Stockwinners Market Radar for April 08, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:45 EDT U.S. Trade Rep proposes $11.2B in countermeasures to E.U. subsidy of Airbus - Office of U.S. Trade Reporesentative states: "The World Trade Organization has found repeatedly that European Union subsidies to Airbus have caused adverse effects to the United States. Today, the Office of the United States Trade Representative begins its process under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to identify products of the E.U. to which additional duties may be applied until the E.U. removes those subsidies... Based on the appellate report, the United States requested authority to impose countermeasures worth $11.2B per year, commensurate with the adverse effects caused by EU subsidies. The EU challenged that estimate, and a WTO arbitrator is currently evaluating those claims." Reference Link

18:42 EDT 2U CEO: We power the University experience - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, 2U CEO Chip Paucek said: We have never lost a single client in eleven years... Trilogy is going to be a huge part of our story long term... We power the University experience... We're now focusing on undergraduate programs... Our programs have the outcomes you would normally see in a physical school.

17:40 EDT Harbert reports 6.92% stake in Enzo Biochem, to hold further board talks - Harbert Discovery Fund disclosed a 6.92% stake in Enzo Biochem, saying the position was "based on their belief that the securities were undervalued and represented an attractive investment opportunity." The fund also discloses that it "had and anticipate having further conversations with members of the Issuer's management and board of directors regarding possible ways to enhance shareholder value."

17:33 EDT Tesla extends tender offer for Maxwell Technologies acquisition - Tesla (TSLA) announced that it has extended the expiration of its previously announced offer, through its direct wholly-owned subsidiary Cambria Acquisition Corp., to acquire each outstanding share of common stock of Maxwell Technologies (MXWL). The offer is now scheduled to expire on May 15, unless it is further extended or earlier terminated in accordance with the merger agreement. The offer, as previously extended, was scheduled to expire on April 10. Tesla is extending the offer, so that its expiration is no earlier than the filing of Tesla's quarterly report for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 with the SEC. The closing of the offer remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the effectiveness of the registration statement of which the prospects/offer to exchange forms a part. All other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged. As of April 5, a total of approximately 6.93M shares of Maxwell common stock had been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn in the offer.

17:21 EDT Accenture intends to acquire Cirruseo, terms not disclosed - Accenture has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Cirruseo, a Google Cloud services provider in France. The acquisition requires prior consultation with the relevant works councils and would be subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

17:16 EDT Alkermes COO Jim Robinson to step down - Alkermes announced that Jim Robinson, President and Chief Operating Officer, has resigned and will leave the company effective April 19, 2019, for personal reasons.

17:08 EDT Kentucky American Water acquires water, wastewater assets of North Middletown - Kentucky American Water announced that it has acquired the water and wastewater assets of the City of North Middletown in Bourbon County, Kentucky. The transaction adds approximately 400 water customers and 250 wastewater customers to Kentucky American Water and expands the company's service area in Bourbon County. The company already has customers in rural areas of Bourbon County and has owned and operated the water and wastewater systems in Millersburg since 2014. Before today's acquisition the City of North Middletown was previously a wholesale water customer of Kentucky American Water.

17:04 EDT Pixelworks launches TrueCut video platform - Pixelworks announced TrueCut, a new cinematic video platform. TrueCut creative tools offer: A single workflow supporting high dynamic range and high frame-rate motion; SDR to HDR remastering that delivers all the benefits of high dynamic range; Judder controls, allowing for faster camera movement and higher dynamic-range color grading without undesirable strobing and judder effects; and virtual shutter control, expanding the range of available motion clarity. TrueCut's HDR remastering solutions are available for licensing today, as are multiple mobile playback options. In addition, new mobile devices enabled with Pixelworks' Iris visual processors are expected to be announced as TrueCut certified in the coming months. The creative tools for motion grading of theatrical titles are selectively available for licensing today, and will be released more broadly in Q3.

17:02 EDT Chimerix names Michael A. Sherman CEO, Michael T. Andriole CBO - Chimerix (CMRX) announced the appointment of Michael A. Sherman, former Chief Executive Officer of Endocyte (ECYT), as Chief Executive Officer of Chimerix, effective immediately. In addition, the company has appointed Michael T. Andriole, former Chief Financial Officer of Endocyte, to the newly created position of Chief Business Officer. "We are delighted to welcome Mike Sherman and Mike Andriole to our executive management team. This pair has a proven track record of successfully developing valuable clinical assets, and we believe Chimerix will significantly benefit from the strategic and operational experience they will bring the Company," said Martha J. Demski, Chair of the Chimerix Board of Directors. "This seasoned team has demonstrated their ability to unlock value while bringing important therapeutics to patients in need."

16:54 EDT Enstar Group names Ed Noonan as Chairman - StarStone announced several appointments to its global Leadership team. Ed Noonan has agreed to join as Chairman of StarStone Group Dick Sanford joins as President of StarStone Group. Chris Rash promoted to CEO of StarStone International and Deputy Group CEO. Noonan most recently served as Chairman and CEO of Validus Group, a position he held from 2005 to 2018. Sanford was previously the Chairman and President of PartnerRe US, Head of P&C North America. Rash joined StarStone in August 2018 and will lead StarStone's international business, and operational strategy at Group level.

16:50 EDT Emcor CEO sells 3.5K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Emcor disclosed that its CEO Anthony Guzzi sold about 3.5K shares of common stock on April 5th. The transaction size was over $260K.

16:38 EDT Western Copper announces agreement on casino access road - Western Copper reported that the Yukon Government and Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation have reached an agreement for the first section of the Casino Project access road: the proposed Carmacks Bypass. This agreement represents the first project agreement for the Yukon Resource Gateway Project. The Gateway Project includes funding for upgrading the initial 82 kilometer, or km, of the existing access road to standards required for the Casino Project and 30% funding for the additional 126 km of new access road to the casino site secured through commitments from the Yukon Government and the Federal Government. The Yukon Government indicated that it recently completed geotechnical investigations on the Carmacks Bypass and engineering is underway with a goal to start construction as soon as possible. It is also in discussions with the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation for an agreement on the remainder of the initial 82 km of the access road.

16:31 EDT Altria says seeks to convert Juul interest to voting securities - Altria Group, Inc. announced it has received a request for additional information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission relating to its investment in JUUL Labs, Inc. that closed in December 2018. Altria currently holds an approximate 35% non-voting, economic interest in JUUL. Altria is now seeking to convert its JUUL interest to voting securities pursuant to the terms of its investment. Following conversion, Altria expects to account for its investment in JUUL under the equity method of accounting and will have the right to designate one-third of the members of JUUL's board of directors. JUUL will remain fully independent. Pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, Altria and JUUL filed notification of the proposed conversion with the federal antitrust authorities and must observe a waiting period before completing the conversion. As part of the HSR Act review process, the FTC issued the Second Request on April 8, 2019 to extend the waiting period while the FTC conducts its review. The waiting period is extended until 30 days after the parties have substantially complied with the Second Request, though it is common for that period to be extended voluntarily by the parties or terminated sooner by the FTC. Issuance of a Second Request is a normal part of the FTC's investigation process. Altria is cooperating with the FTC's investigation and will work to provide answers to the FTC's outstanding questions promptly. Altria said it continues to believe that its investment and the services Altria has agreed to provide JUUL will promote competition and have long-term benefits for adult smokers. Altria continues to anticipate that the conversion of its JUUL shares will occur as planned, the company said.

