Wednesday 29 July 2015

Comfort Is The New Mantra Of Footwear Industry

Footwear’s are inspired by lifestyle! From flamboyantly decorated flip –flops, fabulous high heels to ballet flats footwear, brands are now assuring comfortable fun. Today, local and international manufacturers focus more on insole design, smart leather and custom – manufactured shoe-in-shoe features, dependable and flexible for walking on different surface.



Also, understanding that customers are looking for footwear that offers only pleasure, and no pain brand like ‘Naturalizer’ decided to enter women fashion duty shoe segment to fulfil safety requirements at work. Launched under the name ‘‘Naturalizer@work’, the brand uses patented multi-density foam inserts to ensure more breathability, resilient cushioning, moisture management and more. To carry company’s comfort legacy forward, Naturalizer has paired up with the components company Ortholite. The product would hit the company stores on August 15, 2015 and priced from $99 to $199.

Another, global player in the footwear Converse has finally decided to make the Chunks more comfortable. The new addition is an improved version of the brands ‘Chuck Taylor’ collection – and the key mantra would be comfort. Chuck II would cost buyers approximately $15 more than the existing collection, revealed Bloomberg. For all those who work on their feet all day long RefrigiWear had designed new shoe series including Iron Hiker, Rally Hiker and Rustic Hiker. The series feature cutting –edge VitaComfort™ layer with a 360 degree cushioning along with additional foam padding to ensure great comfort level. The innovative VitaComfort™ layer works as a shock absorber that help users’ lower back pain, foot as well as knee pain.

Other brands making feet happier than ever includes Dr. Scholl’s, Birkenstock, Crocs, Ugg Australia and Keds among many others. Allied Market Research has published a report titled “World Footwear - Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 – 2020.” As per the report the footwear market in LAMEA, North America, Europe and Asia –Pacific would witness a significant growth.


Monday 27 July 2015

R & D To Boost Innovation In The Packaged Food Segment

Today packaged food brands have become more unequivocal, when it comes to shelf life. Besides this, key market players investing millions in research and development, shows commitment to the segment (processed food market), which strived over a decade amid dynamic buying preferences. Whether it’s about removing artificial flavours or reducing the sodium level in the frozen food, packaged foods are rebooting their chef –inspired food products rather than the diet fare.

To keep pace with emerging trends, Nestle has introduced several changes within its popular frozen range. In June 2015 this global packaged food giant announced plans to do away with artificial flavours. Nestle has invested over $50 million in its R & D center. Other recent product developments include the use of organic ingredients and gluten-free processed foods. Commenting on the advancements, the CEO of Nestle United States, Paul Grimwood said “I’m pleased that Nestle R&D. Solon will enable us to better anticipate and provide consumers with the food choices they deserve and the quality they have come to expect from Nestle.”


Another popular brand, Tyson Foods made public that the company would continue focusing on product innovation. In 2014, the company had acquired the Hillshire Brands. As a result of the investment, the Tyson Foods now manages two invention centers. The CEO and president of Tyson Foods, Donnie Smith in his interview to the media made it clear that the company aims at using all great expertise around discovery and research and development, to grow as they move forward. Now, the Hillshire Brands and Tyson Foods make one company with over $40 billion figure in sales as well as portfolio of famous brands consisting of State Fair, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm plus many others.

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. too experienced a management shake-up in February 2015. Under the leadership of John Cahill, the new CEO company announced two fresh roles. While George Zoghbi then Vice Chairman of operations, research and development and strategy was appointed COO, Chris Khempczinski took over as the Vice President of growth initiatives .Chris is also responsible for the company's international business. Besides this, Kellogg’s had started a new research center in Leuven Bio Incubator in 2013. The company intends to excel in terms of discovery and strengthen its present relationship with Europe market.

