Stockwinners Market Radar for March 29, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

17:58 EDT PG&E extends shareholder submission deadline regarding board to Apr 1st - On March 29, 2019, the board of PG&E determined to further extend the deadline pursuant to the corporation's bylaws for receipt of written notice by a shareholder of any business, including the nomination of any person for election to the Board, to be brought before the corporation's 2019 annual meeting of shareholders from March 29, 2019 to April 1, 2019. Any director nomination or other proposal received by the Corporate Secretary of the Corporation prior to 5:00 p.m. PDT on April 1, 2019 and otherwise complying with the Bylaws may be submitted to the shareholders for voting at the 2019 Annual Meeting. The corporation continues to be actively engaged in constructive discussions with its shareholders and other stakeholders regarding the previously announced Board refreshment process.

17:37 EDT Lockheed Martin awarded $237.52M Army contract for rocket system modification - Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $237.52M fixed-price-incentive contract for development and qualification of a hardware design modification to the guided multiple launch rocket system. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of November 1, 2021. FY19 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $81.74M were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity.

17:25 EDT Northrop Grumman awarded $104.04M Navy contract for mission computer procurement - Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $104.04M firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of up to 503 technical refresh mission computers for UH-1Y, AH-1Z and UH-60V aircraft, including production units; retrofit units; and spare units for the Marine Corps, Defense Logistics Agency and the government of Bahrain under the Foreign Military Sales Act. Work will be performed in Utah, Maryland and California. Work is expected to be completed in December 2023. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.

17:06 EDT El Paso Electric seeks approval to recover $7.9M in costs through DCRF surcharge - El Paso Electric, or EPE, filed with the city of El Paso, other municipalities incorporated in its Texas service territory and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, or PUCT, to implement a distribution cost recovery factor, or DCRF, surcharge for its Texas customers. The DCRF allows an electric utility to timely recover costs for investments in the distribution infrastructure necessary for serving its customers. Approximately $130M in capital investments have been made to EPE's electric distribution infrastructure and placed in service from October 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018, that are not currently reflected in EPE's Texas rates. These capital investments are necessary to provide safe and reliable service to over 325,000 customers across 3,000 square miles in Texas. Through this filing, EPE is seeking approval to recover approximately $7.9M in distribution-related costs for infrastructure serving its Texas' customers. The proposed DCRF surcharge will result in a $1.18 per month increase for Texas residential customers with an average monthly usage of 630 kilowatt hours. If approved, the DCRF surcharge could go into effect later this year.

17:01 EDT Ocwen comments on settlement with Massachussets Attorney General - Ocwen Financial Corporation issued the following statement in conjunction with the resolution of the lawsuit filed against the company by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General in April 2017. "We have agreed to resolve this matter, which covers certain legacy servicing activities, without admitting liability. While Ocwen believes that it has sound legal and factual defenses, we concluded that settling this matter in order to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation is in the best interest of Ocwen and its constituents, and resolves another legacy matter. We are committed to serving our customers in a fair and appropriate manner, and we look forward to continuing to work proactively with our regulators and making a difference in the lives of the customers we serve." The resolution includes a payment to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of $675,000, a loan modification program for certain eligible Massachusetts borrowers and certain already-completed relief. This settlement amount is included in the company's recorded liability as of December 31, 2018.

17:00 EDT Ventas director Cobb sells 10K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Ventas disclosed that its Chief Investment Officer John Cobb sold 10K shares of common stock on March 28th. The total transaction size was $648.8K.

16:19 EDT Preferred Bank sells two multi-family Manhattan properties, records $1.4M loss - Preferred Bank announced the disposition of the bank's two non-performing multi-family properties located in Manhattan, New York which were acquired through foreclosure of two non-performing loans in January. The bank sold the two properties, with a book value of $36.9M in one sale to one buyer. This transaction closed and due to transfer and other taxes associated with the sale, the bank will record a loss on sale of approximately $1.4M.

