
Most Popular Best's Review Articles Cover FAIR Plans and More
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the past 30 days, Best's Review readers have been most interested in the following insurance news coverage:
' The Last Resort: As Private Insurers Exit High-Risk Areas, FAIR Plans Find Competitive Foothold ' reports how homeowners are turning to the residual market because of the decline in availability of coverage, even though FAIR Plan policies may cost more and offer less coverage.
' Parametric Plan for High-Risk Regions Wins AM Best 2025 Student Challenge ' presents the two students' competition-winning solution that would provide coverage to underserved markets.
' Insurance Industry Embraces AI Innovation as Technology Advances 'Exponentially' ' looks at how insurers have welcomed artificial intelligence to help customers and better understand risk.
' Nevada Considers FAIR Plan, Other Options To Tackle Insurability Issues ' describes the state's proposal for a FAIR Plan as well as a 'sandbox' for insurers to try out products that might not fully comply with current regulations.
Best's Review is AM Best's monthly insurance magazine, covering emerging issues and trends and evaluating their impact on the marketplace. Access it here.
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Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates.
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Lazard Welcomes Klaus H. Hessberger as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Financial Sponsors Group
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lazard, Inc. (NYSE: LAZ) today announced that Klaus H. Hessberger has been appointed to the firm as Managing Director, Global Co-Head, and Head of Europe for Lazard's Financial Sponsors Group, based in London. Adam Cady, previously Lazard's Head of Large-Cap Financial Sponsor Coverage North America in New York, has also been named Global Co-Head of the Global Financial Sponsors Group, running the team together with Klaus. These appointments reflect Lazard's expanding connectivity and partnership with alternative asset managers, which continues to be a principal area of focus and a major source of future growth for the firm globally. Lazard's recruiting efforts are also a key contributor to the firm's long-term growth goals, with ongoing success in attracting top tier talent globally. 'Klaus is a recognised leader in the global financial sponsor community with an impressive track record of advising global alternative asset managers and leading teams of highly experienced industry professionals,' said Peter R. Orszag, CEO and Chairman. 'Together with Adam, who has played a pivotal role in managing Lazard's relationships with the world's largest alternative asset managers, we are well-positioned to further advance our market-leading offering to financial sponsor clients in Europe and globally.' 'I'm thrilled to join Lazard, a firm with a rich history and an unparalleled reputation for excellence in advising financial sponsor and corporate clients around the world. Lazard's leading global industry, sector and product platform and innovative approach ensure the firm's clients succeed in an increasingly complex investment landscape. Working alongside Adam and the talented team, I'm excited to build on Lazard's strong foundations and deliver meaningful results for our clients,' said Klaus H. Hessberger. Before joining Lazard, Klaus held various prominent roles over 25 years with J.P. Morgan, helping to build and co-running their market-leading European and later Global Financial Sponsors franchise, initially as European and later Global Co-Head. Klaus has most recently served as Vice Chair of the Global Financial Sponsors and Strategic Investors Coverage Group at J.P. Morgan. In these roles, Klaus covered top-tier global financial sponsor and strategic investor clients, including private equity and infrastructure funds, family offices, sovereign wealth and pension funds. In addition to his Financial Sponsor track record, Klaus brings a broad range of global industry sector and capital markets expertise, having previously co-run J.P. Morgan's Equity Capital Markets origination business in EMEA for nine years. Adam Cady has nearly three decades of experience in investment banking and capital markets. Prior to joining Lazard's New York office in February 2024, Adam held various senior positions at Bank of America, departing as Managing Director and Head of Americas Financial Sponsors Group. He started his career as a leveraged finance professional at Merrill Lynch and NationsBank. About Lazard Founded in 1848, Lazard is the preeminent financial advisory and asset management firm, with operations in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Lazard provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and capital solutions, restructuring and liability management, geopolitics, and other strategic matters, as well as asset management and investment solutions to institutions, corporations, governments, partnerships, family offices, and high net worth individuals. For more information, please visit and follow Lazard on LinkedIn.


