
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Lead Intelligent Shares Digital Manufacturing Insights at Battery Production Days 2026, Helping European Gigafactories Drive Sustainable Profitability
AACHEN, Germany, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The second Battery Production Days 2026 brought together industry leaders, leading research institutions and experts in economic and industrial policy in Aachen, Germany. Co-organised by RWTH Aachen University and battery research institutes within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the event provided a platform for discussing the latest developments and challenges in battery manufacturing.
At the event, a technical expert from Lead Intelligent delivered a keynote presentation entitled Perspectives on Digitalization from a Manufacturing Solution Provider: How Physics-Informed AI and Predictive Maintenance Can Stabilize Battery Production. The presentation examined how physics-informed AI and predictive maintenance can improve equipment reliability, minimise unplanned downtime and support more stable battery manufacturing operations.
From Capacity Expansion to Operational Excellence: Digitalization Becomes the Next Competitive Frontier
Europe’s battery industry is navigating a period of structural adjustment. Manufacturers face mounting economic pressure during production ramp-up, while some projects have been delayed or forced to undergo restructuring. As highlighted by the event organizers, true competitiveness is not determined by laboratory-scale achievements, but by a factory’s ability to achieve shorter cycle times, lower NG rates and highly automated mass production capacity.
As the industry moves towards more refined operations, the ability to maintain stable, efficient production while achieving economies of scale is becoming a decisive factor in long-term competitiveness.
In response, Europe’s battery industry is shifting its focus beyond capacity expansion towards building more resilient manufacturing operations. Participants at the conference shared a common view: artificial intelligence, digital process monitoring and advanced simulation technologies are becoming essential tools for addressing production ramp-up challenges, improving yield rate and enabling more flexible manufacturing.
This is also where Lead Intelligent has been building its expertise through years of practical experience in digital manufacturing.
Cost-Efficient Deployment, Long-Term Value: Predictive Maintenance for TWh-Scale Manufacturing
During the keynote, Lead Intelligent’s technical expert emphasised that installing production equipment is only the first step. The real challenge lies in maintaining long-term operational stability and high equipment availability – both essential to overcoming production ramp-up challenges and achieving economies of scale.
Consider a lithium-ion battery factory with a production capacity of 20 GWh across six production lines. Every hour of unplanned downtime on a single line can result in more than €25,000 in direct losses. Meanwhile, assembly lines involve more than 100 types of high-frequency faulty components across different machines, with complex faults often taking over two hours to repair on average.
These challenges are further compounded by gaps in engineering expertise and the difficulty of maintaining consistent long-term support from equipment suppliers. Under such conditions, a reactive maintenance approach – fixing equipment only after it breaks down – can become a major constraint on overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and product quality.
To address these challenges, Lead Intelligent has developed LEADACE PHM, an equipment predictive maintenance system designed to transform conventional maintenance practices through a fundamentally different approach. Rather than relying on the large-scale installation of expensive vibration sensors, LEADACE PHM directly captures high-frequency signals from existing PLCs across production lines. By applying kinematic and load-based models, the system analyses anomalies in servo motor torque and speed, as well as cycle time deviations in pneumatic cylinders, to identify potential mechanical wear in critical components such as bearings and ball screws.
This approach reduces deployment costs to approximately one-tenth of those associated with conventional sensor-based solutions, while covering more than 60% of potential faults involving critical drive components across production lines. Its read-only, bypass architecture also supports local deployment while safeguarding production data.
At the algorithm level, Lead Intelligent has established a strong technological foundation in equipment fault identification and diagnostic accuracy. The system integrates AI models developed using cycle time and visual data with expert models based on component-specific engineering knowledge to enable more accurate equipment diagnostics and component-level predictive maintenance.
Field test results show that this integrated approach can achieve diagnostic accuracy of up to 90% – significantly outperforming the 50–65% typically achieved by purely data-driven models. It can also provide early warnings 7 to 15 days before potential failures occur, giving maintenance teams valuable time to plan interventions and minimise unplanned downtime.