16:10 EDT Anson Funds Management reports 8.7% passive stake in Oragenics - In a regulatory filing, Anson Funds Management disclosed an 8.7% stake in Oragenics, which represents 4M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

15:53 EDT Advaxis to present preliminary data from Phase 1 study of ADXS-NEO - Advaxis announced the presentation of ADXS-NEO data in a poster discussion entitled "Safety and Immunogenicity of a Personalized Neoantigen-Listeria Vaccine in Cancer Patients" at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting underway in Atlanta. The discussion will be held on Sunday, March 31. "Advaxis' ADXS-NEO is a novel, personalized vaccine encoding mutations specific to an individual patient's tumor designed to induce anti-cancer immunity. Four patients have been evaluated across two dose levels thus far in this ongoing clinical trial. While dose level 1 was determined to be above the MTD, dose level -1a has been safe and well tolerated in two patients treated to date, with primarily Grade 1 and Grade 2 chills, fever and tachycardia. Substantial immunological activity was observed across both dose levels, including rapid neoantigen-specific CD8+ T cell generation, which is essential for potential clinical benefit. We look forward to the planned combination therapy arm with checkpoint inhibitors," said J. Randolph Hecht, M.D., Professor of Clinical Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Director of the UCLA Gastrointestinal Oncology Program.

15:34 EDT Energous rises 10% after Apple cancels AirPower wireless charging product - Shares of Energous (WATT) are up 59c, or 9.6%, to $6.76 after it was reported by multiple media outlets that Apple (AAPL) has canceled its AirPower wireless charging product. Energous develops wireless charging technologies and products.

15:16 EDT The Fed, FDIC does not see deficiences in bank's 2017 resolution plans - The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, announced that they completed their evaluation of the 2017 resolution plans for 14 domestic banking organizations and issued their expectations for the firms' next resolution plan submissions, which are due on or before December 31. Resolution plans, required by the Dodd-Frank Act and commonly known as living wills, must describe a firm's strategy for rapid and orderly resolution under bankruptcy in the event of material financial distress or failure of the firm. The 14 firms evaluated were: Ally Financial (ALLY), American Express Company (AXP), BB&T Corporation (BBT), Capital One Financial (COF), Discover Financial Services (DFS), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), KeyCorp (KEY), M&T Bank Corporation (MTB), Northern Trust Corporation (NTRS), Regions Financial Corporation (RF), SunTrust Banks (STI), The PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), and U.S. Bancorp (USB). The agencies did not identify any deficiencies or shortcomings in the 2017 resolution plans, which are weaknesses that the firms are required to address. The agencies previously identified three shortcomings in Northern Trust's 2015 resolution plan, and decided that Northern Trust's 2017 resolution plan satisfactorily addressed these three shortcomings. Reference Link

14:58 EDT Reliant Bancorp names David Kowalski CAO - Reliant Bancorp, Inc. announced the addition of David Kowalski as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller. In his new role, Kowalski will manage the company's accounting processes and staff. He will also direct financial and accounting policies, processes, controls and reporting systems. Kowalski most recently served as Director of Financial Operations at Franklin Synergy Bank.

13:36 EDT Bristol-Myers 'pleased' with Celgene's settlement with Alvogen - Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) issued the following statement regarding Celgene's (CELG) settlement with Lotus Pharmaceutical and Alvogen Pine Brook relating to patents for Revlimid: "We are pleased that Celgene has reached a settlement with Alvogen related to patents for Revlimid. This announcement is consistent with our assumptions during due diligence and provides further clarity and security around the patent estate for Revlimid. We are confident in the strength of our combination with Celgene and our ability to create a premier biopharma company with leading franchises and a deep and broad pipeline that will drive sustainable growth. We look forward to continuing to work with Celgene to complete the transaction, and strongly urge all Bristol-Myers Squibb shareholders to vote 'for' the proposals relating to the proposed transaction with Celgene at the upcoming Special Meeting."

13:03 EDT Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count down 10 to 1,006 rigs - Baker Hughes reports that the U.S. rig count is down 10 rigs from last week to 1,006, with oil rigs down 8 to 816, gas rigs down 2 to 190, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0. The U.S. Rig Count is up 13 rigs from last year's count of 993, with oil rigs up 19, gas rigs down 4, and miscellaneous rigs down 2. The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is up 3 rigs to 23 and up 11 rigs year-over-year. The Canada Rig Count is down 17 rigs from last week to 88, with oil rigs down 14 to 35 and gas rigs down 3 to 53. The Canada Rig Count is down 46 rigs from last year's count of 134, with oil rigs down 36 and gas rigs down 10.

