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Agreement Executed Under Tawazun Economic Programme’s Umbrella

DUBAI AIRSHOW – 19 November 2025 – Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement, EPI, an entity of EDGE Group and the cornerstone of precision engineering in the UAE’s aerospace, oil and gas, and defence industries, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), a leader in advanced aerospace technology for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), have signed a framework agreement to manufacture Electronic Brake Control Units (eBCU) in the UAE.

The collaboration is enabled by the UAE Tawazun Economic Programme (the Offset), which is overseen by Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement. The programme aims to generate lasting value for the national economy by driving innovation, sustainability, and resilience, while supporting various stakeholders of the sector, and aligning defence priorities with broader industrial and technological development objectives.

Through the framework agreement, EPI and GA-ASI will jointly manufacture and repair eBCUs, a cutting-edge technology designed to replace legacy hydraulic braking systems for both civilian and defence applications.

“Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement continues to drive transformative initiatives that harness capabilities across the full spectrum of advanced manufacturing. By leveraging strategic partnerships, we are contributing to sustainable value creation for the national economy and fostering a robust ecosystem of precision engineering and cutting-edge defence technologies that position the UAE as a regional hub for high-value manufacturing excellence,” said Majed Saif Al Shamsi, Executive Director of the Economic Programme at Tawazun.

“We are committed to building the foundations for sustainable industrial growth, knowledge transfer, and technological self-reliance that will define the UAE’s pioneer in defence and advanced manufacturing,” he added.

Michael Deshaies, CEO of EPI, said: “This collaboration with General Atomics, enabled by the Tawazun Council for Defence Enablement, marks a significant step in advancing the UAE’s aerospace industry. It strengthens our drive towards full vertical integration, enhances In-Country Value, and ensures comprehensive aftermarket support for this next-generation intelligent primary braking system.”

“Electronic braking represents a transformative advancement in aviation technology,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Our product will offer a compact design, superior performance, environmental benefits, and reduced maintenance requirements. This breakthrough technology is set to become the standard for modern aircraft, driving innovation and sustainability across the aerospace sector.”

This partnership reinforces all parties’ commitment to fostering technological growth and economic development in the UAE while contributing to the global evolution of aviation technology.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., is the world’s foremost builder of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Logging more than 9 million flight hours, the Predator® line of UAS has flown for over 30 years and includes MQ-9A Reaper®, MQ-1C Gray Eagle®, MQ-20 Avenger®, and MQ-9B SkyGuardian®/SeaGuardian®. The company is dedicated to providing long-endurance, multi-mission solutions that deliver persistent situational awareness and rapid strike.

For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com

Avenger, EagleEye, Gray Eagle, Lynx, Predator, Reaper, SeaGuardian, and SkyGuardian are trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., registered in the United States and/or other countries.

I. Proposed Four-Category Framework

Commissioner Atkins outlined four principal categories:

1. Digital Commodities 

Assets whose value is tied to the operation of a functional, decentralized protocol, rather than to managerial promises or the issuer’s ongoing efforts. The Commissioner stated that “essential managerial efforts” require “explicit and unambiguous representations,” signaling that the absence of such representations may support treatment as a non-security.

2. Digital Collectibles

Tokens “designed to be collected,” including digital art, media, and similar items (aka NFTs). Where purchasers are not relying on managerial or entrepreneurial efforts for financial return, such assets are not viewed as securities.

3. Digital Tools

Tokens providing practical functionality, such as access rights, credentials, identity features, or membership. Where the token operates as an instrument of use rather than an investment, securities regulation would not apply.¹

Article Content

The emergence of cancer drug resistance remains one of the most pressing problems in cancer care and there is a critical need to devise approaches to mitigate it. However, the molecular mechanisms driving treatment resistance are poorly understood, hindering efforts to devise new treatment strategies which prevent resistance. Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego have found a paradoxical new way in which cancer cells survive and regrow after targeted therapy: by hijacking an enzyme that is typically only switched on during cell death.

“This flips our understanding of cancer cell death on its head,” said senior author Matthew J. Hangauer, Ph.D., assistant professor of dermatology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center member. “Cancer cells which survive initial drug treatment experience sublethal cell death signaling which, instead of killing the cell, actually helps the cancer regrow. If we block this death signaling within these surviving cells, we can potentially stop tumors from relapsing during therapy.”

About one in six deaths worldwide are caused by cancer. Many of these deaths are ultimately attributable to acquired resistance following an initially positive treatment response. Cancer typically develops resistance to treatment through mutations over months to years, similar to how bacteria can evolve resistance to antibiotics over time. These mutations are difficult to treat with limited available drug combinations. However, the newly-discovered mechanism focuses on the earliest stages of resistance, which do not rely on genetic mutations, making it an attractive new target for future treatments.

“Most research on resistance focuses on genetic mutations,” said first author August F. Williams, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Hangauer lab at UC San Diego. “Our work shows that non‑genetic regrowth mechanisms can come into play much earlier, and they may be targetable with drugs. This approach could help patients stay in remission longer and reduce the risk of recurrence.”

In the new study, the researchers found:

• In models of melanoma, lung and breast cancers, a subset of “persister” cells that survive treatment displayed chronic, low-level activation of a protein that dismantles DNA as a part of normal cell death, called DNA fragmentation factor B (DFFB).
• This DFFB activation is at a level too low to kill the cells, but high enough to interfere with the cells’ ability to respond to signals suppressing their growth.
• Removing this protein keeps cancer persister cells dormant and prevents their regrowth during drug treatment.
• DFFB is nonessential in normal cells, yet is required for regrowth cancer persister cells, making it a promising target for combination treatments to extend responses to targeted therapy.

The study was published in Nature Cell Biology and funded, in part, by grants from the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. Hangauer is a cofounder, consultant and research funding recipient of BridgeBio subsidiary Ferro Therapeutics.