16:30 EDT Zogenix trading resumes

16:18 EDT Canterbury Park CFO Robert Wolf resigns, Randy Sampson to serve as Interim CFO - Canterbury Park announced that Robert Wolf has resigned as the company's CFO and Senior Vice President of Finance, effective April 19, to accept a position at NXC Imaging, a Minneapolis-based distributor of medical solutions. Canterbury Park CEO and President Randy Sampson will serve as Interim CFO until a successor is found.

16:17 EDT Compass Minerals reports 'above-average' snow events for Q1 - Compass Minerals announced that first-quarter 2019 winter weather events in its primary North American deicing markets were above both the 10-year average and prior-year results, which helped offset the impact of mild weather in the U.K. as well as lower highway deicing sales commitments in North America. Eleven representative cities in the company's primary North American highway deicing service area reported 122 snow events during the first quarter of 2019, which was 12% above the 10-year average and 3 percent above first-quarter 2018 results. As expected, highway deicing sales volumes in the first quarter of 2019 declined from 2018 levels. Mild winter weather in the U.K. this quarter compared to severe winter in the prior period drove more than half of the decline. The company sold approximately 3.5M tons of highway deicing salt products in first quarter of 2019 compared to 4.3M tons in the prior-year period. This total includes all highway maintenance products sold in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., as well as rock salt sold to the chemical industry. Sales of all salt products were 4.1M tons in the 2019 period compared to 4.8M tons in the first quarter of 2018.

16:15 EDT Cohen & Steers reports preliminary AUM $62.6B as of March 31 - Cohen & Steers reported preliminary assets under management of $62.6B as of March 31, an increase of $1.9B from February 28. The increase was due to market appreciation of $1.9B and net inflows of $251M, partially offset by distributions of $298M.

16:09 EDT EcoR1 Capital reports 9.9% passive stake in Chiasma - In a regulatory filing, EcoR1 Capital disclosed a 9.9% stake in Chiasma, which represents about 3M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

16:07 EDT Royal Gold says subsidiary sold roughly 60,000 gold equivalent oz in Q3 - Royal Gold, Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, RGLD Gold AG, sold approximately 60,000 gold equivalent ounces comprised of approximately 48,000 gold ounces, 510,000 silver ounces and 1,200 tonnes of copper related to its streaming agreements during its fiscal 2019 third quarter ended March 31, 2019. The company had approximately 33,000 gold equivalent ounces in inventory at the end of the third quarter consisting of 25,000 gold ounces, 590,000 silver ounces and 400 tonnes of copper. RGLD Gold AG's average realized gold, silver and copper prices for the third quarter were $1,303 per ounce, $15.51 per ounce, and $6,051 per tonne, respectively, compared to $1,219, $14.45, and $6,092, respectively, in the second quarter ended December 31, 2018. Cost of sales was approximately $319 per gold equivalent ounce for the third quarter using the quarterly average silver-gold ratio of approximately 84 to 1 and coppergold ratio of approximately 0.21 tonnes per ounce, compared to $327 per gold equivalent ounce in the second quarter. Cost of sales is specific to our stream agreements and is the result of the company's purchase of gold, silver or copper for cash payments at a set contractual price, or a percentage of the prevailing market price of gold, silver or copper when purchased.

16:06 EDT Addus HomeCare names Sean Gaffney as Chief Legal Officer - Addus HomeCare announced the hiring of Sean Gaffney as the company's Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, effective April 29. He most recently served as General Counsel for Dallas-based Encompass Health - Home Health & Hospice.

16:05 EDT Hawaiian Airlines narrows Q1 operating revenue per ASM to (5%)-(3%) - Prior view was (6%)-(3%). Lowers Q1 operating costs per ASM excluding fuel to up 0.5%-2.5% from up 1%-4%. Cites lower than expected expenses related to its Neighbor Island freighter operation.

16:04 EDT Command Center enters merger agreement with Hire Quest Holdings - Command Center, Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Hire Quest Holdings, LLC, operating as Trojan Labor and Acrux Staffing, a privately-held provider of blue collar, light industrial and administrative staffing, in an all-stock transaction. Rick Hermanns, Chief Executive Officer of Hire Quest, has 29 years of experience in the temporary staffing industry and will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity. As consideration for the ownership interests of Hire Quest, Command Center will issue approximately 9.8M common shares to Hire Quest's members. As a result, the current owners of Hire Quest will own approximately 68% of Command Center, of which Hire Quest will be a wholly-owned subsidiary, and Hermanns will beneficially own approximately 39% of Command Center. At closing, there will be approximately 14.5M common shares issued and outstanding, and Hire Quest will be acquired on a cash-free/debt-free basis. In conjunction with the transaction the company also intends to commence a self-tender available exclusively to existing Command Center shareholders. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, or shortly thereafter, subject to standard closing conditions, including approval by Command Center shareholders of an amendment to our charter to increase authorized shares of Company common stock, a change in the name of the Company to HireQuest, Inc., the issuance of company common stock pursuant to the Merger Agreement and the resulting change of control pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules. Upon closing of the transaction, Hire Quest will be merged with a subsidiary of Command Center to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, and immediately thereafter merge with and into a second wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Command Center will discuss the potential financial impact of the expected merger on its fourth quarter earnings call scheduled for April 10, 2019. The company will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a proxy statement containing full details of the proposed transaction, which will be delivered to the company's shareholders following SEC review. In connection with the transaction, Command Center, Inc. intends to commence a self-tender offer at $6.00 per share for up to 1,500,000 shares of its common stock that is contingent on the closing of the merger. If the number of shares properly tendered at the $6.00 per share purchase price and not properly withdrawn prior to the expiration date of the tender offer would result in the purchase of more than 1,500,000 shares, Command Center will purchase shares tendered on a pro rata basis. The tender offer will not be conditioned upon any minimum number of shares being tendered.

16:02 EDT Hawaiian Airlines reports March traffic up 0.2%, capacity up 0.3% - March load factor was down 0.1 percentage points.

