Category: 3. Business

Maximizing the Value of Data-Driven Asset Selection

In today’s competitive oncology landscape, identifying and prioritizing the right assets is critical for portfolio growth and long-term success. See how a leading biotech partnered with Evaluate to transform its in-licensing strategy, screening over 4,700 assets and leveraging a bespoke, dynamic prioritization model to select high-potential candidates for negotiation.

The Challenge

• Develop a bespoke, dynamic asset prioritization model that was aligned with the biotech’s strategy
• Deliver unbiased secondary research to evaluate the potential value of key assets of interest
• Validate the path forward for successful in-licensing and future revenue generation

Our Approach

1. Longlist generation: Evaluate’s consultants generated a longlist of over 4,700 assets using data from Evaluate Pharma. They used this list to drive a discussion with key stakeholders from the client company which would be used to identify the key parameters for prioritization.
2. Dynamic prioritization model: Using the range of highly-detailed data in Evaluate Pharma the consulting team then built a dynamic asset prioritization model. They used this to quantitatively compare assets at an indication-level across market factors, unmet need, and development feasibility and assess potential licensors through their likelihood to partner.
3. Tailored secondary research: Armed with a list of five assets of interest, the Evaluate team conducted additional research to augment the insight gathered from Evaluate Pharma. For each of the assets, they provided detailed insight – both qualitative and quantitative.

The Impact

• 4,700 assets screened
• 1 custom asset prioritization model created
• 5 assets selected for research

Samsung hosted its annual National Skills & Repair Competitions, celebrating the top Mobile Experience (MX) and Consumer Electronics (CE) technicians from across Canada and the U.S. The events highlight Samsung’s ongoing commitment to delivering a customer-first care experience, while investing in the development and advancement of its technical workforce. 

“We were pleased to see our Canadian Authorized Service Centres participate alongside our U.S. counterparts in this year’s competition,” said Frank Martino, Vice President, Corporate Service, Samsung Canada. “Initiatives like this foster cross-border collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the continued enhancement of the exceptional service and support that define our brand across North America.” 



Samsung’s National Skills & Repair Competition is designed to strengthen the foundation of Samsung’s authorized service network by advancing technician skills in both technical repair and customer service. Through hands-on challenges that test speed, accuracy and soft skills, technicians sharpen the capabilities that directly impact the customer experience. This investment helps bring faster, more reliable service across all channels, from carry-into in-home services, reinforcing Samsung’s commitment to quality, convenience and care at every touchpoint. 

“We commend the Samsung Care team for their ongoing focus on exceptional customer service across their entire network of technicians serving all their product categories,” said Michelle James, CTIA Vice President of Strategic Industry Programs. “We are proud the WISE Certification team was invited to participate in this annual Technician Repair Competition held at Samsung Electronics America’s North American headquarters, and we applaud all of the technicians who earned their spot in this nationwide.” 

CE Technicians Show Off Precision and Professionalism

At the seventh annual Samsung CE Care Skills Competition, 10 finalists from across the U.S. and Canada gathered to compete for the prestigious Top Tech title. The finals, held at Samsung’s Technical Training Center in New Jersey, featured the best of the best Samsung technicians from their respective areas. 

The competition challenged participants to simulate real-world customer service scenarios, including diagnose an issue as if they were working in a customer’s home, replace part, with an emphasis on speed and accuracy and engage in a customer-based scenario to demonstrate effective communication and problem-solving skills.  

“I want to thank Samsung for the opportunity to compete on a national scale and be able to bring home an accolade as prestigious as this. This is the ultimate culmination of a journey living for the singular purpose of service excellence,” said Alex Nahum, skills competition winner from Samsung Electronics America. 

“The competition was a good experience to confirm I’m on the right track and that I am providing the best service possible and the customer is being taken care of,” said David Seiko, skills competition winner from Samsung Electronics Canada. “I thank Samsung for offering this opportunity to see their headquarters, to see their team and see how it all works.” 

The Top Canadian winners from the competition included: 

 To learn more about Samsung Canada’s branded service and service network visit https://www.samsung.com/ca/support/Home-Appliance-Service/  

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

What do you get if you mix together tech billionaires, performance-enhancing drugs and a Spac merger? The answer is a surprisingly intriguing investment case, albeit one pumped up with risk.

