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Forrester Announces Full Conference Agenda For CX North America 2023

The event will share actionable insights to help organizations align their customer-facing functions to increase customer retention and drive revenue growth

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) today announced the full conference agenda for its CX North America event being held in Nashville, Tennessee, and digitally, June 13–15, 2023. Digital consumers are dictating the pace of business. To accelerate digital innovation to better meet customers’ evolving expectations, B2C organizations must align key functions — including customer experience (CX), marketing, and digital — around customer value. According to Forrester, firms with high levels of alignment across these customer-facing functions report 2.4x higher revenue growth and 2x higher growth in profitability than those with some or no alignment.

A must-attend event for CX, marketing, and digital leaders, CX North America will showcase role-based sessions, new research, proven frameworks, and tailored guidance to help leaders build their strategies around customer value to drive revenue growth. This year’s event will also honor the winners of Forrester’s 2023 North American Customer Obsession Awards, which recognize an organization and senior executive that put customers at the center of everything they do.

Noteworthy sessions include:

• Supercharge Your Customer-Obsessed Growth Engine. The business world is finally moving at the speed that digital consumers demand. This session will explore how and why aligned marketing, CX, and digital functions can pivot organizations toward greater growth.

• Customer Obsession For When The Going Gets Tough. This session explores how investing in customer obsession helps businesses thrive in uncertain times and how defaulting to comfortable old ways of doing business opens companies to acute new risks.

• Manage Brand Growth In An Economic Downturn. While seemingly counterintuitive, now is the right time to craft a marketing strategy to drive short-term and long-term profitable growth. This session will highlight tactics that CMOs are utilizing today, in a time of economic uncertainty, to spur profitable growth.

• The Right Leader For Turbulent Times. Even leaders who have successfully stepped up their organizations over the past two years are asking if they have what it takes to continue doing so in 2023. This session will help leaders see clearly through the cloud of economic and social uncertainty in order for them to guide their teams.

• What To Do About The Coming Collapse Of The Customer Lifecycle. As interactions between consumers and companies become faster and more automated, customer experiences will become immediate ─ causing the old reliable distinctions among customer lifecycle phases to evaporate. This session dives into what customer experiences will be like after the collapse.

• Creativity And Dynamism Must Power Your Digital Strategy. Learn how companies that drive profitable growth over multiple business cycles achieve this goal by pushing themselves to be more dynamic and creative — especially in their digital strategies.

“In this unsteady economy, it’s imperative that organizations zero in on their customers. Success in this environment will require customer obsession — putting the customer at the center of an organization’s leadership, strategy, and operations,” said Rick Parrish, event host and VP and research director at Forrester. “At CX North America, CX, B2C marketing, and digital leaders will learn the skills needed to align their ecosystems around shared goals to achieve growth during this tough time.”

In-person attendees will experience facilitated discussions, consulting workshops, and special sessions. They will also have access to several special programs, including Forrester’s CX Certification course and the Executive Leadership Exchange, an exclusive program targeted at C-level leaders.

Resources:

• Register to attend Forrester’s CX North America conference.
• View the full agenda and speakers for CX North America and learn about event sponsorship opportunities.

• Check out Forrester Decisions services for Customer Experience, Digital Business & Strategy, and B2C Marketing Executives.

• Follow @Forrester and #ForrCX for updates.

About Forrester

Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We help leaders across technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, sales, and product functions use customer obsession to accelerate growth. Through Forrester’s proprietary research, consulting, and events, leaders from around the globe are empowered to be bold at work — to navigate change and put their customers at the center of their leadership, strategy, and operations. Our unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 700,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide; rigorous and objective research methodologies, including Forrester Wave™ evaluations; 100 million real-time feedback votes; and the shared wisdom of our clients. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.

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Shweta Agarwal

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KEYWORDS: Massachusetts United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Digital Marketing Marketing Advertising Communications

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The University of Maryland Medical Center Chooses SOPHiA GENETICS Technology

SOPHiA GENETICS supports The University of Maryland Medical Center to advance their rare disease research

BOSTON & LAUSANNE, Switzerland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH), a cloud-native software company in the healthcare space and a leader in data-driven medicine, today announced that the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is using SOPHiA GENETICS technology to enhance their capabilities around rare disease detection and treatment. UMMC has chosen SOPHiA Whole Exome Solution™ v2, a next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based application that provides a streamlined end-to-end workflow, to accelerate its rare and inherited disease research.

