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Huawei’s Yang Chaobin: Creating Mobile Value Creates a Better Intelligent World

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BARCELONA, Spain, March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yang Chaobin, CEO of Huawei’s ICT Business Group, today called on the ICT industry to intensify efforts in ensuring everyone can access the fast track of AI at MWC Barcelona 2026. This call included recommendations on spectrum and network capabilities for scaling 5G-Advanced to support emerging AI applications, and an appeal to expand inclusive connectivity to bridge the digital divide in underserved regions.

In his keynote, Yang said, “The intelligent era is approaching fast. New AI applications are emerging every day, and so it is time for the industry to come together to unleash the full potential of 5G-A. We must efficiently utilize new spectrum resources like U6 GHz to create new value for the industry while paving the way for evolution to 6G.“

As AI applications like text-to-video and AI-powered shopping become more and more common, token consumption will surge. The number of tokens consumed daily has grown 300 times over the past two years. Yang believes that this is creating enormous opportunities for the mobile industry.

However, these achievements have highlighted gaps that he says the industry must address. First, Networks must move away from being downlink-centric and deliver ultra-high bandwidth both uplink and downlink to support multimodal data exchanges between devices and clouds for AI. Second, networks must provide secure, reliable, and ultra-low-latency connectivity to support real-time AI collaboration and intelligent decision-making.

6G standardization is also already underway, and its standards are not expected to be frozen before March 2029, according to 3GPP. Yang explained that the next five years will create a window of opportunity both for mobile AI services to boom and for the industry to create new value, so long as carriers invest effectively in 5G-A. This half-generation step between 5G and 6G is already playing a key role in the industry, as it delivers 10 times higher uplink speeds, superior AI service experience, new IoT technologies like reduced capability (RedCap) and passive IoT, and AI for differentiated network capabilities. 

Yang Chaobin, Huawei ICT BG CEO, speaking at MWC Barcelona 2026
Yang Chaobin, Huawei ICT BG CEO, speaking at MWC Barcelona 2026

5G-A has been commercially deployed at scale in more than 300 cities around the world, and its deployment is expanding to all frequency bands. New and refarmed spectrum resources are needed to make 5G-A even more capable, particularly in countries and regions where C-band resources are scarce. The U6 GHz band is becoming the key to unleashing this network potential. 

After multiple rounds of discussion at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), U6 GHz has been established as a mainstream frequency band for future mobile communications. 5G-A already supports U6 GHz, and mainstream device chips and the industry chain for 5G-A devices are also mature. This means 5G-A is ready for large-scale commercial use. Yang urged his speech attendees, all of whom are players in the telecom industry, to lean deeper into collaboration on 5G-A and frequency bands like U6 GHz to support surging AI service demand.

The second focus of Yang’s speech was the industry’s urgent need to address global imbalances in digital access. According to GSMA, more than 300 million people are not covered by a mobile broadband network. Over the past two decades, the communications industry has made great efforts to bridge the digital divide, but the rapid growth of AI seems to be widening this gap. Stronger digital inclusion drives and continued innovation are needed. 

Yang encouraged further exploration of inclusive connectivity strategies like diversified frequency-band combinations and more cost-effective solution design. Huawei itself has launched innovative all-scenario RuralStar solutions to provide inclusive mobile access to 170 million people in 80 countries, as well as a number of additional inclusion programs. These include the DigiTruck classrooms providing rural students digital skills training in Kenya, inclusive financial services for rural residents in Bangladesh, and mobile medical services for villages in Argentina.

Wrapping up his keynote, Yang called on all industry players to continue working together on commercial 5G-A adoption at scale in order to address the pressing needs from emerging AI services and pave the way for evolution to 6G.

MWC Barcelona 2026 will be held from March 2 to March 5 in Barcelona, Spain. During the event, Huawei will showcase its latest products and solutions at stand 1H50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1.

The era of agentic networks is now approaching fast, and the commercial adoption of 5G-A at scale is gaining speed. Huawei is actively working with carriers and partners around the world to unleash the full potential of 5G-A and pave the way for the evolution to 6G. We are also creating AI-Centric Network solutions to enable intelligent services, networks, and network elements (NEs), speeding up the large-scale deployment of level-4 autonomous networks (AN L4), and using AI to upgrade our core business. Together with other industry players, we will create leading value-driven networks and AI computing backbones for a fully intelligent future.

For more information, please visit: https://carrier.huawei.com/en/minisite/events/mwc2026/

HiRO Leads Cross‑Border Dialogue at JPM, Offering Insights for Biotechs Seeking Asian Investment

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SOMERSET, N.J., March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harvest Integrated Research Organization (HiRO), a global contract research organization specializing in strategic planning for clinical development and cross‑border clinical trial solutions and services, concluded a successful presence at the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

HiRO’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Karen Chu, was a featured speaker at RESI JPM, where she moderated a panel convening investors and strategics at the forefront of the cell and gene therapy revolution. Panelists Robert Balfour of ALSA Ventures and Bettina Ernst of BERNINA BioInvest highlighted the current momentum in cell and gene therapies, discussed how they assess technical and commercial risk, identified partnership models that accelerate progress, and outlined where capital is flowing in this rapidly advancing field.

Dr. Chu also led a workshop titled “Leveraging Asia: How to Navigate Asian VC Investment Mandates.” The session opened with the 2026 industry outlook and key trends, then highlighted priority therapeutic areas. It explained the NewCo model and the criteria Asian venture capital firms use to evaluate global biotech assets, their co‑investment preferences, and expectations for commercialization. The workshop featured Asia‑based investors Dr. Alva Chen, Managing Director and Head of Therapeutics, VMS Group; Jayson Lee, Partner and Head of Healthcare Investing, LongRiver Investments; and Dr. Maomeng Tong, Principal, INCE Capital, who shared strategic insights for biotechs pursuing cross‑border capital or collaboration.

(Left to right): Dr. Maomeng Tong, Principal, INCE Capital; Jayson Lee, Partner and Head of Healthcare Investing, LongRiver Investments; Dr. Alva Chen, Managing Director and Head of Therapeutics, VMS Group; Dr. Karen Chu, Founder and CEO, HiRO.
(Left to right): Dr. Maomeng Tong, Principal, INCE Capital; Jayson Lee, Partner and Head of Healthcare Investing, LongRiver Investments; Dr. Alva Chen, Managing Director and Head of Therapeutics, VMS Group; Dr. Karen Chu, Founder and CEO, HiRO.

