A new National Test Institute for Cybersecurity (NTC) is taking on an important function in strengthening Switzerland's cybersecurity and independence. It is located in Zug. Start-up funding has now been secured after the referendum deadline expired on June 7, 2022, and the unanimous decision of the Zug Cantonal Council on March 31, 2022, has become legally binding. After the successful pilot phase, the actual establishment of the NTC as an independent test institute can now take place. The NTC has existed as an association domiciled in the canton of Zug since December 2020.

Increasing cyber risks demand differentiated security checks

In Switzerland, millions of digital components, devices and apps are in use every day. According to prevailing expert opinion, almost every digital product has unknown vulnerabilities. Due to increasing networking and widespread use, this leads to considerable risks for society and the economy. Numerous digital products are not subject to any central testing obligation. In addition, there is a lack of incentives for private sector security companies to conduct security audits on their own initiative and at their own expense. As a result, security audits for the benefit of society do not take place to the required extent and depth today.

Independent testing institute increases cyber resilience

The NTC is an objective and neutral institute that tests networked products and digital applications for trustworthiness and security. The tests are carried out in cooperation with industry, IT security companies and universities, and are initiated on the institute's own initiative if necessary. The NTC is a non-profit organization. It acts completely independently; financial participation by product manufacturers and service providers is excluded by statute.

Center for competence and knowledge transfer

In its work, the testing institute is guided by internationally accepted recommendations and standards. The high quality of the testing service is ensured by its own expertise as well as by an active exchange of knowledge with international experts. The close exchange with other cybersecurity organizations in Germany and abroad, as well as with the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), ensures that existing measures are synergistically intertwined and that retrievable capacities are available.

In addition, the NTC points out vulnerabilities in products and services and makes its expertise available to manufacturers of IT components and digital applications, as well as to the business community and the general public. With its testing and research projects, the NTC fulfills its mission to increase security in Switzerland. To this end, local and international cybersecurity specialists are now invited to fulfill this mission together with the NTC.

Further information: ntc.swiss

Cybersecurity solutions provider Trend Micro surveyed 900 industrial cybersecurity managers in Germany, the U.S. and Japan from the manufacturing, oil and gas and electricity sectors for a study. Fifty-two percent of the companies surveyed said they "always" or "usually" respond to a cyberattack that has occurred against industrial facilities with improvements to their cybersecurity infrastructure. Nevertheless, not all companies still have sufficient resources or knowledge to protect themselves against future threats. As a result, 48 percent only "sometimes" or "hardly" respond.

Cyber attacks on industrial plants with large financial damage

For companies whose OT (operational technology) and industrial control systems were affected by cyberattacks, the average financial loss amounts to around 2.6 million euros, according to the company's own figures. The oil and gas industry suffered the greatest loss. For 89 percent of the companies, the supply chain was also affected in addition to core operations, so that they had to temporarily reduce deliveries or change their delivery planning.

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of respondents said they had been affected by cyberattacks on their industrial environments as many as six times or more over the course of a year.

Increased threat potential

In addition, the study by Trend Micro comes to the following conclusions:

• 40 percent of companies were already unable to fend off the initial attack.
• The top two factors for improving cybersecurity levels are future investments in cloud systems (28 percent) and the implementation of 5G campus networks (26 percent).
• Compared to IT security, OT security is less mature in terms of risk-based threat prevention.

The integration of cloud computing, edge computing and 5G into mixed IT and OT environments has fundamentally changed industrial systems and processes. Enterprises should stay ahead of this evolution and proactively implement security measures to protect their business assets. Improving risk and threat visibility is an important first step in securing the private network and industrial cloud. "Industrial sites around the world are turning to digitization to drive sustainable growth. However, this has led to a flood of security threats that many companies are not armed against and can cause great damage - both financially and reputationally," said Udo Schneider, IoT Security Evangelist Europe at Trend Micro. "To secure what are now highly interconnected IT and OT environments, enterprises need experienced partners who have the foresight and the right toolbox of solutions."

