'U.S. Firms Use GenAI to Ease SAP S/4HANA Migration'

 Service providers deploy new technologies to reduce client concerns about risks, delays in moving to cloud, ISG Provider Lens™ report says

U.S. enterprises are becoming more open to SAP S4/HANA cloud migration with advances in generative AI and real-time analytics, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm.

The 2025 ISG Provider Lens™ SAP Ecosystem report for the U.S. finds that enterprises remain cautious about moving from on-premises SAP ECC environments to cloud-based SAP S/4HANA. This is true even in the U.S., SAP’s largest and most technologically advanced market. In response, SAP has delayed the end of support for SAP ECC 6.0 from 2025 to 2027, with extended support until 2030 available at a premium. Its ecosystem partners are using new technologies and industry-specific expertise to make cloud migration easier and more attractive to potential clients.

"Many companies are worried about how long it might take to complete an S/4HANA migration and realize a strong return on investment," said Bill Huber, ISG partner, digital platforms and solutions. "Providers are using real-time analytics and GenAI to show clients the potential operational improvements and strategic advantages."

Migration from SAP ECC to S/4HANA often requires complex data extraction, transformation and loading activities to ensure data accuracy and integrity, ISG says. Over the past 12 months, enterprises have started to understand GenAI’s potential to prepare them for this transition. Service providers are using GenAI to deeply evaluate clients’ SAP ECC environments and address their concerns about preserving the way they do business. This helps companies choose among greenfield, brownfield and bluefield implementation strategies. The ability to perform real-time analytics on enterprise data is another benefit of S/4HANA that enterprises are beginning to explore.

Service providers are using GenAI and other new technologies as part of a more customer-centric approach to S/4HANA migration, ISG says. They are building up consulting services, including readiness assessments, and presenting industry-specific use cases relevant to each client, ISG says. This approach aligns with enterprise expectations, as many companies are seeking end-to-end services from one provider to streamline cloud migration.

Greenfield migrations, which involve establishing completely new SAP implementations on S/4HANA, make up about 45 percent of all projects, but this percentage has fallen in recent years, ISG says. Small and midsize enterprises are more likely to take this approach. The strongest growth now is in brownfield projects, which give enterprises more control over which data and functions to move to the cloud, and bluefield implementations, which take a phased approach.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-firms-genai-ease-sap-143000175.html

Radware Finds 57% of Online Shopping Traffic Now Bots, Not Buyers

Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR) has released its '2025 E-commerce Bot Threat Report' revealing that 57% of e-commerce website traffic during the 2024 holiday season came from automated bots rather than human shoppers. The report highlights that 31% of total internet traffic consisted of malicious bots, with nearly 60% using advanced behavioral techniques to evade detection.

Key findings include:A 160% increase in malicious bot traffic targeting mobile platforms between 2023-2024 holiday seasons
32% rise in attack traffic from ISP networks using residential proxy services
Emergence of sophisticated AI-enhanced bots capable of mimicking human behavior
Increase in coordinated multi-vector attack campaigns combining various attack methods

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/RDWR/radware-finds-57-of-online-shopping-traffic-now-bots-not-py6106x6q4l4.html

Cantor Agrees to $3.6 Billion SPAC Deal With Crypto Company Twenty One

 Bitcoin company Twenty One Capital has agreed to go public through a $3.6 billion deal with special-purpose acquisition company Cantor Equity Partners.

The merger adds funding to a company aimed at accumulating and growing ownership of bitcoin. Twenty One, which is backed by Tether and SoftBank, expects to launch with more than 42,000 bitcoin, which would make it the third-largest bitcoin treasury in the world, it said.

The transaction gives Twenty One a $3.6 billion enterprise value, the companies said Wednesday. It is expected to provide $540 million in proceeds to Twenty One as the company also entered a subscription agreement with investors to raise $585 million of additional capital. Some of the net proceeds will be used to purchase additional bitcoin.

Shares of Cantor will continue trading on Nasdaq under the symbol CEP until the transaction closes. Twenty One will seek to trade under the ticker XXI.

Twenty One is structured to allocate capital to increase bitcoin per share. It plans to support financial products built with bitcoin and produce media about the cryptocurrency.

The company's performance metrics will include a bitcoin per share measurement, which reflects stockholders' per-share ownership in bitcoin, and a bitcoin return rate measurement, which represents Twenty One's performance in bitcoin.

Jack Mallers, who co-founded Twenty One, is set to be chief executive.

"Our mission is simple: to become the most successful company in Bitcoin, the most valuable financial opportunity of our time," Mallers said. "We're not here to beat the market, we're here to build a new one."

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202504237132/cantor-agrees-to-36-billion-spac-deal-with-crypto-company-twenty-one

NYC Gateway Tunnel Expected to Generate $445 Billion for Economy

 

The long-awaited $16 billion rail tunnel project connecting New York City and New Jersey is expected to provide the national and regional economy with a $445 billion boost.

The construction phase of the Gateway Program will generate about $42.8 billion of economic activity in the region, according to an economic analysis by the Regional Plan Association. After completion, the tunnel will $230 billion worth of economic activity in the region and another $170 billion across the US.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-23/nyc-gateway-tunnel-expected-to-generate-445-billion-for-economy

Sonoma Pharma Acne Products Launch in Leading U.K. Pharmacy Chain

Sonoma Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SNOA) has announced the successful registration of its hypochlorous acid-based acne products with the UK's Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The company will launch its products through a major UK pharmacy chain, reaching over 1,200 stores nationwide.