“Asia’s steady capital recovery is fueling more diverse, higher-quality biotech deals. Investors are increasingly favoring more scalable, capital-efficient, innovative business models. One such emerging approach is the NewCo model, which combines equity participation with experienced management teams, leverages Asia’s efficient clinical speed and ecosystem partners to accelerate data generation, and enables program-level co-development. These elements de-risk global development in multiple ways, making the opportunities more attractive for international syndicates,” said Dr. Alva Chen, Managing Director and Head of Therapeutics, VMS Group.

“Clinical development now spans multiple regions more than ever and requires an integrated strategy. HiRO’s cross‑border capabilities across APAC, the US, and Europe allow us to align regulatory strategy, site selection, and operational execution to bridge data across regions, accelerate timelines, and reduce redundant costs. By leveraging local expertise, regional cost advantages, and selective partnerships, we help biotech sponsors generate earlier, higher‑quality readouts and deploy capital more efficiently to advance financing and licensing goals,” said Dr. Karen Chu, Founder and CEO of HiRO.

About Harvest Integrated Research Organization (HiRO)

Harvest Integrated Research Organization (HiRO) is a globally oriented, innovative clinical research organization. With global operations and integrated capabilities, HiRO provides a full range of cross-border solutions and services to its clients, including early pre-clinical strategic planning, clinical trial design, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, statistics, data management, end-to-end project management, and clinical and medical monitoring services.

As an emerging global CRO, HiRO strives to become a market-leading, integrated global clinical research organization that works collaboratively with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to bring new products from the laboratory to the market, providing more effective solutions for patients worldwide. For more information on HiRO, please visit www.harvestiro.com.

Insilico Medicine and Liquid AI Announce Strategic Partnership Delivering Lightweight Scientific Foundation Models for Drug Discovery

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Single 2.6B-parameter model achieves state-of-the-art performance across drug discovery benchmarks while running entirely on private pharmaceutical infrastructure

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Insilico Medicine and Liquid AI today announced a partnership that creates lightweight scientific foundation models for pharmaceutical research. The collaboration has produced LFM2-2.6B-MMAI (v0.2.1), available now – a single checkpoint trained to perform at state-of-the-art levels across multiple drug discovery subdomains, not a patchwork of separate point models.

The partnership tackles a critical challenge facing pharmaceutical companies today: how to harness cutting-edge AI capabilities without sending proprietary molecules, assays, and target data to external cloud services. By combining Liquid AI’s efficient LFM architecture with Insilico’s MMAI Gym, (a comprehensive training platform with over 1,000 pharmaceutical benchmarks), the work shows that on-premise deployment can deliver competitive results across the full spectrum of drug discovery tasks in a single system.

The model covers the complete discovery loop, spanning property prediction and ADMET endpoints, multi-parameter molecular optimization, target-aware scoring with protein-pocket conditioning, functional group reasoning, and retrosynthesis planning. Training involved approximately 120 billion tokens of pharmaceutical data across over two hundred different tasks.

“With LFM2-2.6B-MMAI, we’ve shown that efficient architecture design, not just scale, is what makes foundation models practical for the sciences. A single 2.6B-parameter model now matches or outperforms systems ten times its size across the drug discovery pipeline, all on private infrastructure. Our collaboration with Insilico is proof that you can reduce the cost of intelligence while raising the quality bar,” says Ramin Hasani, CEO and co-founder of Liquid AI.

At just 2.6B parameters, the model achieves cloud-scale performance while operating entirely on private infrastructure:

  • Property Prediction: Outperformed TxGemma-27B, a model more than 10x larger, on 13 of 22 tasks covering pharmacokinetics and toxicology, and achieved state-of-the-art results on three of these tasks when compared to specialist models built for individual tasks
  • Molecular Optimization: Reached success rates of up to 98.8% on industry-standard multi-parameter optimization benchmarks (MuMO-Instruct)
  • Affinity Prediction: On Insilico’s internal benchmark – featuring 2.5M experimental measurements across 689 protein targets – produced better correlation scores than frontier models including GPT-5.1, Claude Opus 4.5, and Grok-4.1
  • Chemical Reasoning: Demonstrated strong functional group reasoning capabilities (FGBench) and high-quality single-step retrosynthesis suggestions (ChemCensor metric)

These capabilities unlock immediately useful applications for pharmaceutical companies, particularly in high-frequency ADMET screening, medicinal chemistry-facing lead optimization, and retrosynthesis feasibility assessment that prevents wasted experimental effort.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Liquid AI to develop the next generation of lightweight liquid foundation models capable of performing multiple scientific tasks with state-of-the-art performance across drug discovery benchmarks,” says Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine. “Highly-efficient liquid science models will make it easier for more scientists to achieve their goals in order to compress discovery timelines and ultimately help patients.”

About Liquid AI: Liquid AI builds Liquid Foundation Models (LFMs) based on dynamical systems and signal processing. Founded by researchers from MIT, Liquid AI focuses on AI models that are efficient and can be deployed on-premise or in resource-constrained environments. For more information, visit liquid.ai.

About Insilico Medicine: Insilico Medicine is a clinical-stage biotechnology company using AI for drug development across cancer, fibrosis, immunity, central nervous system diseases, and aging-related conditions. The company’s AI platform covers target discovery, molecular design, and clinical development. For more information, visit insilico.com.

About MMAI Gym for Science: MMAI Gym for Science is a domain-specific training environment designed to elevate general-purpose and frontier Large Language Models (LLMs) into pharmaceutical-grade engines for drug discovery and development. Developed by Insilico Medicine as a core component of its Pharmaceutical Superintelligence (PSI) roadmap, the Gym utilizes specialized tracks for Chemical Superintelligence (CSI) and Biology/Clinical Superintelligence (BSI) to teach models domain-specific reasoning across medicinal chemistry, biology, and clinical planning. 

The curriculum leverages high-quality reasoning datasets and multi-task fine-tuning to achieve up to 10x performance gains on mission-critical R&D tasks compared to baseline models. To ensure robust and reliable performance, all models are evaluated against a rigorous suite of proprietary and public benchmarks which are meticulously cleaned to avoid data leakage between training and test sets. MMAI Gym for Science is offered through flexible membership programs tailored to pharma and biotech companies, AI labs, and cloud providers looking to transform generalist AI into robust scientific specialists. For more information or to explore membership options, please contact mmaigym@insilicomedicine.com.

DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited 2025 Preliminary Announcement Of Results

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The following announcement was issued today to a Regulatory Information Service approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom.

DFI RETAIL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED
2025 PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

Highlights
  • Underlying profit reached the high-end of guidance at US$270 million, up 35% year-on-year
  • Reported profit of US$235 million, up US$480 million year-on-year
  • Health and Beauty delivered strong like-for-like (LFL) sales and profit growth
  • Convenience returned to profit growth in the second half of 2025, supported by a favourable mix shift towards higher-margin, non-cigarette categories
  • Strengthening value-driven, omnichannel proposition in Food and Home Furnishings
  • Divestments of Yonghui, Robinsons Retail and Singapore Food underscored the Group’s transition from a portfolio to a focused operating company and strengthened balance sheet to a net cash position
  • Returned approximately US$740 million to shareholders for the full year 2025, including a US$600 million special dividend
  • Final dividend of US¢10.50 per share based on a new 70% payout policy announced in December 2025

“Effective execution of our strategy drove strong financial performance and higher shareholder returns in 2025, despite a challenging retail environment. Our significant progress made in portfolio simplification creates investment capacity for strategic priorities, enabling greater value for our customers and accretive inorganic opportunities to drive sustainable growth and returns.”

Lincoln Pan
Chairman

DFI FY2025 table.jpg

DFI RETAIL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED
PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
INTRODUCTION
It is my honour and privilege to join DFI Retail Group (‘DFI’ or the ‘Group’) as Chairman of the Board, supporting Group Chief Executive, Scott Price, and his leadership team in executing its strategic priorities and delivering shareholder returns. On behalf of the Board, I would also like to express our gratitude to John Witt for his invaluable contributions to DFI over many years.

As Asia’s leading multi-format retail platform, DFI has a unique set of assets – strong customer trust, an extensive store network across markets, deep data insights from a powerful loyalty programme, and a strengthening Own Brand portfolio – that will serve as a foundation for growth over the coming years.

Amid macroeconomic volatility and evolving consumer needs, the Group has been responding effectively through a stronger value proposition and enhanced omnichannel capabilities. This strategy is yielding early and encouraging results, demonstrated by a 35% increase in underlying profit in 2025. We remain particularly optimistic about the growth prospects in Health & Beauty and Convenience, as well as the opportunities emerging in digital.

I am confident that under the capable leadership of Scott and his team, DFI will continue to deliver retail excellence to customers across Asia while driving long-term value creation and growth.

Under a new 70% dividend payout policy announced in December 2025, the Board recommends a final dividend of US¢10.50 per share (2024 final dividend: US¢7.00).

STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS
Over the course of 2025, the Group executed effectively against its strategic framework of Customer First, People Led, Shareholder Driven. This approach enables DFI to navigate market challenges while capturing opportunities that build on its strong platform for sustainable growth.

The retail landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by shifting consumer behaviour and digitalisation. The Group remains focused on strategic priorities that place customers first – delivering quality, value and convenience in everyday moments. Across its businesses, the Group made good progress in strengthening value propositions, expanding customer reach in growth markets, driving deeper customer engagement with data-driven insights and accelerating digital monetisation. These initiatives enhance its ability to better serve customers and supplier partners while delivering returns to shareholders.

Investing in talent development remains at the top of the agenda. During the year, the Group achieved an improved team member engagement score. Inclusive leadership, a purpose-driven culture and engaged team members are critical to driving stronger performance and delivering exceptional customer experience. In parallel, the Group continues to enhance its organisational agility in meeting customer needs while reducing overhead costs.

In 2025, the Group completed the divestments of minority stakes in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, as well as Singapore Food business, enabling reinvestment in subsidiary businesses and strategic priorities with stronger growth and return potential. This approach, combined with a sharpened business focus and a strengthened balance sheet, delivered a total shareholder return exceeding 90% in 2025, including the distribution of a US$600 million special dividend in October.

PROSPECTS
Transformation is an ongoing journey for today’s retailers. Serving diverse communities across Asia, where economic conditions and consumer expectations vary widely, the Group must stay agile and locally relevant guided by a customer-first mindset and a disciplined focus on growth opportunities that further build on its competitive advantages. Over the year, DFI has invested in delivering better outcomes for customers through price reinvestment, Own Brand innovation, omnichannel expansion and data-driven personalisation – focus areas that will remain central to its growth plans in the years ahead. An expanded digital ecosystem also unlocks new avenues to drive deeper value for supplier partners and enhance shareholder returns.

I would like to end by expressing the Board’s appreciation to our team members. We could not be more proud of the work they have done over the year, particularly in responding to the deeply tragic Tai Po fire in Hong Kong. Their unwavering dedication to serving our customers across Asia is what will continue to drive our business forward and build long-term value for shareholders.

Lincoln Pan
Chairman

GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
We are pleased to close 2025 on a strong note, with underlying profit attributable to shareholders up 35% year-on-year to US$270 million, reaching the high end of our guidance range. This strong performance was driven by a recovery in LFL subsidiary sales, improved margins and proactive portfolio actions, including the divestment of our minority stake in Yonghui.

Customers across Asia, including in our home market of Hong Kong, are increasingly seeking quality and convenience at great value. While macro challenges remain, we are encouraged to see early signs of recovery in key retail segments, including 3% growth in health and beauty sales in Hong Kong, supported by a 12% increase in tourist arrivals. As Asia’s leading multi-format omnichannel retail platform, we are uniquely positioned to meet customers’ evolving needs effectively across all channels through relevant and compelling customer propositions.

With a renewed focus on balancing profitability with capital discipline, the Group ended the year in a net cash position, after distributing a US$600 million special dividend, and delivered a significantly improved return on capital employed (ROCE) of 9.4%. Our strengthened balance sheet allows us to reinvest for growth as we deepen our focus on higher-return subsidiary businesses and strategic priorities that sustain value creation for shareholders. For the full year 2025, we returned a total of approximately US$740 million to shareholders, including the special dividend.

In December, we held our inaugural Investor Day where DFI announced a new dividend policy with an increased payout ratio of 70%. Dividends paid during the year, combined with a share price increase of more than 70%, resulted in a total shareholder return exceeding 90% in 2025. We also outlined our three-year plan for realising our financial ambitions and accelerated growth goals, including a target of US$310-350 million in underlying profit (representing 11% CAGR at the mid-point compared to 20251) and an improved ROCE of at least 15% by 2028.

