Media OutReach
Prudential Singapore launches protection plan to help families navigate their health gap years
As Singaporeans see higher incidences of critical illness (e.g. almost 58 per cent increase in stroke patients from 2011 to 2021[1]), many families will experience a serious health episode and the affected family member may be unable to work during their recovery. During this ‘health gap’ period, the resulting income loss creates a strain on household finances, along with additional costs to care for the patient at home.
Many Singaporean households remain unprepared to deal with such a scenario. According to the 2022 Protection Gap Study by the Life Insurance Association of Singapore, there is a 74 per cent protection gap[2] against critical illnesses such as cancer[3], stroke[1], and heart disease[4]. This gap is especially challenging for young families raising children and the sandwich generation caring for both children and ageing parents.
Insurance plans play different roles in supporting families during a serious health event. While hospitalisation insurance covers eligible hospital and treatment bills, critical illness plans pay a lump sum upon diagnosis and families have the flexibility to decide how they want to use the payout.
Ms Toni Fung, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, Prudential Singapore, said: “Many families think that hospitalisation coverage is sufficient when a serious illness strikes and may overlook the wider financial impact on the household. For young families and the sandwich generation, a critical illness can disrupt income and add caregiving responsibilities that impact household finances. Critical illness coverage is therefore not just personal protection, but family protection, as it provides a lump-sum payout to take care of these additional costs.
“Families should consider critical illness protection early to ensure they have a safety net in place and the peace of mind to focus on recovery during their health gap years. With PRUActive Life V, families have access to a comprehensive protection plan that stands firmly behind them for life, even when the unexpected happens.”
Protection for families during their health gap years
PRUActive Life V, alongside its critical illness add-ons, provides whole life coverage for death, terminal illness, total and permanent disability and critical illnesses. It covers a wide range of 182 conditions ranging from cancer to accidental fracture of spinal column and includes additional payouts for 27 medical conditions e.g. mental illness and juvenile conditions[5].
Families may enhance their coverage up to five times (Multiplier Benefit[6]) up until age 80, to scale protection in tandem with their growing household income and caregiving commitments. There is also Kinship Booster[7], a 10 per cent boost in basic coverage for free when an immediate family member takes up PRUActive Life V.
Besides young families, critical illness protection is also important for singles with caregiving responsibilities for other family members such as elderly parents or siblings. A serious illness can disrupt their ability to work and continue supporting those who depend on them financially or for care.
Added Ms Fung: “Singles may face added pressure on their personal finances and family obligations during a prolonged period of rest as they do not have a spouse to share the burden. Critical illness coverage becomes an important safeguard to help them stay financially resilient while managing their caregiving responsibilities.”
Understanding the hidden costs of health gap years
Families can face significant financial strain when they take time off to recover from a critical illness. In Singapore, a family with young children has an average monthly household income and expenditure of $21,435 and $8,577 respectively.
Consider a 35-year-old father with two young children who contributes $15,000 to the monthly household income. When he suffers a stroke, the father pauses work and that results in a loss in income. Table A outlines additional ‘hidden’ costs[8] that he may face during his health break.
Ms Fung highlighted: “Many families underestimate the significant financial cost of recovery during their health gap years, which can be as much as 3.9 times[9] of one’s annual income based on the assumption of a five-year recovery period. Apart from the disruption to income, families may face ‘hidden’ costs such as caregiving arrangements, home modifications and therapies, as well as the longer-term reality that their insurance options may become limited after a serious illness. These hidden expenses will continue to accumulate and place added pressure to household finances.”
| # | Examples of ‘hidden’ costs[7] during health gap years |
| 1. | Caregiving support e.g. salary of a foreign domestic worker or day nurse, or enrolment in a day care centre |
| 2. | Caregiver impact e.g. caregivers/family having to take no-pay leave, paying for convenience services such as meal delivery or childcare help, and mental load |
| 3. | Home modifications to support changes in patient’s mobility and motor skills |
| 4. | Therapy e.g. physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, emotional counselling, Traditional Chinese Medicine etc. |
| 5. | Costly drugs and alternative treatments |
| 6. | Unforeseen expenses which might come up due to complications arising from the diagnosed critical illness |
Table A: Hidden costs of health gap years
PRUActive Life V provides families with comprehensive protection against critical illness to manage financial uncertainties during their health gap years.