Beyond equipment diagnostics, LEADACE PHM also establishes a closed-loop maintenance knowledge management process. By integrating predictive maintenance with RAG-powered AI capabilities, LEAD Intelligent connects PLC alarm logic, troubleshooting standard operating procedures (SOPs) and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) work orders.
When an equipment anomaly occurs, on-site engineers can use natural-language queries to access targeted troubleshooting instructions, making specialist maintenance knowledge more accessible to frontline teams.
Once an issue has been resolved, the system automatically captures the troubleshooting process and converts it into structured maintenance knowledge and reusable troubleshooting cases. This enables valuable supplier expertise and maintenance experience to be retained as the factory’s own digital knowledge assets, supporting continuous learning and greater operational independence.
The solution has already demonstrated its value on a continuous 24/7 production line operated by a leading battery manufacturer, delivering measurable improvements:
- 50% improvement in consistency of production parameters across different machines.
- Approximately 159 hours of unplanned downtime avoided over six months, with an estimated annual production value increase of approximately €4.9 million per production line.
- 40% improvement in engineers’ equipment inspection efficiency.
From capturing high-frequency equipment signals and applying physics-informed AI to enabling predictive maintenance and closed-loop knowledge management, LEAD Intelligent is translating its equipment engineering expertise into greater reliability, operational resilience and production stability for customers.
As the global battery industry shifts its focus from scaling up production capacity to achieving sustainable profitability, Lead Intelligent will continue to leverage edge computing, physics-informed AI and full-lifecycle data integration, helping manufacturers improve equipment reliability, minimise unplanned downtime and maintain stable, efficient production.
Volvo CE Appoints Laothani Tractor as New Dealer in Laos
Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) and its new national distributor in Laos, Laothani Tractor, have launched their partnership with a dealer inauguration and customer roadshow showcasing Volvo CE’s latest excavators and compaction machines.
The partnership aims to improve customer service and support businesses across Laos’s mining, construction, and infrastructure sectors.
Laothani Tractor will provide sales and aftersales services for Volvo CE equipment in Laos. The partnership combines Volvo CE’s machinery, technology, and nearly 200 years of industry experience with Laothani Tractor’s local market knowledge and service network.
Both companies said they aim to support sustainable growth, environmental protection, and climate resilience. Their offering includes electric construction machines and charging solutions.
Laothani Tractor welcomed customers to its facility in Vientiane on November 4, 2026, for the inauguration and roadshow.
The partnership comes as Laos implements its 10th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, which sets out priorities for the country’s development through 2030. The plan focuses on economic growth, infrastructure, human capital, social development, and climate resilience as Laos prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country status.
Planned infrastructure projects are expected to create demand for construction equipment. Volvo CE and Laothani Tractor offer wheel loaders, excavators, articulated haulers, compactors, and electric machinery for mining, heavy infrastructure, and construction projects.
Volvo CE said the partnership would strengthen local maintenance and spare-parts services, helping customers reduce equipment downtime and maintain productivity.
“At Volvo CE, we are committed to giving customers the support they need to get the most out of their machines,” said Wilson Shee, Head of Markets Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos at Volvo CE. He said the company would provide spare parts and train technicians to carry out on-site maintenance and repairs.
Local Support Across Laos
Based in Vientiane, Laothani Tractor plans to support customers nationwide, including in rural areas, through on-site services and satellite branches where needed.
“Laothani is a Laotian company with an established presence in the mining and construction sectors and a strong understanding of our customers, local language, and culture,” said Ladsasiphon Phimphachanh, Managing Director of Laothani Tractor.
He said the partnership would help the company improve services for Volvo CE customers while contributing to national development and local livelihoods.
Laos’s mining and construction sectors offer opportunities for both companies, particularly in mining, road construction, heavy infrastructure, and rural development. Growing tourism is also driving demand for supporting infrastructure, including airport upgrades, transport links, and hotels.
Volvo CE said its range of excavators, including electric models, could support infrastructure projects while helping businesses reduce emissions.
The inauguration and roadshow gave customers an opportunity to see the company’s latest excavators and compaction machines and meet the local team responsible for sales, spare parts, and servicing.
The partnership is intended to improve equipment availability, reduce downtime, and provide long-term support to customers across Laos.