16:00 EDT Zogenix trading halted, news pending

15:39 EDT Tesla CEO says self-driving computer at about 5% compute load for various tasks - Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to a user that the Tesla Full Self-Driving Computer currently in production is at about 5% compute load, or 10% with full fail-over redundancy, for tasks such as changing lanes, merging on and off highways, traveling during rush hour and in the rain, and navigating high-congestion traffic. Musk tweeted this in response to comments from user @DrCamiloOrtiz, who said, "Im amazed. My car drove me practically all the way home, with no input from me, changing lanes, merging on and off of 3 highways, in rush hour, in the rain, in NYC traffic!!! Stunned." Reference Link

15:30 EDT Precidian 'appreciative' of SEC's engagement in approval of ActiveShares - Precidian Investments commented on the recent approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of its proprietary exchange traded fund intellectual property, ActiveShares, stating: "We are very appreciative of the SEC's engagement with us to thoroughly vet and address a process that we believe will help the industry better serve investors. We applaud the vision of the Commissioners in making this a reality. For the first time, investors will be able to access actively-managed ETFs that do not disclose their holdings on a daily basis but trade and operate in a similar manner to other ETFs." Legg Mason (LM) holds a minority equity position in Precidian, the companies reported. ActiveShares already has been licensed by Legg Mason, BlackRock (BLK), Capital Group, JP Morgan (JPM), Nationwide, Gabelli, Columbia, American Century and Nuveen, Precidian reported.

14:48 EDT Concert Pharmaceuticals 'disappointed' in USPTO ruling in IPR proceeding - Concert Pharmaceuticals (CNCE) announced that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a final written decision in connection with the inter partes review of U.S. Patent No. 9,249,149 brought about after Incyte (INCY) filed a petition challenging the validity of the '149 patent. While PTAB found that the claims of the '149 patent are not patentable, the IPR decision is appealable to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and Concert said it remains committed to defending the '149 patent. The '149 patent remains valid and enforceable until appeals have been exhausted, the company noted. "While we're disappointed in this outcome, we believe we have strong arguments supporting the validity of our patent and intend to appeal the decision as we work to create additional intellectual property protecting CTP-543. We remain highly committed to the continued advancement of CTP-543 as a potential treatment for alopecia areata. The outcome of this proceeding does not prohibit us from developing CTP-543 for alopecia areata and our development timelines for CTP-543 remain on track. Importantly, today's decision is specific to certain patent claims covering CTP-543 and does not affect other programs in our portfolio," stated Roger Tung, President and CEO of Concert Pharmaceuticals.

14:24 EDT Microsoft launches Windows 10 May 2019 update for testers - Microsoft said in a blog post that the May 2019 Windows 10 update is being rolled out to the Release Preview ring starting with seekers. The May 2019 Update will remain in the Release Preview ring for an increased amount of time in order give the company additional time and signals to detect any issues before broader deployment. Microsoft noted that it is planning to move Windows Insiders in the Fast ring forward to 20H1. "We will also be merging the small group of Insiders who opted-in to Skip Ahead back into the Fast ring," the company said. "We are looking to make this change in the coming weeks. Now is the time for you to verify your desired Windows Insider Program settings by going to Settings greater than Update & Security greater than Windows Insider Program to ensure you're on the ring you want to be on before this change occurs. If you are an Insider who wishes to remain on the May 2019 Update - you will want to switch to the Slow or Release Preview rings." Reference Link

14:13 EDT Canadian National to invest $120M to strengthen its Wisconsin rail network - CN said it plans to invest approximately $120M in Wisconsin in 2019 to strengthen the company's rail network across the state. "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 Derek Taylor, Vice-President of CN's Southern Region. "This year, we are continuing to invest to boost capacity and network resiliency and to meet growing traffic on our corridors across Wisconsin." The Wisconsin investments are part of CN's 2019 record US$2.9B capital investment focused on enabling growth from all commodity segments, including consumer goods, grain, agricultural, forest, and energy products from all of our customers, safely and efficiently. Over two years, CN will have made a US$5.7B capital investment.

14:06 EDT Concert Pharmaceuticals trading halted, volatility trading pause

13:08 EDT PPG appoints Devashish Saxena as chief digital officer - PPG (PPG) announced the appointment of Devashish Saxena as VP and chief digital officer, effective April 1. In this new role, Saxena will lead the company's digital transformation, creating a sustainable digital organization to unlock customer value through enhancement, connectivity, automation, insights and innovation. Most recently, Saxena led digital strategy as VP, global digital business and e-commerce at Rexel (RXEEY).

12:52 EDT Honeywell, Volocopter to test, develop automatic landing systems - Honeywell and Volocopter have signed an agreement to jointly test and develop new navigation and automatic landing systems for Volocopter's vertical takeoff and landing aircraft as the emerging era of urban air mobility moves closer to delivering a new breed of cleaner, safer and smarter air vehicles. This agreement launches Honeywell's extensive autonomous sensing and flight technologies, including inertial measurement units, attitude heading reference solutions and potentially other urban air mobility, or UAM, innovations, into this rapidly developing transportation market. These solutions feature and build on technologies developed under Europe's Clean Sky 2 and Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research, or SESAR, 2020 industry and government collaboration programs. Honeywell and Volocopter aim to prove and mature existing technologies by testing and evolving various sensor-based navigation systems for use in fully-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. These tests will help the two companies create new technologies for urban air mobility.

12:22 EDT Groupon reports over 200M downloads across iOS and Android - Groupon (GRPN) announced in a press release that its free app now has over 200M downloads across iOS and Android, stating that it has "the third most visited retail app in the United States, behind only Amazon and Walmart, and the sixth highest rated iOS app of all time." Groupon added that "planned mobile improvements in 2019 include using Groupon's proprietary data, machine learning and AI to improve discovery, relevance and service on the platform."

12:00 EDT Spirit AeroSystems falls -6.3% - Spirit AeroSystems is down -6.3%, or -$5.63 to $84.01.

12:00 EDT BP Prudhoe Bay falls -16.4% - BP Prudhoe Bay is down -16.4%, or -$4.48 to $22.79.

12:00 EDT AMC Entertainment rises 11.4% - AMC Entertainment is up 11.4%, or $1.71 to $16.69.

11:29 EDT Dan Niles says Netflix won't grow as fast amid new competition - Dan Niles of AlphaOne Capital Partners is speaking on CNBC.

10:53 EDT ManTech wins $128M Homeland Security order - ManTech announced a five-year $128M Task Order to provide broad-based program management and engineering support to the Office of Acquisition for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, Customs and Border Protection. The scope of this Task Order covers support areas including: acquisition governance; strategic planning; requirements analysis and development support; software engineering analysis; communications support for systems; and security engineering for multiple CBP offices.

