Latest news with #Belgian-based
Business Upturn
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
SYNDEO Medical Announces ISO 13485 Certification, Expanding Regulatory Portfolio and Supporting Global Growth Strategy
By GlobeNewswire Published on May 21, 2025, 07:33 IST ZAVENTEM, Belgium, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SYNDEO Medical, a Belgian-based developer of interventional procedure solutions, is pleased to announce that it has received ISO 13485 certification for its quality management system. This internationally recognised certification adds to SYNDEO Medical's growing portfolio of regulatory approvals and reinforces its continued commitment to quality, compliance, and long-term global growth. The ISO 13485 certification builds on existing MDR approvals for the SYNDEOPack Interventional Procedure Pack™ and the Xssential Rapid Delivery Procedure Pack™, enabling the company to access new clinical markets where ISO 13485 is a regulatory requirement. 'Achieving ISO 13485 is an important milestone that reflects the systems and discipline we've built into our operations,' said A. Justin Lampropoulos, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SYNDEO Medical. 'From the beginning, we've focused on building something enduring — genuinely grounded in quality, responsiveness, and real-world clinical value.' SYNDEO Medical is highly differentiated in the marketplace by integrating everyday-use diagnostic and interventional products—typically procured separately—into custom-designed interventional procedure packs. This approach simplifies procurement, enhances procedural efficiency, and ensures a more streamlined clinical workflow. 'As we grow, our focus remains on customer-driven innovations that deliver on our brand promise of elevating patient experience, delivering value, and empowering outcomes,' Lampropoulos added. 'ISO 13485 gives us additional confidence as we continue to expand our offering and support our partners in new and existing markets.' About SYNDEO Medical SYNDEO Medical is engaged in the design, development, and distribution of fully integrated custom procedural solution products. Launched in 2023 by A. Justin Lampropoulos and Andrew Cotton and headquartered in Belgium, SYNDEO Medical is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation. Specialising in minimally invasive interventional and surgical products, SYNDEO Medical serves healthcare providers worldwide through a network of distribution partners and sales representatives. The company is committed to positively impacting lives through elevating patient experience, delivering meaningful value, and empowering outcomes. SYNDEO Medical Public Relations Email: [email protected] An image accompanying this announcement is available at: Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SYNDEO Medical Announces ISO 13485 Certification, Expanding Regulatory Portfolio and Supporting Global Growth Strategy
ZAVENTEM, Belgium, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SYNDEO Medical, a Belgian-based developer of interventional procedure solutions, is pleased to announce that it has received ISO 13485 certification for its quality management system. This internationally recognised certification adds to SYNDEO Medical's growing portfolio of regulatory approvals and reinforces its continued commitment to quality, compliance, and long-term global growth. The ISO 13485 certification builds on existing MDR approvals for the SYNDEOPack Interventional Procedure Pack™ and the Xssential Rapid Delivery Procedure Pack™, enabling the company to access new clinical markets where ISO 13485 is a regulatory requirement. 'Achieving ISO 13485 is an important milestone that reflects the systems and discipline we've built into our operations,' said A. Justin Lampropoulos, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SYNDEO Medical. 'From the beginning, we've focused on building something enduring — genuinely grounded in quality, responsiveness, and real-world clinical value.' SYNDEO Medical is highly differentiated in the marketplace by integrating everyday-use diagnostic and interventional products—typically procured separately—into custom-designed interventional procedure packs. This approach simplifies procurement, enhances procedural efficiency, and ensures a more streamlined clinical workflow. 'As we grow, our focus remains on customer-driven innovations that deliver on our brand promise of elevating patient experience, delivering value, and empowering outcomes,' Lampropoulos added. 'ISO 13485 gives us additional confidence as we continue to expand our offering and support our partners in new and existing markets.' About SYNDEO Medical SYNDEO Medical is engaged in the design, development, and distribution of fully integrated custom procedural solution products. Launched in 2023 by A. Justin Lampropoulos and Andrew Cotton and headquartered in Belgium, SYNDEO Medical is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation. Specialising in minimally invasive interventional and surgical products, SYNDEO Medical serves healthcare providers worldwide through a network of distribution partners and sales representatives. The company is committed to positively impacting lives through elevating patient experience, delivering meaningful value, and empowering outcomes. SYNDEO Medical Public RelationsEmail: trixie@ An image accompanying this announcement is available at: in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Muscat Daily