According to a report published by “Allied Market Research " titled " World Packaged Food - Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 - 2020 " the packaged food segment globally would witness growth in regions including Europe ,LAMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Monday 20 July 2015

Towards achieving the goal of “personalized” medical care in CRPC/HRPCA Therapeutics market

Prostate cancer is the most dominant cancer affecting men in the United States and castration-resistant prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in North America. According to an estimate by American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death overall and estimated to be only third most common cause of cancer death among men. Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC) is defined as the progression of prostate cancer even after administration of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) used synonymously with androgen-independent (AIPC) and hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) and may consists of one or any combination of a continuous rise in serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), progression of pre-existing disease, or appearance of new phases of metastases. Recent advances in research technology and high-profile molecular characterization of the disease have led to discovery of new therapies in the CRPC therapeutics market and with an objective to target different pathways. The development of innovative therapies such as chemotherapy coupled with the novel breakthrough treatments will revolutionize patient management strategies in CRPC patients globally, resulting in the tremendous growth of the market. Chemotherapy is emerging as a preferred option of treatment of advanced stages of CRPC in comparison to other hormone therapies, such as abiraterone and enzalutamide, since it is less expensive than the former and also more effective.



 The market would be dominated by the developing regions of Asia-Pacific and third-world countries such as Latin America and Africa. As per a recent report by Allied Market Research titled “World Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC)/HRPCA Therapeutics - Market Opportunity and Forecast, 2014 – 2020” (CRPC)/HRPCA therapeutics market would reach $9.5 billion by the end of 2020, growing at 9.1% CAGR globally amid the forecast period. With increasing number of clinical trial options for CRPC treatment than before, the market is witnessing development of therapies that target alterations unique to an individual patient's prostate cancer molecular profile at a specific point in time. In recent drug developments brought about by global pharma companies, docetaxel has become a foundation on which researchers add novel agents aimed at increasing efficacy of the therapy treatment for HRPC. In a recent STAMPEDE clinical trial, presented by Dr Nicholas James from the University of Warwick, UK, the findings confirm that the addition of docetaxel to standard hormonal therapy greatly improved chances of overall survival (OS) among men with newly diagnosed advanced prostate cancer.

Efforts are being made by researchers in the more effective characterization of molecular targets and mechanisms that lead to tumour growth in CRPC. As a result, many global pharma companies are investing their resources in the development and field trials of drugs that involve continuous activation of the androgenic receptors (ARs).


Healthcare providers are working on developing management strategies that consist of finding newer ways to increase the survival of men with progressive stages of prostate cancer. These developments are truly making CRPC treatment as an example of personalised medical care. This will offer invaluable help for clinicians to make wiser decisions in treating CRPC. However, achieving the goal of offering personalized medical treatment for this common malignancy will be a daunting task, closely watched by market participants and healthcare providers alike.

Thursday 16 July 2015

Anti –Counterfeiting Technologies Continue Their Fight Against Fake Clothing And Accessories

Today, counterfeit clothing and accessories pose a great problem for buyers, retailers and even the regulatory bodies. Furthermore, commenting on the growing counterfeiting cases worldwide, the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union’s, senior researcher, Simon Eppel said “It hampers economic growth and job creation and leads to greater income inequality. In this way, fraud also jeopardises the economic and industrial policy initiatives of the state.” According to an article published in the “iOL News “over R3 billion loss was recorded in South Africa alone, due to the fake designer clothing and accessories being brought into the nation. In a similar incident, the “Worcestershire News” in their 6 July 2015 edition reported raids carried out on houses linked to fake designer clothing sales on social media platform like Facebook.

Likewise, the “World Customs Organisation”, indicates that fake clothing’s and accessories have cost fashion brands approximately 400,000 job losses. The aforementioned organization further uncovered that close to £5 billion in proceeds was lost over past 20 years due to counterfeit clothing. In the United Kingdom alone fake designer clothes are believed to cost the country’s economy nearly £1 million in both tax and profits. Moreover, in recent years there has been a significant rise in the counterfeit clothes sold online. So to beat the heat, many new technologies are being implemented that can help brands tackle fake designer clothing and accessories.