10:27 EDT Marriott expects to add about 20 properties under Middle East, Africa portfolio - Marriott International announced it expects to add 19 new properties and more than 3,000 rooms to its Middle East and Africa portfolio in 2019. Underpinning a strong demand for its diverse brands, the new additions are in line with the company's expansion plans to add more than 100 new properties and nearly 26,000 rooms across the region by the end of 2023. Marriott estimates its development pipeline through 2023 represents up to $8B of investment from property owners and is expected to generate over 20,000 new jobs across the region.Year-to-date, the company has opened five new properties in the region and is expected to add 14 more - bringing its portfolio across the Middle East and Africa to nearly 270 properties and over 60,000 rooms - by the end of the year. The company is poised to expand its luxury footprint in the region by more than 70% by the end of 2023, with more than 25 luxury properties under development. The company expects to grow its luxury portfolio in 2019 with seven anticipated openings across four brands. The growth of Marriott's premium brands remains steady across the region with more than 30 hotels expected to be added to the portfolio by the end of 2023. By the end of 2019, the company expects to have added four new hotels under its premium portfolio for the region. In addition to the openings in 2019, Marriott is also focused on the transformation journey of Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. In the region, Sheraton Jeddah Hotel and Sheraton Grand Hotel, Dubai are currently undergoing renovations that represent the brand's vision for the future. Currently representing over 40% of the company's development pipeline through 2023, select-serve brands continue their rapid growth trajectory across the Middle East and Africa. Building on the momentum from 2018 - with ten properties added across the region, including four Aloft hotels in the UAE - the company expects to add seven new properties by the end of this year.

10:08 EDT Entegris 'does not currently intend to propose to revise' terms of Versum merger - Entegris (ENTG) issued the following statement earlier regarding Versum Material's (VSM) determination that Merck KGaA's (MKGAY) revised proposal constitutes a "Superior Proposal" under the terms of the previously announced merger agreement with Entegris: "Entegris has considered its options and does not currently intend to propose to revise the terms of the Entegris-Versum merger of equals."

10:01 EDT Harris awarded $84M contract to produce Navigation Technology Satellite-3 - Harris has received an $84M contract to produce Navigation Technology Satellite-3, an experimental satellite that will demonstrate new position, navigation and timing capabilities to improve the resiliency of the Global Positioning System. The Space Enterprise Consortium selected Harris as the prime system integrator to design, develop, integrate and test NTS-3, including ground mission applications. The contract was signed in December 2018. Scheduled to launch in 2022, the position, navigation and timing satellite will simultaneously broadcast military and earth coverage signals at increased power levels - enabling it to operate in contested environments.

10:00 EDT Spirit AeroSystems falls -7.7% - Spirit AeroSystems is down -7.7%, or -$6.91 to $82.73.

10:00 EDT Crescent Point Energy rises 6.0% - Crescent Point Energy is up 6.0%, or 20c to $3.51.

10:00 EDT Frontline rises 12.4% - Frontline is up 12.4%, or 85c to $7.72.

09:47 EDT Triumph Group falls -6.3% - Triumph Group is down -6.3%, or -$1.50 to $22.49.

09:47 EDT BP Prudhoe Bay falls -12.7% - BP Prudhoe Bay is down -12.7%, or -$3.46 to $23.81.

09:47 EDT Charah Solutions rises 6.6% - Charah Solutions is up 6.6%, or 41c to $6.60.

09:45 EDT FTE Networks Inc trading resumes

09:36 EDT Medtronic says data shows 'promising' economic outcomes for HVAD System - Medtronic announced data showing promising economic outcomes for the Medtronic HeartWare HVAD System after analyzing multiple clinical studies. The economic analyses of the HVAD System - a left ventricular assist device that helps a failing heart pump and increases the amount of blood that circulates through the body - were presented at the 2019 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Scientific Sessions. The first analysis showed that heart failure patients who received the HVAD System through a less-invasive thoracotomy procedure in the LATERAL study incurred lower hospitalization and medical supply costs than patients who received a ventricular assist device through the traditional sternotomy implant procedure. The average total cost per patient in the thoracotomy study was $204,107 compared to $260,492 for traditional median sternotomy VAD cases. A second analysis demonstrated substantially improved cost-effectiveness of the HVAD System when used as a bridge to heart transplant or as a longer-term destination therapy in patients with advanced heart failure who are not candidates for heart transplants, as compared to previously published U.S. cost- effectiveness analyses. In the BTT population, the HVAD System showed nearly a two-thirds reduction in the incremental cost effectiveness ratio, from $226,300 in a 2014 analysis to $69,561 in the current analysis. Similarly, in the DT population, the current analysis demonstrated an ICER of $102,499 for the HVAD System, a dramatic reduction from four prior, U.S.-based economic analysesof predominantly competitive LVADs, that estimated the ICER from $209,400-$802,700. In addition to these cost analyses, the LATERAL trial results were recently published in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, demonstrating 87 percent survival at two years, and a 30 percent reduction in hospital length of stay for patients who received the HVAD System via thoracotomy, compared to patients who received their HVAD System via a sternotomy.

09:26 EDT FTE Networks Inc trading halted, news pending

09:21 EDT Majesco appoints Wayne Locke as CFO - Majesco announced the appointment of Wayne Locke as CFO effective April 8. Wayne brings over two decades of finance and operations experience to the role, and joins the company from Capgemini, where he was responsible for financial and operational consulting services for insurance organizations. With this move, Farid Kazani will continue to lead Majesco's Group Finance Function as Managing Director and Group CFO, playing a critical role in strategic initiatives including mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, capital raise and other initiatives to increase Majesco's stakeholder value.

09:19 EDT Immunomedics enters promotion agreement with Janssen for erdafitinib - Immunomedics (IMMU) announced that it has entered into a promotion agreement in which Immunomedics will provide detailing services to Janssen (JNJ), for erdafitinib in the U.S. Under the terms of the agreement, Immunomedics' sales team will provide product detailing from the launch of erdafitinib until the end of the Q1 2020, but only requires Immunomedics to support the product in first position detail until the FDA approval of sacituzumab govitecan. Immunomedics is eligible to receive low double digit royalties and milestone payments based on U.S. sales throughout 2019 and 2020, subject to sales thresholds in each year, respectively. A new drug application, or NDA, for erdafitinib is currently under review by the FDA for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer and certain fibroblast growth factor receptor, or FGFR, genetic alterations whose tumors have progressed after prior chemotherapy. Erdafitinib is an investigational, once-daily, pan-FGFR kinase inhibitor that received breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA in March 2018.

09:19 EDT Entegris 'does not currently indent to propose to revise' terms of Versum merger - Entegris (ENTG) issued the following statement regarding Versum Material's (VSM) determination that Merck KGaA's (MKGAY) revised proposal constitutes a Superior Proposal under the terms of the previously announced merger agreement with Entegris: "Entegris has considered its options and does not currently intend to propose to revise the terms of the Entegris-Versum merger of equals."