Source and further information: Trend Micro

Working with people requires a completely different understanding of quality than in the manufacturing industry. Social, communicative and interpersonal goals are in the foreground, but at the same time social institutions must also meet business management and legal requirements. A well-structured quality management system supports social service providers such as Lebenshilfen, welfare associations, daycare providers and operators of other social facilities.

Software-supported quality management saves time

The software solutions such as those from the German software manufacturer ConSense GmbH can make a contribution to making processes clearer and more efficient, clearly defining responsibilities and meeting documentation requirements. At the same time, the management system facilitates compliance with the standards and guidelines applicable to the respective facility. According to the manufacturer, ConSense's software solutions have been developed with a special focus on user-friendliness and the mapping of realistic processes. Employees can navigate quickly and intuitively on the clear interface, and a comprehensive search function guides them directly to the desired content.

The QM software from ConSense enables complete electronic QM documentation with automated, intelligent document control. Further automations, such as the targeted distribution of information, the request for acknowledgement and the revision and archiving of documents, significantly reduce the administrative effort for employees. At the same time, the software offers integrated process management including a process editor for simple and fast process modeling. This simplifies the continuous improvement of processes and the transparency and clarity of documentation increase.

QM software for social institutions with many locations

According to the manufacturer, the management system software solutions mentioned here are suitable for organizations of any size. With a wide range of functions, interfaces and configuration options, they can be optimally adapted to the needs of the respective facility, it says. The ConSense IMS ENTERPRISE solution is suitable, for example, for setting up an integrated management system in facilities with multiple sites or complex organizational structures. All applicable standards and regulations are systematically mapped under a uniform interface and compliance with specifications is supported.

In addition to the quality management standard DIN EN ISO 9001, many other standards or guidelines are also relevant in the social sector, for example DIN EN ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety), HACCP (hygiene concepts in relation to food) or DIN EN ISO 15224 (quality management in healthcare). The solutions for QM systems and integrated management systems from the Aachen-based software developer can additionally be supplemented as desired by modules, such as for measures management, audit management, training management and many more, and thus specifically tailored to the requirements of the organization.

Easy roll-out, mobile deployment

The software solutions from ConSense can be introduced quickly and flexibly in the company. The web-based management system solution ConSense PORTAL, for which ConSense can also take over the hosting, also offers support for this. The web application simplifies and accelerates the roll-out compared to desktop applications. Since it can also be used on the move, it is particularly suitable for social institutions whose employees work with the system regardless of time and location.

More information about the solutions described here: ConSense GmbH, Aachen

For Tatonka, a manufacturer of outdoor articles, sustainability and transparency have long been important issues. As part of its "Open Factory" program, the company has been inviting people to visit its SA8000-certified factory in Vietnam since 2011. Every Friday, the factory opens its doors to visitors. Now the manufacturer is going one step further and launching a comprehensive traceability program to make all stages of the manufacturing and transport process transparent.

View manufacturing and transport routes

And this is how it works: On the Traceability website Tatonka, all owners of a product from this company can trace the origin of the individual material components up to the sewing thread and the complete manufacturing and transport route as well as the respective means of transport by means of the serial number on the label. All products from all product groups from 2016 onwards can be viewed in this way. After entering the serial number, a world map with a detailed index shows in detail from which suppliers the materials used in each case originate and which sustainability certificates the manufacturers can present. The address is also disclosed, as is the start of the business relationship.

From the suppliers, the materials make their way to the plant in Vietnam. Here, too, it is possible to see which route they have taken and by which means of transport. Production takes place at the Mountech plant, after which the finished product begins its journey to its destination, traceable in all stages, again showing the transport route and means of transport, for each individual product delivery.

Keeping your finger on the pulse with traceability program

According to Tatonka, all steps from material purchasing and manufacturing to the transport of finished products are in the company's own hands and are efficiently controlled. The consolidation of transport routes, both for deliveries from various material manufacturers to a central warehouse and the filling of two production lines from this central warehouse, and for the central export of all manufactured products in one container, reduces resource consumption and cuts CO2 emissions. Thanks to the new traceability program, the family-owned company from Dasing, Germany, is willing to be watched.

