Day: June 17, 2021

Janet D’Addario

The cause was complications from gall bladder cancer, said her husband, Jim D’Addario.

Janet Marie D’Addario was born on December 10^th, 1948 in Nassau County. Her education circumnavigated Long Island: St. Brigid in Westbury; St. Dominic’s High School in Oyster Bay, and Nassau Community College in Garden City.

In 1966, the course of her life would forever change when the 18-year-old lead singer of a folk group met another young, budding musician who was instantly smitten by her tender voice and magnetic personality. Jim and Janet D’Addario would go on to marry, sing and perform on stage together, and start an extraordinary 50-year partnership that produced a family, a philanthropic legacy, and the most prestigious music accessories business in the world.

When D’Addario & Co. was first founded in 1973, Janet used her creative talents to design the company’s advertising as well as the packaging design for all of their products. As a fledgling organization, Janet’s vision and compassion had a tremendous influence on the development of the culture that guides the organization today.

She would go on to wear many hats, including head of Artist Relations and co-founder of the D’Addario Foundation, which continues to provide music education to young children in underserved communities. Janet served as the Managing Director of the Foundation for 20 years—helping to raise awareness for the cause by producing classical music concerts in cities around the world.

Ms. D’Addario was known by family and friends for her peerless compassion and generosity—fervently believing that actions mean far more than just words. She would go on to serve 11 years on the Board of Long Island Cares, the charity created by Harry Chapin to eradicate hunger on Long island. As a devout Catholic, she supported numerous Catholic charities across the globe, the Long Island Catholic Hospital system as well as her own, personal parish, St. Brigid.

The one charity that held a particularly special place in her heart was Providence House, a New York institution that provides transitional housing for homeless women and children.

“Providence House is, in so many ways, the very embodiment of my wife…when she saw pain, she wanted to ease it. When she saw hunger, she brought food. When she saw homelessness, she provided shelter. But most importantly when Janet saw someone with no hope, she worked hard to provide them with the tools to restore their will to overcome the challenges they were facing.,” said Jim D’Addario.

Ms. D’Addario served as a Board Member of Providence House for 21 years and as its President from 2004-2019. Over those years, she helped raise millions of dollars to ensure thousands of women and children would have a pathway to a brighter future. Her invaluable work led to Janet and Jim being named the first People of Hope in 2002 and the construction of the 43-unit D’Addario Residence in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

In addition to her philanthropic work, Janet was an avid foodie and prolific painter. Not surprisingly, her greatest joy was bringing friends and family together for a homemade meal and the occasional musical performance by she and Jim, as well as their many musical friends.

Janet D’Addario was the daughter of Robert James Carbone and Annabelle (Eannaccone) Carbone of Westbury, New York. She is survived by her loving husband of over 50 years, Jim D’Addario, and their three children: Julie (Pat); Amy (Marcus) and Robert (Gina). She is also survived by eight grandchildren, and her beloved dogs, Dave and Blue.

In lieu of any gifts or flowers, the family is asking anyone wishing to pay their respects to consider a modest donation to Providence House (https://www.providencehouse.org/support-our-work).

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/88f5885b-1766-4876-89ab-810766a28ed6

Natalie Morrison
natalie.morrison@daddario.com

 

New partnership marks next expansion chapter in company’s incredible success story

Founded in 2009, HOKA is one of the fastest-growing performance footwear and apparel brands, committed to innovation and design to create positive change. The appointment of FCB signals the next expansion chapter in HOKA’s incredible growth story that saw a 62% year-over-year sales growth through the pandemic.