09:13 EDT Bellerophon announces agreement with FDA on regulatory pathway for INOpulse - Bellerophon announced that it has reached agreement with the FDA on the regulatory approval pathway for INOpulse in patients with Pulmonary Hypertension associated with Interstitial Lung Disease, or PH-ILD. In January, the company reported positive results from cohort 1 of its ongoing Phase 2b randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study of INOpulse for the treatment of PH-ILD. Subjects on active treatment demonstrated a statistically significant improvement of 34% in moderate to vigorous physical activity, or MVPA, as compared to subjects on placebo, as well as improvements in overall activity, oxygen saturation and additional functional measures. Based on these data and INOpulse's safety profile, the FDA agreed with Bellerophon on the use of MVPA as the primary endpoint in the pivotal Phase 3 study, as measured by a medical wearable continuous activity monitor. In addition, the agency agreed with the company's proposal that the Phase 2b study be amended to a Phase 2/3 trial. This agreement allows a seamless transition into Cohort 3 of iNO-PF, which will serve as the pivotal Phase 3 trial.

09:09 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Versum (VSM), up 1% after announcing that it has received a revised proposal from Merck KGaA (MKGAY) to acquire the company for $53 per share and that Versum's board, in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, has unanimously determined that this proposal constitutes a "Superior Proposal" to Versum's previously announced merger agreement with Entegris (ENTG)... Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM), up 2% after SVB Leerink analyst Marc Goodman initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $25 price target... Zillow (ZG), up 5% after Cowen analyst Thomas Champion upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform, stating that he believes the new duo of CEO Rich Barton and CFO Allen Parker look well suited for the "massive challenge" of leading the company through a change in business model. LOWER: General Electric (GE), down 6% after JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa downgraded shares to Underweight from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $5 from $6... Boeing (BA), down 4% after cutting the production rate for the 737 Max... Roku (ROKU), down 5% after Citi analyst Mark May downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $50 from $53... Spirit AeroSystems (SPR), down 5% after Canaccord analyst Ken Herbert downgraded shares to Hold from Buy and lowered his price target to $92 from $100 after Boeing announced that it is lowering 737 production levels to 42 per month starting in mid-April... Clearside Biomedical (CLSD), down 2% after announcing CEO Daniel White has resigned... Social Reality (SRAX), down 10% after reporting that management of the company concluded and the audit committee of the company has concurred that several of the company's previously issued quarterly and year-to-date financial statements should no longer be relied upon.

09:08 EDT Welkin Health announces partnership with Axonics - Welkin Health announced it is partnering with Axonics Modulation Technologies. The companies will launch a program designed to support care teams and patients implanted with the Axonics r-SNM System, the first-ever long-lived rechargeable neurostimulator for patients suffering from overactive bladder and fecal incontinence. Welkin's patient management software enables Axonics commercial and clinical support teams to capture and utilize relevant data to support patients and physicians.

09:05 EDT Amazon announces three new renewable energy projects to support AWS - Amazon announced three new renewable energy projects as part of its long-term goal to power all Amazon Web Services global infrastructure with renewable energy. These projects - one in Ireland, one in Sweden, and one in the United States - will deliver wind-generated energy that will total over 229 megawatts of power, with expected generation of over 670,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy annually. The new projects are part of AWS's long-term commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. In 2018, AWS exceeded 50 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. Once complete, these projects, combined with AWS's previous nine renewable energy projects, are expected to generate more than 2,700,000 MWh of renewable energy annually - equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 262,000 US homes, which is approximately the size of the city of Nashville, Tennessee. Amazon has committed to buying the energy from a new wind project in Ireland, a 91.2 MW wind farm in Donegal. The Donegal wind farm project is expected to deliver clean energy no later than the end of 2021. Amazon will also purchase 91 MW of power from a new wind farm in Backhammar, Sweden, which is expected to deliver renewable energy by the end of 2020. California leads the United States in renewable electricity generation from non-hydroelectric sources, and the state's Tehachapi Mountains, where AWS's wind farm will be located, contain some of the largest wind farms in the country. The wind farm project in Tehachapi is expected to bring up to 47 MW of new renewable energy capacity by the end of 2020.

09:01 EDT Inovio achieves third indication milestone from AstraZeneca - Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) announced that it achieved a third indication milestone from AstraZeneca (AZN) resulting from dosing a patient in a Phase 2 combination trial evaluating MEDI0457 in combination with durvalumab targeting cervical, anal, penile, and vulvar cancers associated with the human papilloma virus. The milestone achievement for this multi-indication trial is the third MEDI0457-related Phase 2 milestone from AstraZeneca; two previous milestone payments resulted from initiating Phase 2 combination trials targeting head and neck and cervical cancers. Financial arrangements were not disclosed.

08:42 EDT Harsco announces seven-year growth contract with Egyptian Steel - Harsco announced that its metals & minerals division has further expanded an existing agreement with Egyptian Steel, the manufacturer of rebar and wire rods in the Middle East and North Africa. Under the terms of this expanded agreement, Harsco will provide scrap and slag management, material handling and metal recovery services at Egyptian Steel's Beni Suef plant. Harsco has provided similar services to Egyptian Steel's Al Ain Al Sokhna site since late 2017.

08:40 EDT Sears Hometown and Outlet receives proposal from Transform Holdco - Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores announced that it received a proposal during the evening on Friday, April 5, from Transform Holdco, an entity affiliated with the company's majority stockholder ESL Investments, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company's common stock not already owned by ESL and its affiliates for a purchase price of $2.25 per share. The Board of Directors of the company has granted a special committee of independent directors the exclusive authority to review and evaluate the Proposal and, if deemed advisable by the special committee, to engage in discussions or negotiations concerning the Proposal, or to reject the Proposal. The Proposal stated that Transform would only intend to proceed with its Proposal if it is approved by the full Board of Directors of the company upon the recommendation of the special committee. Following the review of the Proposal by the special committee and its advisors, the special committee concluded that a transaction on the terms contemplated by the Proposal would not be in the best interests of the company's unaffiliated stockholders and communicated that conclusion to representatives of Transform. The parties are continuing discussions regarding potential transactions between the parties.

08:34 EDT SES enters technology purchase option agreement with AFE for sale of subsidiary - Synthesis Energy Systems, or SES, announced that the company has entered into a technology purchase option agreement with Australian Future Energy, or AFE for the sale of its subsidiary company, Synthesis Energy Systems Technologies, or SEST, which owns the SES Gasification Technology and its related SGT global business undertakings. SES currently holds approximately a 36% ownership in AFE and is an active member on its board. The parties have agreed to an option period ending July 31 in which AFE will arrange for its financing to complete the transaction and SES will secure its necessary consents and the parties will complete the required definitive agreements. The technology purchase option agreement establishes the major commercial terms to be set forth in the definitive agreements. Under these terms, upon completion of the definitive agreements, SES agrees to transfer 100% of its ownership of SEST to AFE, which includes its SGT related intellectual property, know-how and relevant patent rights, except that SES will retain all its ownership rights to the SGT technology business for China. As consideration, AFE has agreed to pay to SES 1M fully paid shares in AFE upon signing this agreement. Upon signing the definitive agreements, AFE will pay SES a total of $5.8M in cash with the first $2M being payable in three equal tranches. The first tranche is to be paid before the end of the option period with the second tranche paid no later than six months after the first tranche and the third tranche paid no later than 12 months from the date of payment of the first tranche. A final payment of $3.8M is to be paid to SES upon the earlier of five years or AFE's closing of the construction financing of adequate scale to allow for release of detailed engineering and placement of orders for long-lead items and for one or more of the gasifier reactors or gasifier heat recovery steam generators for its Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project, its first gasification project in the region. In addition, for a period of three years from the effective date, SES shall own the exclusive right to either hold or offer for sale the SGT technology for use in the countries of India, Brazil and Poland. AFE is not entitled to receive any share of the payments that may be received by SES during this three-year period, from the sale or usage of the SGT technology in the carved-out regions other than its reasonable time and expenses associated with assisting SES to complete the required technology transfer.