TIER IV unveils end-to-end autonomous driving adaptable to map information and sensor configurations
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Multiple open-source AI models are available with Autoware
TOKYO, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TIER IV, the pioneering force behind Autoware, open-source software for autonomous driving, today announced the development and open-source release of multiple end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving AI models that support different system requirements, including map information and sensor configurations. The models offer flexible options ranging from camera-only configurations to those incorporating LiDAR, radar and high-definition (HD) maps, enabling developers to select AI models suited to their performance requirements. Through Autoware, TIER IV provides a development environment for optimizing these models and integrating them into vehicle systems, helping automakers and technology partners develop and deploy their own autonomous driving stack.
Overview of the Autoware 2.0 Architecture
TIER IV is leading the development of Autoware 2.0, the next-generation architecture of Autoware. Autoware 2.0 is a scalable and adaptable architecture that flexibly combines AI models with conventional rule-based technologies. By supporting different AI models and sensor configurations, it enables autonomous driving systems to be built for a range of applications and system requirements. The E2E autonomous driving AI models announced today are concrete technological outcomes designed to leverage this architecture.
As part of its collaboration with NVIDIA announced in March 2026 , TIER IV has been evaluating the performance of NVIDIA Alpamayo, a vision-language-action (VLA) foundation model, and integrating it with Autoware. The latest model, Alpamayo 2 Edge, is an E2E autonomous driving AI model that takes only camera images as input and uses reasoning to generate driving trajectories. With 2 billion parameters, compared with 34 billion in Alpamayo 2 Super, it is substantially smaller and offers promise for practical deployment in vehicles. TIER IV is currently optimizing the model and adapting it to real vehicles, while having completed its integration with Autoware.
- GitHub (source code): https://github.com/autowarefoundation/alpamayo-autoware
- Hugging Face (AI model): https://huggingface.co/nvidia/Alpamayo2-Edge
AutoE2E, whose development is led by the Autoware Foundation (AWF) and TIER IV, is an E2E autonomous driving AI model capable of running on computing platforms beyond NVIDIA hardware. It adopts a Fast–Slow architecture combining a Reactive Model for real-time driving decisions, a World Model for predicting future changes in the surrounding environment, and a Reasoning Model that supports driving decisions. It can accommodate configurations ranging from cameras alone to those incorporating LiDAR and radar sensor data. With 79.9 million parameters, it is lighter than Alpamayo 2 Edge. The Reactive Model has been released, while development of the World Model and Reasoning Model continues, alongside consideration of commercialization for robotaxi applications. Integration of the Reactive Model with Autoware has been achieved.
- GitHub (source code): https://github.com/autowarefoundation/auto_e2e
- Hugging Face (AI model): https://huggingface.co/AutowareFoundation/auto_e2e
Developed independently by TIER IV, METEOR is a lightweight, multitask E2E autonomous driving AI model primarily intended for privately owned passenger vehicles. Built on a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, it uses a bird’s-eye-view (BEV) representation to perform everything from perception of the surrounding environment to driving trajectory generation within a single neural network, without relying on high-definition maps. It supports configurations using images from one to eight cameras and can also incorporate LiDAR and radar sensor data. With 16 million parameters, it is even lighter than AutoE2E and supports operation across different semiconductor platforms, including NVIDIA and Renesas. TIER IV also uses CoMET, the automated labeling platform within Co-MLOps, together with agentic AI to automate data labeling and model training, evaluation, and improvement, eliminating the need for manual coding and labeling. Automakers and component suppliers can optimize the open-source model to meet their own vehicle specifications and performance requirements.
- GitHub (source code): https://github.com/tier4/METEOR
- Hugging Face (AI model): https://huggingface.co/AutowareFoundation/meteor
OnePlanner is an E2E autonomous driving AI model that integrates perception of the surrounding environment with motion planning. It currently uses BEVFusion, which generates a BEV representation from LiDAR point-cloud data, with a planned transition to PTv3. Its flexible architecture allows the perception model to be replaced while directly using features extracted during perception for motion planning. Conventional autonomous driving systems convert perception results into information such as object positions and velocities before passing them to the planner. OnePlanner reduces these intermediate conversions, enabling richer use of information about the surrounding environment. It also incorporates HD maps, route information, traffic-signal states, and vehicle motion states to generate driving trajectories for the next six seconds. Integration with Autoware has been achieved.
