PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 1, 2026--
Rimsys, the heart of medtech regulatory operations, today announced Market Access, a new AI-native product designed to help companies determine whether a market is worth entering and what it will take to get there. Market Access will be available in beta beginning September 1, 2026, with general availability to be announced separately.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260901450448/en/
Market Access replaces what can be a 6-to-9-month research and assessment process with a same-day, actionable read on market viability. It gives regulatory and commercial leaders the classification, pathway, timeline, cost considerations, and potential regulatory gaps they need to make a more defensible investment decision before committing budget and resources.
Predictability is at the core of Market Access. Rather than simply identifying a regulatory pathway, it helps teams understand what to expect, which requirements or gaps are most likely to slow down a submission, and where uncertainty remains. Every answer traces back to the specific regulation, guidance, or law behind it, allowing regulatory professionals to verify the underlying source rather than simply trust an AI-generated response.
Key features and benefits include:
“Regulatory knowledge has traditionally been highly dependent on individual expertise and market-by-market research,” said James Gianoutsos, Founder and CEO of Rimsys. “Market Access gives companies greater predictability before they make a market investment. Teams can understand whether an opportunity is worth pursuing, what it will take to enter, where regulatory challenges are likely to emerge, and what uncertainty remains. And because every answer is tied to its regulatory source, experts can verify the recommendation rather than simply trust the AI.”
Market Access is powered by Rimsys AI, which works from a curated regulatory corpus spanning more than 200 markets, not the open web. Its Market Manager Agents are AI agents with market-specific regulatory knowledge, including pathways, requirements, and documentation, that support market assessments and global launch planning. The product is also designed to acknowledge areas where reviewer interpretation and expert judgment can affect regulatory outcomes rather than presenting those outcomes as more predictable than they are.
Market Access expands the Rimsys product portfolio from regulatory execution into market planning. Market Access helps regulatory and commercial leaders determine where to compete, while RIM manages the registrations, submissions, regulatory changes, product data, and ongoing compliance required to enter and remain in those markets. Together, they turn regulatory intelligence into coordinated action, helping regulatory teams accomplish more in every hour while giving business leaders greater visibility into opportunities, risk, and the work required to protect and grow revenue.
Beta Availability
Market Access will be available in beta beginning September 1, 2026. During the beta period, Rimsys will continue validating product capabilities and refining workflows ahead of broader commercial availability.
Organizations interested in learning more about Market Access or participating in the beta program can visit rimsys.io/products/market-access.
About Rimsys
Rimsys is the heart of regulatory operations, connecting AI-native market planning with AI-embedded regulatory execution, giving medtech manufacturers one living system from market-entry decision to execution.
Rimsys Market Access is the planning layer, answering not just whether a market can be entered, but whether it should be, returning classification, pathway, timeline, and cost before a team commits budget or resources to finding out. Rimsys RIM is the execution layer, managing registrations, submissions, regulatory changes, and compliance so teams can act on that plan with confidence.
Trusted by 6 of the top 12 global MedTech manufacturers and certified to ISO 27001 and SOC 2, with ISO 42001 certification for AI management systems underway, Rimsys keeps regulatory intelligence, product data, approvals, and change management continuously connected so teams can enter new markets with speed and assurance. Learn more at rimsys.io.
From market-entry decision to regulatory execution. AI-native Market Access helps medtech teams decide whether, when, and how to enter a market, then connects the plan to AI-enabled RIM for execution.
MADRID (AP) — In crowded subway cars and sun-drenched plazas, an old-fashioned accessory in Spain has been everywhere thanks to the blistering summer heat.
Small enough to fit into a purse, the traditional Spanish folding hand fan, or abanico, snaps open into a semicircle. With little more than a flick of the wrist, it creates a surprisingly strong breeze.
As successive heat waves in Western Europe pushed temperatures this summer to punishing levels, the accessory has become essential, embraced by the young and old from Spain and elsewhere. Women — and a growing number of men — unfurl them on public transport, at concerts and at music festivals. In July, rainbow-colored abanicos were everywhere during Madrid’s raucous Pride celebrations.