12:15 EDT Elliott says 'fully supportive' of Telecom Italia, CEO, management, board - Elliott Advisors said in a statement that it "welcomes Vivendi's (VIVHY) decision to withdraw its request to shareholders to revoke five of Telecom Italia's (TI) Directors, a clear sign that Vivendi understands that there is broad support for TIM's existing independent Board. This outcome is a victory for the company and paves the way for stability and sustained value creation for all of TIM's stakeholders. Elliott remains fully supportive of CEO Luigi Gubitosi, the company's management team and the existing independent Board, and looks forward to constructive dialogue with all stakeholders to pursue a value maximizing path forward for the company."

12:12 EDT WWE says Atresmedia to air Raw and SmackDown in Spain - WWE and Atresmedia announced an agreement to air WWE's programs Raw and SmackDown in Spain. "Every week beginning Saturday, April 6, Mega will air a two-hour version of Raw at 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and SmackDown at 1:00 p.m. on Sundays, both with Castilian Spanish commentary," WWE said in a statement. "Atresmedia shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining our fans, and we are proud to have a best-in-class TV partner in Spain," said Stefan Kastenmuller, WWE SVP & Group General Manager EMEA. "This agreement enables us to expand our reach in Spain and continue to deliver action-packed, family-friendly entertainment to our fans."

12:04 EDT Starboard withdraws proxy solicitation to vote against Celgene buyout

12:03 EDT Canadian National to invest over $5M in Nova Scotia rail infrastructure in 2019 - Canadian National said it plans to invest more than $5M in the Nova Scotia in 2019 to strengthen the company's rail network across the province, improving safety and supporting efficient service. "Following a record capital program in 2018, CN has been able to take on more traffic from different commodity sectors based on contracts with our customers," said Michael Farkouh, Vice-President of CN's Eastern Region. "This year, we are continuing to invest to boost capacity and network resiliency and to meet growing traffic on our corridors across the region. Over two years, CN will have made a $25-million investment in Nova Scotia."

12:01 EDT Fresenius Medical to pay $231M to resolve probes into FCPA violations - Fresenius Medical Care has agreed to pay approximately $231M to resolve investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with Fresenius's participation in various corrupt schemes to obtain business in multiple foreign countries. According to Fresenius's admissions in connection with the resolution, between 2007 and 2016, Fresenius paid bribes to publicly employed health and/or government officials to obtain or retain business in Angola and Saudi Arabia. In Angola and Saudi Arabia, as well as in Morocco, Spain, Turkey and countries in West Africa, Fresenius knowingly and willfully failed to implement reasonable internal accounting controls over financial transactions and failed to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflected the transactions, the company admitted.

12:00 EDT Hovnanian falls -17.5% - Hovnanian is down -17.5%, or -$2.40 to $11.35.

12:00 EDT Noah Holdings rises 9.4% - Noah Holdings is up 9.4%, or $4.32 to $50.35.

12:00 EDT BlackBerry rises 13.4% - BlackBerry is up 13.4%, or $1.19 to $10.07.

11:24 EDT CVI Investments reports 8.7% passive stake in Oragenics - In a regulatory filing, CVI Investments disclosed an 8.7% stake in Oragenics, which represents 4M common shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

11:05 EDT Nickelodeon acquires Sparkler to bolster Noggin - Nickelodeon's has acquired Sparkler and has installed its co-founder Kristen Kane as the new leader for the direct-to-consumer preschool subscription service. Sparkler is an early learning platform that measures child development and delivers personalized content and coaching to parents to improve child outcomes. Over the next year, Sparkler's technology will be integrated into Noggin's platform, enabling parents to guide and support their kids' continued growth and development through engaging, playable content and experiences on and off screen, with personalized features that track progress over time. Kane, in the new role of Noggin's EVP, will oversee the integration of Sparkler and drive Noggin's strategy and next phase of development as an educational digital platform. She will be based in New York and report to Nickelodeon President Brian Robbins.