Rare diseases are estimated to affect over 30 million people in the United States, with more than 10,000 genetic and rare diseases currently known.¹ NGS of the human exome analyzes exons, the protein-coding regions of the human genome, and has the potential to help detect and identify rare diseases. While whole-exome sequencing is reliable and cost-effective, it produces vast and complex genomic data sets. The SOPHiA Whole Exome Solution™ v2 is designed to aid users in sorting and analyzing these complex data sets.

The implementation of SOPHiA Whole Exome Solution ™ v2 will support UMMC’s work in furthering research of the rare diseases that are affecting millions of people each year. In addition, the technology will allow UMMC to deepen its in-house knowledge, making it faster for researchers to identify and categorize rare diseases.

The SOPHiA Whole Exome Solution™ v2 targets nuclear genes and the full mitochondrial genome. Coupled with the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, the solution uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze and interpret the data, increasing efficiency for researchers.

“UMMC’s implementation of SOPHiA Whole Exome Solution™ v2 will help to further our work at SOPHiA GENETICS to make data-driven medicine more accessible for patients worldwide,” said Ken Freedman, Chief Revenue Officer, SOPHiA GENETICS. “The identification of rare diseases is complex, timely and costly. Our technology is designed to ease the burden for researchers and allow them to more thoroughly and quickly analyze complex datasets, benefitting the rare disease community as a whole.”

As part of their research, UMMC will work to characterize the genetic basis of inherited rare disorders, including mitochondrial variants. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cause a diverse range of diseases affecting a substantial portion of the rare disease community.² NGS of the mitochondrial genome, alongside the exome, is therefore valuable in rare disease research. SOPHiA DDM™ Platform’s sophisticated algorithms will help to address the unique challenges associated with the mitochondrial genome and further expedite the work of researchers at UMMC.

For more information on SOPHiA GENETICS, visit SOPHiAGENETICS.COM, or connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

About SOPHiA GENETICS

SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH) is a cloud-native software company in the healthcare space dedicated to establishing the practice of data-driven medicine as the standard of care and for life sciences research. It is the creator of the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, a cloud-native platform capable of analyzing data and generating insights from complex multimodal data sets and different diagnostic modalities. The SOPHiA DDM™ Platform and related solutions, products and services are currently used by a broad global network of hospitals, academic centers, laboratories and biopharma institutions. For more information, visit SOPHiAGENETICS.COM, or connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Where others see data, we see answers.

SOPHiA GENETICS products are for Research Use Only and not for use in diagnostic procedures, unless specified otherwise. The information in this press release is about products that may or may not be available in different countries and, if applicable, may or may not have received approval or market clearance by a governmental regulatory body for different indications for use. Please contact [email protected] to obtain the appropriate product information for your country of residence.

SOPHiA GENETICS Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy, products, and technology, as well as plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including those described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update these forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based, unless required to do so by applicable law. No representations or warranties (expressed or implied) are made about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements.

¹https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/

²https://www.sophiagenetics.com/clinical/rare-and-inherited-diseases/rare-diseases/

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Nick Puleo

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KEYWORDS: Massachusetts Europe Switzerland United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Genetics Health Technology Software Networks Health University Data Management Education

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MAIA Biotechnology Announces Excellent Efficacy of THIO in Liver Cancer Models

• Study showed THIO with complete and durable responses in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), or the dominate histology in primary liver cancer (90%), in vivo models

• When combined with immunotherapy checkpoint inhibitor (CPI), duration of response was further potentiated

• Administration of THIO alone and in combination with CPI generated anti-cancer immune memory Upon rechallenge with two times more cancer cells and no additional treatment, tumor growth was completely prevented

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. (NYSE American: MAIA) today announced the peer-reviewed publication of original research article in this month’s issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (volume 22, issue 4), a renowned American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) journal that publishes translational research studies focused on the discovery and preclinical development of therapeutic agents for oncology. The preclinical study, entitled “Activating an Adaptive Immune Response with a Telomerase-Mediated Telomere Targeting Therapeutic in Hepatocellular Carcinoma,” showed highly potent anticancer activity of THIO in multiple HCC preclinical models.