Business Wire
an hour ago
- Business Wire
Sensorion Announces Preliminary Positive Data from the First Cohort of the Audiogene Phase 1/2 Gene Therapy Clinical Trial
MONTPELLIER, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: Sensorion (FR0012596468 – ALSEN) a pioneering clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel therapies to restore, treat and prevent hearing loss disorders, today announced preliminary positive data from the first cohort of the Phase 1/2 Audiogene clinical trial evaluating the low dose of SENS-501, the Company's gene therapy candidate being developed to treat a specific form of congenital deafness linked to mutations in the OTOF (otoferlin) gene. The second cohort at a higher dose is ongoing and recruitment is close to being completed. The results from all patients dosed to date (5) confirm that SENS-501 and the corresponding surgical procedure are well tolerated by all participating infants and toddlers (aged 6 to 31 months and naive of cochlear implants at the time of the injection, as per study protocol) having received a gene therapy injection. Intracochlear administration of SENS-501 was uneventful, and no serious adverse events or serious side effects were reported. Three patients were enrolled into Cohort 1 and received a low dose of SENS-501 of 1.5 E 11 vg/vector/ear, corresponding to the minimally effective dose in preclinical studies. The primary objective is to assess the safety and feasibility of the intra-cochlear administration of SENS-501. In Cohort 1, early signs of hearing improvement were observed in Patient 3, aged 11 months at the time of injection. The clinical response observed in Patient 3 was evaluated using standard hearing tests carried out by the investigators (Auditory Brainstem Response ABR, Pure Tone Audiometry PTA, and Patient (Parents) Reported Outcomes PROs). Three-month data from the Patient 3 include: Positive ABR responses at two frequencies, with the best frequency reaching 70 dB. Improvement of hearing levels across two speech frequencies with best frequency reaching 90 dB level, per PTA. Meaningful changes in responses to sounds and voices as reported by the parents with an IT-MAIS score increase of 16 points (145% relative improvement from baseline), and met expected auditory milestones based on an age-based parent questionnaire and according to the patient's age (LittlEARS). The recruitment in Cohort 2, utilizing a second and higher dose level, is nearly complete. The Company plans to provide the next update when Cohort 2 data have reached sufficient maturity to determine next steps for the program. Professor Catherine Birman, ENT surgeon, otolaryngologist, and Senior Staff Specialist at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia, commented: "I'm thrilled to report the preliminary Cohort 1 data of SENS-501 in the first infants and toddlers treated with this highly innovative therapy. Treatment with SENS-501 had a good safety profile and the onset of early auditory responses observed in Patient 3 of the first cohort is very encouraging, especially given the very low dose of vector injected, which is primarily intended at assessing the safety of the therapeutic and of the intracochlear surgical procedure. I look forward to Patient 3's next visit and continuing the Audiogene study with the second cohort to assess a higher dose of SENS-501. Treating children under 31 months of age and naive of cochlear implants is a much-needed undertaking, as restoring hearing in the first three years of childhood has the potential to result in de-novo language acquisition. We thank Sensorion for their commitment to this patient population.' The Phase 1/2 clinical trial Audiogene ( ID: NCT06370351), developed in the frame of the strategic partnership with the Institut Pasteur and led by Professor Natalie Loundon, Coordinating Investigator, M.D., Director of the Center for Research in Pediatric Audiology, Pediatric Otolaryngologist and Head and Neck Surgeon, Necker Enfants Malades, AP-HP, in Paris, France, aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an intra-cochlear injection of SENS-501 for the treatment of OTOF gene-induced hearing loss in paediatric patients aged 6 to 31 months and naive of cochlear implants at the time of the gene therapy treatment. Audiogene consists of a dose-escalation part, comprising two cohorts of three patients each, assessing a low dose of SENS-501 in Cohort 1 (1.5 E 11 vg/vector/ear) and a higher dose of SENS-501 in Cohort 2 (4.5 E 11 vg/vector/ear). The dose-escalation part will be followed by a dose-expansion cohort at the selected dose. While safety is the primary endpoint of the dose escalation study, Auditory Brainstem Response, twelve months following the injection, will be the primary endpoint for the dose expansion part. Audiogene is the first gene therapy clinical trial addressing a unique homogeneous population of infants and toddlers (aged 6 to 31 months and naive of cochlear implants at the time of the gene therapy injection). Addressing this young patient population