On Wednesday, The Enhanced Group, best known as the creator of the future “steroid Olympics”, said it would list its shares in the US via a merger with a US blank cheque company sponsored by a Chinese businessman. It expects negligible revenue until its inaugural games next year. Nonetheless, Enhanced plans to go public at a mooted enterprise value of $1.3bn.

Enhanced’s primary backer, German entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, has built what looks like a sporting league running live events, plus a DIY pharmacy. It can sell media rights to competitions such as the Enhanced Games, which will be held in Las Vegas next year, where athletes under the care of doctors are permitted to take drugs otherwise banned in mainstream athletics. Alongside this, it can peddle medicines such as “peptide hormones” and “metabolic modulators” through online prescriptions and over-the-counter ventures.

That fits with the zeitgeist. Longevity is increasingly a pet project of Silicon Valley. Enhanced’s backers include PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, Donald Trump Jr, tech investor Balaji Srinivasan and Saudi prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal. True, there is some controversy over the games themselves: it is not yet clear what treatments for athletes cross ethical and safety barriers and which do not.

Fans may not be overly perturbed by that, as long as they are watching feats of extraordinary skill and strength. And perhaps they will be wowed enough by what they see to buy the pills and supplements that their boosted heroes are ingesting. Enhanced projects $357mn of revenue by 2028, evenly split between media, prescriptions and over-the-counter products. Its valuation would be less than 10 times that year’s forecast ebitda. Hims & Hers Health, a US online provider of sexual health and hair loss treatments, trades at more than 20 times, according to LSEG.

One question for investors is when Enhanced’s current backers might make a dash for it. Angermayer’s firm and its affiliates will be the biggest shareholders and will keep control through a dual-class structure. Insiders can sell some of their shares a month before the 2026 games and all of them 18 months after the event. But investors in a new $40mn financing will get to sell a slug of their existing holdings immediately, equivalent to four times their new contribution.

While enhanced athletes may beat the regular kind, it remains to be seen whether Enhanced can beat the Spac pack. The median return on Spac mergers completed on US exchanges since 2020 is minus 85 per cent, according to ListingTrack, with fortified projections rarely getting real results. Only 2 per cent of those closed in 2024 are above their listing price. Whatever the financial equivalent of a metabolic modulator is, this company will need a double dose.

sujeet.indap@ft.com

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Indian business tycoon Prateek Gupta has denied funnelling millions of dollars to his wife or sprawling group of companies, the missing cash that Trafigura alleges disappeared as part of a huge fraud scheme.

The commodities trading house claims to have lost around $600mn when it became the victim of a “systemic fraud” that it alleges was perpetrated by Gupta and companies he controlled. Trafigura is suing the businessman in London’s High Court.

Gupta claimed on Thursday that he had no knowledge of where the money had gone, telling the court: “I cannot recollect the exact breakdown.”

“So you just lost hundreds of millions of dollars and you can’t remember where it went, is that right?” said Nathan Pillow KC, a lawyer representing Trafigura.

“I don’t have an answer to that,” said Gupta in response, giving evidence via video link on the second day of his testimony as a defendant.

“You don’t, do you, because you’re lying about it,” said Pillow, to which Gupta responded: “I’m not lying.”

Gupta argues that Trafigura’s former star nickel trader, Socrates Economou, orchestrated the scheme, which involved the transportation of purported nickel shipments that in fact contained various low-value materials. Economou staunchly denies he had any knowledge of the arrangement at the time.

Gupta, based in Dubai, denied when questioned that he had given the money to his wife or to other senior officials in his group of companies. 

In response to Pillow’s suggestion that he had been “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, by using the money from Trafigura to “pay off other creditors in your business empire”, Gupta said: “No, I don’t agree with that.”

Gupta said in his witness statement that his company, UD Group, had been facing depleted cash reserves in early 2021, when the arrangement was ongoing. 

Gupta claimed in court on Thursday that “substantial” sums went towards shipping costs and interest payments, but could not otherwise outline where the money paid by Trafigura for purported nickel shipments had gone.