For the Swiss AI Report, published for the first time, 92 Swiss companies of various sizes were surveyed. The report was commissioned by the Canton of Schwyz and compiled by the think tank W.I.R.E and the Mindfire Foundation.

Swiss AI Report still finds a lot of catching up to do

The result reveals clear trends. AI is a strategic core topic in the companies. This is not a matter of course for a new technology topic, write the authors of the report. However, 56 percent of the companies still see themselves at level 1 of 5 in terms of the effective degree of automation. 47 percent of respondents do not yet see AI supporting their core business. Swiss companies are therefore still at the beginning of the development towards the systematic use of artificial intelligence, according to the Swiss AI Report. 

At the same time, many companies want to invest in AI technologies. 75 percent intend to spend up to one million on it next year, 20 percent of the companies up to 5 million. The will to position themselves in the AI environment is particularly evident among large companies. Only around 10 percent of SMEs that proactively deal with AI applications also have a fixed AI budget. Among large companies, the figure is as high as 40 percent.

Fruitful cooperation between science and business

The report also concludes that it is very pleasing to see that cooperation between business and science in Switzerland is working. According to the report, two-thirds of the companies surveyed maintain a partnership with universities in the AI context. Just as many want to build the technical foundations for the successful use of AI themselves. Only 8 percent want to purchase these completely. Accordingly, the best talents are being courted. In view of the shortage of skilled workers, around half of the companies already offer internal training on AI.

Many Swiss companies are apparently also aware of the risks inherent in the use of artificial intelligence. For example, 45 percent fear erroneous results when using artificial intelligence as a result of an inadequate data basis or subjective bias when training the algorithms. It is striking that only just 3 percent of respondents express concerns of an ethical nature. Also, only 1.2 percent see the growing energy demand and ecological sustainability in connection with the use of AI as a major challenge. 

Source and further information: ai-con.ch / www.thewire.ch

Machine learning (ML) is the most widely used method of artificial intelligence (AI). ML systems learn to recognize certain patterns or laws largely independently on the basis of examples. However, the cause-effect relationships in a trained model are not always open, i.e., the logic of how a result is derived from the initial information is often hardly apparent. This is why the metaphor of the black box is often used in public discussion. This is accompanied by the fact that ML systems are not only evaluated positively, but also critically, which forms an additional hurdle for a broader use of the technology.

Detailed analysis of the ML solution

As is generally the case with any use of models, responsible and compliant handling is particularly necessary with ML systems. As is so often the case, technical progress is also bringing regulators onto the scene: the EU Commission, for example, is currently working on a draft law to regulate the use of AI. To ensure that customers are on the safe side when using the fraud prevention solution AI:drian, the information service provider Experian, which also has a branch in Switzerland, commissioned Fraunhofer IPA to evaluate whether the ML component Transaction Miner was developed in compliance with all best practices and legal requirements and delivers comprehensible results. In addition to the EU draft, the review was based on a white paper from TÜV Austria and an AI test catalog from the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS, which point the way for future market standards. With the conclusion of a very detailed four-month review phase, this investigation has reached a positive result.

Certify legal compliance with independent AI audit

"We are seeing more and more ML systems being used in areas that the EU Commission has defined as critical, for example in self-driving cars or - as in this case - in checking consumers' intentions to commit fraud and creditworthiness," explains Professor Marco Huber, head of the Cyber Cognitive Intelligence (CCI) department at Fraunhofer IPA. "Not all details of the upcoming EU legislation are already known. However, what algorithms must look like that deliver fair, explainable and comprehensible results is not trivial, but it is also not witchcraft. Experian's Transaction Miner review gave us the opportunity to look under the hood of a product that is already in practical use and work on a standardized process that will be usable once the EU legislation becomes law."