10:47 EDT Guardant Health insiders able to sell shares Monday as lock-up expires - Shares of precision oncology company Guardant Health (GH) may see additional trading volatility this Monday when a lock-up expires on a number of shares of its stock. Lock-up agreements, a typical feature of company stock offerings, prevent certain shareholders from selling for a set amount of time after the offering. WHAT'S COMING: A number of shares of Guardant stock will become available for sale Monday, April 1, as a lock-up related to the company's initial public offering of stock expires. In a regulatory filing related to the IPO, Guardant previously stated: "Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell their shares, could result in a decrease in the market price of our common stock. Immediately after this offering, we will have outstanding 83,557,281 shares of common stock based on the number of shares outstanding as of June 30, 2018. This includes the shares that we are selling in this offering, which may be resold in the public market immediately without restriction, unless purchased by our affiliates. Of the remaining shares, substantially all are currently restricted as a result of securities laws or 180-day lock-up agreements but will be able to be sold after the offering... Moreover, after this offering, holders of an aggregate of up to 58,272,213 shares of our common stock, including shares of our common stock issuable upon the conversion of the shares of our convertible preferred stock that will be outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of this offering, will have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders." NOTABLE SHAREHOLDERS: According to Bloomberg data, 13.1% of Guardant shares are held by insiders. Chief Executive Officer Helmy Eltoukhy is the individual with the largest stake, with a position of roughly 5.37M shares, or 6.25% of the stock outstanding, Bloomberg data shows. SoftBank (SFTBF), an early investor, is Guardant's top shareholder with a 32% stake, Bloomberg has reported. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading on Friday, Guardant Health shares are up $4.23, or 5.7%, to $77.93. Guardant Health came public on October 4, 2018, pricing its IPO at $19.00 per shares and opening for trade at $27.75 per share.

10:00 EDT CarMax rises 8.9% - CarMax is up 8.9%, or $5.66 to $69.34.

10:00 EDT BlackBerry rises 12.2% - BlackBerry is up 12.2%, or $1.08 to $9.96.

09:47 EDT Eagle Materials rises 11.4% - Eagle Materials is up 11.4%, or $8.33 to $81.66.

09:22 EDT Altisource to sell financial services business to Transworld Systems for $44M - Altisource announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its financial services business to Transworld Systems, or TSI, for $44M, consisting of an up-front payment of $40M, subject to a working capital adjustment upon closing of the sale and an additional $4M to be paid on the one year anniversary of the sale closing. In connection with the transaction, the parties will also enter into a transition services agreement that will provide for the management and orderly transition of certain services and technologies to TSI after the sale closes. Altisource's financial services business provides customer relationship call center, accounts receivable management and mortgage charge-off collection services to clients within the financial services, insurance, hospitality, utility and retail credit industries. Altisource currently estimates it will recognize a pretax gain of more than $20M from the sale, which is anticipated to close before the end of Q3 and intends to use the $40M up-front payment, subject to a working capital adjustment, to repay a portion of its senior secured term loan.

09:12 EDT Caligan Partners, Falcon Edge say Knowles could be valued at over $28 per share - Caligan Partners and Falcon Edge Capital, which manage funds that beneficially own more than 6.7% of Knowles Corp., released a letter outlining financial, operational, strategic, and governance failures at Knowles. The firms said, "The letter, addressed to the company's Board, highlights simple, low-risk initiatives that Knowles could implement to begin to address the root causes of its significant underperformance as a public company. The letter noted that Caligan and Falcon Edge believe that the opportunity could lead to Knowles being valued at more than $28 per share, representing upside of more than 70% from today's price." The letter read, in part, "We have now been in discussions with the CEO and the Chairman of the Board of Knowles for the last six weeks, but, unfortunately, have concluded that this Board will neither embrace reasonable transparency nor hold senior management accountable for future failures in execution unless shareholders mandate it. We presented you with three low-risk initiatives that would benefit Knowles' employees, customers and shareholders: Provide Transparency to Shareholders on Intelligent Audio...Conduct a Strategic Review of Knowles' Precision Devices Segment...Add Our Experienced Nominees to Knowles' Board."