In 2014, some chemical engineers at MIT predicted that soon shoppers would be able to identify fake goods themselves. These engineers highlighted that soon smartphones would enable customers to detect brand ID codes using infrared technology.  Similarly, in May 2015 Stora Enso and NXP introduced their smart packaging solution with NFC. Stora Enso integrates a RFID system provided by the NXP Semiconductors with its product packaging solutions. Commenting on their achievement NXP explained “By using NXP RFID technology such as NFC and ultra-high frequency (UHF), Stora Enso smart packages can be easily tracked and traced through the entire supply chain providing full end-to-end transparency.” Besides this, bar codes and upcoming track – and – trace systems like DNATrax would soon be in vogue to ensure safe packaging that prevents copy, promises safety of the packaged clothes and accessories and protects the integrity of the supply chain management.

Considering the recent boom in the global anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging market, a report published by “Allied Market Research “indicates that the aforesaid market would grow by leaps and bounds . According to the report the anti-counterfeit clothing and accessories packaging segment would see a CAGR of 9.9 percent by 2020.


The Therapeutic Market For Anti –Inflammation Expands To Promise Relief

Today, growing concerns over diseases such as arthritis, IBS, respiratory diseases, Psoriasis and more have become the key market drivers for the growth of anti-inflammation therapeutic industry. Furthermore, a report published by “IMS Health “, the total pain management drugs or pharmaceutical industry , in United States alone was valued at $18.2 billion in the year 2012. The existing medications to treat pain, majorly comprises of anti-inflammatory biologics, NSAIDs as well as COX inhibitors. Furthermore, while the NSAIDs are used to treat the mild to moderate inflammation opioids are found useful in treating moderate to severe pain.

A study carried out by “La Merie Publishing”, shows that the total sales of the biologics in figure in 2014 was approximately US$ 141 billion. The same study reveals that the biologic market generated up to US$ 140 in 2013. Similarly, the demand to relief inflammation and pain has gained great momentum with a rise of nearly 12.9 percent for the anti- TNF antibodies, coupled with a hike of 20.1 percent for other anti-pain and inflammatory antibodies. Moreover, over US$ 47 billion in figures was generated by the total of different anti-inflammatory antibodies by the end of 2014. Gustav Ando an analyst in IHS, commenting on the expanding biologics market said: “The industry is becoming increasingly involved in biological drugs. We're seeing a lot of dramatic breakthroughs in the science of biologics."



Apart from this the NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) are most commonly used drugs to relief osteoarthritis, which is a most popular form of arthritis as well as mild pain.  The NSAIDs can cost anywhere between $4 to $1,5000 every month. Etoricoxib which is the widely sold NSAIDs and accounted for about 14 percent sales in countries such as Malaysia, Bangladesh and Hong Kong reveals a study conducted by the “William Harvey Research Institute”. The same study indicated that the sales of etoricoxib accounts for nearly 28 percent in Singapore. According to a report published by Allied Market Research titled “World Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics - Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 – 2020,” the aforementioned market would see a CAGR of 5.8 percent during the forecast period 2014 to 2020.



Fiber Optic Market Observes Great Momentum in 2015

Today, whether a business owner is considering, installing a new fiber optic network or repairing an existing system, fiber optic connectors are a must. Furthermore, the rapidly growing demand for high bandwidth, among end-users has been majorly responsible for the expansion of the fiber optic connector sector. Surprisingly, over the past four to five years the fiber optic connector segment has widened the investment pockets with more companies rolling out funds, collaborating and considering mergers and acquisitions. Likewise, the major surprise came in June 2015 with “Furukuwa Electric,” making known its intention to start a new fiber- optic cable manufacturing unit in Morocco. Initially the aforementioned company would aim at supplying fiber optic cables to several telecom giants in countries including Europe and Africa reveals an article on “Morocco  World News “. The same source explained that the company also has plans to manufacture connectors in the near future.