As we enter the new financial year, we remain firmly focused on executing our strategic priorities to drive sustained, profitable growth.

STRATEGIC DELIVERABLES – KEY PROGRESS
Over the past year, we have made significant progress in our transformation from a portfolio business into a strategically focused operating company. We have been advancing our strategy across five key deliverables to create greater value for our customers, supplier partners and shareholders.

Retail Excellence
By delivering best-in-class customer propositions, we see a wide range of opportunities for driving higher store sales density and market share gain across all business segments.

Health & Beauty
Mannings and Guardian continue to strengthen their position as the trusted advisor for wellness, unlocking strong cross-category growth opportunities through an assortment with high functional value across supplements, derma skin care and hair care. Customers across Asia are increasingly shifting to retailers that best fulfil their broad, diverse and unique wellness goals. Our technology-enabled personalised services – including skin, scalp and health assessments – drive higher purchase conversion and basket size by deepening customer understanding of their wellness needs. These capabilities will be expanded to 25% of our Health & Beauty store network to enhance our competitive differentiation and leadership in wellness.

Convenience
7-Eleven is broadening its shopper missions towards higher-margin, non-cigarette categories with a strategic focus on ready-to-eat (RTE) offerings, which accounted for 24% of Convenience sales in 2025. Across markets, consumers are seeking more convenient, high-quality and value-driven meal solutions. The expansion of Food Bars to 1,250 locations in South China and the rollout of RTE-focused store revamp across the entire Hong Kong network by 2028 will further strengthen 7-Eleven’s RTE proposition.

Food
Given consumers’ pivot towards value, continued northbound travel and increasing competition from Chinese mainland e-commerce platforms, the Wellcome team has focused on enhancing food basket value for customers by advancing our Everyday Low Price strategy. Investment in reduced pricing through strategic direct sourcing of core basket items, particularly in fresh, has resulted in a 2% growth in volume driven by higher footfall and increased items per basket. Direct sourcing allowed us to reduce prices while protecting gross profit, resulting in a 30-basis point gross margin improvement. These efforts further supported the narrowing basket price gap compared to the Greater Bay Area to a currently low single-digit price difference2.

Home Furnishings
Similar to Food, IKEA has focused on enhancing its affordability and accessibility by reinvesting in the pricing of high-volume products, broadening the range of entry price points, rationalising the tail of slow-selling assortment, and further expanding digital touchpoints through third-party marketplaces. We are also strengthening IKEA Food as a key draw for customers seeking exciting and affordable food experiences as part of their store journey. These efforts are supported by significant cost transformation initiatives across our operating markets.

Own Brand
Our reset in Own Brand strategy across Food and Health & Beauty is driving higher customer loyalty and sales penetration through greater exclusivity and value. By refining our product range to align closely with customer needs and maximising cross-selling across our formats, we achieved meaningful improvements in margins and sales productivity.

Access to Customers
We continue to strategically expand our network in high-growth, profitable markets, primarily through a capex-light franchise model, with 114 net new openings3 in 2025. In particular, we will deepen 7-Eleven’s presence in Guangdong province to around 2,400 stores and expand Guardian’s footprint in Indonesia to approximately 750 stores by 2028.

Omnichannel and Data Ecosystem
DFI’s expanded omnichannel ecosystem is elevating our relevance and engagement with customers, providing us deep data insights across daily consumer needs that few peers in Asia can match. This ecosystem now allows our customers to engage with DFI brands across more than 90 digital channels, including apps, websites, third-party marketplaces, quick-commerce partnership with food delivery platforms and click-and-collect services. Our strengthened digital proposition was underpinned by a 140-basis point increase in online sales penetration to 6.4%4 as at year-end 2025, with order volume more than doubled year-on-year. Our overall digital ecosystem, comprising e-commerce, retail media, insights monetisation and yuu, continues to drive improved financial returns for the Group.

Retail Media (DFIQ Media)
Positioned to become Asia’s leading omnichannel retail media network, DFIQ Media offers a differentiated online and offline advertising proposition, enabling brands to execute cross-format campaigns through our digital assets and more than 10,000 in-store digital screens across markets. DFIQ Media delivered strong sales growth, albeit from a low starting base, achieving a fourfold increase in revenue over 2024, supported by proprietary data insights from over 7 million monthly active users across our growing digital portfolio.

DFIQ Portal

We aim to empower our supplier partners with actionable insights that drive greater business impact and better outcomes for customers. The DFIQ Portal – a vendor platform combining DFIQ Media, DFIQ Insights and trade capabilities – was launched in December 2025, providing suppliers real-time access to critical analytics that enables optimised inventory management and more effective strategic planning.

Retail Analytics
Leveraging cross-format data insights from over 5 million yuu Rewards members in Hong Kong, we continue to enhance our assortment and promotional decisions to help expand both in-store sales and gross profit.

Lean & Agile Model
Maintaining a lean and agile operating model is essential to ensuring efficient decision-making in a rapidly evolving retail landscape. Continued cost optimisation and better product sourcing will support both strategic price reinvestment and sustainable margin expansion in the coming years. Overhead reductions are expected to translate into lower SG&A costs beginning 2026. We remain disciplined in capex, driving network growth primarily through a franchise model with a strong focus on paybacks.

Strategic pivot from portfolio to a focused operating company
We conduct strategic reviews of our businesses guided by return on capital and total shareholder return priorities. During the year, we completed the divestment of our minority stakes in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, as well as our Singapore Food business, generating total gross proceeds of approximately US$1 billion in cash consideration. In line with our capital allocation priorities, these proceeds were redeployed towards debt repayment, resulting in a net cash position of US$70 million as at year-end 2025. In addition, a special dividend of US$600 million was distributed to shareholders in October 2025. The Group remains focused on maximising total shareholder return while maintaining strategic flexibility for inorganic growth opportunities that are accretive to long-term shareholder value.

2025 PERFORMANCE
Total revenue from subsidiaries in 2025 was US$8.9 billion, up 1% on a LFL basis, excluding cigarettes. Organic revenue, excluding divested businesses5 for the comparable period, grew 0.5%. Strong sales growth in the Health & Beauty division was offset by lower contributions from other segments.