Work made easier by more than 95 percent

The Fraunhofer IPA-tested Transaction Miner is the central component in the fraud prevention solution AI:drian, which Experian recently launched in the DACH region. With the help of the ML algorithms used, AI:drian is able to detect online fraud attempts more reliably than previous systems. For a pilot customer in the e-commerce industry, 99.9 percent of the transactions that the transaction miner identified as legitimate based on its training were not fraudulent and were accordingly not rejected. As a result, instead of around 7,000 order requests per month, only 300 had to be manually checked - a workload reduction of more than 95 percent. "New developments such as machine learning are being critically observed by the public," comments Martina Neumayr, Senior Vice President Credit Risk & Fraud Services at Experian DACH. "There are also examples of ML systems delivering questionable results. With Transaction Miner, we have developed a particularly powerful ML component that can also be used where the EU Commission sees a strong need for regulation, for example in the financial sector. This is precisely why we were particularly keen to act transparently and have the technology independently verified. We believe that the use of new technologies can only meet with acceptance if there are independent checks such as those carried out by Fraunhofer IPA. All the better if we have paved the way for a future standardized procedure through this pioneering achievement."

A wide range of offers around "Reliable AI

Audits like the one described are one of the core offerings of the CCI department at Fraunhofer IPA. One of the research focuses there is the topic of "Reliable AI". In this context, the IPA experts develop, among other things, methods for explaining and safeguarding AI systems. This also includes conducting audits and validating or qualifying AI systems as independent and legally compliant. The service offerings are industry-independent and are suitable for companies ranging from start-ups to corporations. 

Source: Fraunhofer IPA. More information about the product mentioned: www.experian.ch

The total number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks decreased by 13 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, but was still well above pre-pandemic levels, according to Nexusguard researchers in the recently released 2021 DDoS statistics report. While the average attack size decreased by 50 percent in 2021, the maximum attack size tripled by 297 percent over the same period. The top three DDoS attack vectors in 2021 were UDP (User Datagram Protocol) attacks, DNS (Domain Name System) attacks and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) attacks.

The most common DDoS attacks

UDP attacks remained the most common form of DDoS attack, although their share declined this year from 59.9 percent in 2020 to 39.1 percent in 2021. UDP attacks can quickly overwhelm the defenses of unsuspecting targets and often serve as a cover to disguise other malicious activity, such as attempts to compromise personal data or the execution of malware or remote code.

DNS attacks were the second most prevalent, although they also accounted for a smaller share of total attacks than 12 months ago, falling from 14.2 percent in 2020 to 10.4 percent in 2021. In a so-called DNS amplification attack, UDP packets with spoofed destination IP addresses are sent to a publicly accessible DNS server. Each UDP packet makes a request to a DNS resolver and often sends an "ANY" request to get a large number of responses. When attempting to respond, DNS resolvers send a large response to the spoofed IP address of the target. In this way, the target receives a huge amount of responses from the surrounding network infrastructure, resulting in a DDoS attack.

Increasing number of ACK attacks

TCP acknowledgment (ACK) attacks, on the other hand, accounted for a larger year-over-year share of total attacks and became the third most common type of attack in 2022. In 2021, TCP ACK attacks accounted for 3.7 percent and then increased to 9.7 percent. In this type of attack, a large number of ACK packets with spoofed IP addresses are sent to the victim server, forcing it to process each ACK packet received, making the server unreachable for legitimate requests.

"Although the number and average size of DDoS attacks have decreased in 2021 compared to 2020, the threat level is still very high when compared to pre-pandemic levels," said Juniman Kasman, chief technology officer at Nexusguard. "Attack vectors are also in flux, as while UDP attacks are still the most common, TCP ACK, which can exponentially amplify the impact of a DDoS event with a small amount of traffic, have increased significantly. Enterprises must be prepared to deal with a wide range of vectors - DDoS remains a persistent, elevated threat."

Source: Nexusguard

It is well known: The Swiss healthcare system is among the best in the world, but also one of the most expensive. This dilemma is being addressed from various sides. However, the current framework conditions often lead to pure volume competition. PwC Switzerland, with the support of a wide range of stakeholders from the healthcare sector itself, the insurance industry, politics, and the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries, has therefore drawn up a discussion paper that formulates the vision of "Value-based Healthcare". 