“As we set our sights on $1B and beyond, it’s the right time to hire HOKA’s first strategic AOR. With a brand as special as HOKA, it was important that we find the right partner who takes the responsibility of brand stewardship to heart. FCB demonstrated a curiosity, passion and deep understanding of HOKA that won us over.” – Wendy Yang, President, Performance Lifestyle Group – HOKA ONE ONE & Teva, Decker Brands

“With the power of FCB behind us, our focus will be on amplifying the uniqueness of HOKA to new and existing consumers. We’ve always been a very high-touch brand, connecting with consumers and adding value along their journey. Now we will extend our reach even further using a digitally driven approach because we know that once a consumer experiences our brand and products, they become fans for life.” – Norma Delaney, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing, HOKA ONE ONE

FCB will begin working with HOKA and its other agency partners immediately and expects the brand’s first global campaign under this new partnership to debut in 2022.

“HOKA is an incredible brand on a thrilling growth trajectory. People that know HOKA are passionate about it in a way that is rare. We’re excited to create work that is as bold, convention-defying and iconic as the shoes themselves.” – Simon White, President & CSO, FCB West

ABOUT HOKA 
HOKA ONE ONE® is one of the fastest-growing performance footwear and apparel brands in history. Conceived in the mountains, HOKA footwear delivers an unprecedented combination of enhanced cushioning and support for a uniquely smooth ride. Every day, HOKA pushes the innovation and design of its footwear and apparel by teaming up with a deep roster of world champions, taste makers and everyday athletes. From finish lines to everyday life, HOKA fans love the brand for its bold and unexpected approach, and its belief in the power of humanity to create change for a better world. HOKA empowers a world of athletes to fly over the earth. For more information, visit hokaoneone.com or follow @hokaoneone. #TimeToFly

ABOUT FCB
FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding) is a global, award-winning and integrated marketing communications company with a heritage of creativity and success dating from 1873. Named Adweek’s 2020 Global Agency of the Year, Cannes Lions 2019 North American Creative Agency of the Year and a 2019 Ad Age A-List global top 10, FCB focuses on creating Never Finished campaign ideas that have the power to transform brands, businesses and communities. With more than 8,000 people in 109 operations in 80 countries, the company is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG) and is the agency partner behind some of the world’s most admired global brands including Levi’s, Clorox, Anheuser-Busch InBev, GE, BMW and more. Visit fcb.com or follow @FCBglobal on Instagram and Twitter and FCB Global on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Contact:
Titus Wouda Kuipers
Titus.WoudaKuipers@fcb.com
347-443-5578

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7110b3a2-7138-46ad-b55f-2a70e2089193

 

LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Firefly Games Inc. announced today that they have partnered with MGA Entertainment to launch a global L.O.L Surprise!™ Room Makeover mobile game coming this summer on all iOS and Android devices. This partnership was established through the multiple brand licensing deal between MGA Entertainment and Riva Technology and Entertainment (RTE) that was announced recently. Beloved fans of L.O.L Surprise!™ will now be able to experience their favorite toy in a fresh new way with L.O.L Surprise!™ Room Makeover.

L.O.L Surprise!™ Room Makeover boasts a unique blend of Match-3 gameplay with the ability to decorate different themed rooms as well as incorporating the brand’s iconic trademark of unboxing L.O.L Surprise!™ Balls, and more! The Firefly team is already in the works of planning post-launch features and new content to further captivate existing fans.

“We have been working on some great Hollywood movie IPs over the years, now we see an expansion opportunity to diversify and leverage our current strengths into toy brands,” said Michael Zhang, CEO of Firefly Games. “MGA is a great partner to work with and we are hoping to add additional value to the brand and the players. It also could be a good chance for us to build our own metaverse with this IP.”

“Digital games are an important way to build community and ensure that our fans feel connected to the L.O.L Surprise!™ lifestyle,” says Isaac Larian, CEO & Founder of MGA.

The company is seeking to publish L.O.L Surprise! Room Makeover globally on July 1, 2021.

About Firefly Games 
Firefly Games, founded in 2015, is a mobile game publisher and developer for the global iOS and Android market. The Firefly team are not only experts in the mobile gaming space, but they have immense experience working with major studios and brands for world-renowned intellectual properties (IP) from Skydance Media, Dreamworks Animation, NBC Universal, and now MGA Entertainment on creating the perfect games for beloved IP.