18-05-2025
- Business
- Muscat Daily
OQGN, Fluxys to develop hydrogen transportation network in Oman
Muscat – OQ Gas Networks (OQGN), the exclusive owner and operator of Oman's natural gas transmission network, announced the signing of a term sheet cooperation agreement with Fluxys, the Belgian-based global energy infrastructure group, to jointly develop the hydrogen transportation infrastructure in Oman, where Fluxys, alongside OQGN, intends to own and operate the hydrogen network as a minority shareholder. OQGN and Fluxys share similar vision in leading energy transition activities, and with complementary infrastructure and aspirations, they are well positioned to enable rapid and efficient development of hydrogen infrastructure to cater to Oman's need in line with Oman's vision 2040 and hydrogen production targets. This cooperation agreement solidifies the partnership between Fluxys and OQGN following the signing in September 2023 of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations to strategically collaborate in the hydrogen and CO2 network developments in Oman, as well as Fluxys' acquisition of a 4.9% stake in OQGN as an anchor investor as part of the initial public offering of OQGN. The partnership highlights OQGN's commitment in enabling the timely development of decarbonisation infrastructure in Oman, as well as Fluxys' strategy in connecting and investing in new low-carbon energy value chains with high renewable potential countries to Belgium and Europe and also reflects their intention to exchange knowledge derived from their experiences and prior learnings. The agreement was signed by Eng Mansoor bin Ali al Abdali, OQGN CEO, and Pascal De Buck, Managing Director and CEO of Fluxys, at a ceremony held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Muscat. The event was held under the patronage of H E Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals. In a press statement, Abdali said, 'We are very excited to work with Fluxys in jointly developing the Hydrogen transportation network in Oman, and supporting Oman's green hydrogen and decarbonisation initiatives. This cooperation is a clear signal of our commitment as the national energy infrastructure company in leading the development and deployment of green hydrogen infrastructure to support Oman's energy transition goals and aspirations. Together with Fluxys, we will leverage our considerable joint experience and capabilities meeting Oman's requirements for hydrogen transport infrastructure and realizing the national agenda in a cost-effective manner.' Pascal De Buck added, 'We are delighted to partner with OQGN in developing a new hydrogen transportation network in Oman. As a shareholder of OQGN, this collaboration is a pivotal step in our strategy to accelerating the energy transition and creating new value chains. By harnessing our combined expertise, we aim to bring renewable hydrogen to Belgium and Europe, while also significantly contributing to Oman's sustainable energy goals. Together, we are committed to creating a brighter, greener energy future.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Calls for Russia's frozen assets held in Belgium to be used in rebuilding Ukraine
The boxy glass and steel tower at a traffic-clogged junction on King Albert II Boulevard hardly stands out among the other buildings in the business district of north Brussels, the Belgian capital's answer to Manhattan or La Défense in Paris. But unlike its neighbours, the institution housed in this bland postmodern building opposite a branch of Domino's Pizza is caught up in a geopolitical maelstrom. It is Euroclear, a little-known body that houses most of the Russian state's frozen assets and now finds itself in the middle of a debate about international justice. Amid uncertainty about Donald Trump's commitment to Ukraine, calls are growing to confiscate Russian central bank assets that were frozen after the full-scale invasion. Euroclear holds €183bn of Russian sovereign funds out of an estimated €300bn immobilised in western countries. In March, about 130 Nobel laureates, including the peace prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk, called on western governments to release the €300bn to rebuild Ukraine and compensate war victims. 'This might require new regulations and laws, which, given the undeniable emergency and gross violations of international law, are appropriate and must be amended,' stated the letter, which was signed by some of the world's leading economists, scientists and writers. Under EU law, profits from the Russian funds are used to aid Ukraine, and the next amounts will be revealed when Euroclear announces quarterly results on Wednesday. But the windfall profits – an estimated €2.5bn-€3bn a year – are modest when set against the €506bn that Ukraine needs for reconstruction over the next decade. (Since that estimate was published by the World Bank in February, Russia's deadly missile strikes have continued to wreak a devastating toll.) The EU's most senior diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has backed the idea of using the assets, as have the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania. 