Toward Value-based Healthcare: The Starting Point

With a high level of quality and a distinct range of services, the Swiss healthcare system is already excellently positioned today, it says. The high costs are not only the result of this, but also an expression of the potential to develop from a quantity-based to a value-based system. The players in the healthcare system - including service providers, insurers, producers and patients - act as they can: within the framework of legal requirements and the logic of system-related incentives. This has led to volume competition, limited interprofessionalism and interdisciplinarity, and silo thinking. These factors make it difficult for stakeholders to align their activities with patients and to consistently focus on increasing value and outcomes for patients.

Prelude to the transformation

This is precisely where the aforementioned publication by PwC Switzerland comes in. In it, PwC's healthcare experts have formulated a vision for a quality- and patient-centered healthcare system. For its implementation, they present PwC's Value-based Healthcare (VBHC) Framework. According to the authors, this approach serves to strengthen the quality and efficiency of the Swiss healthcare system. What's more, they say, it heralds a paradigm shift: toward maximum patient-centeredness, indication-specific quality and cost measurements, integrated and networked care unbounded by sector or specialty boundaries, and continuous quality improvement. VBHC not only offers the potential for higher quality in healthcare, but also for reducing cost growth. 

Pulling together

"Only by joining forces can healthcare players realize the vision of quality and benefit-oriented care. To this end, the players should proactively set the strategic focus operationally in the direction of quality and orientation toward patient benefit, and regulatory reforms should support this development," says Philip Sommer, Healthcare Advisory Leader at PwC Switzerland. The basis for this quality orientation is a uniform understanding of quality and costs across entire treatment pathways. To make nationwide collaboration possible, legislators should remove obstacles and create framework conditions favorable to VBHC. Misaligned incentives must be abolished, care pathways are needed throughout the entire treatment cycle, and transparent, interoperable digital support is needed. In other words: analyzable data, transparency and networking. Substantial investments in digitization are a prerequisite for this. In the publication, you will find concrete recommendations for action for all players - from informed patients to regulatory framework conditions.

Where Value-based Healthcare is already a reality

Various practical examples show that this paradigm shift is already underway. The National Association for Quality Development (ANQ) has launched a pilot project to measure the quality of indication, intervention and anesthesia. Hirslanden is focusing on the digital and physical continuum of care and, in addition to partnerships, is consistently relying on uniform quality indicators and incentive systems across sectors. In a partnership, the University Hospital Basel (USB) and Roche measure and increase patient benefit and resource utilization in lung cancer patients. In the "Arc Jurassien", Swiss Medical Network is working to implement an integrated care landscape that follows the full capitation approach and uses innovative reimbursement mechanisms. IVF Hartmann has developed a digital platform for process and cost optimization in retirement and nursing homes. Spitalzentrum Biel and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) jointly increase patient benefits along the treatment pathway. CSS offers its customers a quality consultation hour. And the Patient Empowerment Initiative as a pilot project of USB and Kantonsspital Winterthur (KSW) in cooperation with CSS, SWICA and PwC Switzerland brings the patient benefit back to the center, corrects wrong incentives and reduces misuse and overuse. 

These individual examples would show the great potential of value-based healthcare in Switzerland. The experts at PwC are convinced that the Swiss healthcare system will develop dynamically in this direction and welcome cooperation between all players to implement this approach across the country.

Source and further information: PwC Switzerland

New information and communication technologies are increasingly becoming part of everyday industrial life. But while large companies are already successfully helping to shape the digital transformation, SMEs in particular often lack orientation for the digitization of their value chains. Industry 4.0 applications offer German SMEs in particular the advantage of being able to position themselves internationally as pioneers of innovative solutions.

Communicating recipes for success in digital transformation

The results of the international short study "Industrie 4.0 konkret", which was conducted by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Industrial Engineering IAO and for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA and published by the Industry 4.0 Alliance Baden-Württemberg, show how the topic of Industry 4.0 is perceived in a global comparison and what successful project management looks like in concrete terms. The aim of the study is to make recipes for success in the digital transformation usable for industrial companies so that they can use concrete implementation examples to guide their own Industrie 4.0 applications. 