About MGA Entertainment 
MGA Entertainment, Inc., a consumer entertainment products company headquartered in Chatsworth, California creates innovative proprietary and licensed products including toys and games, dolls, consumer electronics, home décor, stationery and sporting goods. The MGA family includes award winning brands such as L.O.L. Surprise!™, Little Tikes®, Bratz®, LaLaLoopsy™, Secret Crush™, Tobi™ Robot Smartwatch, Rainbow High™, Poopsie Slime Surprise!™, Sing-a-Long Lilly and Ami, Rescue Tales™, VIRO Rides™, Na! Na! Na! Surprise™ and Zapf Creation®. Visit us at www.mgae.com.

About Riva Technology and Entertainment:
Founded in 2002, with a global presence stretching from the USA to East Asia, RTE has successfully been delivering the vision of tomorrow for close to 20 years. RTE’s group of companies hold an industry advantage in their ability to take every project from concept to execution, all housed under one roof. The complementary companies cover location-based entertainment, brand and Intellectual Property licensing, content development, consumer products, gaming, and esports.

Contact:
Michael Zhang
michael.zhang@fireflygames.com

Amanda Gazali
amanda.gazali@fireflygames.com

 

• In recognition of its 10 million Invisalign smiles milestone, Align donated $10 million to the Align Foundation donor-advised fund, which has now funded US$1 million to Operation Smile
• Previously announced campaign “10 Million Smiles. 10 Million Thanks” centers on the transformative power of Invisalign treatment through the eyes of Invisalign patients
• Align hopes to inspire others to share their smiles with the world using #10MInvisalignSmiles

TEMPE, Ariz., June 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Align Technology, Inc. (“Align”) (Nasdaq: ALGN) a leading global medical device company that designs, manufactures, and sells the Invisalign system of clear aligners, iTero intraoral scanners, and exocad CAD/CAM software for digital orthodontics and restorative dentistry, today announced that the Align Foundation, the Company’s donor-advised fund through Fidelity Charitable, has donated US$1 million to Operation Smile, a global surgical nonprofit, to help children around the world born with cleft conditions receive safe, effective, and timely cleft surgery and comprehensive care.

“Operation Smile’s mission strongly resonates with Align’s purpose of transforming smiles and changing lives,” said Raj Pudipeddi, chief innovation, product and marketing officer and senior vice president, Align Technology. “We are proud to support a future where more smiles can be transformed through safe surgery and medical treatment – and hope to inspire others through our donation to help Operation Smile change the lives of more children.”

The “10 Million Smiles. 10 Million Thanks” campaign is based on the transformative power of Invisalign treatment as seen through the eyes of Invisalign patients. The donation to Operation Smile builds on that goal and aims to help more children around the world to smile by raising awareness and generating support and funding for Operation Smile. Operation Smile provides surgery and ongoing care for people affected by cleft lip and cleft palate in resource-limited environments.

“We are so appreciative of the dedication and support from Align Technology over the years and are excited for what we can do to bring families renewed hope, and help children around the world smile even more as a result of this latest donation,” said Kristie Magee Porcaro, chief strategy officer, Operation Smile. “Together, we’re improving the health of many children and ensuring that they have the opportunity for a better future.”

Align Technology initiated a wave of photo sharing activity by asking its followers on social media channels around the world to share their smiles and to help change a child’s life using #10MInvisalignSmiles. The Company is working with Operation Smile and Invisalign ambassadors and regional stakeholders to encourage their communities of followers to join with them in the awareness campaign. Tag yourself using #10MInvisalignSmiles and help Align increase awareness of Operation Smile and its global mission. To learn more, please visit: www.10MInvisalignSmiles.com

For information about Operation Smile, please visit http://www.operationsmile.org

About Operation Smile
Operation Smile revolutionized cleft surgery globally in 1982. With nearly four decades of experience as one of the largest surgical volunteer-based nonprofits, Operation Smile staff, its private-public partnerships and thousands of volunteers have improved the health and dignity of patients with cleft conditions, helping them to better breathe, eat, speak and live lives of greater quality and confidence. While one cleft surgery can bring immediate transformation to a child’s life in as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile is committed to providing patients with health that lasts—being there to offer patients additional surgeries, dentistry, psychological services, speech therapy and other essential cleft treatments. Its training and education programs elevate local surgical standards and entire health systems to aid safe surgery and strengthen a global network to reach more people earlier in their lives. You can learn more about its transformative and healing work by visiting www.operationsmile.org or by following @operationsmile on social media.