- GitHub (source code): https://github.com/autowarefoundation/autoware_oneplanner
- Hugging Face (AI model): https://huggingface.co/AutowareFoundation/oneplanner
LatentDrive is an E2E autonomous driving AI model that uses a world model to integrate predictions of the surrounding environment with motion planning. Using V-JEPA, a self-supervised learning approach, it represents features of the surrounding environment extracted from camera video in a latent space and uses these features to generate vehicle trajectories. Its distinguishing feature is that it directly leverages information from video for motion planning without intermediate processes such as object detection and tracking. It does not require HD maps and generates trajectories for the next four seconds using camera video, route information, and vehicle motion states. It supports configurations with either one or three cameras, and work is underway on integration with Autoware and validation in an in-vehicle environment.
- GitHub (source code): https://github.com/autowarefoundation/autoware_latent_drive
- Hugging Face (AI model): https://huggingface.co/AutowareFoundation/latent_drive
“Advances in E2E autonomous driving are fundamentally changing how autonomous driving systems are developed.” said Shinpei Kato, founder and CEO of TIER IV. “For automakers and component suppliers to incorporate AI technology into their own products, however, it is essential that they be able to internalize technologies according to their applications and performance requirements, without depending on a particular AI model or semiconductor platform. By releasing multiple AI models developed under the leadership of TIER IV and the Autoware Foundation, alongside the results of our collaboration with NVIDIA, we have significantly expanded those choices. We will continue to advance the open-source ecosystem centered on Autoware and work with partners around the world to democratize autonomous driving.”
“Advancing autonomous driving requires AI that can reason through complex situations and run efficiently in the car.” said Ali Kani, vice president of automotive at NVIDIA. “TIER IV’s integration of NVIDIA Alpamayo 2 Edge with Autoware gives developers an open foundation to bring that intelligence from research into their own vehicles.”
“The advancement of autonomous driving technology depends on an ecosystem in which diverse AI models can be developed and evaluated openly, then applied according to their respective use cases.” said Muhammad Zain Khawaja, President of the Autoware Foundation. “The AI models released today are an important demonstration of how Autoware is evolving into a flexible development platform that is not tied to any particular technology or hardware. We welcome TIER IV’s continued technology development and its collaboration with partners including NVIDIA. The Autoware Foundation will continue working with the global open-source community to make advanced autonomous driving technology accessible to everyone.”
Next Steps
TIER IV will continue improving the performance of the AI models released today and optimizing them for in-vehicle environments, while promoting the development and commercialization of E2E autonomous driving technology by automakers and partners through Autoware. TIER IV will also strengthen collaboration with the global open-source community and work to expand the adoption of autonomous driving systems across diverse vehicle types and applications.
About TIER IV
TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep tech innovation, pioneering Autoware, open-source software for autonomous driving. With a comprehensive suite of platforms and services built around Autoware, TIER IV provides everything from software development and vehicle procurement to operational support. Through the Autoware ecosystem, TIER IV works with partners worldwide to shape the future of intelligent vehicles with open-source software, aiming to create mobility that is safer, more sustainable, and accessible to all.
The word marks and logos of TIER IV are trademarks or registered trademarks of TIER IV, Inc. in Japan and other countries. All other company names, product names, service names, and logos referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Autoware is a registered trademark of the Autoware Foundation.