International differences in the application of Industry 4.0

As part of the study, 17 companies from nine countries, including Japan, Taiwan and the USA, were surveyed about their experiences with the implementation of Industrie 4.0 applications in the period from May to December 2021. An international comparison shows that the German-speaking companies surveyed tend to use people-centric technologies, while technology-centric solutions predominate in Asia, Oceania and the USA. There are also clear differences in project organization. Foreign companies in particular rely on special Industry 4.0 project teams.

Topic map shows application potential for Industry 4.0

Based on the company survey, successful use cases for Industry 4.0 implementations were then identified and mapped in a topic map with eight thematic categories such as AI in production, digital assistance or networked production systems. Simon Schumacher, head of the study at Fraunhofer IPA, says of the topic map: "With the topic map, we were able to transfer a framework designed in the Future Work Lab into practice and immediately test its suitability in this study. The topic map offers companies the opportunity to orient themselves to the thematic categories with their own use cases and to initiate a coordinated development."

In order to reflect the diverse and, above all, different approaches and implementation possibilities of the countries surveyed, the study also presents some recipes for success for international projects of different sizes and with broadly based technology applications. Based on the identified Industrie 4.0 use cases, the topic map and the implementation examples of international industrial companies, the short study also derives very specific recommendations for the successful introduction of Industrie 4.0 and provides further guidance.
for the digital transformation of companies (mainly from Baden-Württemberg; the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation is based in Stuttgart). 

Source: Fraunhofer IPA

Something is happening with the electronic vaccination card. After For data protection reasons, a first attempt to digitally manage vaccinations performed, failed, Swiss citizens should once again have the opportunity to collect, manage and use their vaccination data electronically. To make this possible, a broad consortium has published a feasibility study. The consortium includes the Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, the Association of Swiss Doctors FMH, pharmaSuisse, HCI Solutions, Interpharma and the cooperative MIDATA.

Secure electronic vaccination card is possible

The study shows: A secure electronic vaccination card is possible. And the added value of such a card would be considerable: "It would give citizens sovereignty over their vaccination data. They alone decide to whom they make it available," explains Professor Serge Bignens of the BFH, adding: "At the same time, they can be better informed and made aware of the benefits of vaccinations. As a result, he says, people can better manage their own vaccination protection, which in turn increases public health. In addition, an e-vaccination dossier simplifies access for physicians and pharmacists to the current vaccination status, which in turn also makes it possible to retrieve electronic vaccination recommendations. Finally, researchers can use anonymized vaccination data to discover new insights and correlations. This is made possible by the use of the data platform of the non-profit cooperative MIDATA.

Switzerland is lagging behind in the use of health data, as shown by relevant international studies such as the Bertelsmann Foundation's digital health index, in which Switzerland ranks fourth to last. Yet the experiences of recent years have once again highlighted how important a functioning health data ecosystem is for society. After all, it is also data from this ecosystem that helps to further develop vaccines. 

Overriding principles: Robust data protection and data sovereignty for patients

The feasibility study was drawn up along certain key principles. In addition to the data sovereignty of citizens, data protection is also central. This has top priority in the concept developed. Furthermore, the concept is public and the standards of the proposed solution are widely applicable, which means that the model can be expanded as desired. The authors have also ensured that the proposed solution is compatible with other initiatives - in particular with the electronic patient dossier (EPD). Citizens can thus freely move their data from one place to another. Another key point: the electronic vaccination card could be implemented quickly - as soon as sustainable funding is secured. 

Long-term funding and construction of the system as next steps.

An immunization data ecosystem needs funding. The study details which components would need to be integrated, redeveloped, maintained, and operated. The next step for implementation is to secure long-term funding. After that, the system can be built and maintained. This will require private and public investment, as the e-vaccination card will be available to patients free of charge. 

The study presented shows that a secure and broadly supported electronic vaccination card is possible for Switzerland, explicitly also with the technical feasibility of a connection to an EPD. According to the authors, the study comes at the right time, because it is also of interest to the federal administration. The federal administration is currently working on the introduction of a vaccination card in the EPD.