The Align Foundation
Launched in 2020, the Align Foundation provides a structured means by which significant donations are directed from a donor-advised fund overseen by Fidelity Charitable, with the flexibility to provide smaller monetary donations, processes to donate our products, as well as an organized way to involve our employees in giving activities. In March 2020, we funded $1 million to support COVID-19 relief efforts globally and donated personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks and worked with partners to source supplies for additional PPE to help hospitals and healthcare providers. To date, Align has contributed over $4.6 million to charitable causes including Operation Smile, America’s Toothfairy, and other non-profits dedicated to youth development through schools and educational programs. Over the last two years, our employees have volunteered over 10,000 hours as part of our dedicated month of giving in October called Month of Smiles.

About Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology designs, manufactures and offers the Invisalign system, the most advanced clear aligner system in the world, iTero intraoral scanners and services, and exocad CAD/CAM software. These technology building blocks enable enhanced digital orthodontic and restorative workflows to improve patient outcomes and practice efficiencies for over 200 thousand doctor customers and is key to accessing Align’s 500 million consumer market opportunity worldwide. Align has helped doctors treat over 10.2 million patients with the Invisalign system and is driving the evolution in digital dentistry through the Align Digital Platform, our integrated suite of unique, proprietary technologies and services delivered as a seamless, end-to-end solution for patients and consumers, orthodontists and GP dentists, and lab/partners. Visit www.aligntech.com for more information.

For additional information about the Invisalign system or to find an Invisalign doctor in your area, please visit www.invisalign.com. For additional information about iTero digital scanning system, please visit www.itero.com. For additional information about exocad dental CAD/CAM offerings and a list of exocad reseller partners, please visit http://www.exocad.com.

Align Investor Relations	Zeno Group
Madelyn Homick	Sarah Johnson
(408) 470-1180	(828) 551-4201
mhomick@aligntech.com	sarah.johnson@zenogroup.com

VICTOR, N.Y., June 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a leading beverage alcohol company, announced today that it has acquired a minority stake in Dos Hombres, an artesanal and hand-crafted mezcal brand created by Breaking Bad co-stars Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston. The investment was made through Constellation’s venture capital group, and Dos Hombres remains independently owned and will continue to manage, market, and produce its award-winning mezcals.

 

SAN DIEGO and PARIS, June 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rancho Santa Fe Bio, Inc. (“RSF Bio” or the “Company”), a San Diego, California-based clinical-stage cardiovascular platform company, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Sanofi, a global biopharmaceutical company. This agreement provides RSF Bio with Sanofi’s rights to Ataciguat. With this license, RSF Bio will have the rights it needs to continue development of Ataciguat through clinical trials in the United States and potentially in select international countries.

Before signing this license agreement, RSF Bio entered into a worldwide exclusive license agreement in December 2019 with Mayo Clinic for the use of Ataciguat in the treatment of patients with calcific aortic valve stenosis (“CAVS”). Under that license, Mayo Clinic assigned to RSF Bio its US IND No. 119,829 along with additional patents, patent applications and know-how.