09:08 EDT GameStop: Hestia plans to nominate four to board, says 'welcomes' communication - GameStop confirmed that Hestia Capital Partners LP, which owns approximately 160,000 shares of GameStop common stock, provided notice of its intent to nominate four individuals to stand for election to the Company's Board of Directors at GameStop's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. GameStop said in a statement that it "welcomes open communications with its shareholders and values constructive input toward the goal of enhancing shareholder value. Over the past several weeks, members of GameStop's Board and the Company's advisors have had extensive correspondence and held multiple discussions with Hestia, Permit Capital and their representatives to better understand their views. GameStop approached discussions with Hestia and Permit earnestly and in good faith. We offered to nominate one of their proposed candidates and appoint an additional independent director to the Board, in consultation with Hestia and Permit. These two additions, in conjunction with the Board appointments of George Sherman, our new Chief Executive Officer, in April 2019, and independent director Carrie Teffner, in August 2018, would have resulted in the election of four new directors to GameStop's Board within approximately eight months. In order to advance this effort and to avoid unnecessary expense and distraction associated with a proxy fight, we asked Hestia to provide names of proposed directors for Board consideration. Despite our efforts to be constructive and responsive, Hestia and Permit declined to provide information on director candidates, other than Hestia managing member Kurt Wolf, and rejected our proposal. GameStop remains open to reaching an agreement with Hestia and Permit following additional discussions." The Company, in consultation with its advisors, will review Hestia and Permit's notice of nominations to assess whether it complies with the Company's Amended and Restated Bylaws.

09:07 EDT Hilton Grand Vacations, Japan Airlines announce expanded partnership - Hilton Grand Vacations and Japan Airlines, or JAL, announced a comprehensive plan to develop new programs and services that capitalize on HGV's vacation ownership and JAL's Hawaii flight experience. These premium brands will work together to grow travel between Japan and Hawaii, as well as broaden options for enhanced vacation experiences in Hawaii. The expanded relationship between HGV - a leading vacation ownership company with a strong global presence and resorts in both Hawaii and Japan - and JAL - an international airline - is expected to provide an elevated experience for travelers. This collaboration is in response to the increasing needs of Japanese travelers seeking memorable vacation experiences in Hawaii.

09:06 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Wells Fargo (WFC), up 2% after CEO Tim Sloan announced his intention to retire... Marker Therapeutics (MRKR), up 21% after providing a business and pipeline update... Viking Therapeutics (VKTX), up 4% after being upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at SVB Leerink. UP AFTER EARNINGS: BlackBerry (BB), up 12%... CarMax (KMX), up 5%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: RH (RH), down 14%... Smart Global (SGH), down 19%. LOWER: Chiasma (CHMA), down 19% after filing to sell an undisclosed amount of its common stock... DowDuPont (DWDP), down 2% after cutting its Q1 revenue view... AstraZeneca (AZN), down 6% after entering a commercialization pact with Daiichi Sankyo for cancer drug candidate DS-8201 with an up front payment of $1.35B and total potential payment of $6.9B.

09:05 EDT MongoDB appoints Lena Smart CISO - MongoDB announced Lena Smart will be joining MongoDB as the company's first chief information security officer, or CISO. Smart joins the company to oversee MongoDB's ongoing product security efforts which include standards for products and services and educational efforts around security best practices. She will be responsible for growing MongoDB's global security team and evolving the company's security approach to match ever-changing threat vectors in both on premise and cloud database environments. Smart will report to MongoDB CTO and co-founder Eliot Horowitz.

09:04 EDT CEL-SCI says IDMC recommends continuing Phase 3 head and neck cancer study - CEL-SCI Corporation announced that the Independent Data Monitoring Committee for the company's pivotal Phase 3 head and neck cancer study of its investigational immunotherapy Multikine has completed its recent review of the Phase 3 study data. The data from all 928 enrolled patients were provided to the IDMC by the clinical research organization responsible for data management of this Phase 3 study. The IDMC made the following recommendation: The IDMC recommendation is to continue the trial until the appropriate number of events have occurred.

08:41 EDT MSA Safety to acquire Sierra Monitor - Sierra Monitor, or SMC, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by MSA Safety. Under terms of the agreement, Sierra Monitor will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of MSA Safety. Upon closing, each issued and outstanding share of SMC common stock will be cancelled and automatically converted into the right to receive $3.25 in cash, without interest, representing a 55% premium to the closing price on March 28. Under the merger agreement, at the effective time of the Merger, MSA Safety will assume vested or unvested and outstanding SMC stock options and restricted stock awards granted to SMC employees.