08:33 EDT Genprex collaborators report preclinical data for TUSC2 gene with pembrolizumab - Genprex reported that its collaborators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented positive preclinical data for the combination of the TUSC2 gene with an anti-PD1 antibody, pembrolizumab, for the treatment of lung cancer in a poster presented at the American Association of Cancer Research Meeting 2019. The TUSC2 gene is a tumor suppressor gene, the active agent in Genprex's Oncoprex immunogene therapy. The poster, entitled "Development of an improved humanized patient-derived xenograft, Hu-PDX, mouse model for evaluation of antitumor immune response in lung cancer" showed that TUSC2 combined with checkpoint blockade was more effective than checkpoint blockade alone in increasing the survival of mice with human immune cells that had metastatic lung cancer. The TUSC2 treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab slowed tumor growth significantly. Pembrolizumab previously had no effect on tumor growth in non-humanized mice. The data also demonstrated the Hu-PDX model as an improved platform for evaluation of immunotherapy.

08:28 EDT Camtek receives $7M order for multiple Eagle systems - Camtek announced that it received an order for multiple Eagle systems from a tier-one DRAM manufacturer totaling approximately $7M. The tools are expected to be installed during the second quarter.

08:22 EDT Post Holdings subsidiary confidentially submits registration statement for IPO - Post Holdings announced that one of its subsidiaries has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the SEC related to its proposed initial public offering of its active nutrition business. The number of shares of stock and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The proposed offering is subject to, among other things, completion of the SEC review process and market conditions. There can be no assurance that the confidential submission of a draft registration statement on Form S-1 will result in any transaction or other action by Post. Post does not intend to comment on or provide updates regarding these matters unless and until it determines that further disclosure is appropriate or required based on the then-current facts and circumstances.

08:17 EDT Applied DNA's LineaRx achieves anti-CD19 CAR expression in human T cells - Applied DNA Sciences announced that LineaRx, its subsidiary focused on next-generation biotherapeutics, has achieved anti-CD-19 CAR expression in human T Cells via its proprietary, non-viral, plasmid-free manufacturing platform. The company said, "To the company's knowledge, this seminal event represents the first time that a human T cell has been shown to express an anti-CD19 CAR from a gene construct utilizing linear DNA produced via a scalable PCR manufacturing process. The company views this development as an important option for all gene therapies that currently use virus-delivery platforms, but especially for immune-oncology therapies that use virus delivery of synthetic genes to redirect a patient's T cells, known as CAR therapy." LineaRx'sPCR-based manufacturing technology created the linear DNA amplicon encoding the anti-CD19 engager, and that construct was then electroporated into human T cells ex vivo. Subsequent testing has yielded anti-CD19 expression from these engineered cells. While these preliminary data are encouraging, overall levels of expression were initially low and LineaRx continues working on generating higher transfection levels using the patent-pending High Expression Amplicon and methods of transfection other than electroporation and will report further progresst as it emerges.

08:13 EDT Opiant Pharmaceuticals announces publication, presentation of OPNT003 data - Opiant Pharmaceuticals announced that clinical pharmacokinetic, or PK, data for OPNT003, nasal nalmefene containing Intravail were published online in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and presented at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 2019 Annual Meeting. The data in this manuscript show that adding the absorption enhancer Intravail to intranasal nalmefene results in rapid increases in nalmefene plasma levels with a speed of absorption comparable to intramuscular injection.

08:11 EDT U.S. Air Force selects Harris to provide ground-based EW systems support - The U.S. Air Force has selected Harris Corporation to continue supporting ground-based electronic warfare systems and infrastructure that help protect warfighters around the world. Harris will provide mission-essential, ground-based EW systems support, helping to sustain Air Force space superiority. The project includes depot support and sustainment engineering, system upgrades and modifications, studies and analysis, transition of future systems, and operations support.

08:09 EDT Kaleido Biosciences appoints Johan van Hylckama Vlieg CSO, Clare Fisher CBO - Kaleido Biosciences announced the appointment of Johan van Hylckama Vlieg as CSO and Clare Fisher as CBO. Van Hylckama Vlieg will assume the role of CSO on July 1. Van Hylckama Vlieg has 25 years of experience leading teams and R&D programs in gut microbiology, probiotics and live biotherapeutics and industrial biotechnology in industry and academia. Most recently, he served as VP for microbiome and human health Innovation at Chr. Hansen in Denmark. In her role as CBO, Fisher will oversee corporate and business development. Fisher has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, including leadership roles in corporate and business development. She joins Kaleido from Shire plc where she most recently served as group VP, global head of transactions and business development and Interim head of corporate development.

08:09 EDT Sanofi makes milestone payment to Schrodinger - Schrodinger announced receipt of a milestone payment from Sanofi to mark the advancement into the clinic of an autoimmune therapy discovered as part of a multi-year, multi-target collaboration between the two companies. Under the terms of the collaboration, Schrodinger provides advanced molecular simulation and computational design expertise to Sanofi across multiple stages of drug discovery, from target analysis and lead optimization to identification of a development candidate. The companies are currently advancing programs in oncology and autoimmune disease.

08:07 EDT Tyme Technologies says SM-88 first in-human study published in IND - Tyme Technologies announced that the results of its first human study, completed as of September 15, 2017 and designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of SM-88 in patients with advanced metastatic cancers, was published online on March 30th 2019 in the peer-reviewed journal Investigational New Drugs. The article, titled "A first-in-human study of the novel metabolism-based anti-cancer agent SM-88 in subjects with advanced metastatic cancer," is available online. Based on these proof-of-concept clinical findings, TYME is developing new approaches, including SM-88, that target cancer metabolism. As metabolic changes in tumor cells are nearly universal, TYME believes that targeting these mechanisms creates the possibility of delivering potent therapeutic benefit across a broad spectrum of solid tumors and blood cancers. The SM-88 first human study was a TYME-sponsored, open-label, single-center first in human study of 30 patients with metastatic cancers who had failed or refused all available therapeutic options. In this study, SM-88 was used with low doses of melanin, melanotan 2, phenytoin, and sirolimus. Based on results from the study, clinical researchers observed that patients reached a median overall survival of 29.8 months and 13 months of progression free survival without additional therapy. 33% of patients achieved RECIST complete response and partial response with median time to best response of greater than 3 months. 57% of patients achieved RECIST stable disease with a median duration of 11 months.