CAVS is a progressive disease that afflicts predominately the older populations with a prevalence of 2% in patients over the age of 55 years. Its prevalence increases with age to approximately 12% or higher in populations >75 years of age. (Osnabrugge et al., J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 and Faggiano et al., Am J Cardiol. 2003). CAVS is characterized by hardening of the aortic leaflets, which progresses over years and is predominately due to a maladaptive process of calcium deposition in the valves. CAVS is often fatal within a few years from symptom onset, if untreated. Currently, no medical treatment has been proven to be effective, and the treatment of choice for severe disease is aortic valve replacement, either by surgical aortic valve replacement (“SAVR”) or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (“TAVR”). RSF Bio is currently in an advanced stage of development of a novel pharmaceutical treatment with the drug Ataciguat, building upon a Phase IIb clinical trial. RSF Bio is also in the early planning stages of studying application for Ataciguat in certain other uses and indications.

Sanofi originally investigated Ataciguat in numerous preclinical studies and conducted clinical trials with the drug involving over 1,000 patients in total for three different indications: (a) stable angina, (b) peripheral arterial disease and (c) neuropathic pain. Following a reprioritization of its research and development pipeline, Sanofi provided Ataciguat to the New Therapeutic Uses (“NTU”) program at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Program (“NCATS”). This program is designed to encourage the application of repurposed drugs into other clinical trials. The laboratory of Jordan Miller, Ph.D., at Mayo Clinic focuses on mechanisms underlying the progression of calcium build-up in CAVS. He was awarded a grant through the NCATS program to conduct preclinical studies with Ataciguat in CAVS, followed by Phase I and Phase II clinical trials at Mayo Clinic.

“The NCATS New Therapeutic Uses program developed and disseminated innovative approaches to three-way collaborations between government, pharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers to accelerate treatment development,” said Christine Colvis, Ph.D., Director of Drug Development Partnership Programs at NCATS. “The negotiation process to set up collaborative research agreements is a bottleneck in the establishment of public-private partnerships. The NTU template legal agreements provided a strong launching point for the negotiations, speeding the process,” she added. “We are excited to see the goals of the program being realized through the successful progression of this project by RSF Bio to potentially Phase III clinical testing and the promise it holds to deliver better treatment options to patients suffering from CAVS.”

“We are pleased about the potential of Ataciguat and the benefit it may offer to people suffering from CAVS,” said Alban de La Sablière, Senior Vice President, Head of Sanofi Partnering.  “After a reprioritization of our portfolio, we made a decision to repurpose this asset with NCATS and Mayo Clinic for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials and now with RSF Bio in order to advance science and bring treatment options to patients with this unmet medical need.”

“This has been an exciting journey so far, from the support we received from NCATS, to our extensive interactions and close partnerships with Sanofi, and now continuing advancement of Ataciguat towards clinical use with RSF Bio,” says Dr. Jordan Miller, the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of RSF Bio. “I am confident that the RSF Bio team will continue the advancement of therapies for CAVS and investigating applications of Ataciguat in other indications.”

“We are excited about adding the Sanofi rights to those which we have already received from Mayo Clinic through its NCATS funding,” said Randy Berholtz, the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of RSF Bio. “We believe we now have all of the pieces necessary to move Ataciguat along to the next level of clinical trials in the United States and internationally. We are happy to work with Mayo Clinic Venture’s team and to have Dr. Miller as Chair of our Scientific Advisory Board. We look forward to collaborating with them and him on this effort involving Ataciguat in CAVS,” he continued.

About Ataciguat
Ataciguat is a novel anthranilic acid derivative that belongs to a structural class of sGC activators that can activate the oxidized form of sGC. Ataciguat has been developed through a collaboration involving Sanofi, NCATS and Mayo Clinic. Ataciguat has undergone extensive pre-clinical and clinical development including Phase I and Phase II clinical trials at Mayo Clinic for treatment of the progression of CAVS. The drug and its application in CAVS is now licensed to RSF Bio for further development through clinical trials and if successful, for future commercialization.

About Rancho Santa Fe Bio, Inc.
RSF Bio is a San Diego, California clinical stage cardiovascular platform company. RSF Bio has exclusively licensed from the Mayo Clinic and from Sanofi Ataciguat for the treatment of the progression of CAVS. RSF Bio is also involved in developing additional indications for Ataciguat, developing AVS biomarkers and in conducting research and development of additional small molecules drugs in the cardiovascular and other fields. RSF Bio’s website is www.rsfbio.com and for more information please contact the Company at info@rsfbio.com.