 According to another report “Optical Fiber Corporation” popular for manufacturing fiber optic, copper cabling and copper connectors among others has finally cleared all doubts over its share repurchase intent. Commenting on the plan, The President and CEO on July 14, 2015, Neil Wilkin at Optical Cable Corporation said "The repurchase plan announced today underscores the Board of Directors' continuing confidence and belief in OCC's long-term prospects.  OCC's strong balance sheet and cash flow from operating activities give us the flexibility to invest in our business and institute this repurchase plan." In addition, to the growing investment pocket joint ventures too are encouraging structured partnership in the fiber optic connector segment. On similar grounds, “Valdor Technology International Inc.” entered into a joint venture with “Inteligencia e Infraestructura En America S.A.” to become a prominent market player in Mexico in August 2014 .



Moreover, Valdor and Inteligencia has agreed upon offering 50 percent of the total investment and share the gains equally. The joint venture would initially start supplying and aim at manufacturing a wide range of integrated optical items, optical connectors and patch panels among several others. Eyeing the future prospects of the optical fiber connector market in coming four to five years Allied Market Research has published a report titled “World Fiber Optic Connectors - Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 – 2020.” According to the report the fiber optic connector segment worldwide would rapidly grow across regions such as LAMEA, North America, Asia –Pacific and Europe. 

Global Colocation Industry To Be Dominated By Retail And Wholesale Hosting Solution

The growing demand for Cloud technology drives the world colocation market today. According to an article published in the “Data Center Knowledge “the colocation segment is undergoing consolidation with various active participants considering collaboration, acquisitions and mergers. Furthermore, a study conducted by IMS Research firm, the aforesaid market in North America was valued at $ 6.5 billion in 2012. In addition IMS’s research indicates that the colocation industry would increase by $10 billion by the end of 2017. This growth would be visible in both retail as well as wholesale colocation data center services, and shows a strong foothold in the demand for multi-tenant space. In a discussion held at the “Data Center World “, the associate director at IMS Associate, Jason dePreaux explained that the wholesale colocation represented $2 billion of the total in 2012. Jason added that the retailcolocation accounted for the remaining $4.5 billion the same year. “Fierce Telecom” reveals that global retail colocation proceeds are growing annually 10percent, with China contributing over double the global average. Apart from this countries such as United Kingdom, Netherlands and Germany expanding over average rates.




Likewise, there are nearly 20 nations and each contributes to approximately $100 million each year in retail colocation figures. Besides this, the proceeds generated by the wholesale colocation, which contributes to just a quarter size compared to retail colocation, are also expanding at a greater pace. In an article published on “Datacenter Dynamics “ , John Dinsdale, the chief analyst and research director with the Synergy Research Group said "Despite the strong trend in companies shifting IT workloads from their own data center infrastructure to cloud services, growth in colocation remains robust in most countries.”  John commented "With over 60% ofcolocation spend coming from various types of service provider, the colocation market is reasonably well insulated against major shifts in IT strategy within the enterprise sector." According to a report published by Allied Market Research titled “World Colocation - Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 – 2020, “the global colocation segment is expanding in regions including LAMEA, North America, Europe and Asia –Pacific. The report uncovers that the colocation industry worldwide would see a CAGR of 12.4 percent during the forecast period of 2012 to 2020. 

Tuesday 14 July 2015

Growing Concerns Over Diabetes Drives The Continuous Glucose Monitoring Market

Today, Diabetes is a common, serious, expensive, growing and probably an inescapable public health issue. According to a publication by the “National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion”, around 135 million people in 1995 were diagnosed with diabetes and the number would grow up to 300 million by the end of 2025. Furthermore, many risk factors are associated with the aforesaid disease such as dietary problems, obesity, insulin resistance and more health issues. Several health officials believe diabetes can be avoided in the high -risk category, but people are yet to observe the results of several clinical trials that are pending.