Excluding the impact of the minority stake divestments in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail completed in 2025, total revenue for the Group, including 100% of associates and joint ventures, remained broadly stable.

The Group reported total underlying profit attributable to shareholders of US$270 million for the year, up 35% year-on-year. This was supported by improved profitability from subsidiary businesses, lower financing costs and higher underlying profit from associates following the divestment of Yonghui.

Underlying profit from subsidiaries was US$183 million, 15% higher than the prior year. This was driven by strong Health & Beauty performance in addition to earnings recovery in Singapore Food and Home Furnishings segment, partially offset by lower contribution from Convenience due to reduced cigarette volume.

The Group’s share of underlying profit from associates was US$88 million, an improvement of US$45 million compared to the prior year, primarily due to the divestment of minority stake in loss-making Yonghui and higher contribution from Maxim’s as a result of improved mooncake sales and restaurant performance in Southeast Asia. Despite challenging trading conditions in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, Maxim’s delivered profit growth in these regions through cost optimisation.

The Group reported operating cash flow after lease payments of US$430 million, 30% higher than the prior year, supported by underlying operating profit growth. Free cash flow6 for the period was US$281 million, up 78% year-on-year. As at 31 December 2025, the Group’s net cash was US$70 million, compared to US$468 million net debt at 31 December 2024.

SUSTAINABILITY
We remain firmly committed to our purpose to sustainably serve Asia for generations with everyday moments – with a focused, balanced, collaborative approach taking into account the macroeconomic environment and consumer sentiment. We are driving progress on our pathway to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2021 baseline, with our targeted investments in refrigerant emissions management, energy efficiency, and behaviour-change initiatives across our operations gaining momentum throughout the year. From 2025 to 2030, we will further increase the share of renewable energy use in our portfolio, helping to accelerate the energy transition in the key markets where we operate.

As advocates for our customers and the communities we serve, we are committed to delivering affordable, sustainable products. In 2025, we delivered 380 tonnes of Own Brand low-carbon rice to our Hong Kong markets and added multiple products through our Grounds to Green programme to our 7-Eleven RTE range. These award-winning initiatives demonstrate our ability to anticipate customer expectations and deliver on market demands. We maintained strong discipline in waste and packaging management, keeping us on track to meet our 2030 targets.

BUSINESS REVIEW

HEALTH AND BEAUTY
Sales for the Health and Beauty division grew 7% year-on-year or 5% on an LFL basis to US$2.6 billion. Underlying operating profit was US$228 million for the year, representing an increase of 8% compared to 2024.

Both Mannings and Guardian achieved strong LFL sales performance, supported by growing wellness sales penetration towards the mid-term target of over 35%. To further strengthen our leadership in wellness – a cross-category opportunity spanning health, beauty and personal care – Mannings and Guardian complemented their wellness-focused assortment with in-store health, skin and scalp assessments in selected outlets. Our personalised consultations and tailored product recommendations deepen our engagement with customers, supporting larger basket sizes and higher purchase conversion.

In Hong Kong and Macau, LFL sales increased by 5%, driven by strong growth in tourist store sales from higher arrivals. Own Brand strategy reset resulted in a 35% improvement in gross profit per SKU through a refined product range that better aligns with customer needs. Sales of Mannings China declined due to the closure of majority of its offline store network as the business pivots towards a cross-border e-commerce model.

Guardian in Southeast Asia reported 5% LFL sales increase, driven by growth in basket sizes across key markets and an expanding e-commerce presence, including the Guardian Malaysia loyalty programme launched in March 2025 and a new Guardian Singapore app in July 2025. Indonesia and Vietnam delivered LFL sales growth exceeding 10%, supported by strong traffic gains. Gross margin expansion and operating leverage contributed to operating profit growth of 16% in the region.

CONVENIENCE
Total Convenience sales were US$2.3 billion, representing a decline of 2% year-on-year or 3% on an LFL basis, due to lower-margin cigarette volume reductions following tax increases in Hong Kong in February 2024. Excluding cigarettes, overall Convenience sales grew 1% compared to 2024 and were marginally lower on an LFL basis. Underlying operating profit was US$97 million, down 6% year-on-year. Favourable sales mix shift towards higher-margin non-cigarette categories drove a return to a positive profit growth in the second half of 2025.

In Hong Kong, the Group expects to mitigate financial impact from declining cigarette sales in 2026 and beyond through continued growth in higher-margin non-cigarette categories, including RTE which accounted for 18% of sales for the full year, up from 16% in 2024.

7-Eleven Singapore reported robust LFL sales growth driven by a stronger RTE proposition and effective promotional campaigns. In South China, continued store network expansion through a capex-light franchise model, including 99 net increase in store number, contributed to 3% sales growth. LFL sales, however, were down 2% largely due to intense subsidy competition from food delivery platforms, primarily in the first half of the year. The focus remains on driving footfall through innovative RTE and Food Bar expansion to 1,250 stores by the end of 2028, compared to 325 as of year-end. Both markets saw meaningful profit growth, supported by a favourable product mix shift and disciplined cost control.

FOOD
Reported sales for the Food division were US$3.0 billion, remaining stable compared to 2024 on an LFL basis. Underlying operating profit reached US$62 million for the year, up 6% year-on-year, driven by earnings recovery in Singapore Food following the distribution of government consumption vouchers in 2025.

In Hong Kong, the Wellcome team strengthened its fresh and value proposition through pricing reinvestment supported by strategic direct sourcing. These efforts included a new partnership with Dingdong Maicai (DDL) since May 2025 for a wider selection of price-competitive fresh produce, as well as the Everyday Value campaign launched in September 2025, offering up to 40% savings on 100 core basket items. The team also accelerated omnichannel growth through broader digital channels – including a quick-commerce partnership with foodpanda and click-and-collect services – and a shortened delivery time to same or next day delivery, driving a more than 20% sales growth in Hong Kong Food online sales. Despite a 1% LFL sales decline compared to the prior year, total volume grew 2% driven by increased transactions and items per basket.

Southeast Asia Food sales performance benefited from multiple rounds of government consumption voucher distribution in Singapore during the year, including S$800 vouchers for each household and S$600 vouchers for individuals in celebration of the nation’s 60th anniversary. These vouchers, which were redeemable at supermarkets and heartland merchants, drove stronger sales in the Food segment. Convenience and Health & Beauty did not see a similar uplift in sales as the vouchers were not applicable to these outlets. Divestment of Singapore Food business was completed in early December 2025. Post-completion, the Group continues to serve the Singapore market through its Guardian and 7-Eleven brands. As the only nationwide modern trade operator in Cambodia, Lucky reported robust LFL sales growth with strong margin expansion on scale benefits.