The study revealed the anti-tumor immune response role of THIO as a telomerase-dependent telomere targeting therapeutic in HCC models. THIO induces telomere damage and activates the cGAS-STING pathway, which is a major intracellular signaling pathway that plays a role in innate immune responses. THIO enhances the cross-priming capacity of dendritic cells (DCs), which are antigen presenting cells of the adaptive immune system and activates tumor specific T cells. Observed potent anticancer activity is taking place in CD8-positive T cell dependent manner. Moreover, the study showed a potential role of immunogenic protein molecule HMGB1 (high-mobility group box 1, which are released during cancer cell death), in THIO induced T cell activation. In addition, the study demonstrated enhanced efficacy and durability of complete tumor regression when THIO is followed by administration of immunotherapies (an anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1) and anti-VEGF (anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, one of the major anti-angiogenic drug target) in advanced, resistant HCC tumors providing a strong scientific rationale for a clinical trial in HCC.

“The knowledge gained from this study will help support our understanding of the compound’s mechanism of action and its broad therapeutic utility. Moreover, this publication strengthens our scientific rationale already included in our current clinical development plan for THIO-102, a Phase 2 clinical study in multiple solid tumor indications, including HCC,” said MAIA’s Chief Scientific Officer Sergei Gryaznov, Ph.D.

“The findings from our study provides solid rationale for THIO to be evaluated as a treatment of liver cancer, as our Company already holds the US FDA Orphan Drug Designation for this clinical indication. This published evidence supports our strong belief that THIO, especially in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors and other standard of care agents, may be clinically studied for treatment of various forms of cancer,” added Vlad Vitoc, M.D., MAIA’s Chief Executive Officer.

The full results are available in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and online here.

About MAIA Biotechnology, Inc.

MAIA is a targeted therapy, immuno-oncology company focused on the development and commercialization of potential first-in-class drugs with novel mechanisms of action that are intended to meaningfully improve and extend the lives of people with cancer. Its lead program is THIO, a potential first-in-class cancer telomere targeting agent in clinical development for the treatment of NSCLC patients with telomerase-positive cancer cells. For more information, please visit www.maiabiotech.com.

Forward Looking Statements

MAIA cautions that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels or activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. The use of words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “future,” “potential,” or “continue,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that statements are not forward-looking. For example, all statements we make regarding (i) the initiation, timing, cost, progress and results of our preclinical and clinical studies and our research and development programs, (ii) our ability to advance product candidates into, and successfully complete, clinical studies, (iii) the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, (iv) our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize our product candidates and to improve the manufacturing process, (v) the rate and degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, (vi) the size and growth potential of the markets for our product candidates and our ability to serve those markets, and (vii) our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates, are forward looking. All forward-looking statements are based on current estimates, assumptions and expectations by our management that, although we believe to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain. Any forward-looking statement expressing an expectation or belief as to future events is expressed in good faith and believed to be reasonable at the time such forward-looking statement is made. However, these statements are not guarantees of future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors beyond our control that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In this release, unless the context requires otherwise, “MAIA,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refers to MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

 

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Investor Inquiries

MAIA Biotechnology

Joseph McGuire

Chief Financial Officer

[email protected]

904-228-2603

ICR Westwicke

Stephanie Carrington

[email protected]

646-277-1282

KEYWORDS: Illinois United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Oncology FDA Health Clinical Trials Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

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Partnership makes Monaghan respiratory devices part of AscenDrive supply chain to improve patient outcomes

LuxUrban Hotels Secures Multi-Year Extension and Conversion of Debt Expected to Significantly Improve Cash Position, Enhance Growth Prospects, and Accelerate Free Cash Flow

MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LuxUrban Hotels Inc. (Nasdaq: LUXH) (or “the Company”), which utilizes an asset-light business model to lease entire hotels on a long-term basis and rent out hotel rooms in these properties in key major metropolitan cities, announced today that on April 16, 2023 it entered into an agreement with the holder of its’ senior secured convertible notes (“Convertible Notes”) totaling approximately $5 million. The terms of this agreement are designed to allow the Company, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, to eliminate all debt associated with the Convertible Notes and gain access to new equity capital through a mandatory conversion feature.

