Daily Briefing: Temasek-led group invests $348.57m on BioNTech vaccine; Botsync clinches undisclosed seed round

And standardised packaging required on all tobacco products from 1 July.

From ChannelNews Asia:

Singapore's Temasek and other investors are injecting $348.57m (US$250m) into German biotech firm BioNTech through a private placement, according to an announcement. This reflects heightened investor appetite for promising developers' vaccines against the coronavirus.

The company said the investors would purchase about $193.8m (US$139m) in ordinary shares and $156.16m (US$112m) in four-year mandatory convertible notes.

The investors are in for an early reckoning because BioNTech has said it expects first clinical data on its COVID-19 vaccine development programme known as BNT162 this month or in July.

The transaction would increase the number of shares outstanding by 2.6 million from 226.8 million shares as per end of March, resulting in a combined stake of 1.1% for the investor group once all notes are converted.

BioNTech and its partner Pfizer launched testing programmes involving humans in April and May.

Read more here. 

From e27:

Singapore-based robotics startup Botsync has secured an undisclosed seed round of funding, jointly led by Wong Fong Industries, SEEDS Capital, Angelhub, and Artesian Venture Partners, according to an announcement.

The company will use the capital to accelerate product development, build new technology teams and scale up production.

“This funding support empowers us to scale up the commercialisation of our robotics solution and enhance the features of our automated vehicles for safer and more reliable use,” said Rahul Nambiar, CEO and co-founder of Botsync.

The startup enables companies to simplify automation of their material movement processes with an intelligent fleet of autonomous mobile robots that can transport payloads between 500 and 1,000 kg.

The company expects to complete two to three commercial deployments of their MAG robots, increase sales of their industrial training products, and expand its market reach in Southeast Asia and India this year.

Read more here. 

From ChannelNews Asia:

All tobacco products sold in Singapore must have standardised packaging and enlarged graphic health warnings starting 1 July as part of the country’s continued tobacco control efforts, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Collectively referred to as the SP Measure, the rules apply to all tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, beedies, ang hoon, and other roll-your-own tobacco products.

Among the requirements are the removal of all logos, colours, images and promotional information on the packaging of tobacco products. Brand and variant names may be displayed but in a standard colour and font style.

The minimum size of the mandatory graphic health warnings will also increase from the existing 50% to 75%.

Non-compliance with the SP Regulations is an offence punishable with a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment for a term of up to six months, or both for first offenders. Those with a prior qualifying conviction will face heavier penalties

Read more here.