HOME FURNISHINGS
IKEA reported sales of US$677 million, down 3% year-on-year and 5% on an LFL basis, compared to an 11% LFL sales decline in 2024. Operating profit was US$26 million, representing a meaningful improvement from US$16 million in the prior year, driven by effective cost control measures across markets.

Amid a challenging macro environment and reduced consumer demand for big-ticket items due to subdued real estate market activity, the IKEA team has prioritised enhancing its value proposition and omnichannel presence. Key initiatives include price reductions on high-volume products, rationalisation of non-core assortment, and a broader range of entry price points. In Indonesia, the team has further expanded digital partnerships with third-party marketplaces to improve accessibility, supporting continued progress towards its overall online sales penetration target of 18-20% by 2028. IKEA Food remains a critical traffic and revenue driver, representing 14% of total sales.

These combined with significant cost optimisation efforts in labour, supply chain and infrastructure across markets contributed to a US$10 million improvement in overall profitability.

RESTAURANTS
The Group’s share of Maxim’s underlying profits was US$72 million in 2025, an increase of 9% year-on-year, supported by resilient sales of US$3.1 billion, up 0.4% year-on-year, and ongoing cost optimisation. Improved mooncake sales during the mid-autumn festival and stronger restaurant performance in Southeast Asia was offset by challenging trading environment in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Cost management in these markets also supported overall profit growth. During the year, Maxim’s continued to expand its Southeast Asia network with 84 net new stores added, mainly in Thailand and Vietnam.

OUTLOOK
2025 marked a year of strong progress for DFI, with the strategic reset across our businesses driving improved underlying profitability in both subsidiaries and associates, a stronger ROCE and enhanced shareholder returns. Our strengthened balance sheet and disciplined use of capital provides capacity to reinvest for growth both organically and inorganically, laying a strong foundation as we pursue our financial ambitions of achieving a US$310-350 million underlying profit (+11% CAGR at midpoint compared to 20257) and a 7-10% online sales mix by 2028.

At our inaugural Investor Day, we outlined clear strategic priorities which include strengthening our value proposition, enhancing omnichannel capabilities, accelerating Own Brand innovation, deepening digital monetisation, and leveraging data to deliver better outcomes for both customers and supplier partners.

For the full year of 2026, the Group expects organic revenue growth of approximately 2-3%8 and underlying profit attributable to shareholders to be between US$270 million and US$300 million. Excluding the divestment impact of Singapore Food and Robinsons Retail, this would represent a year-on-year growth of 13-25%.

Looking into 2026 and beyond, I am confident that DFI has developed a renewed foundation as we execute against our strategic priorities to deliver sustained, profitable growth, drive market share gains across our formats and generate long-term returns for our shareholders.

Scott Price
Group Chief Executive

—————–
1 Excluding Singapore Food business and minority stake in Robinsons Retail upon completion of divestment in 2025
2 Based on a third-party assured price comparison of a 200-item comparable basket between DFI and Greater Bay Area

3 Excluding Singapore Food. Divestment of business was completed in early December 2025.
4 Excluding Singapore Food, cigarettes under Convenience and IKEA food
5 Excluding financial contribution from Singapore Food (December 2024) and Hero Supermarket (2024) for comparison purpose
6 Free cash flow is equivalent to cash flows from operating activities after lease payments minus normal capital expenditure

7 Excluding Singapore Food business and minority stake in Robinsons Retail upon completion of divestment in 2025
8 Excluding Singapore Food business

Hashtag: #DFIRetailGroup #Mannings #Guardian #7-Eleven #Wellcome #MarketPlace #IKEA #yuu #Maxim’s

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

DFI Retail Group

DFI Retail Group (the Group) is a leading Asian retailer, driven by its purpose to ‘Sustainably Serve Asia for Generations with Everyday Moments’.

At 31 December 2025, the Group and its associates operated 7,580 outlets across 12 markets, of which 5,529 stores were operated by subsidiaries. The Group, together with associates, employed over 79,000 people, with some 42,000 people employed by subsidiaries. The Group had reported revenue of US$8.9 billion in 2025.

The Group is dedicated to delivering quality, value and service to Asian consumers through a compelling retail experience, supported by an extensive store network and highly efficient supply chains.

The Group and its associates, operates a portfolio of well-known brands across five key divisions. The principal brands are:

Health and Beauty
• Mannings on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R.; Guardian in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Convenience
• 7-Eleven in Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., Singapore and Southern China.

Food
• Wellcome and Market Place in Hong Kong S.A.R.; San Miu in Macau S.A.R.; Lucky in Cambodia.

Home Furnishings
• IKEA in Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., Indonesia and Taiwan.

Restaurants
• Hong Kong Maxim’s group on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Group’s parent company, DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited, is incorporated in Bermuda and has a primary listing in the equity shares (transition) category of the London Stock Exchange, with secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore. The Group’s businesses are managed from Hong Kong. DFI Retail Group is a member of the Jardine Matheson group.

NYSE Content Update: Sunbelt Rentals Marks NYSE Listing with Opening Bell

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NYSE issues a pre-market daily advisory direct from the trading floor.

NEW YORK, March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) provides a daily pre-market update directly from the NYSE Trading Floor. Access today’s NYSE Pre-market update for market insights before trading begins. 

 

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) will join NYSE Live

Ashley Mastronardi delivers the pre-market update on March 3rd

  • Equities are sharply lower early Tuesday as the war in Iran intensifies, pushing Brent crude oil to $85 a barrel for the first time since July 2024.
  • Sunbelt Rentals (NYSE: SUNB) will ring the Opening Bell after making its trading debut March 2nd.
  • Gurpreet Oberoi, VP and Global Head of Institutional for Kraken, will join NYSE Love to discuss the crypto trading platform’s partnership with Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE).
  • U.S. Congressman Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) will join NYSE Live to outline the bipartisan SCAM Act, legislation aimed at cracking down on online scam advertisements.  