Media contact
pr@tier4.jp
IASO Bio Announces NMPA IND Approval for IASO208, Advancing Its In Vivo CAR-T Platform into Synchronized U.S.-China Clinical Development
First lentiviral-vector-based in vivo CAR-T product from China to receive a U.S. FDA IND clearance; a Phase Ib study in R/R B-NHL will be initiated directly in the United States
SHANGHAI, NANJING, China, and PLEASANTON, Calif., Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IASO Biotechnology (“IASO Bio”), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of novel cell therapies and biologics for hematologic malignancies and autoimmune diseases, today announced that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for IASO208, a CD20-targeting in vivo CAR-T therapy developed on the company’s proprietary InTelliCAR™ platform, has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China. This follows the implicit clearance of the IASO208 IND by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2026. As the first lentiviral-vector-based in vivo CAR-T product from China to receive an FDA IND clearance, IASO208 will build on investigator-initiated trial (IIT) data generated in China to initiate a Phase Ib clinical study directly in the United States, targeting adult patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (R/R B-NHL).
The approval of the China IND marks the formal entry of IASO’s InTelliCAR™ platform into a phase of synchronized U.S.–China clinical development, and further validates the feasibility of leveraging China’s early clinical data to support global registrational development. IASO208 is the company’s first product to obtain IND approval through China’s 30-day expedited review pathway. This not only reflects regulatory recognition of the scientific merit of IASO208, but also demonstrates that IASO has established mature, end-to-end capabilities across the full development value chain for in vivo CAR-T products—spanning chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), nonclinical studies, clinical trial design, and communication with regulatory authorities.
IASO208 is currently being evaluated in an investigator-initiated, single-arm, open-label, dose-exploration study designed to assess its safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies. In this study, patients are not required to undergo conventional apheresis or lymphodepleting conditioning and receive a single intravenous infusion of IASO208. To date, 11 patients have been dosed. Early data have demonstrated favorable tolerability and promising anti-tumor activity, laying a solid foundation for larger, more systematic clinical studies to be conducted in both China and the United States. The early results of this study have been selected for an Oral Presentation at the 2026 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting (Abstract :#705).
Ms. Jinhua Zhang, Founder, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of IASO Bio，stated:“The approval of the China IND for IASO208 is another milestone for IASO’s proprietary in vivo CAR-T platform, InTelliCAR™, following our receipt of FDA IND clearance. It marks a decisive step for this product—the first lentiviral-vector-based in vivo CAR-T from China to receive an FDA IND clearance—from ‘U.S. IND approval’ toward ‘synchronized U.S.–China clinical development.’ Leveraging the InTelliCAR™ platform, IASO has assembled a portfolio of in vivo CAR-T product candidates across hematologic malignancies, autoimmune diseases and solid tumors, with several candidates now in the IND-enabling stage. The launch of synchronized U.S.–China clinical development for IASO208 lays a critical foundation for the global expansion of the InTelliCAR™ platform. Looking ahead, IASO will accelerate the global clinical development of IASO208 so that this China-originated, innovative in vivo CAR-T product can reach and benefit an even broader patient population worldwide at an earlier date.”
About IASO Bio
Founded in 2017, IASO Bio is one of the few commercial-stage biopharmaceutical companies in the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) sector bringing China‘s breakthrough innovations to the global market. We specialize in developing cell therapies and biologics for hematological malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Our industry-leading, fully integrated platforms leverage cutting-edge technologies that span the entire product lifecycle—from discovery and development to manufacturing and commercialization.
We have established a robust and synergistic pipeline, reflecting our commitment to making transformative cell therapies broadly accessible to patients worldwide. Our current portfolio includes ten products and product candidates, anchored by our core product, Equecabtagene Autoleucel (eque-cel). The CAR-T therapy Eque-cel has been approved in China for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM) in patients who have progressed after at least three prior lines of therapy. It is also being developed for use in earlier lines of r/r MM treatment and for autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia gravis (MG), multiple sclerosis (MS), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)/lupus nephritis (LN). Beyond eque-cel, we are developing nine additional therapeutic candidates—including three autologous chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies, five in vivo CAR-T cell therapies, and one antibody product candidate.
We collaborate with leading biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies such as Innovent, Sana, Cabaletta, and Umoja, as well as top-tier academic institutions and hospitals, to strengthen our product development capabilities.
Hire A Maid Makes Domestic Helper Recruitment More Convenient for Singapore Families Through Digital-First Approach
From online shortlisting and video interviews to digital documentation and doorstep deployment, the Singapore agency is reducing the need for repeated agency visits while keeping personalised guidance at the heart of recruitment.
