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4 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Webster receives federal approval for $10.3B merger with Sterling Waterbury-based Webster Financial Corp. recently received regulatory ap- proval for its $10.3 billion merger with Sterling Bancorp. e parent companies of Webster Bank and Sterling National Bank of New York announced that the Feder- al Reserve's Board of Governors gave regulatory approval to complete their merger, which is expected to close on or around Feb. 1. Once the deal is finalized, Webster Bank said it plans to relocate its head- quarters to Stamford. e newly-com- bined company will have approximately $65.5 billion in assets, $42 billion in loans, and $54 billion in deposits. WEBSTERONLINE.COM A Webster Bank branch. CT launches $1M winter tourism campaign Connecticut is committing $1 million to boost tourism this winter. e state's Office of Tourism has debuted a new promotional campaign, known as "e State I'm In," which will highlight hundreds of Connecticut businesses and destinations, including restaurants, hotels and other attractions. e campaign runs through March 31. e campaign will use a mix of marketing tactics to reach audiences, including ads that will run on television and on streaming services during major broadcast events, such as the Super Bowl, Academy Awards and New Year's Eve specials. PHOTO | CT OFFICE OF TOURISM A still from a video released by the state's tourism office to promote winter tourism. BioXcel begins phase 3 study of agitation drug for Alzheimer's disease A potential treatment for agitation in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease is moving closer to market. New Haven-based BioXcel era- A r o u n d t h e R e g i o n peutics Inc. recently announced the start of its phase 3 program for its drug candidate BXCL501. e program's two studies will evalu- ate the drug's safety and effectiveness in adults 65 years and older with Alzhei- mer's who are living in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. BXCL501, or dexmedetomidine, is designed to dissolve in the mouth, similar to a mouthwash strip, and calm agitation. Currently, there are no Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for agitation for Alzheimer's patients. Biohaven's migraine prevention drug gets Israel approval New Haven-based Biohaven Phar- maceuticals has secured a key approval from the Ministry of Health of Israel for its migraine drug Nurtec ODT. e company announced that Nurtec, or rimegepant, has been approved in Israel to prevent episodic migraines. Last March, Israeli au- thorities had approved its use for the acute treatment of migraine. All Israeli approvals are for adult patients. Nurtec comes in an orally-disinte- grating tablet. Biohaven anticipates additional global approvals for the drug in the coming months, as it is under review by several regulatory bodies around the world, including the Euro- pean Medicines Agency. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Migraine drug Nurtec ODT. Albertus Magnus to launch esports management program Responding to demand from stu- dents and employers, Albertus Magnus College is set to launch a new 18-credit minor in esports administration and management to start in the spring semester. Esports' growth into a lucrative industry, with 400 million fans world- wide, helped spark the program, the college said. e minor will offer courses to develop skills including adaptabili- ty, creativity and self-management. Albertus currently offers related majors including game and computer arts, business management, sport manage- ment, communications and computer information systems. Norwalk cybersecurity firm Zorus raises $9M Norwalk-based cybersecurity firm Zorus Inc. raised $9 million in a Series A funding round, the company an- nounced. e round was led by Asymmetric Capital Partners with Innospark Ventures and existing seed investor General Catalyst. Zorus, found- ed in 2017, will use the money to add new services to its cybersecu- rity suite, includ- ing detection and response security solutions. Zorus sells artificial intelligence-focused web filtering and productivity monitoring soware through the managed service provider network. Hyperfine expands into Canadian market with portable MRI Canadian health authorities have licensed Hyperfine's portable MRI, opening another market to the device. e license allows the sale in Canada of the latest version of the Guilford company's Swoop MRI machine, which uses deep learning soware to improve image quality. e Canadian license is part of Hy- perfine's global expansion strategy, with plans to go to market in the U.K. and Pakistan in 2022. Wheeled to a patient's bedside and controlled via an iPad, the Swoop Portable MR Imaging System allows clinicians to quickly scan, diagnose and treat patients in various clinical settings. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Hyperfine's Swoop. German firm to shutter Naugatuck glass plant So demand for automotive glass has prompted a German company to announce the closure of its Naugatuck plant, at the cost of 34 jobs. Flabeg Technical Glass US Corp. will close its manufacturing facility at 451 Church St., at the end of March, accord- ing to a company statement. City officials intend to start seeking a new occupant for the plant in earnest at the beginning of the year and have already reached out to prospective tenants, Naugatuck Economic Develop- ment Corp. President Ronald Pugliese said. Flabeg, based in Nuremberg, Germa- ny, bought Naugatuck Glass in 2009, according to Glass on Web, an industry news site. e Naugatuck facility has been the site of glass manufacturing since 1927. Amphenol acquires Halo Technology for $715M Wallingford-based manufacturer Amphenol Corp. has purchased Halo Technology Ltd. for approximately $715 million. Halo, which is based in California, makes fiber-optic interconnect compo- nents. Halo anticipates its 2021 sales to be in the vicinity of $250 million. Amphenol has locations around the world, and it makes products such as electronic and fiber-optic connectors and high-speed specialty cable. Its customers are in an array of industries, such as aerospace, military, automotive and broadband communications. R. Adam Norwitt, Amphenol's pres- ident and CEO, said Halo's product of- ferings are complementary to Amphe- nol's existing high-speed and fiber-optic interconnect solutions. PHOTO | MICHELLE TUCCITTO SULLO Amphenol headquarters in Wallingford. Uber unveils new package delivery service in Connecticut Connecticut residents will now be able to use Uber Connect to ship pack- ages the same day to individuals in their area through the Uber app. According to the San Francisco-based B R I E F S PHOTO | COURTESY ALBERTUS MAGNUS Participants in Albertus Magnus' esports camp. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Zorus CEO Ian McChord. PHOTO | WWW.QUOTECATALOG.COM VIA FLICKR

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