The product line features an acne toner and balancing serum, which will be marketed under the retailer's private label brand. These products are based on Sonoma's patented Microcyn technology, utilizing stabilized hypochlorous acid (HOCl). The formulation offers a natural alternative to traditional acne treatments containing alcohol and benzoyl peroxide.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/SNOA/sonoma-pharmaceuticals-announces-registration-of-acne-products-in-cj9a35vt8bc5.html

Senior FDA resignations gut drug advertising function

 Two senior officials at the FDA's drug promotion regulatory office have resigned, leading to speculation that a clampdown on some direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of medicines could be on the way.

Catherine Gray and Mark Askine, respectively the director and deputy director of the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP), have both stepped down effective immediately, according to a report from Politico's AgencyIQ news service.

Citing emails sent by multiple staffers at OPDP, AgencyIQ says that the latest resignations come after two other senior figures at the office's Division of Promotion Policy, Research, and Operations (DPPRO) – director Kathleen David and deputy director Amy Muhlberg – were laid off earlier this month, along with the unit's entire staff.

OPDP's primary task is reviewing prescription drug advertising and promotional labelling to ensure that the information contained in the materials is not false or misleading.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who oversees the FDA, has made no secret of his desire to ban prescription drug advertising on television in comments made before his confirmation to the role in February, part of a wider effort to reduce the influence of the pharma industry on public health policy.

That drive to reduce pharma's input was evident last week when new FDA Commissioner Martin Makary announced a new policy directive to remove pharma industry representatives from advisory committees, except where required by statute.

Kennedy has long argued that TV advertising of medicines can drive unnecessary prescribing and inflate US healthcare costs and – whilst running as a Presidential candidate before lending his support for Trump – pledged to order a ban on his first day in office.

As it stands, the US and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow prescription drugs to be promoted via broadcast media.

With leadership at the OPDP now largely absent, the question is whether Kennedy's aim is to convince Makary to recruit people to the roles who share his views on drug advertising and promotion.

A recently published report from the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRP) suggested that the 10 largest pharma companies in the US spent nearly $14 billion on promotional efforts in 2023, noting that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has predicted limiting that would lower prescription drug spending overall.

It concluded that prohibiting or taxing pharma advertising could increase federal tax revenues by between $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion annually from those 10 companies alone.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/senior-fda-resignations-gut-drug-advertising-function

Swiss biotech Veraxa vaults to Nasdaq listing with SPAC deal

 Zurich-based start-up Veraxa Biotech has reached a deal to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Voyager, gaining a listing on the Nasdaq that will give it a valuation of around $1.64 billion.

The transaction will also add around $263 billion to Veraxa's cash position, which will be used to develop its portfolio of antibody, antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), and bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) candidates for cancer.

Veraxa's lead drug candidate is an anti-FLT3 antibody in early-stage clinical testing for haematological cancers, acquired via its acquisition of Germany's Synimmune in 2024, but its long-term focus is a platform called BiTAC – standing for Bi-targeted Tumour-Associated Cytotoxicity – which uses a novel antibody design to make therapies safer for patients.

BiTACs consist of two complementary antibody precursors, which only form the therapeutically active molecule when the respective targets are in proximity on the cancer cells, effectively creating a 'safety switch' that prevents the therapies from causing off-target side effects.

According to Veraxa, T-cell-engaging bispecific molecules represent a significant share of all antibody therapies currently in development, but side effects and unfavourable product characteristics continue to limit their widespread use.

The biotech – which was incubated by Swiss investment group Xlife Sciences – is also planning an additional financing round to top up its cash reserves even further as it works towards bringing its BiTAC candidates out of the discovery phase.

It currently has three BiTAC programmes in development, including two focused on lung and pancreatic cancer, while a third is targeting ovarian and breast cancer. Two of the three are expected to start clinical testing within the next three years, with the aim of reaching phase 2 trials by 2030.

Meanwhile, Veraxa is also hoping to announce partnerships with biopharma companies for other programmes in the next few years, with some already under negotiation, according to chief executive Christoph Antz.

"Our platform technologies can be applied to empower multiple therapeutic strategies spanning next-generation antibody-drug conjugates, bi-specific immune cell engagers, and potentially even radiopharmaceuticals," said Antz.

"Side effects are too often limiting today's cancer therapies and block doctors from applying optimal dose levels," he added. "Our latest platform innovation, the BiTAC format, is designed to specifically address this issue and create first-in-class drug candidates with unprecedented safety and efficacy."

Biotech companies' use of the SPAC route to public listing through mergers with so-called 'blank cheque' companies rose to prominence in recent years as an alternative to the conventional initial public offering (IPO) route.

It can be a quicker, simpler, and cheaper process, with less scrutiny of a company's finances, liabilities, and operational processes before listing, although, greater scrutiny of the SPAC category by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reduced their popularity as IPO numbers started to recover from a recent slump.

The transaction is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of the year, with Veraxa planning to start trading on the Nasdaq under the VERX symbol.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/swiss-biotech-veraxa-vaults-nasdaq-listing-spac-deal