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 November 2026 – From banking to healthcare consultations, Singaporeans are increasingly accustomed to managing everyday services online. Yet for families looking to hire a full-time domestic helper, the process can still involve multiple agency visits, coordinating interviews and navigating paperwork. Singapore-based employment agency Hire A Maid is looking to simplify this experience by bringing more of the recruitment journey online, without losing the personal touch that comes with choosing someone to become part of a household’s daily life.
Hire A Maid’s digital-first recruitment approach enables Singapore families to interview and assess prospective domestic helpers remotely through video calls, reducing the need for repeated agency visits while maintaining a personalised hiring experience.
Founded by Francis Wang, Hire A Maid combines online helper shortlisting, video interviews, digital documentation and doorstep deployment arrangements with personalised recruitment assistance. The approach allows employers to manage much of the hiring process remotely, reducing the need for repeated visits to a physical agency while maintaining guidance throughout the selection and hiring stages.
For working parents, dual-income households and families caring for young children or elderly relatives, finding time to visit an employment agency can be challenging. Beyond arranging interviews and reviewing candidates, employers must also consider whether a potential helper’s experience, strengths and expectations align with the specific needs of their household.
Through Hire A Maid’s online platform, families can browse profiles of fresh and experienced domestic helpers from Myanmar and Indonesia, shortlist suitable candidates and arrange video interviews before making a hiring decision. The agency also assists with the required documentation through digital processes and provides doorstep deployment arrangements, making the overall experience more convenient for busy households.
However, Hire A Maid believes that making recruitment more convenient should not come at the expense of finding a suitable match. Unlike a typical online transaction, hiring a domestic helper involves bringing someone into the household to support everyday family life, making mutual understanding and realistic expectations especially important.
“There are no perfect helpers or employers, only the right fit,” said Francis Wang, founder of Hire A Maid. “Our job is to help families make informed decisions while making the whole process less troublesome.”
According to Francis, a successful placement goes beyond a helper’s qualifications or previous experience. Every household has its own routines, responsibilities and expectations, whether the priority is childcare, elderly support or general household management. Likewise, domestic helpers bring different strengths, experience levels and personal backgrounds that need to be considered during the selection process.
Rather than focusing solely on how quickly a helper can be deployed, Hire A Maid places importance on understanding an employer’s requirements and helping families assess candidate suitability. This includes providing guidance during the shortlisting and interview stages, so employers can make more informed decisions and establish clearer expectations from the outset.
“Technology should take away the unnecessary running around, not the human element of recruitment,” Francis added. “Employers still need proper guidance, and helpers deserve clear expectations about the households they’ll be joining.”
By combining digital convenience with personalised assistance, Hire A Maid hopes to make domestic helper recruitment more accessible and less time-consuming for Singapore households. Its approach reflects a straightforward principle: families should spend less time managing the recruitment process and more time making the right hiring decision.
For more information about Hire A Maid’s recruitment services, visit www.hireamaid.sg.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Hire A Maid
Hire A Maid is a Singapore domestic helper employment agency founded by Francis Wang. The company specialises in recruiting fresh and experienced full-time live-in domestic helpers from Myanmar and Indonesia. Its services combine online helper shortlisting, video interviews, digital documentation, doorstep deployment arrangements and personalised recruitment guidance for Singapore households.
Beyond Medical Group and Tamarind Health Advance Regional Expansion Through Strategic Partnership in Cambodia
Alliance with SingMed International Medical Centre strengthens Singapore–Cambodia healthcare cooperation and establishes a platform for cross-border specialist and oncology services.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 10 November 2026, Beyond Medical Group (BMG) and Tamarind Health have formalised a strategic partnership with SingMed International Medical Centre, marking a significant step in expanding their regional healthcare collaboration and strengthening Singapore–Cambodia healthcare connectivity.