08:37 EDT ADDvantage to sell Missouri, Pennsylvania facilities to David Chymiak for $2.1M - ADDvantage announced it has signed agreements to sell its facilities located in Sedalia, Missouri and Warminster, Pennsylvania for a total of $2.1M to David Chymiak, LLC, a company controlled by David Chymiak, the company's CTO, board member and a substantial shareholder. Selling these two facilities advances the company's strategy to divest its cable TV segment and focus exclusively on growing its Telco segment. The Sedalia, MO facility sale, which closed yesterday, was for $1.35M in cash, with a 10 year leaseback of $10,687.50 per month. The sale of the Warminster, PA facility will be for $725,000 with a 10 year leaseback of $5,739.58 per month and is expected to close with the next few weeks. The Warminster sale will be paid 80% in cash upon closing, with the remainder due at the earlier of either the closing of the cable TV segment sale or six months. The proceeds from both sales will be credited to the purchase price and down payment required under the stock purchase agreement relating to the sale of cable TV, contingent upon the shareholders vote in favor of the sale of the cable TV segment, which is anticipated to occur in Q3. The facility in Sedalia, Missouri houses the company's ComTech services business and consists of land, an office, a warehouse and service center, totaling approximately 60,300 square feet. The Warminster, Pennsylvania facility houses the company's NCS ndustries business and consists of an office and warehouse and service center of approximately 12,000 square feet.

08:36 EDT Hologic 'applauds' FDA's proposed rules to update mammography regulations - The company said, "Hologic applauds the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposed rule updating its regulations issued under the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992. The proposed amendments, the first changes made to the act in 20 years, emphasize the significant role breast density can play in cancer detection and require uniform reporting of a patient's breast density to patients and medical providers nationwide. Nearly half of women between the ages of 40 to 74 have dense breasts, which can make it difficult to detect breast cancer during annual screenings as the dense tissue can obscure cancers. Additionally, women with very dense breasts are four to five times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with less dense breasts. Hologic's Genius exam provides radiologists with a series of images, allowing them to evaluate the breast layer by layer and identify cancers that may be hidden by breast tissue. The Genius exam is the only mammography exam FDA approved to find more cancers and reduce recalls in dense breasts. Today, more than 50 percent of mammography systems across the country utilize breast tomosynthesis, according to MQSA data. Since 2011, Hologic has installed more than 6,000 3D Mammography systems throughout the United States. The Genius Mammography System is the only mammography exam clinically proven to detect 20 to 65 percent more invasive breast cancers compared to 2D alone, and is only available on a Hologic 3D Mammography system."

08:34 EDT PepsiCo names Steven Williams as CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America - PepsiCo announced that Steven Williams, currently senior vice president and chief commercial officer for Frito-Lay's U.S. operations, has been appointed to the role of CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America, which includes Frito-Lay North America and Quaker Foods North America, effective immediately. Williams replaces Vivek Sankaran who will depart the company on April 12 to become president and CEO of Albertsons Companies.

08:23 EDT MGP Ingredients receives FDA approval for dietary fiber source labeling - MGP Ingredients announced the formal approval of its citizen petition requesting dietary fiber status under the new nutrition facts labeling regulations for its brands of Fibersym RW and FiberRite RW. The FDA has informed the company that the FDA is proposing to amend the list of non-digestible carbohydrates that meet the definition of dietary fiber to include the company's Fibersym RW and FiberRite RW. The FDA also informed the company that it will exercise enforcement discretion until it completes its rulemaking amending its regulations on the definition of dietary fiber. With this action, Fibersym and FiberRite can continue to provide dietary fiber benefits on food labels to support the growing opportunities for healthy food applications.

08:19 EDT China Advanced Construction names new CEO and CFO - China Advanced Construction is pleased to announce the appointment of Yang Liu as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, succeeding Xianfu Han as the company's CEO and Chairman, as well as the appointment of Lili Jiang as CFO and director of the company who is succeeding Weili He as the company's interim CFO and director. Prior to joining CADC, Liu served as the President at Wave Sync, an OTC company from July 2017 to August 2018. From 2016 to the present, Jiang served as an overseas healthcare business representative for Aolan Healthcare Man.

08:18 EDT Spero Therapeutics receives fast track designation for SPR994 from FDA - Spero Therapeutics announced that the FDA granted fast track designation for SPR994, Spero's lead product candidate designed to be the first oral carbapenem antibiotic, for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections, or cUTI, and acute pyelonephritis.