Other key features include:
For more information on PRUActive Life V, please refer to: https://www.prudential.com.sg/pal-v
[3] Source: https://www.healthhub.sg/well-being-and-lifestyle/personal-care/cancer-facts-you-cannot-ignore
[5] Includes Antley Bixler Syndrome, Sanfillipo Syndrome, Bile acid synthesis disorder, and Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex Deficiency
[6] Multiplier Benefit is applicable only if you chose to have this benefit when you purchase the plan. You may choose from Multiplier Benefit factors of 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x and Multiplier Benefit ages of 65, 70, 75 or 80. The Multiplier Benefit factor and the Multiplier Benefit age will apply to PRUActive Life V and its attached Early Crisis Care and Crisis Care supplementary benefits.
[7] Only applies if the life assured is below age 55 when the immediate family bought the policy. It adds an extra 10% of the death and terminal illness sum assured of the life assured’s policy, up to S$100,000.
[8] References: https://www.snsa.org.sg/post/helpful-information-for-stroke-survivors-and-caregivers; https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/agencyforinb6cc-agencyforin73f5-production08ac-d178/media/agency-for-integrated-care/Files/Caregiving-Support/General-Caregiving-Resources/AIC_AB_Senior-MobilityAids_web.pdf
[9] Source: https://www.lia.org.sg/media/3974/lia-pgs-2022-report_final_8-sep-2023.pdf
[10] The income payout option allows you to receive yearly payouts from the surrender value of the policy over a period of 10 years. As such, this option is like partial surrender. Please note that once you begin receiving the yearly payouts, the sum assured and the long-term value of your policy will be reduced.
[11] Subject to a maximum of 1 claim per policy
[12] This benefit is only available when your policy has acquired a surrender value that is equal to at least two years’ of premiums paid. This interest-free loan amount needs to be paid back at the end of the premium deferment period. If the loan amount is not paid back at the end of the premium deferment period, interest will be charged. The Premium Defer Benefit can only be used once per policy.
[13] The bonuses are NOT guaranteed and will vary according to the future experience of the participating fund.
Hashtag: #PrudentialSingapore #CriticalIllness #HealthGapYears
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (Pte) Ltd (Prudential Singapore)
Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (Pte) Ltd is one of the top life and health insurance companies in Singapore, serving the financial and protection needs of the country’s citizens for 95 years. As at 31 December 2024, it has S$57.7 billion funds under management. The company has an AA Financial Strength Rating from leading credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s and delivers a suite of well-rounded product offerings in Protection, Savings and Investment through multiple distribution channels including a network of 5,400 financial representatives.
Media OutReach
Zuellig Pharma Acquires Cialis® (Tadalafil) from Lilly in three additional markets in Asia
Following the acquisition, Zuellig Pharma will now own the trademarks, marketing authorizations and license manufacturing know-how for Cialis®, a treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), in 11 markets in Asia, with the expansion of its ownership into three additional markets beyond the original eight. Zuellig Pharma will also continue to promote and distribute the brand in these markets.
The expanded ownership of Cialis® will widen accessibility of the drug to a significant population of men in Asia who are affected by ED and BPH. The acquisition also aligns with Zuellig Pharma’s strategic priority of building a strong portfolio of owned prescription healthcare products as an integrated healthcare solutions company.
“Our acquisition of Cialis® in three additional markets builds on the strong foundation we established two years ago and highlights our proven success in scaling trusted brands effectively through our commercial capabilities and deep expertise. As we broaden our footprint, we remain focused on delivering sustainable growth and advancing our purpose of making in-demand healthcare solutions more accessible to communities in Asia,” said John Graham, CEO of Zuellig Pharma.