Opening Bell
Sunbelt Rentals (NYSE: SUNB) celebrates its IPO

Closing Bell
MvVO Art celebrates Women’s History Month

For market insights, IPO activity, and today’s opening bell, download the NYSE TV App: TV.NYSE.com

Georgia Gov. Kemp interviewed at NYSE on March 2
Georgia Gov. Kemp interviewed at NYSE on March 2

 

 

 

MINISO Debuts Malaysia’s First MINISO LAND, Advancing Its Global IP‑Driven Retail Strategy

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Advertorial Desk
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SELANGOR, Malaysia, March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On February 28, global lifestyle brand MINISO unveiled the Malaysia’s first MINISO LAND at Sunway Pyramid, Selangor. Featuring a 1,700-square-meter immersive space and MINISO’s most comprehensive IP product offering in the country, the store brings local consumers an all‑day, joy‑filled experiential playground.

Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND- YOYO theme zone
Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND- YOYO theme zone

MINISO LAND Selangor is emerging as a key IP attraction in Malaysia, drawing both local and regional shoppers with its premium location and engaging experiential design. Situated on the first floor of the Sunway Pyramid Mall—one of Malaysia’s landmark shopping destinations—the store benefits from excellent connectivity and a diverse visitor base, making it a favored destination for young consumers and families.

Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND Opening Day
Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND Opening Day

In total the store features over 8,000 curated SKUs, with IP merchandise making up more than 70% of the assortment. Designed with 15 themed consumption and interactive experience zones, its gold‑toned interior, accented with eye-catching bulb‑inspired elements, brings a lively and welcoming energy to the space. Visitors can browse diverse product zones spanning IP‑themed collections, home and lifestyle, beauty and skincare, and toys, offering fan‑favorite goods such as blind boxes, vinyl plush toys, water bottles, blankets, and tote bags. Enhancing the experience, interactive installations—including giant pajama Stitch figures and a Snoopy themed zone—invite guests to enjoy playful, character‑driven moments.

Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND
Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND

Building on this immersive setting, MINISO LAND also brings together one of the broadest IP selections available in Malaysia, blending global icons, regional favorites, and first‑to‑market characters into a single cohesive experience. The lineup spans beloved names like Sanrio and Monchhichi, creating strong emotional appeal among diverse fan groups.

The store also introduces several IPs making their first appearance in Malaysia, including the retro-style Pac-Man, which has quickly gained attention for its distinctive visual appeal and collectible value. Adding to the excitement, MINISO’s proprietary IP lineup—such as the YOYO Cupid Ring series—makes its Malaysia debut at this MINISO LAND location. 10 YOYO character sculptures are displayed throughout the store, creating engaging photo moments while bringing the character’s heartwarming identity through immersive visual displays. Together, over 100 IPs forms a comprehensive, multi‑category ecosystem that encourages shoppers to discover, experience, and collect their favorite characters all in one place, reinforcing MINISO LAND as a go‑to destination for immersive retail experiences.

Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND IP selections - Sanrio
Malaysia‘s First MINISO LAND IP selections – Sanrio

To celebrate the opening, MINISO’s Gift Bear and Friends mascots made their Malaysia debut, energizing the crowd with upbeat interactions and highly shareable photo moments. Guests stepped into a vibrant “Fun Mode: ON” atmosphere filled with themed activations, exclusive check‑ins, and launch‑day perks. The momentum continued online, where the “What Is Your Favorite IP in MINISO LAND” campaign and UGC challenges gained strong buzz across RedNote, Instagram and TikTok. Together, the lively on‑site festivities and widespread digital buzz made the launch a local highlight.

MINISO’s Gift Bear and Friends
MINISO’s Gift Bear and Friends

MINISO LAND Selangor brings together a vibrant mix of global and local fan‑favorite IPs, creating an immersive space where shopping becomes a joyful experience. As Malaysia’s first and Southeast Asia’s largest MINISO LAND, the store elevates the brand’s presence in Southeast Asia and reflects to its continued global expansion. The MINISO LAND concept is rapidly gaining popularity worldwide, with more openings on the way. MINISO will continue introducing richer IP choices and fresh immersive experiences, while creating fun, social spaces that bring joy to every fan.

About MINISO

MINISO Group is a global lifestyle brand offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO’s wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand “MINISO” as a globally recognized retail brand.

ESR Launches iPhone 17e Accessories, Completing the Full iPhone 17 Protection Lineup

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Advertorial Desk
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With new protection for the iPhone 17e and fresh spring colors for the iPhone 17, ESR delivers MagSafe performance and military-grade protection in step with the season

WILMINGTON, Del., March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ESR, a global tech accessories brand trusted by over 130 million customers worldwide, today announces its new spring lineup of iPhone 17 accessories. Timed to coincide with the launch of the MagSafe-enabled iPhone 17e, the lineup features brand-new protective cases and screen protectors for the iPhone 17e alongside fresh spring colors for the existing iPhone 17 series.

ESR today announces its new spring lineup of iPhone 17 accessories.
ESR today announces its new spring lineup of iPhone 17 accessories.

As Apple makes color a defining theme for 2026 and brings MagSafe to more users with the iPhone 17e, ESR’s spring lineup arrives in perfect step. Reflecting the energy of the season, this expanded lineup completes ESR’s full iPhone 17 protection ecosystem. From the iPhone 17e to flagship models, every device in the iPhone 17 family now has a dedicated ESR solution, combining refined design with trusted MagSafe performance and everyday protection.

“With the iPhone 17e, we’ve completed protection for the entire iPhone 17 family, this lineup reflects the sense of renewal spring brings,” said Elsie Chu, Senior Director of Product Protection at ESR. “New colors, new protection, new possibilities — every detail of the full iPhone 17 lineup is designed to make everyday tech easier and more enjoyable, bringing a fresh sense of ease to the way people use their devices.”

Fully Protected, Fully MagSafe: New Accessories for iPhone 17e

The iPhone 17e is the first “e” model with MagSafe, bringing magnetic convenience to more users than ever. In response, ESR expands its protection ecosystem with MagSafe cases and military-grade screen protectors designed for seamless everyday use.