08:15 EDT Krystal Biotech receives PRIME eligibility for KB103 from EMA - Krystal Biotech announced that the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, has granted access to its PRIME scheme for KB103, a topical gene therapy for the treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Krystal's application was supported by clinical data to date from the ongoing GEM-1 Phase 1/2 study coupled with non-clinical data.

08:09 EDT Versum Materials' board rejects unsolicited tender offer from Merck KGaA - Versum Materials (VSM) announced that its board of directors unanimously determined to reject the unsolicited tender offer from Merck KGaA (MKGAY) to acquire all outstanding shares of Versum for $48 per share in cash. The company said, "The Versum Board determined that the Offer is not in the best interests of Versum or its stockholders. Accordingly, the Versum Board recommends that Versum stockholders reject the Offer and not tender their shares into the Offer." The reasons for the Versum Board's recommendation to reject the Offer are set forth in a Schedule 14D-9, being filed by Versum with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is also being disseminated to stockholders. Versum also announced that a meeting occurred between representatives of Versum and Merck pursuant to a limited waiver granted by Entegris (ENTG) under the previously announced merger agreement between Versum and Entegris. The company said, "After consideration of such meeting, the Versum Board has determined, after consultation with its financial and legal advisors, that Merck's proposal could reasonably be expected to result in a superior proposal under Versum's merger agreement with Entegris and has authorized Versum's management and its advisers to engage in further discussions with, and provide non-public information to, Merck. The Versum Board has not changed its recommendation in support of the pending all-stock merger of equals with Entegris."

08:04 EDT CIM Commercial Trust names David Thompson CEO - CIM Commercial Trust Corporation announced that its board of directors has appointed David Thompson as its CEO and Nathan DeBacker as its CFO at the recommendation of CIM Commercial Trust's operator, CIM Group. Thompson previously served as CIM Commercial Trust's CFO since 2014 and is a principal and the CFO of CIM Group. DeBacker is a SVP and the CFO of CCO Capital, a subsidiary of CIM Group.

08:03 EDT Actinium Pharmaceuticals completes second module of pact with Astellas Pharma - Actinium Pharmaceuticals (ATNM) announced that it has successfully completed the second module of its previously announced research and option agreement with Astellas Pharma (ALPMY) and that the third module has been initiated. In this collaboration, Actinium is utilizing its Antibody Warhead Enabling technology platform to conjugate and label select targeting agents owned by Astellas with the potent alpha-particle emitting payload Actinium-225 and conducting preclinical research that is being funded by Astellas.

07:51 EDT Bluebird Bio receives positive opinion from CHMP for ZYNTEGLO - bluebird bio announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, of the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, adopted a positive opinion recommending conditional marketing authorization for ZYNTEGLO, a gene therapy for patients 12 years and older with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, or TDT, who do not have a beta0/beta0 genotype, for whom hematopoietic stem cell, or HSC, transplantation is appropriate but a human leukocyte antigen, or HLA,-matched related HSC donor is not available. If approved, ZYNTEGLO, formerly referred to as LentiGlobin for TDT, will be the first gene therapy to treat TDT. The CHMP's positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which has the authority to grant marketing authorization for ZYNTEGLO in the European Union. A CHMP positive opinion is one of the final steps before the EC decides on whether to authorize a new medicine. A final decision by the EC for ZYNTEGLO is anticipated in the second quarter of 2019.

07:26 EDT Novo Nordisk invests DKK650M in production facilities in Kalundborg - Novo Nordisk announced plans to invest DKK650M in upgrading and expanding facilities at its production site in Kalundborg, Denmark. The facilities in question are currently manufacturing a range of products for diabetes treatment and will be rebuilt to allow for future production of the next generation of products, the company said. The projects are expected to be completed in 2020.