Meanwhile many glucose monitoring systems, the most affordably acceptable technology are undergoing a face lift worldwide. These medical devices can lower the burden of complications by early detection of diabetes. Device manufacturers are now ready to catch -up with an accurate data for continuous glucose monitoring through their inventions. In 2015, under the sensors category Dexcom became one of its kind to provide continuous glucose monitoring data from the “Apple Watch”. Product's G4 PLATINUM system needs users to just pierce underneath their skin. Users then attaches a “Bluetooth LTE” receiver that sends data to an “Apple Watch ". Some more popular product choices in the sensors category today includes CIGMS by GlySure Limited; Brian Otis's brainchild smart contact lens and Flash Glucose Monitoring System from Abbott.


Similarly, government bodies too are giving a nod to severalmonitoring technologies for people with diabetes. In one such example in January 2015 FDA had approved Dexcom mobile application for constant glucose monitoring. In a similar incident FDA in US had backed the use of “Nova StatStrip Glucose Hospital Meter System" for severely ill patient who were hospitalized. This was the first time a BGMS was approved by FDA for such patients. An article published in the “Diabetes Daily" indicates that the global sales of test-strip as well as glucose meter supplies reach over 10 million dollars each year. According to a report titled " Continuous Glucose Monitoring Market " published by Allied Market Research the CGM market is valued at $568.5 million is 2020. The report reveals that the aforementioned market would see a CAGR of 14.8 percent during the forecast period of 2012 to 2020.

Tuesday 7 July 2015

Breakthrough In Technologies To Grow Anti-counterfeit Electronic And Auto Packaging Market

The counterfeiting of automobiles and electronic parts has rapidly increased over the years and poses a significant threat to the electronic and auto packaging industry.  According to ASIRT (Association for Safe International Road Travel), close to 1.3 million people lose their life, in road accidents every year. In this scenario, one of the leading causes of car crashes arises from the use of fake or counterfeit automobile parts. In 2013 the U.S Federal Trade indicated that the auto counterfeiting industry wouldgenerate approximately $12 billion.

A study carried out by the “Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy “forecasted that the value of fake products including counterfeit automobile parts, estimated at nearly $ 650 billion in 2013, would double by the end of 2015. An article published in the Industry Week magazine, in 2013, mentioned that the auto market suffered an annual loss of 3 billion, whilst the segment of semiconductors witnessed an approximate loss of $75 billion



Industry experts anticipate that the market of anti-counterfeit packaging would emerge dynamically in the coming years with the rapid pace of technological advancements for solutions in serialization and track and trace technologies.  The growth would be triggered by the intense publicity of technological advancements for serialization as well as track-and-trace. Presently, Armcor and Kezzler, two leading serialization solution providers, offer a full service and cutting edge serialization packaging through MaXQ.   MaXQ provides unique identification codes to major global brands.

 In addition, ingenious technologies that are developed in the rapidly growing RDIF segment would also drive the profitability in anti-counterfeit auto and the electronic packaging technology sector. In April 2015 Zebra Technologies Corporation made a major breakthrough in RFID technology by launching the 1D/2D code scanning and high-geared RFID for mobile devices. Inventions in the RFID segment would also drive the sales notably in developing economies, as technologies observe a great market penetration.

Besides, these progress in the anti-counterfeit technologies, stringent government regulations for safeguarding IP and stronger partnership of brands too have contributed to the growth of anti-counterfeit packaging market. These initiatives would help supplement the growth of the anti-counterfeit auto and electronic packaging technology segment in newer markets. According to a report published by Allied Market Research titled “World Anti-Counterfeit Electronics and Automobiles Packaging – Market Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 -2020”, the segment of anti-counterfeit electronics and the auto parts packaging industry would register a CAGR of 10.1%, during the forecast period of 2015-2020.