Leaders from Beyond Medical Group, SingMed International, and Tamarind Health signed the partnership to bring together multidisciplinary specialist expertise from Singapore to Cambodia
Signed in conjunction with the grand opening of SingMed’s expanded medical centre in Phnom Penh, the agreement builds on BMG’s established relationship with SingMed since 2024 and reflects a shared vision to develop a more integrated healthcare ecosystem connecting Cambodia with Singapore’s specialist medical expertise.
As regional healthcare needs evolve, particularly in specialised and complex medical care, the partnership provides a strategic platform to strengthen clinical collaboration, expand cross-border healthcare services and explore longer-term opportunities in Cambodia’s healthcare sector.
Bridging Healthcare Expertise Across Borders
Combining BMG’s multidisciplinary specialist network, Tamarind Health’s oncology capabilities and SingMed’s local healthcare infrastructure, the alliance seeks to establish coordinated pathways for specialist consultation, multidisciplinary care and treatment across both countries.
Leaders and Doctors from Beyond Medical Group, SingMed International and Tamarind Health posed for a group picture together ahead the official opening ceremony of SingMed International Medical Centre in Phnom Penh
Elayne Soh, CEO of Beyond Medical Group, said:
“Healthcare collaboration must go beyond cross-border patient referrals. Through this partnership, we aim to build a more connected healthcare model that brings multidisciplinary specialist and oncology expertise closer to patients in Cambodia.
Building on our partnership with SingMed since 2024, this collaboration with Tamarind Health marks another step towards strengthening regional healthcare connectivity and developing meaningful, long-term healthcare partnerships across Southeast Asia.”
Mr Eng Seng Lim, CEO of Tamarind Health, said:
“Cancer care is rarely managed by a single specialist. It often requires collaboration across oncology, surgery, diagnostics and other medical disciplines.
This partnership creates an opportunity to combine Tamarind Health’s oncology expertise with Beyond Medical Group’s wider specialist network and SingMed’s local presence in Cambodia.
By working together, we hope to strengthen cancer awareness, improve access to specialist advice and develop more coordinated care pathways for patients and their families.”
Okhna Pin Netra, Founder & Chairwoman of SingMed International Medical Centre, said:
“The opening of our expanded medical centre marks an important milestone for SingMed, but equally important is the network of healthcare expertise we are building around it.
Our partnership with Beyond Medical Group and Tamarind Health strengthens our ability to connect patients in Cambodia with a broader range of specialist and oncology expertise.
We look forward to developing practical programmes that bring international medical knowledge, specialist engagement and coordinated care closer to patients in Cambodia.”
Building a Regional Healthcare Platform
Looking ahead to 2027, the three organisations are exploring joint initiatives including specialist outreach programmes, patient education and oncology awareness activities, multidisciplinary case discussions and coordinated patient referrals.
The partnership underscores a shared commitment to strengthening healthcare cooperation between Cambodia and Singapore, advancing regional healthcare connectivity and paving the way for long-term growth and development across Southeast Asia.
About Beyond Medical Group
Beyond Medical Group is a Singapore-based specialist healthcare group bringing together doctors across multiple medical and surgical disciplines, supported by an integrated headquarters platform spanning patient engagement, communications, corporate partnerships and regional referrals.
Through its regional partnerships and representative networks, BMG works to connect overseas communities with appropriate specialist expertise in Singapore while supporting greater healthcare collaboration across Southeast Asia.
About Tamarind Health
Tamarind Health is an integrated oncology-focused healthcare group bringing together established cancer care practices and specialists across Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, its doctor-led network spans the cancer care journey, from diagnostics and treatment to survivorship and well-being.
With a purpose to set new standards in healthcare for better patient outcomes, Tamarind Health is building a connected platform for oncology and related services across six markets: Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Mainland China. Its network includes OncoCare, TalkMed, Luma Women’s Imaging Centre, Solis Breast Care & Surgery Centre, Hong Kong Women’s Imaging Centre, Tamarind Specialists Centre, Can-Care and Novena Heart Centre.
About SingMed International Medical Centre
SingMed International Medical Centre is a healthcare provider based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, providing outpatient, inpatient and multidisciplinary medical services.
Its expanded medical centre serves as a local healthcare platform supporting patient care, specialist engagement and collaboration with regional healthcare groups and medical professionals.