On a recent August day, 20-year-old Ana Feliu blocked the sun with a paper abanico she was gifted during a Valencian festival. She carries it everywhere in the summer, she said.
“This one is my favorite because it's the biggest, but I have many more,” she told The Associated Press near Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square. Later in the week, temperatures in the Spanish capital were expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit).
Also fanning himself was David González, whose abanico featured pinks, purples and reds.
“At first, I felt a little self-conscious, because it’s something that’s mainly associated with women, but I have to admit it serves a purpose — and it brightens my day,” said González, 53.
Historians believe the folding fan reached Europe through Portuguese maritime trade with Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries.
As early as the mid-17th century, the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez made his enigmatic "The Lady with a Fan," in which a woman, possibly French, poses with what appears to be a delicate wooden abanico.
As they grew fashionable in European courts, Spain developed a taste and industry of its own. Madrid became an important center of production, and by the 18th century, Valencia had emerged as the Spanish fan-making capital.
“During the 18th century, the printing industry really took off. And printing meant that the leaves of fans could be produced quite cheaply,” said Mary Kitson, curatorial consultant to The Fan Museum in London.
So embedded was the abanico in Spanish aristocratic society by the 1800s that women used them to discreetly express flirtation, interest or disapproval through what was called “the language of the fan.”
From Spain, the hand fan traveled to Latin America. In the 19th century, flamenco dancers began using the abanico as an expressive prop, as Cuban song and dance styles such as the guajira influenced the dance form. Over time, the fan’s association with flamenco helped turn it into a quintessential Spanish symbol.
“The fan is a perfect element because, on the one hand, it evokes the heat and humidity of Cuba — that heavy, oppressive feeling,” said Carmen Torres, a 44-year-old flamenco dancer in southern Spain. “And at the same time, it gives us a way to bring out the seductive, coquettish quality.”
For more than a century and a half, Javier Llerandi’s family has sold abanicos out of Casa de Diego, a wood-paneled shop in Madrid.
“We live from the heat,” Llerandi told the AP.
The fans at Casa de Diego are made in Spain and range from simple two-tone wooden ones to elaborate, hand-painted items crafted from mother-of-pearl with intricate floral patterns. They start at around 30 euros ($35), while others range from 200 to 500 euros (up to $580), with some high-end pieces reaching 6,000 euros (nearly $7,000). The price depends on the materials used, but even more so on the craftsmanship involved, he said.
As Madrid has grown into a tourist hot spot, foreign visitors are also snatching up his fans, which Llerandi notes are more reliable than their portable, electric counterparts.
“Battery-run items eventually run out of power, and always at the worst possible moment,” Llerandi said, adding with a smile: “Without a doubt, heat waves are good for this business.”
And for the less discerning customer, plastic fans with printed designs are sold for a few euros at souvenir kiosks, including one a couple hundred meters from Llerandi's store. There, too, a salesperson reported strong sales this summer.
Outside a towering bullfighting ring in Madrid, Juani Duran sells wooden hand fans with traditional floral designs for five euros apiece at a stall. Bullfights take place in open-air stadiums, and spectators traditionally dress up to attend them, making the elegant fans a fitting accessory.
“You’ll usually find a hand fan in any woman’s pocket — and in some men’s, too,” Duran said before a late-August bullfight.
“They're not the best quality,” she said, pointing at her stock, "but they'll get you through the summer."
Associated Press photographer Laura León in Seville, Spain, contributed to this report.
A man uses a fan to cool off during the La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Malaga at the Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Mass-produced fans featuring tourist images of Seville are displayed in a shop window in Seville, Spain, on Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)
Carmen Torres, a professional flamenco dancer, rehearses a guajira, a flamenco style that traditionally incorporates the use of a fan, in Seville, Spain, on Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)
Fans are displayed at Casa Diego, a fan shop in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A street vendor sells fans near the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A woman uses a fan to cool herself on the subway in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