Hashtag: #ZuelligPharma #EliLillyandCompany #Cialis #MensHealth #Healthcare #Pharmaceuticals
https://www.zuelligpharma.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/zuellig-pharma
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Zuellig Pharma
Zuellig Pharma is a leading healthcare solutions company in Asia, and our purpose is to make healthcare more accessible to the communities we serve. We provide world-class distribution, commercialization, and clinical trial support services, underpinned by a strong culture of innovation to support the growing healthcare needs in this region. The company was founded a hundred years ago and has grown to become a multibillion-dollar business covering 18 markets with over 12,000 employees. Our people serve more than 200,000 medical facilities and work with over 450 clients, including the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Media OutReach
Ingdan Powers Embodied AI with Humanoid-Style Brain-Cerebellum Chipset to Boost Robotics Ecosystem
2026 is widely regarded as a milestone year for humanoid robotics, in which humanoid robots transition from laboratory prototypes and demonstration performances to large‑scale mass production. At CES in January, NVIDIA announced the commercial launch of its physical‑AI core platform Jetson Thor. Tesla is scheduled to officially release the mass‑production engineering version of its Optimus (V3) humanoid robot by the end of March, with plans to initiate million‑unit‑level production lines by the end of 2026—an inflection point widely regarded as the “Model 3 moment” of the humanoid robotics industry. At the same time, Chinese robotics companies such as AGIBOT, Unitree, and Fourier Intelligence have already deployed products at scale in warehousing and logistics scenarios.
Against this backdrop, the upstream hardware focus of the humanoid robotics industry is increasingly converging on “Brain-Cerebellum” collaboration and low‑latency, multi‑joint real‑time control, which are essential to achieving coordinated, smooth, and human‑like robotic motion. During the CMG Spring Festival Gala, robots from multiple companies demonstrated complex coordinated movements and dexterous hand operations, further highlighting the value of this technical direction.
D‑Robotics, originating from the AIoT and robotics division of Horizon Robotics, focuses on edge‑side embodied intelligence solutions characterized by high computing power, integrated computation and control, and low latency. Leveraging its parent company’s long‑term experience in intelligent driving, D‑Robotics has established a precise position in humanoid robot “Brain-Cerebellum” coordination and real‑time joint control.
In November 2025, D‑Robotics unveiled its flagship robotics computing platform S600, with an official release planned for the end of the first quarter of 2026. The S600 platform features a highly integrated humanoid‑style “Brain-Cerebellum” chipset architecture. Its “Brain” configuration combines an 18‑core A78AE CPU with a proprietary Nash‑architecture BPU, delivering 560 TOPS (INT8) edge computing power and supporting efficient deployment of VLA, VLM, LLM, and locomotion models. Its “Cerebellum” configuration integrates a 6‑core R52+ MCU, providing high‑reliability, real‑time motion control.
By integrating CPU, BPU, and real‑time MCU capabilities into a single SoC, S600 enables a closed‑loop architecture encompassing perception, decision‑making, and real‑time action control. This design addresses a key industry challenge in which many edge AI processors lack embedded real‑time MCUs and rely on external controllers, resulting in excessive latency. The integrated MCU supports high‑frequency, high‑precision PWM signal generation based on FOC algorithms, enabling precise motor control and contributing to stable rhythm and natural gait.
The S600 platform has been adopted by multiple robotics companies such as Fourier Intelligence, Booster Robotics, X Square Robot, and ROBOTERA, supporting applications that require stable multi‑joint coordination and smooth motion performance.
Ingdan, Inc. (00400.HK) is a core supplier in the AI computing power supply chain and an application technology solutions provider covering both AI infrastructure and AI intelligent terminals. The Company represents a broad portfolio of international semiconductor manufacturers, including NVIDIA, Xilinx, Intel, AMD, and SanDisk, as well as numerous domestic chip vendors. It serves hundreds of robotics manufacturers and Tier‑1 customers and has formed a comprehensive embodied intelligence ecosystem.