New partnership between General Fusion and UKAEA is a landmark collaboration in the development of fusion, a technology for the world’s low-carbon future

VANCOUVER, Canada and LONDON, UK, June 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — (BST) — The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and General Fusion have announced an agreement under which General Fusion will build and operate its Fusion Demonstration Plant (FDP) at UKAEA’s Culham Campus. General Fusion will enter into a long-term lease with UKAEA following construction of a new facility at Culham to host the FDP. The FDP will demonstrate General Fusion’s proprietary Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) technology, paving the way for the company’s subsequent commercial pilot plant. General Fusion will benefit from the cluster of fusion supply chain activities in the UK, centered on UKAEA’s globally recognized expertise and presence in the field.

Amanda Solloway, Science Minister for UK Government said: “This new plant by General Fusion is a huge boost for our plans to develop a fusion industry in the UK, and I’m thrilled that Culham will be home to such a cutting-edge and potentially transformative project. Fusion energy has great potential as a source of limitless, low-carbon energy, and today’s announcement is a clear vote of confidence in the region and the UK’s status as a global science superpower.”

The Fusion Demonstration Plant at Culham is the culmination of more than a decade of advances in General Fusion’s technology, and represents a major milestone on the company’s path to commercialization. The Fusion Demonstration Plant will verify that General Fusion’s MTF technology can create fusion conditions in a practical and cost-effective manner at power plant relevant scales, as well as refine the economics of fusion energy production, leading to the subsequent design of a commercial fusion pilot plant. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2022, with operations beginning approximately three years later.

General Fusion and UKAEA intend to collaborate on a range of fusion energy technologies for power plant design and operation.

“Coming to Culham gives us the opportunity to benefit from UKAEA’s expertise,” stated Christofer Mowry, CEO, General Fusion. “By locating at this campus, General Fusion expands our market presence beyond North America into Europe, broadening our global network of government, institutional, and industrial partners. This is incredibly exciting news for not only General Fusion, but also the global effort to develop practical fusion energy.”

The Culham Campus, the home of the UK’s national fusion research programme, is owned and managed by UKAEA, widely recognized as a world leader in fusion energy development and innovation.

“This is a great development for UKAEA, very much in line with our mission to lead the development of sustainable fusion energy, and builds on our long heritage of hosting major fusion facilities such as the Joint European Torus,” said Ian Chapman, CEO of UKAEA.

About General Fusion
General Fusion’s mission is to pursue the commercialization of fusion energy based on its proprietary Magnetized Target Fusion technology. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada, with locations in Washington, D.C., and London, U.K. The company was established in 2002 and is funded by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital firms, industry leaders, and technology pioneers. General Fusion’s partnership with the UKAEA coincides with an expansion of the company’s global headquarters and research facilities in Vancouver, Canada, and a growing presence in the United States.

Twitter: @GeneralFusion         More information: www.generalfusion.com

Media contact:
Grace Peach
Director, Marketing and Communications
General Fusion
Email: media@generalfusion.com
Phone: 1-866-904-0995

About UK Atomic Energy Authority
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) carries out fusion energy research on behalf of the UK Government at Culham Science Centre near Oxford. UKAEA oversees Britain’s fusion programme, headed by the MAST Upgrade (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) experiment. It also hosts the world’s largest fusion research facility, JET (Joint European Torus), which it operates for European scientists under a contract with the European Commission.

Fusion research at Culham is funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and by the European Union under the EURATOM treaty.

Twitter: @UKAEAofficial         More information: www.gov.uk/ukaea

Media contact:
Nick Holloway
UKAEA Media Manager
nick.holloway@ukaea.uk

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/10dddd6f-2034-4cca-98b8-be66f10b601b