  • ESR Classic Hybrid Magnetic Case (Stash Stand): Slim yet tough, this case delivers 4× military-grade protection with drop resistance up to 16 ft, a zinc-alloy camera guard, and reinforced Air Guard corners. The built-in Stash Stand adjusts between portrait and landscape for hands-free viewing anywhere, and integrated magnets provide 1,500 g of holding force for secure magnetic alignment, enabling reliable MagSafe charging up to 15W. Available on Amazon and the ESR Store now.
  • ESR Cyber Tough Magnetic Case: Engineered for maximum durability, this rugged case delivers 7× military-grade protection and withstands drops of up to 23 ft. Its three-layer construction (PC backing, flexible TPE shell, and inner PORON® lining) absorbs impact from every angle, with integrated magnets providing 1,500 g of holding force for secure magnetic alignment, ensuring reliable MagSafe charging. Available on Amazon and the ESR Store now.
  • ESR UltraFit Armorite® Screen Protector: Edge-to-edge 9H tempered glass with 7× the impact absorption of generic screen protectors. The UltraFit tray ensures a bubble-free installation in one pull. Available on Amazon and the ESR Store now.

Beyond protection, the addition of MagSafe to iPhone 17e unlocks ESR’s broader magnetic ecosystem. From fast wireless chargers and stable OmniLock™ car mounts to magnetic wallets, users can enjoy secure alignment, reliable charging, and everyday flexibility, whether paired with a case or used on a streamlined device.

Color Meets Protection: New Spring Finishes for the iPhone 17

Beyond the iPhone 17e launch, ESR is expanding its Stash Stand series with new spring-inspired colors for the iPhone 17. As Apple makes color a centerpiece of the iPhone 17 experience, ESR’s new seasonal finishes are designed to complement that vision. Both cases feature 3× military-grade drop protection, an adjustable Stash Stand for hands-free viewing, and powerful built-in magnets for seamless MagSafe charging, all wrapped in designs made to move with the season.

  • ESR Cloud Soft Magnetic Case (Camera Control, Stash Stand) — Soft silicone, four seasonal colors: Spring has a feeling, and this case captures it. The smooth silicone finish delivers a warm, comfortable grip that complements the season’s style. Available in Lavender, Sage, and Misty Blue for the iPhone 17, while Light Tan is compatible with the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max. Available on Amazon and the ESR Store now.
  • ESR Classic Hybrid Magnetic Case (Camera Control, Stash Stand) — Slim, clear, true-to-color: Designed to let the iPhone 17’s color take center stage, this lightweight clear case showcases the season’s palette without compromise. Available in Frosted Purple, Frosted Light Green, and Frosted Light Blue for the iPhone 17. Available on Amazon and the ESR Store now.

Availability

The full press kit can be found here. For more information, visit ESR’s official website or Amazon store to explore the complete iPhone 17 accessories range.

About ESR: Trusted for 17 Years

Founded in 2009, ESR is a global tech brand trusted by over 130 million customers worldwide. We design tech accessories for smart devices to enhance everyday tech experiences. We’re on a mission to make tech easier to use, developing products that seamlessly integrate into daily life, helping people live with greater ease and efficiency.

REPROCELL Launches GMP Master Cell Bank Manufacturing for Clinical iPSCs

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Integrated Workflow Including Clinical Seed Production and StemEdit Gene Editing Services

BELTSVILLE, Md., March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — REPROCELL (TYO: 4978) today announced the launch of its US FDA compliant Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Master Cell Bank (MCB) manufacturing service for human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Operating from its Beltsville, Maryland facility, REPROCELL now offers a comprehensive, end-to-end workflow for clinical iPSC manufacturing. This integrated service spans from StemRNA™ clinical seed iPSC manufacturing and StemEdit gene editing to GMP Master Cell Bank (MCB) production in compliance with FDA standards. By unifying these critical steps, REPROCELL enables cell therapy developers to accelerate IND submissions while reducing regulatory and manufacturing uncertainty.

As part of this platform, the StemRNA Clinical iPSC Seed Clone – LLF-34-F3, derived from US sourced donor material, is supported by an active FDA Drug Master File (DMF). This clone has been expanded into a GMP MCB using FDA-compliant closed system processes. This off-the-shelf GMP iPSC MCB is now available for commercial use, providing ready-to-use clinically validated starting material. For sponsors requiring European alignment, REPROCELL also offers MCB/WCB manufacturing through its partner, Histocell. This service operates with a GMP certificate and authorization from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) under European Medicines Agency (EMA) oversight.

Key Highlights: Clinical iPSC Capabilities

  • Donor sourcing and eligibility meet FDA, EMA, and PMDA requirements with full consent for therapeutic use.
  • Footprint-free proprietary RNA reprogramming to generate StemRNA™ Clinical iPSC Seed Clones under FDA/EMA/PMDA requirements.
  • US-generated StemRNA Clinical Seed Clones supported by an active FDA DMF
  • Genetic integrity and oncogenic risk assessment using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for StemRNA Clinical Seed Clones
  • StemEdit clinical gene editing service, engineered for high on target efficiency with reduced off target activity and lower predicted immunogenicity
  • GMP MCB manufacturing in compliance with FDA or under EMA and PMDA authorization to manufacture

About StemRNA™ Clinical iPSC Seed Clone – LLF-34-F3
StemRNA™ Clinical iPSC Seed Clone – LLF-34-F3 is derived from a healthy O+ female US donor, fully consented for commercial and therapeutic use, and is homozygous at HLA-A and HLA-DPA1 loci enhancing its potential for allogeneic applications. The seed clone meets FDA, EMA and PMDA standards and is supported by a DMF while GMP MCB expansion uses FDA-compliant processes providing a traceable clinically ready starting material.

REPROCELL also offers options of StemRNA™ Clinical iPSC Seed Clones from different donor profiles.

Dr. Chikafumi Yokoyama, CEO of REPROCELL Inc., commented:
“By completing clinical iPSC workflow starting from donor screening, seed iPSC manufacturing, StemEdit gene editing, and GMP cell banking under one coordinated framework, we are delighted to provide cell therapy developers a streamlined path for clinical program development. This integrated platform is designed to accelerate IND/CTA submissions while preserving quality, traceability, and global regulatory alignment.”

About REPROCELL
REPROCELL provides integrated stem cell, gene editing, and GMP manufacturing solutions supporting the entire path from discovery to clinical translation. With clinical grade iPSC generation (StemRNA™ Clinical iPSC), StemEdit gene editing, and GMP banking capability, REPROCELL serves academic, biotech, and pharmaceutical organizations seeking reliable, regulatory ready cell starting materials and services.

This work was supported by a Commercialization Grant (no. 2024-MSCRFCO-6418) from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF)

For more information, visit www.reprocell.com. 

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