Efimova and Mitrofanov's Four Continents win shows what US team could be missing at the Olympics

U.S. pairs champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov underscored exactly what the American team could be missing at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday when they rallied to win the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing.

Efimova and Mitrofanov were in third place, nearly five points back of China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, after the short program. But they rallied to win the free skate and finished with 205.34 points, while Sui and Han — who will be trying to defend their Olympic title when they get to Milan in less than two weeks — slipped to second with 200.99 points.

Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan fell from second to third with 197.46 points.

Efimova and Mitrofanov were the talk of the U.S. championships earlier this month, not only because of their performance in St. Louis but also because of their situation. While he was born in Wisconsin and raised in Texas, Efimova was born in Finland, and the only way that athletes can compete at the Winter Olympics is if they are citizens of the nation they are representing.

Efimova married Mitrofanov nearly two years ago and has a valid green card. But despite help from officials in Massachusetts, where they train at the Skating Club of Boston, she was unable to secure a passport before the U.S. had to select its Olympic team.

The rules are different for non-Olympic events, such as Four Continents and the world championships. Those events are run by the International Skating Union, not governed by the International Olympic Committee, so Efimova is allowed to represent the U.S. there.

Efimova and Mitrofanov would have been podium contenders in the pairs event in Milan. They also would have been able to help the Americans in the team event, where they are the defending champions. Instead, the U.S. will have to rely on national silver medalists Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea and fourth-place finishers Emily Chan and Spencer Howe in the team competition.

Earlier on Saturday, Kao Miura led a Japanese sweep of the short program at Four Continents, scoring 98.59 points in his final tune-up for the Milan Cortina Olympics. Kazuki Tomono was second with 97.19 points and Sota Yamamoto was third with 94.68.

Tomono and Yamamoto are not part of the Japanese team going to the Winter Games.

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, Jin Boyang of China and Junhwan Cha of South Korea were right behind; all of them will be in the men's competition in Milan. None of the U.S. team that's headed to the Olympics is competing at Four Continents, leaving Tomoki Hiwatashi to lead the American contingent in eighth place with 80.88 points at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing.

The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships conclude Sunday with the men's free skate.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Tomoki Hiwatashi of the United States competes in the Men Short Program of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Kao Miura of Japan competes in the Men Short Program of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States react after the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States compete in the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the United States celebrate with their national flag and medals after the Pairs Free Skating of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

PIOMBINO DESE, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 8, 2026--

Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE: STVN), a leading global provider of drug containment, drug delivery, and diagnostic solutions for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life sciences industries, today introduced Deora™, a new proprietary pen injector platform targeting incretin-based therapies, as well as supporting other originator and biosimilar drug development programs.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260608096966/en/

Deora™ is a multi-use, fixed-dose pen injector featuring a simple pull-push mechanism for dose setting and delivery: the user pulls to set the dose, then pushes to inject. This intuitive sequence eliminates the need for manual dose selection, reducing common sources of use error and supporting consistent drug delivery across multiple administrations. The platform is compatible with standard 1.5 mL and 3 mL cartridges and accommodates fixed-dose volumes up to 0.75 mL.

“With Deora™, we are broadening our product offering in therapeutic areas experiencing strong global demand and favorable market momentum,” said Michele Monico, President of Drug Delivery Systems and In Vitro Diagnostics at Stevanato Group. "We believe there is space for a simple, multi-use device that enhances the patient experience while simultaneously reducing the pressure on supply chain scale-up. Our belief has been supported by early customer interest, and we are providing our pharmaceutical partners with evaluation units to support early-stage testing and development activities.”

The device architecture provides flexibility across multiple fixed-dose configurations while minimizing the need for design changes across variants. In addition, it is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing supply chains, enabling efficient industrialization and scalable manufacturing.

“Deora™ further expands Stevanato Group’s proprietary portfolio of drug delivery devices, providing a solution designed for multi-dose therapies requiring consistent administration and ease of use in a familiar pen format,” added Michele Monico. “Customers can now choose from different hand-held device platforms – Alina®, Aidaptus®, and Deora™ – to address a broad range of therapeutic needs.”

Deora™ leverages Stevanato Group’s established manufacturing capabilities, with production aligned to support future commercialization. Drawing on its end-to-end expertise across glass manufacturing, analytical services, and device engineering, Stevanato Group offers fully integrated solutions that can simplify development for pharmaceutical partners.

Together, these characteristics position Deora™ as a platform intended to support partners as they advance early development programs and prepare for future scale-up.

About Stevanato Group

Founded in 1949, Stevanato Group is a leading global provider of drug containment, drug delivery and diagnostic solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences industries. The Group delivers an integrated, end-to-end portfolio of products, processes and services that address customer needs across the entire drug life cycle at each of the development, clinical and commercial stages. Stevanato Group’s core capabilities in scientific research and development, its commitment to technical innovation and its engineering excellence are central to its ability to offer value added solutions to clients. To learn more, visit: www.stevanatogroup.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include forward-looking statements. The words “strong”, “experiencing”, “believe”, “are providing”, “position”, “advance”, “intended”, “prepare”, “future”, and similar expressions (or their negative) identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are statements regarding the Company's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the investments the Company expects to receive, the expansion of manufacturing capacity, the Company’s plans regarding its presence in the U.S. market, business strategies, the Company’s capacity to meet future market demands and support preparedness for future public health emergencies, and results of operations. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company’s present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behavior of other market participants, the actions of regulators and other factors such as the Company's ability to continue to obtain financing to meet its liquidity needs, changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which the Company operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Deora™ is Stevanato Group’s multi-use, fixed-dose pen injector designed for subcutaneous drug delivery in therapies such as diabetes and weight management. Featuring an intuitive pull‑push mechanism, the device simplifies dose administration by eliminating the need for manual dose selection: users pull to set the dose and push to inject, supporting consistent delivery across multiple administrations. The platform accommodates fixed-dose volumes up to 0.75 mL and is compatible with standard 1.5 mL and 3 mL cartridges, offering flexibility across a range of therapeutic applications. Engineered with patient usability in mind, Deora™ provides tactile, visual, and audible feedback during operation, helping reduce common sources of use error. Its architecture is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing supply chains, enabling efficient industrialization and scalable manufacturing for pharmaceutical partners