'Putin has already written off the €300bn assets, he does not expect to get them back. But he also doesn't think we have the fortitude to take hold of them either. So far, we have proven him right,' said Poland's foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, last June. But for Belgium's prime minister, Bart De Wever, confiscating the assets would be 'an act of war'. Johan Van Overtveldt, a former Belgian finance minister who is De Wever's political ally, said outright seizure of the assets would be 'really playing with fire for the rest of the financial and economic system'. 'Endangering the normal functioning of Euroclear would be a huge problem for the entire European economy, if not for the world economy,' he said. Euroclear, a Belgian-based international institution, fears it could be sued by the Russian government, while Belgian officials worry that confiscation would trigger a cascade of withdrawals. The end-point of that could even be the collapse of Euroclear, which would be a massive problem for the indebted Belgian government. Belgium holds a 13% stake in Euroclear and funds its war aid to Ukraine – including €1bn announced in April – from corporate tax take on the profits of the Russian frozen funds. France, which has an 11% stake in Euroclear, is also worried about seizing the assets. Van Overtveld has another idea: instead of confiscation , he proposes using the assets as collateral to set up 'more elaborate finance' for Ukraine. 'It is complex, but it's doable, and it does not lead to the same kind of legal issues that you would have if you go for outright seizure.' Euroclear emphasises its neutrality. 'It is not our role as a neutral financial institution to decide what to do with those [Russian] assets,' said head of communications, Pascal Brabant. 'It will be necessary that any agreement avoids undermining confidence in international financial markets by safeguarding the legal order and legal certainty which underpin global economies.' Often described as a bank for banks, Euroclear traces its roots to the late 1960s, when it grew out of the Brussels office of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, which later became JP Morgan. At a time when financial transactions were speeding up, Euroclear enabled the electronic exchange of cash and securities (a stock, a bond or some other instrument to raise capital), rather than moving around piles of paper. Today, Euroclear handles a mind-boggling amount of money – every four weeks it claims to process transactions equivalent to global GDP, or €1.3 quadrillion (meaning 1.3 plus 14 zeros) a year. None of this is held in cash. But Euroclear is security conscious. At its headquarters a pair of security cameras are trained on every corner. Euroclear's agreement with the Russian government dates back to October 2012. A few months earlier Vladimir Putin had secured a third term in office and cracked down brutally on opposition forces that had mounted unprecedented protests against his rule, but Russia's integration into the global economy was marching on. At the time Russian banks were looking for connections to western investors. 'Probably all Russian brokers, banks, and even the Russian state held funds through Euroclear,' said Roeland Moeyersons, a business lawyer based in Brussels. Moeyersons has some Russian clients whose assets or savings are blocked at Euroclear despite the individuals not being sanctioned. His typical client is a millionaire, who fulfils 'all the cliches', he said. 'They have a house in Switzerland, one in Russia, a flat in Monaco, Marbella, London or Dubai, and now they are confronted by the fact that a couple of millions of their investments are frozen.' According to the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, Euroclear holds €70bn in private Russian assets, beyond the €183bn sovereign funds at the centre of the confiscation debate. On behalf of his clients, Moeyersons is calling on Belgium's treasury to release their assets. While he represents a few Russian billionaires who are challenging their designation on the EU sanctions list, most of his clients are people 'who made a small fortune running a legitimate business' and had their assets frozen 'as collateral damage of the EU sanctions,' he said. Meanwhile, the debate on the frozen sovereign billions continues. On Tuesday Sweden's minister for finance, Elisabeth Svantesson, said she supported using the assets and giving Kyiv the right to decide how to spend them. 'Of course we need to remain united among our countries, but we are pushing for using them [the frozen funds] in other ways, not only the windfall but also the assets,' she said. Svantesson was speaking alongside Torbjörn Becker, director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, who said transferring the frozen assets to Ukraine would allow Kyiv to buy more weapons and bring economic stability. 'If we were to send the whole amount of these frozen assets to Ukraine they would have predictable long-term financing at the level that matters,' he said. 'We should definitely consider transferring all of the frozen assets to Ukraine sooner, rather than later. This is not less important now with [Donald] Trump in the White House.'
