Thailand has sought to counter perceptions of rising holiday budgets, maintaining that the country is not “too expensive” for South Korean tourists looking for cost-effective indulgence and comprehensive wellness. According to officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the perceived squeeze on the wallet cited by some South Korean visitors is a result of exchange rate volatility rathe...
Thailand has sought to counter perceptions of rising holiday budgets, maintaining that the country is not “too expensive” for South Korean tourists looking for cost-effective indulgence and comprehensive wellness. According to officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the perceived squeeze on the wallet cited by some South Korean visitors is a result of exchange rate volatility rather than the kingdom’s inflation. “Our inflation rate is not that high. In fact, Thailand’s internal...
You might have seen or used it - pay by bank is a new way to buy products online without the hassle of entering any of your card details. This week, we learnt that Amazon had become the latest mega merchant to roll out the payment method for shoppers to use when purchasing products or setting up Prime subscriptions. Pay by bank allows customers to transfer funds directly from their bank accounts t...
You might have seen or used it - pay by bank is a new way to buy products online without the hassle of entering any of your card details. This week, we learnt that Amazon had become the latest mega merchant to roll out the payment method for shoppers to use when purchasing products or setting up Prime subscriptions. Pay by bank allows customers to transfer funds directly from their bank accounts to retailers, without the need to enter any credit or debit card details.
syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Shares of engineered cell concern Sana Biotechnology, Inc. ( SANA ) have nearly tripled off their recent lows in early April, mostly on the strength of data from one type 1 diabetes patient who received a precursor to its SC451. The clinical data not only suggest the possibility of a functional cure but also de-risk/validate its approach to escaping immune d...
syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Shares of engineered cell concern Sana Biotechnology, Inc. ( SANA ) have nearly tripled off their recent lows in early April, mostly on the strength of data from one type 1 diabetes patient who received a precursor to its SC451. The clinical data not only suggest the possibility of a functional cure but also de-risk/validate its approach to escaping immune destruction, which could have applications across many indications. I last did a deep dive on this name in late 2024. With it abandoning two early-stage programs to pursue a potentially enormous type 1 diabetes indication, yet obstacles still to hurdle just to enter the clinic, Sana Biotechnology merited another look. An updated analysis follows below. SANA Stock Chart (Seeking Alpha) When I investigated Sana in March of 2024, it was advancing two hypoimmune (HIP)-modified CAR T clinical programs against multiple indications, although there appeared to be more hype regarding a preclinical program transplanting allogeneic HIP-modified pancreatic islet cells as a potential cure for type 1 diabetes. Its stock was trading around $7 per share, and investment was not recommended, owing to a $1.3 billion valuation net of cash and data on a total of four patients. Sana Biotechnology, Inc., is a Seattle-based preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical concern focused on the development of engineered cells to treat disease. It is now preparing to file an IND for type 1 diabetes program SC451 after deprioritizing and eventually dropping two clinical programs over the past 14 months. Sana commenced operations in 2018 and went public in 2021, raising eye-popping net proceeds of $626.4 million at $25 per share. Its stock currently trades just under four bucks a share and sports an approximate market capitalization of $1 billion. Engineered Cells For approximately 75 years, allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplantation has been employed to treat a broad spectrum of maladies. There are three source...
Indonesia has sealed three Tiffany & Co. stores in Jakarta on suspicion of import violations, part of a broader crackdown on undeclared high-value goods under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto . Customs authorities on Wednesday sealed the stores in three luxury shopping malls in the Indonesian capital pending checks on whether the company had paid levies on imported goods, customs e...
Indonesia has sealed three Tiffany & Co. stores in Jakarta on suspicion of import violations, part of a broader crackdown on undeclared high-value goods under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto . Customs authorities on Wednesday sealed the stores in three luxury shopping malls in the Indonesian capital pending checks on whether the company had paid levies on imported goods, customs enforcement official Siswo Kristyanto was cited as saying by local news outlets including Detik . Officials in Southeast Asia’s largest economy have stepped up enforcement against illegal imports, part of a broader Finance Ministry push to protect domestic markets and plug revenue leaks as Prabowo rolls out costly flagship programs, including a free-meals initiative. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said Thursday that the closures were an example of efforts by the directorate general of customs and excise to help secure state revenues and to ensure the local market is clean of illegal goods, the local media reported. Customs officials are reconciling store inventory against import declaration documents, and local media have reported potential administrative penalties if violations are proven. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, owner of Tiffany & Co., didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
India’s consumer inflation index based on the new series addresses the International Monetary Fund’s concerns about the country’s data integrity, a top official said Friday. “We have fundamentally changed the nature of classification that we use. We’ve increased the markets, items, and we’ve added e-commerce online markets,” said Saurabh Garg , secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme...
India’s consumer inflation index based on the new series addresses the International Monetary Fund’s concerns about the country’s data integrity, a top official said Friday. “We have fundamentally changed the nature of classification that we use. We’ve increased the markets, items, and we’ve added e-commerce online markets,” said Saurabh Garg , secretary at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Paul Allen and Menaka Doshi . The statistics ministry released the first set of data with a revised 2024 base on Thursday that showed inflation remained relatively benign, bolstering the case to keep interest rates on hold. Consumer prices rose 2.75% from a year earlier, data showed, compared with a median estimate of 2.77% in a Bloomberg survey of economists. It didn’t give previous month’s inflation reading under new series. Due to the high level of digitization over the past decade, the government has access to more real-time online and e-commerce data. “I am confident that we will continue to be among the best in terms of the methods we use to collect data,” Garg said. In its country report, the IMF said in December India’s data had “some methodological weaknesses” that “somewhat hamper surveillance.” Much of the criticism was centered around using an old base year of 2012, which resulted in a lower rating for India’s national statistics. The government will also release a new set of gross domestic product series in “another fortnight or so,” Garg said. The upcoming GDP data will have an updated base of 2022-23, which will present “the structure of the economy in a much better manner.” There will be new industries, and the data sources being used will be “much wider,” with additional inputs such as from the goods and services tax and Public Financial Management System data. “I think we are ensuring that we become much more representative and we are using the latest technologies,” Garg said.