Giving evidence in the case this week, the businessman repeatedly claimed that he did not oversee the day-to-day operations of the arrangement.

The trial continues.

The SEC is seeking information from Jefferies about whether it gave investors in one of its funds enough information about their exposure to the auto business, the report said.

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Jefferies declined to comment.

“The SEC does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation,” an agency spokesperson said.

First Brands did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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The Commission declined to comment. BlackRock, MSC and Hutchison did not immediately respond to several emailed requests for comment.

CK Hutchison has interests in ports across Europe, including in Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands. It was not immediately clear if those other European parts of the global acquisition could also eventually come under scrutiny. The non-EU portions of the deal fall outside the EU’s review jurisdiction.

BARCELONA TERMINAL ACQUISITION UNDER EU SCRUTINY

The overall package, which includes two ports along the strategically important Panama Canal, has become highly politicised between Washington and Beijing.

The Spanish portion of the deal would see Terminal Investment Limited Holding (TiL), a unit of Switzerland-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, and BlackRock acquire joint control of Hutchison’s terminal at Barcelona port.

The terminal can serve multiple mega-ships simultaneously and has an eight-track rail facility – making it the EU’s largest rail terminal on the Mediterranean Sea – that connects the port with traffic to and from Southern Europe.

TiL already operates a terminal at the Spanish port of Valencia.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, is set to open a full-scale investigation after its preliminary review of the deal ends on December 10, the person said.

Full-scale EU investigations typically last around four months or longer and can lead to firms offering concessions including divestments to address competition concerns and secure regulatory approval.

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NEW YORK, Nov 27 (Reuters) – A U.S. military plane soared over Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base earlier this month and released a drone made by the defense tech giant Anduril Industries to test whether it could take flight and conduct surveillance.

The drone – a winged model known as Altius – nosedived 8,000 feet into the ground, according to an Air Force test summary, reported here for the first time. Shortly afterwards, a second Altius drone spiraled to earth during a separate test, the summary said.

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Anduril has described its Altius drone, which can be used for surveillance and carry munitions, as battle-ready and says it has sent hundreds to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion started in 2022. The company says Altius can launch from ground, air, or sea and, depending on the model, offer long-range strike capabilities or the ability to fly for hours.

But the previously undisclosed failure of the two Altius drones during the Air Force tests this month, as well as setbacks for Anduril’s Ghost drone program – including in Ukraine – highlight a gap between the U.S. company’s claims of battlefield readiness and the performance of some of its drones in testing and combat, according to interviews with more than a dozen people, including former Anduril staff, military officials, and people working with drones on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Western drone makers, including Anduril, have had limited impact so far on the battlefield in Ukraine. Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister of Ukraine, said on Telegram in November 2024 that of one million drones deployed to the front lines that year, 96% were Ukrainian-made.

Shannon Prior, an Anduril spokesperson, said the incidents documented by Reuters are “isolated examples” across hundreds of tests.

“We are constantly proving out new capabilities for all of our systems, pushing them to the limit so that we can learn, iterate, and improve our systems,” she said. “Test failures are a natural – and intentional – part of that process.”

Prior added the Altius has previously flown “more than 2,000 hours” in tests, demonstrations and deployments, without providing details of what the results of those tests were.

Reuters could not determine how many Altius test flights have resulted in failures.

After the news agency contacted Anduril for comment, the company posted a blog detailing testing issues related to the Altius and Ghost drones, in addition to its command and control software, Lattice. “Those failures, and the learning they afford, are an essential and unavoidable part of the development process,” the company said.

A spokesperson for the Air Force Special Operations Command confirmed the Altius demonstration occurred this month but declined to comment further.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine declined to comment on the performance of Anduril’s equipment, saying the effectiveness of weapons and military technology is restricted information, citing laws covering state secrets.

‘WE’RE GOING TO MOVE FAST’

Anduril has a rapidly growing portfolio of weapons systems in development, spanning an autonomous warship it is co-developing with Hyundai to the “Fury,” a large drone designed to fly alongside manned fighter jets.