More information and source

Indoor air quality is important for a whole range of reasons: it affects employees' work efficiency and job satisfaction, the utilization of expensive office and conference rooms, the expansion of facility management control options for ventilation and air conditioning technology, and last but not least, the optimization of energy costs. Wherever people meet in enclosed spaces, the Air purity a sensitive topic. This applies first and foremost to workplaces, but also to other premises, for example in daycare centers, schools or universities.

Measure indoor air quality

The technology for room air measurement is now easy to install and operate, robust and efficient in operation, and last but not least, cost-effective. The sensors are simply attached to the relevant room using plug-and-play and connected to a dedicated cloud via a separate network (LORA-WAN) that is independent of the normal WLAN and a gateway. There, the values fed in are processed and can be called up and read at any time via an online dashboard. Essentially, the following five positive effects can be achieved from this.

1. increase of well-being and efficiency

People need adequate ambient air quality for concentrated learning and work. It has a measurable influence on their work performance. Poor indoor air quality causes fatigue, lack of concentration or even headaches. Sensor technology is used to measure the parameters that are decisive for this, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), temperature, humidity and volatile organic compounds (VOC) are recorded. This allows, for example, the simple measurement of CO₂-The germ and aerosol content of the air can be deduced from the room air content and humidity. If required, other parameters such as fine dust, radon or carbon monoxide can also be measured by sensors.

2. anonymous occupancy measurement

By measuring these current values, exceedances of the limit values are reliably recorded and made transparent in real time. In addition, this makes it possible to measure the occupancy of a room, i.e. the number of people in it, anonymously and without the use of surveillance cameras. In this way, for example, current overcrowding or chronic exceeding or falling below occupancy limits can be reliably detected without having to record personal data.

3. current values as instructions for action

The measured values can be provided directly to those affected and serve as instructions for action. For this purpose, they are simply made visible directly in the room concerned by means of colored light, quasi as a traffic light signal. The values are also transmitted via device management over a separate network to a separate cloud. There they are processed, analyzed, compared and then made available via an online dashboard. In addition to those directly affected, other authorized persons, such as managers or air-conditioning technicians, also have access.

4. reduction of energy costs

The instructions for action based on current measurements enable much more targeted and efficient ventilation - resulting in higher energy efficiency and lower costs. Especially in times of drastically rising energy prices, this is an important aspect for companies. And by the way, the potential for disputes between "fresh air fanatics" and "heat lovers" that is latent in many offices is eliminated, since ventilation is now based on neutral values.

5. efficient facility management

For facility management, the air quality values are the basis for efficient control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology. These optimization options also ultimately serve to increase energy efficiency and reduce operating costs. Furthermore, even the link to alarm systems is possible, since the differential pressure between different rooms provides information about the air flow in the building, and thus deviating values can be detected.

Source: www.leanbi.ch. LeanBI, headquartered in Bern, is a Swiss specialist for data science applications that develops customized data analysis solutions based on artificial intelligence. The applications cover areas such as quality and process optimization, automated damage detection for infrastructures, and analysis of air quality and user behavior in rooms. ​

For companies and investors alike, the innovation potential of the biotech sector over the past two years has been dominated by the development of vaccines and therapies against covid-19. This emphasis is now increasingly diminishing. At the same time, the financial markets are focusing more on chronic and severe diseases that affect a larger proportion of the population. Important technological advances that have so far focused on the treatment of rare diseases are now being tested more frequently in clinical trials for indications with high patient numbers.

The biotech industry will benefit from this because it is a pioneer in a large number of new therapeutic approaches. Many biotech companies have recently begun to expand their clinical projects from their previous focus on rare diseases to the treatment of diseases with higher patient numbers. This involves the use of a new generation of technologies that bring with them enormous disruptive potential. More and more product candidates not only meet the medical need in indications that were previously virtually untreatable, but also promise a complete cure. Several of our portfolio companies are presenting groundbreaking clinical trial results this year.