08:04 EDT NV5 Global acquires ALTA surveying firm; financial terms not disclosed - NV5 Global announced that it has acquired J.V. Surveying, LLC, a land survey and mapping firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. The professionals at J.V. Surveying are licensed in both Arizona and California and specialize in the provision of detailed ALTA surveys and support services to the commercial real estate and telecommunications industries, NV5 Global said. The acquisition was an all-cash transaction and will be immediately accretive to NV5's earnings.

07:40 EDT Translate Bio appoints Richard Wooster CSO - Translate Bio announced the appointment of Richard Wooster as CSO. Wooster brings more than three decades of experience in pharmaceutical drug discovery and development and academic research, with expertise in genetics, oncology and translational medicine. In this role, Wooster will lead Translate Bio's scientific strategy and research efforts to support current pipeline programs while also identifying and delivering new programs to expand the company's pipeline of mRNA therapeutics. Wooster has three decades of experience with a focus on cancer genetics and pharmaceutical drug discovery and development. In his most recent role as president of research a development and CSO at Tarveda Therapeutics, he was responsible for the company's R&D strategy, developing a platform with multiple pipeline programs at different stages of development, from discovery to clinical-stage.

07:37 EDT ContraFect announces publication of exebacase data - ContraFect announced that its manuscript titled "The Antistaphylococcal Lysin, CF-301, Activates Key Host Factors in Human Blood To Potentiate Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteriolysis" was published in the April edition of the peer-reviewed Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal of the American Society of Microbiology. The manuscript highlights in vitro activity of exebacase in human blood versus in a conventional testing medium, in which exebacase exhibited markedly higher potency in human blood versus caMHB in three standard microbiologic testing formats and demonstrated synergistic interaction with two key human blood factors. These results ultimately demonstrated that the properties of exebacase enabled bactericidal potentiation of antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

07:35 EDT BlackRock says views China as one of the largest future growth opportunities - BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in his annual letter to shareholders that "In China, which is one of the largest future growth opportunities for BlackRock, we are focused on building an onshore presence. Asia is expected to drive 50% of the organic AUM growth in the asset management industry over the next five years, largely driven by China, where there is increasing demand for more diversified and long-term investment solutions. Our goal is to become one of the country's leading global asset managers." He added that "More than 200 clients in over 50 countries use Aladdin every day to see risk more clearly and manage investments more efficiently." Reference Link

07:32 EDT Clearside Biomedical CEO Daniel White resigns, George Lasezkay named interim CEO - Clearside Biomedical announced that its board has appointed biopharmaceutical executive George Lasezkay to the position of interim CEO, effective immediately. Lasezkay, a current member of the Clearside board, succeeds Daniel White, who resigned as president and CEO and as a member of the board to pursue other opportunities. The board has initiated a search to identify a permanent CEO. Previously, Lasezkay served as executive VP and general counsel at Acucela, a development stage company that specializes in identifying and developing novel ophthalmic therapeutics.

07:30 EDT Histogenics trading resumes

07:28 EDT uniQure receives fast track designation for AMT-130 from FDA - uniQure announced that the FDA has granted fast track designation for AMT-130, the company's gene therapy candidate for the treatment of Huntington's disease. AMT-130 comprises a recombinant AAV5 vector carrying a DNA cassette encoding a microRNA that non-selectively lowers or knocks-down human huntingtin protein in Huntington's disease patients. AMT-130 also targets the highly toxic exon1 protein fragment that is even more toxic than the mutant huntingtin protein.

07:23 EDT Audentes Therapeutics to expand scientific platform and pipeline - Audentes Therapeutics announced it has expanded its scientific platform and pipeline to advance vectorized antisense treatments for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy type 1. This approach combines the delivery power of AAV with the precision tools of antisense oligonucleotides, or ASOs, to develop potential best-in-class therapeutic candidates for these devastating neuromuscular diseases. To accelerate these promising new programs, Audentes has entered into a licensing agreement and will collaborate with Nationwide Children's Hospital, utilizing the expertise of Kevin M. Flanigan, M.D. and Nicolas S. Wein, Ph.D., two recognized leaders in the field of genetic medicines for neuromuscular diseases.

07:21 EDT eHi Car Services announces shareholder approval of merger agreement - eHi Car Services announced that at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, the company's shareholders voted in favor of, among other things, the proposal to authorize and approve the previously announced agreement and plan of merger, dated February 18, among the company, Teamsport Parent Limited and Teamsport Bidco Limited, pursuant to which Merger Sub will be merged with and into the company with the company continuing as the surviving company, the plan of merger required to be filed with the Registrar of companies of the Cayman Islands in connection with the Merger and the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and the Plan of Merger, including the Merger.

07:17 EDT CannTrust receives Health Canada approval for Phase 2 expansion - CannTrust Holdings is pleased to announce that its cultivation and processing permit under Health Canada Cannabis Regulations was amended to include the final 20% of its Phase 2 expansion. The entire 450,000 sq. ft. of its perpetual harvest greenhouse in Pelham, Ontario, is now fully licensed. CannTrust's expected production ramp is as follows: The last 20% of the Phase 2 expansion is expected to be operating at full capacity by the end of Q2 2019. Pending Health Canada approval, the company anticipates planting on its previously announced outdoor land acquisition of 81 acres in Q2 2019 and expects to realize a yield of approximately 1,000kg per acre in 2019. Total 2019 production from this harvest is expected to be approximately 75,000kg. With additional land under letter of intent anticipated to be secured in the near term, the company's outdoor cultivation operation is expected to total 100,000kg to 200,000kg of production in the second half of 2020. Production from outdoor cultivation will primarily be used for extraction purposes for products that we anticipate will be permitted based on proposed regulations for additional cannabis products, which include edibles and inhaled extract products. The company's Phase 3 expansion of its perpetual harvest greenhouse is expected to add a further 50,000kg of capacity beginning in the second half of 2020. Phase 3 includes productivity and automation enhancements over Phases 1 and 2. Production from the Phase 3 expansion is also subject to Health Canada approval. CannTrust's combined cultivation operations are expected to reach a total annualized capacity of 200,000kg to 300,000kg in the second half of 2020.