Terms of the amended agreement include:

• a two-year extension on the maturity of the Convertible Notes to April 15, 2025;

• an agreement by the holder of the Convertible Notes to a modification of the terms of the Convertible Notes and existing warrants that it holds (separate and apart from the new warrants described below), which are registered for resale, that has the effect of increasing the equity capital and cash position of the Company through a mandatory conversion feature; and

• the issuance by the Company to the holder of the Convertible Notes a new warrant to purchase 1,000,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3 per share and a new warrant to purchase 250,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $4 per share. The closing price of Company’s common stock on the date of the agreement was $2.995.

“Should the mandatory conversion feature be exercised in full on both the Convertible Notes and existing warrants, we would eliminate all senior secured debt associated with the Convertible Notes and generate new funding of approximately $8.3 million through the exercise of the existing warrants,” said Brian Ferdinand, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We appreciate the continued willingness of our debt holders to amend the terms of our pre-IPO financing agreements. We believe that their continued support in this regard reflects their recognition of the evolution of our business model, an acknowledgment of the opportunities inherent in our industry, and faith in our ability to deliver long-term value for all shareholders.”

“As our business continues to grow and mature, we remain focused on strengthening our financial position with emphasis on debt reduction and free cash flow generation, without compromising our projected growth targets,” said Shanoop Kothari, President and Chief Financial Officer. “This agreement reflects our success in advancing these initiatives.”

Terms and Conditions

Subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, the Convertible Debt and the existing warrants are subject to a mandatory conversion into common stock if the VWAP of common shares for each of the three trading days prior to the forced conversion is at least equal to the Trigger Price. For the Convertible Debt and the existing warrants issued at $2 per share (1,856,251 shares) the Trigger Price is $3/share; for Convertible Debt and existing warrants issued at $3 per share (1,000,000 shares), the Trigger Price is $4 per share; and for Convertible Debt and existing warrants issued at $4 per share (250,000 shares), the Trigger Price is $5.50/share.

Among the conditions that must be met prior to a mandatory conversion, in addition to the Trigger Price condition: (i) the shares underlying the Convertible Note or existing warrants must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission for resale; (ii) the aggregate dollar volume of the common stock sold on the principal trading market over the 10 consecutive days prior to conversion is at least $3.75 million; and (iii) no mandatory conversion would cause the holder of the Convertible Notes to beneficially own more than 9.9 percent of the common stock.

Additional terms and details regarding the amended Agreement shall be available in a Form 8-K to be filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or about April 18, 2023.

LuxUrban Hotels Inc.

LuxUrban Hotels Inc. utilizes an asset light business model to lease entire hotels on a long-term basis and rent out hotel rooms in the properties it leases to business and vacation travelers through the company’s online portal and third-party sales and distribution channels. The company currently manages a portfolio of hotel rooms in New York, Washington D.C., Miami Beach, New Orleans and Los Angeles. As of the date of this release, the company has approximately 1,200 hotel rooms available for rent, and seeks to rapidly build its portfolio on favorable economics through the acquisition of additional accommodations that were dislocated or are underutilized as a result of the pandemic and current economic conditions. In late 2021, the company commenced the process of winding down its legacy business of leasing and re-leasing multifamily residential units, as it pivoted toward its new strategy of leasing hotels. This transition has been substantially completed.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including with respect to the anticipated success of the transactions contemplated by this press release, the ability of the Company to eliminate all debt associated with the Convertible Notes and gain access to new equity capital through a mandatory conversion feature and the Company’s ability to commercialize efficiently and profitably the properties it leases and will lease in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in our public filings with the SEC, including in Item 1A of our 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to business strategy, leasing terms, high-level occupancy rates, and sales and growth plans. The financial projections provided herein are based on certain assumptions and existing and anticipated market, travel and public health conditions, all of which may change. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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LuxUrban Hotels Inc.

Shanoop Kothari

President & Chief Financial Officer

[email protected]

The Equity Group Inc.

Devin Sullivan, Managing Director

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: Florida United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Commercial Building & Real Estate Construction & Property Professional Services Other Travel Lodging Vacation Destinations Residential Building & Real Estate Travel Other Professional Services

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