D‑Robotics is a core product line Ingdan distributes . Building on D‑Robotics’ products and combined with its own technical services—such as multi‑sensor fusion development, real‑time closed‑loop tuning, Quantization‑Aware Training (QAT) support, simulation testing, and modular SOM customization—the Group has supported sophisticated customers including Galbot and ROBOTERA, continuously enriching the robotics industry ecosystem.
Looking ahead, Ingdan will continue to focus on the humanoid robotics sector. Leveraging an IC product matrix centered on NVIDIA Jetson and D‑Robotics platforms, the Company aims to further strengthen its AI intelligent terminal capabilities and continue supporting the iterative development of embodied intelligence products.
For investor and media enquiries
Please email to **@****an.com
Hashtag: #Ingdan #Chips #humanoid #D‑Robotics #NVIDIA #Tech
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Ingdan, Inc.
Ingdan, Inc. (00400.HK) is a core supplier in the AI computing power supply chain and an application technology solutions provider covering both AI infrastructure and AI intelligent terminals. The Company represents a broad portfolio of international semiconductor manufacturers, including NVIDIA, Xilinx, Intel, AMD, and SanDisk, as well as numerous domestic chip vendors. It serves hundreds of robotics manufacturers and Tier‑1 customers and has formed a comprehensive embodied intelligence ecosystem.
Media OutReach
Snow, Ice, and Performance: 2026 Changan Global Testing Season Arrives in Europe with Back-to-Back Winter Events
- European dealers and journalists experienced the CHANGAN DEEPAL S05 AWD at 2026 Changan Global Testing Season this February.
- With intelligent AWD and advanced ADAS, the CHANGAN DEEPAL S05 AWD offered uncompromising safety and control on winter roads.
Saalfelden, Austria – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 March 2026 – Following extreme cold tests in Yakeshi, China, the 2026 Changan Global Testing Season made its European debut this February with the Changan Winter Experience in Courmayeur and the Winter Test Drives in Saalfelden. The all-electric CHANGAN DEEPAL S05 AWD was tested on snow and ice—familiar conditions for European drivers—offering dealers and journalists an immersive introduction to Changan’s electric mobility vision through dynamic drives.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist and Milano Cortina 2026 Ambassador Deborah Compagnoni joined the event in Courmayeur, testing the CHANGAN DEEPAL S05 AWD. Her career—defined by determination, control, and reliability—reflects Changan’s core values. “I felt that the principles of trajectory and speed in skiing apply to driving. With this model, you gain confidence on challenging terrain,” she said.
Snow-Validated Performance: The CHANGAN DEEPAL S05 AWD
Tested in Europe, the CHANGAN DEEPAL S05 AWD demonstrated controllable dynamics, reliable traction, and enhanced safety—highlighting its cutting-edge AWD and ADAS. The system adapts seamlessly: ECO/COMFORT modes prioritize RWD efficiency, while AWD will engage automatically when sensors detect slip, high torque demand, or extreme cold below -25°C. SPORT mode delivers permanent 50:50 torque for sharper response. SNOW mode maintains balanced torque with optimized slip control for confident driving on low-grip surfaces.
The intelligent AWD system delivers up to 320 kW power, 502 Nm torque, and 0–100 km/h acceleration in 5.5 seconds. It also improves hill climbing with a 40% gradient capability, ensures stability by actively balancing power to prevent skidding, and enables safer cornering at higher speeds through optimized grip and vehicle dynamics.
Changan Standard: Proven in the Alps, Bound for the World
Changan Standard is defined by a principle: forged in extremes, built for every day. From Yakeshi to the Alps, the test environments are selected to verify specific performance attributes—safety technologies, chassis response, all-wheel-drive calibration, and ADAS in low-grip scenarios. The objective of 2026 Global Testing Season is not to demonstrate extremes, but to confirm consistency: that the same level of safety, control, and stability demonstrated will be replicated in Mexico, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.
Hashtag: #Changan
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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