aims at maximizing the chances of these infants and toddlers to acquire language (below three years old, when brain plasticity is optimal). Furthermore, and uniquely to Audiogene's gene therapy program, all enrolled patients should not have current or previous cochlear implantation in the treated or contralateral ear, allowing to best document the contribution of the gene therapy in speech development. About SENS-501 SENS-501 (OTOF-GT) is an innovative gene therapy program developed to treat a specific form of congenital deafness linked to mutations in the OTOF (otoferlin) gene. This gene plays a key role in the transmission of auditory signals between the hair cells of the inner ear and the auditory nerve. When this gene is defective, affected individuals are born with severe to profound hearing loss. The aim of SENS-501 (OTOF-GT) is to restore hearing by introducing a functional copy of the OTOF gene directly into hair cells via viral vector technology (AAV). This therapy aims to restore the normal process of converting sound into electrical signals, enabling patients to regain their hearing ability. Currently in the clinical research phase, this gene therapy program represents significant hope for families affected by this rare form of genetic deafness. SENS-501 (OTOF-GT) embodies a commitment to scientific innovation in the field of hearing, with the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life of patients suffering from genetic deafness. This gene therapy for patients suffering from otoferlin deficiency has been developed in the framework of RHU AUDINNOVE, a consortium composed of Sensorion with the Necker Enfants Malades Hospital, the Institut Pasteur, and the Fondation pour l'Audition. The project is partially financed by the French National Research Agency, through the 'investing for the future' program (ref: ANR-18-RHUS-0007). The OTOF gene targeted by the Audiogene trial was discovered in 1999 at the Institut Pasteur, by Prof. Christine Petit's team (Institut reConnect, Institut de l'Audition, Pasteur Institute), who also unraveled the pathophysiology of the corresponding deafness (DFNB9). About Sensorion Sensorion is a pioneering clinical-stage biotech company, which specializes in the development of novel therapies to restore, treat, and prevent hearing loss disorders, a significant global unmet medical need. Sensorion has built a unique R&D technology platform to expand its understanding of the pathophysiology and etiology of inner ear related diseases, enabling it to select the best targets and mechanisms of action for drug candidates. It has two gene therapy programs aimed at correcting hereditary monogenic forms of deafness, developed in the framework of its broad strategic collaboration focused on the genetics of hearing with the Institut Pasteur. SENS-501 (OTOF-GT) currently being developed in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, targets deafness caused by mutations of the gene encoding for otoferlin and GJB2-GT targets hearing loss related to mutations in GJB2 gene to potentially address important hearing loss segments in adults and children. The Company is also working on the identification of biomarkers to improve diagnosis of these underserved illnesses. Sensorion's portfolio also comprises programs of a clinical-stage small molecule, SENS-401 (Arazasetron), for the treatment and prevention of hearing loss disorders. Sensorion's small molecule progresses in a Phase 2 proof of concept clinical study of SENS-401 in Cisplatin-Induced Ototoxicity (CIO) for the preservation of residual hearing. Sensorion, with partner Cochlear Limited, completed in 2024 a Phase 2a study of SENS-401 for the residual hearing preservation in patients scheduled for cochlear implantation. A Phase 2 study of SENS-401 was also completed in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL) in January 2022. Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Sensorion and its business. Such forward looking statements are based on assumptions that Sensorion considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will be verified, which statements are subject to numerous risks, including the risks set forth in the 2024 full year report published on March 14, 2025, and available on our website and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Sensorion operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Sensorion or not currently considered material by Sensorion. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Sensorion to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information that it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe for, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for, Sensorion shares in any country. The communication of this press release in certain countries may constitute a violation of local laws and regulations. Any recipient of this press release must inform oneself of any such local restrictions and comply therewith.


Business Wire
an hour ago
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