Moderna's next vaccines soon ready

At Moderna, the results for the Omikron-specific booster vaccine and the mRNA-1010 influenza vaccine are probably the most important events for 2022. A new generation of these mRNA vaccines is expected to be superior to conventional influenza vaccines in terms of efficacy profile and efficiency by including additional antigens and virus strains in addition to the four selected by the WHO. If a combination vaccine against influenza and coronaviruses can be brought to market, the global market for flu vaccines, which currently accounts for around 500 million doses annually, could expand significantly, possibly even doubling. Combination vaccines also appeal to people who are skeptical about regular single vaccinations. Because of the fast development times and good tolerability of mRNA vaccines, their protagonists Moderna, Biontech and Pfizer would be the big winners of such a breakthrough. Because industry experts estimate the prices for such combination vaccines at up to USD 60 per dose, this opens up enormous sales potential.

In Moderna's long-term plans, the efficacy of mRNA technology in influenza is only an intermediate step. Currently, Moderna has three important Phase III trials underway. In addition to the flu vaccine, they have a vaccine against RSV, a serious respiratory infection in infants and young children, and a vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV). Currently, there are no treatment options against this herpes virus, which can cause deafness and developmental disorders in newborns.

Genome editing - technology for billion-dollar sales

Genome editing, which aims to permanently cure diseases, is on the verge of a major commercial breakthrough. This involves excising fragments of human DNA thought to be genetic triggers of disease and repairing them with genetic replacements. Crispr Therapeutics, in collaboration with Vertex Pharma, is developing therapies for beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. There are currently no adequate treatment options for these two genetic disorders in the formation of blood cells that cause severe disease progression.

Due to a specific genetic predisposition, the severe form of sickle cell anemia is dominant in the USA, with about 50 000 patients. Beta-thalassemia, also called Mediterranean anemia, on the other hand, tends to appear in southern Europe, while its severe form occurs in about 1,000 patients in the United States. This therapy is a complete cure after a single dose. The market approval of the first drug based on genome editing would revolutionize the treatment of this disease. Accordingly, the pricing power for this product, which only needs to be administered once, is great. In the second half of 2022, Crispr and Vertex Pharma will be the first companies to submit regulatory data and a regulatory filing. If, as expected, the product makes it to market in 2023, it could generate peak annual sales in the billions.

As genetic engineering techniques for drug development, RNA-based therapeutics such as siRNA and ASO (antisense oligonucleotides) have received market approval in niche indications in recent years. Alnylam is a leader in siRNA-based drugs and should report clinical results for its already approved product, Onpattro, by mid-year. If successful, the application would expand from 50,000 patients with ATTR amyloidosis and polyneuropathy to date to up to 300,000 more patients with ATTR cardiomyopathy. ATTR is a rare disease in which a certain protein is not broken down in the body and is deposited in organs.

Artificial intelligence creates new foundations

Rational drug design is a novel approach that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to analyze the molecular movements of protein molecules for their role in disease development. The company, Relay Therapeutics, has three cancer drugs in Phase I clinical trials that target disease-causing proteins that were previously not considered accessible targets for therapies. Black Diamond Therapeutics uses machine learning techniques for cancer therapies that work independently of specific tumor types.

Thanks to its pioneering role in numerous disruptive technologies, the biotech industry could soon attract the interest of investors again. The numbers speak for themselves. While an average of 20 drugs were approved annually in the USA, the world's largest drug market, at the beginning of the noughties, this figure has risen to 58 in 2021. At the same time, in purely quantitative terms, the total number of clinical trials and the patients treated in them is significantly higher than before the pandemic began. The importance of biotechnologically produced drugs will continue to grow in the future. It is estimated that biotech products will account for around 40% of total prescription and over-the-counter drug sales by 2026. 

Author:
Dr. Daniel Koller joined Bellevue Asset Management in 2004 and since 2010 has been Head Investment Management Team of the BB Biotech AG, an investment company based in Schaffhausen/Switzerland. From 2001-2004 Daniel Koller was an investment manager at equity4life Asset Management AG and from 2000-2001 an equity analyst at UBS Warburg. He graduated in Biochemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and holds a PhD in Biotechnology from ETH and Cytos Biotechnology AG, Zurich.

Editor's note: BB Biotech AG holds shares in some of the companies mentioned in the text or has them in its portfolio.