“We’re going to move fast, build what works and get it into the hands of the people who need it,” Luckey said during a speech in Taiwan this summer.

The Pentagon didn’t respond to a comment request.

The war in Ukraine has provided an opportunity for the company to battle-test and promote its products as it looks to boost its business with the Pentagon and with Taiwan.

The company sent about 40 models of its Ghost drone, which looks like a miniature helicopter and can be used for reconnaissance, to Ukraine early in the conflict that began in 2022, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

But the initial model struggled to withstand Russian electronic warfare, frustrating Ukrainian soldiers, according to four people familiar with the matter. The person with direct knowledge of the matter said the company misunderstood how both terrain and Russia’s jamming of satellite-based navigation systems could derail flight plans.

Anduril spokesperson Prior said “everyone was having problems” with jamming from the outset of the war. She said that Anduril’s “teams work side by side with end users every day to capture feedback, push software updates in real time, and adapt systems under combat conditions.”

Prior said an updated model, the Ghost X, was delivered to the frontlines in Ukraine in December 2023 and “proved that the lessons learned earlier in the year were addressed.”

GHOST GOES DOWN IN TESTING

But the Ghost X has also had issues in more recent tests. A video shared with Reuters and separately posted in January 2025 on US ArmyWTF, an Instagram account run by an Army veteran, showed a Ghost model spinning out of control before crash landing near soldiers in an unidentified location.

“I told you this would be a clusterfuck,” said one unidentified person in the video.

Reuters verified the footage as having been recorded during a weeks-long U.S. Army exercise in Hohenfels, Germany that began in mid-January, and included use of the Ghost X.

Anduril said the incident occurred due to an issue with a rotor and said it was fixed.

Major Geoffrey Carmichael, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division that was involved in the exercise, said that when units are experimenting with new technologies such as drones “hard landings, system failures, and weather-related impacts can occur.”

Of the Ghost X specifically, Carmichael said the drone “demonstrated strong performance in cold, high-altitude, and hot-weather environments” but that units identified areas for improvement, “particularly power management in extreme cold.”

Anduril, in its blog post, said U.S. Army units had “consistently praised” the reliability of Ghost X.

ALTIUS IN UKRAINE

Anduril initially sent about 100 Altius drones to Ukraine in 2023, according to two sources. In March of this year, the UK Ministry of Defence announced a £30 million (about $40 million) contract paid for by a UK-led international fund to send an undisclosed number of Altius drones to Ukraine.

Britain’s Defense Ministry told Reuters the deal was to provide advanced Altius drones to Ukraine to tackle Russian aggression in the Black Sea. It said the Altius drones were recently delivered to the Ukrainian Navy, “who have expressed their satisfaction with them.”

The Ukrainian Armed Forces didn’t provide further comment.

Anduril told Reuters it has “shipped hundreds of Anduril systems to Ukraine” and that “they’ve proven effective against a large number of high-value enemy assets.”

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Rare earth elements are essential to modern technologies, but global dependence on China’s concentrated supply chain creates significant risks, making it crucial for industries and governments to diversify and strengthen these supply chains for greater security and resilience.

Rare earth elements have become indispensable to the modern economy, underpinning technologies from smartphones and electric vehicles to advanced defence systems and data centres. Despite their name, many rare earths are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust, but their supply chains are among the most highly concentrated and complex globally. This concentration, coupled with recent geopolitical tensions and export controls, has exposed critical vulnerabilities that threaten the stability of many industries and organisations — manifesting as regulatory risks, supply disruptions, and rising operational costs. For organiations that rely on rare earths, either directly or indirectly, the urgent need to diversify and transform their supply chains is clear.

A complex and concentrated supply chain

The rare earths supply chain involves multiple intricate processes, including extraction, leaching, thermal cracking, and refining. Each stage requires specialised expertise and infrastructure, making the supply chain capital-intensive and technically challenging. Currently, China controls approximately 70% of global rare earths mining and 85% of refining capacity. This geographic concentration creates a bottleneck, leaving the rest of the world heavily dependent on a single country for these critical materials. For instance, Europe is 98% dependent on China for rare earths, which are needed for hybrid vehicles, fibre optics, and nuclear power, and 97% dependent on China for magnesium, a key material for aerospace and automotive manufacturing.