07:11 EDT Axovant provides update on AXO-AAV-GM2, AXO-Lenti-PD programs - Axovant announced additional data and plans for the AXO-AAV-GM2 and AXO-Lenti-PD programs, which will be highlighted at the company's R&D day for investors and analysts. Axovant recently reported three-month data from an investigator-initiated study administering investigational AXO-AAV-GM2 gene therapy in a patient with advanced infantile Tay-Sachs disease. Additional independent assays and samplings were conducted to further evaluate the biological activity of AXO-AAV-GM2. There was a reduction of approximately 25% in GM2 ganglioside from baseline in the cerebral spinal fluid, or CSF. This suggests that the previously announced approximately 3-fold increase from baseline in ss-Hexosaminidase A enzyme activity in the CSF is associated with a decrease in GM2 ganglioside, which accumulates in Tay-Sachs disease patients and is believed to cause disease progression. Interim data from additional patients is expected in the second half of 2019. Axovant's previously reported interim results from the first cohort of the SUNRISE-PD Phase 2 study of AXO-Lenti-PD in Parkinson's disease patients demonstrated that the product was generally well-tolerated with no serious adverse events reported at the low dose. In addition, consistent improvements over the study period were observed across multiple motor function and dyskinesia scales, including improvements on the UPDRS Part III OFF score of 14-points and 36-points, respectively, in the two patients studied in the low-dose cohort. Axovant plans to proceed to the second cohort of the SUNRISE-PD study, at a higher dose of 1.4 x 107 TU, with the first subject expected to be dosed in the second quarter of 2019.

07:07 EDT iClick Interactive Asia enters 10b5-1 trading plan for share repurchases - iClick Interactive Asia announced that it entered into a trading plan on March 27 with an authorized brokerage firm in the United States. The plan is for the purpose of repurchasing iClick's issued and outstanding American depositary shares, or ADSs, in accordance with the guidelines specified under Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and has been established pursuant to, and as part of, the $10M share buyback program that was previously authorized by iClick's board of directors.

07:04 EDT Sangamo reports new data from administration of ZFP-TF technology - Sangamo Therapeutics presented new preclinical data demonstrating significant (greater than80%) reduction of tau expression in the nonhuman primate brain following administration of zinc finger protein transcription factors. Tau pathology is strongly linked to the progression of several neurodegenerative diseases, called tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease. The data, reported in a podium presentation at the 14th International Conference on Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases held in Lisbon, Portugal, described the effects of tau-targeted ZFP-TFs delivered with adeno-associated viruses in the mouse and nonhuman primate brain.

06:34 EDT Dicerna announces updated results from clinical trial evaluating DCR-PHXC - Dicerna announced the presentation of updated data from its ongoing PHYOX1 Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating DCR-PHXC, the company's lead GalXC product candidate. The data showed post-dose reductions in 24-hour urinary oxalate levels in adult and adolescent study participants with primary hyperoxaluria type 1 and type 2. Investigators reported that a single dose of DCR-PHXC led to normalization or near-normalization of urinary oxalate levels in a majority of participants and was generally well-tolerated. The data were presented in a poster on March 28 at the German Society of Pediatric Nephrology 50th Annual Meeting in Cologne, Germany.

06:15 EDT Verizon will stop charging customers $3/month for its robocall-blocking service - Verizon said in a statement that "customers are about to get new and improved tools to help identify and block robocalls. A free version of the Call Filter service, which offers spam alerts and more, is starting to be rolled out today to Verizon Wireless customers. In addition, this week, the company began deployment of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID technology as part of its network interconnections. Both tools will offer significant help for consumers who are consistently harassed by unwanted and annoying robocalls." The company's free Call Filter product offers wireless customers new protection from robocalls. With it, customers can get alerts when a call is likely spam, report unsolicited numbers, and automatically block robocalls based on their preferred level of risk. All postpaid wireless customers with a compatible device can enroll, though certain features will vary based on the type of phone that a customer has.

06:03 EDT Volkswagen to cooperate with Siemens on industrial cloud technology - The Siemens (SIEGY) technology group is to be the integration partner for the Volkswagen (VLKAY) Industrial Cloud, Volkswagen and Siemens announced. The companies said: "Siemens will play a key role in ensuring that machinery and equipment of different manufacturers at the 122 Volkswagen plants are networked efficiently in the cloud. The resulting data transparency and analysis will lay the technological foundations for further productivity improvements at Volkswagen plants. In addition, Siemens and machinery and equipment suppliers will make applications and apps from the MindSphere Internet of Things system available in the Volkswagen Industrial Cloud. Volkswagen and Siemens intend to develop new functions and services for the Industrial Cloud together with machinery and equipment suppliers; these will then be available to all future partners. The development of the Volkswagen Industrial Cloud is gathering pace." Siemens is contributing its comprehensive expertise in automation, the networking of machinery and plant and the world of industrial IoT to cooperation with Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Industrial Cloud is being developed jointly with Amazon Web Services (AMZN).