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Meet a 'Very Diligent' Rat Named Ronin Who Has Sniffed Out a Record-Breaking 109 Landmines in Cambodia
"He's a very hardworking rat," Cindy Fast, head of APOPO's training and research efforts, tells PEOPLE of the group's star landmine-sniffing rodent Since 1979, nearly 20,000 people — many of them children — have been killed (and another 45,000 injured) by unexploded weapons in Cambodia Experts estimate that there over 110 million active landmines — enough to circle the Earth twice — still buried in 60 countries Let's face it, rats pretty much have one of the most miserable reputations of any member of the animal kingdom — hardly surprising due to their habit of living in sewers, spreading deadly diseases and eating rotting garbage. But every so often a rat comes along that bucks the trend and leads the kind of life that forces people to rethink everything they once took for granted about these creatures. Which brings us to Ronin, a 5 1/2-year-old African giant pouched rat from Tanzania. Since 2021, Ronin, who now lives in Cambodia's Preah Vihear Province, has used his insanely sensitive nose to sniff out 109 deadly landmines and 15 unexploded pieces of military weaponry that have spent decades buried in the ground. 'I don't know if you can call a rat hard working, but that's exactly what he is," Cindy Fast, head of training and research with the Belgian-based nonprofit APOPO, tells PEOPLE from her office in Morogoro, Tanzania. "Ever since he was a pup, he's just been a very quick learner and very diligent. He's one of our larger rats and is a really big fan of food. He's very, very motivated by food." Ronin's feat — which eclipsed the record set by fellow bomb-sniffing rodent Magawa that involved 71 mines and 38 pieces of unexploded ordnance — recently landed him a Guinness World Records title. In a statement about the achievement, Adam Millward, managing editor for the organization wrote: 'Guinness World Records feats aren't always just about smashing milestones—sometimes they can be about smashing preconceptions too. The life-changing results of APOPO's [rats], their handlers and all the people involved with training and caring for these incredible animals is a revelatory example of the good that can be achieved when humans and animals work together.' In a country where the estimated six million landmines lurking in the topsoil have caused tens of thousands of deaths and countless amputations, Ronin's work is nothing short of heaven sent. Since 1979, nearly 20,000 people — many of them children — have been killed after accidentally stumbling upon landmines, and another 45,000 have been injured, according to the Cambodian Mine Action And Victim Assistance Authority. The nation has the world's highest number of amputees per capita in the world. Even more frightening, researchers with APOPO estimate there are over 110 million active landmines—enough to circle the Earth twice—buried underground in 60 countries. 'Whether there's a mine [buried in a specific parcel of land] or not, so many people are living with a looming psychological threat,' says Fast. 'It's such a huge release to have that threat removed and know that an area is safe.' Often these minefields are located adjacent to schools, which has poseed a deadly dilemma for generations of students. 'Every so often,' adds Fast, 'a ball will get loose and the kids end up drawing straws to see which student is going to be the brave one to go retrieve it from the minefield.' Related: 'Hero Rat' Magawa Retires After Spending 5 Years Sniffing Out Landmines in Cambodia The idea behind using rats to sniff out wartime explosives was hatched in 1995 from APOPO founder Bart Weetjens, who at the time was studying engineering in Belgium when he was tasked with finding a cost-efficient solution to a real-world problem for a class project. After stumbling upon a research paper detailing how a hamster had been trained to detect explosives, Weetjens — who had raised pet rats as a kid and was impressed by how clever they were — wondered if rodents might also be up to the task. Clearly, they were. Since 1997, APOPO — which played a crucial role in helping the nation of Mozambique finally remove all of its known landmines in 2017 — has removed buried explosives from millions of square meters of land around the world. In 2016 they began sending their landmine-sniffing rats to Cambodia. The group currently has 118 pouched rats in training or deployed for mine detection — with another 49 rats being used to detect tuberculosis in sputum samples in several African nations. Their sensitive noses, which can pick up the scent of a half drop of chlorine in an area the size of 20 Olympic swimming pools, are able to detect a trillionth of a gram of TNT in the buried explosives. Even more importantly, the group's rodents — which are the size of small cats and weigh roughly four lbs. — aren't heavy enough to detonate the pressure-sensitive triggers on the landmines. 'We've never had a rat injured or killed in the line of duty,' says Fast. Ronin spent nearly a year undergoing meticulous training, using pureed avocados and bananas as a reward, in Tanzania before being sent to Cambodia in 2021. Since then, he arises each morning before sunrise and — after having sunscreen applied to his easily sunburned ears and tail — he goes to work. Because of the extreme focus involved for his job, he only spends 12 minutes on the job before clocking out for the day. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'The average rat goes for 20 minutes, but he's not easily distracted and once he gets his to-do list done for the day, he gets to go rest in the shade and just be a rat,' says Fast, who estimates Ronin has another two years of work in him before retiring. 'We make custom clay pots for them to sleep in that mimics their underground burrows. That's where you'll often find them flopped on their backs with the bellies up, just zonked out.' To date, Ronin has cleared landmines from nearly 194,000 square meters — roughly the size of a thousand tennis courts — of land and shows no sign of slowing down. As for what sort of a bonus the record-setting rodent received after winning his Guinness honors on April 4 (which, of course, happens to be World Rat Day), it sounds like his handlers kept things fairly low key. 'I didn't get to the party,' says Fast, laughing. 'But I'm pretty sure he got an extra helping of bananas that day.' Read the original article on People