China’s position is not merely a commercial fact, it is also used as a strategic lever. Often, China’s rare earth policy actions appear to be rooted not so much in the value of the minerals themselves, but more in efforts to advance broader bilateral or multilateral strategic objectives beyond the commodity market. Yet, control over these critical materials gives China significant influence on global supply and pricing. This concentration also means that any disruption — whether due to policy changes, weather events, trade disputes, or environmental regulations — can reverberate across markets worldwide, causing shortages and price volatility.

Export controls and their global impact

In recent years, China has used rare earths as a powerful strategic tool. Ongoing trade tensions between the US and China have brought this issue into sharp focus. In 2025, following announcements of US tariffs on Chinese goods and the inclusion of thousands of Chinese companies on an “entity list” restricting their access to US technology, China responded with export controls and strict licensing requirements on several rare earths and the magnets produced from them. It also halted the export of technology and equipment that could enable other countries to develop their own rare earth mines, refineries, and magnet manufacturing facilities.

These export controls rattled markets and disrupted supply chains. European companies faced long delays and sharp price increases due to shortages of raw materials, and some automobile factories faced the possibility of shutdown.

The sectors affected by these controls are broad and critical: energy, automotive, defence, semiconductors, aerospace, industrial motors, and AI data centres all depend heavily on rare earths. The tightening of this supply chain has threatened production schedules, driven up costs, and raised serious concerns about the resilience of vital infrastructure worldwide.

In October 2025, China announced a 12-month suspension of certain export controls on critical minerals to the US and the EU following an agreement between the US and China. Additionally, China will issue general licenses to facilitate the export of critical minerals, such as gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite, which are essential for the production of semiconductors, electronics, and renewable energy technologies, including electric vehicle batteries. This will likely benefit US end-users and their global suppliers.

Despite this reprieve, companies dependent on Chinese-origin rare earths remain vulnerable to shifting policies.

Economic and geopolitical stakes

Given China’s position in rare earths, the US and other countries are seeking ways to reduce their reliance on imported rare earth elements.

For example, governments are incentivising investment in domestic rare earths supply chains, streamlining regulatory approvals, and fostering international partnerships aimed at enhancing competitiveness. The US government announced plans to make direct investments in the rare earths industry and has signed agreements with Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia to boost mining and processing projects outside of China.

This could present mining companies and those companies reliant on their inputs with multiple opportunities to better secure their supply chains.

However, some analysts caution that these efforts will not immediately alleviate the risks associated with China’s position, given the scale and sophistication of its existing infrastructure. For instance, launching a new mining project is a complex, time-consuming process that can take years to discover, develop, and construct. It requires substantial financial capital, technical know-how, permitting approvals, and robust infrastructure. Government support can be a crucial enabler in providing financing, implementing policy reforms, supporting the development of R&D capabilities, and other mechanisms, while also managing environmental risk and community relations.

Preparing for the future

Companies are placing increasing importance on supply security and reliability. To navigate today’s volatile landscape, organisations should proactively address their vulnerabilities by:

• Extending visibility beyond tier one suppliers;
• Quantifying and modelling exposure to tariffs, climate events, geopolitical changes, and political risks; and
• Building agility into sourcing strategies through technology-enabled decision-making.

For mining companies, supply chain resilience may include diversifying mining and refining operations in other regions, such as North America, Australia, Latin America, and Africa, or recycling rare earths to recover valuable materials from waste, reducing the need for primary mining and mitigating environmental impacts.

Platforms like Marsh’s Sentrisk™, combined with specialist risk consulting, empower organisations with deep supply chain intelligence to support more innovative and faster responses. According to Marsh’s Mining Market Update 2025, the insurance industry is also placing greater emphasis on supply chain-linked risks when assessing contingent business interruption coverage. This highlights the growing importance for companies to prioritise mitigation efforts accordingly.

In an era where rare earths are the backbone of critical technologies as well as keys to national and economic security, their secure and sustainable supply is indispensable. Investing in resilience, sustainability, and data-driven supply networks is crucial during this period and beyond.