07:15 EDT CEC Entertainment, Leo Holdings execute business combination agreement - CEC Entertainment (CEC) and Leo Holdings (LHC) announced that Leo and Queso Holdings, the parent company of CEC, together with Queso's controlling stockholder, an entity owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management (APO), have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. Immediately following the closing of the proposed transaction, Leo intends to change its name to Chuck E. Cheese Brands Inc. The current CEC executive management team will continue to lead the Company, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol CEC. This transaction will reintroduce CEC to the equity capital markets as a publicly listed company with an anticipated initial enterprise value of approximately $1.4B or 7.5x the company's estimated 2019 Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $187M. The Apollo funds will not be selling any shares in the transaction and will continue to be CEC's largest shareholder with approximately 51% ownership of the company post-closing. The Boards of Directors of both Leo and Queso have unanimously approved the proposed transaction. Completion of the transaction is subject to Leo shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions. The parties expect that the transaction will close in the second quarter. The transaction will be effected pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement entered into by and among Leo, Queso and Queso's controlling stockholder. Concurrent with the closing of the transaction, Leo will domesticate as a Delaware corporation, following which Queso will merge with and into Leo with the result that CEC will continue as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leo, which will be renamed Chuck E. Cheese Brands. Concurrent with the consummation of the transaction, additional investors will purchase $100M of common stock of Leo in a private placement. After giving effect to any redemptions by the public shareholders of Leo, the balance of the approximately $200M in cash held in Leo Holdings' trust account, together with the $100M in private placement proceeds, will be used to pay transaction expenses and de-leverage the company's existing capital structure. Existing shareholders including funds managed by Apollo, the current majority owners of CEC, expect to hold an approximately 51% stake in CEC upon completion of the transaction. Tom Leverton, CEO, and Jim Howell, CFO, will continue to lead the company. Lyndon Lea will join the company's Board of Directors as Co-Chairman of the Board with Andrew Jhawar of Apollo.

07:12 EDT Attunity shareholders approve proposed acquisition by Qlik - Attunity announced that at Attunity's extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held on April 7, Attunity shareholders voted to approve (1) the previously announced acquisition of Attunity by QlikTech International AB, and all transactions and arrangements contemplated under the related merger agreement, including the merger of Joffiger Ltd., an Israeli company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent with and into Attunity, and (2) the accelerated vesting, as of immediately prior to the effective time of the merger, of the unvested portion of equity-based awards granted to Attunity's non-employee directors. raising our 2019-20 estimates and boosting our target price to $70 from $53 following BOOM's preannounced 1Q19 revenue surprise. Management guided to 27% sequential revenue growth in the DynaEnergetics segment, which we believe clearly indicates continued share gains

07:11 EDT Alnylam, Regeneron announce broad collaboration for RNai therapeutics - Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) announced a collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize new RNA interference therapeutics for a broad range of diseases by addressing disease targets expressed in the eye and central nervous system, in addition to a select number of targets expressed in the liver. The collaboration will leverage both companies' scientific and technological expertise and will build on Alnylam's recent preclinical data showing potent and highly durable delivery of RNAi therapeutics to achieve target gene silencing in the eye and CNS. The collaboration will also benefit from Regeneron's industry-leading VelociSuite technologies and capabilities from the Regeneron Genetics Center. Under the terms of the alliance, Alnylam will work exclusively with Regeneron to discover RNAi therapeutics for eye and CNS diseases. Regeneron will lead development and commercialization for all programs targeting eye diseases, with Alnylam entitled to potential milestone and royalty payments. The companies will jointly advance and alternate leadership on CNS programs, with the lead party retaining global development and commercial responsibility. For CNS programs, both companies will have the option at candidate selection to participate equally in potential future profits of programs led by the other party. The collaboration also includes a select number of RNAi therapeutic programs designed to target genes expressed in the liver, which can influence a wide variety of diseases throughout the body. These programs include a planned joint effort evaluating anti-C5 antibody-siRNA combinations for C5 complement-mediated diseases including evaluating the combination of Regeneron's pozelimab, currently in Phase 1 development, with Alnylam's cemdisiran, currently in Phase 2 development. Alnylam will retain control of cemdisiran monotherapy development, and Regeneron will lead combination development. The parties will equally share investment and potential future profits on the monotherapy program, and Alnylam will receive royalties on any potential combination product sales. For all other alliance liver programs, the parties will alternate leadership and participate equally in potential profits. The companies will continue their previously-announced collaboration to identify RNAi therapeutics for the chronic liver disease nonalcoholic steatohepatitis based on novel RGC findings. Alnylam retains broad global rights to all of its other unpartnered liver-directed clinical and preclinical pipeline programs. Regeneron has agreed to make a $400M upfront payment to Alnylam and to purchase $400M of Alnylam equity at a price per share of $90.00, based on the volume-weighted average price over the last fifteen-trading-day period. Alnylam is eligible to receive up to an additional $200M in milestone payments upon achievement of certain criteria during early clinical development for the eye and CNS programs. The companies plan to advance programs directed to 30 targets and introduce many into clinical development during the initial five-year discovery period, which includes an option to extend. For each program, Regeneron will provide Alnylam with $2.5M in funding at program initiation and an additional $2.5M at lead candidate identification, translating to the potential for approximately $30M in annual discovery funding to Alnylam as the alliance reaches steady state. The alliance and equity-related agreements are subject to customary closing conditions and clearances, including clearance under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

07:09 EDT Histogenics and Ocugen announce merger agreement, will operate under Ocugen name - Histogenics and Ocugen jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which the stockholders of Ocugen will become the majority owners of Histogenics' outstanding common stock upon the close of the merger. The proposed merger will result in a combined publicly-traded, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company operating under the Ocugen name. The merger is structured as a stock-for-stock transaction whereby all of Ocugen's outstanding shares of common stock and securities convertible into or exercisable for Ocugen's common stock will be converted into Histogenics' common stock and securities convertible into or exercisable for Histogenics' common stock. Immediately following the closing of the transaction, the former stockholders of Ocugen will hold approximately 90% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the combined company and the current Histogenics stockholders will retain an ownership interest representing approximately 10% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the combined company, subject to certain adjustments as described in the merger agreement of up to an additional 5% ownership for the current Histogenics stockholders based on Histogenics' cash at the closing of the proposed merger, including proceeds from sale of the assets underlying Histogenics' NeoCart product in connection with the closing. Upon closing of the transaction, Histogenics will be renamed Ocugen and will be headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania under the leadership of Ocugen's current management team. No Histogenics employees will remain employed by the combined company. The merger agreement provides that the board of the combined company will be comprised of seven directors designated by Ocugen. The merger agreement has been unanimously approved by the board of each company. The transaction is expected to close in late Q2 or Q3, subject to approvals by stockholders of each company and other customary closing conditions.

07:07 EDT Inspire Medical reports three new positive coverage policies issued by BCBS - Inspire Medical Systems announced that three new Blue Cross Blue Shield Association healthcare plans have issued positive coverage policies of Inspire therapy. These plans include: Highmark, Inc.; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama; and BCBS of South Carolina, which, in the aggregate, provide coverage for approximately 8.3 million members. As to these positive coverage policies: Highmark, Inc., the sixth largest BCBS plan, covers approximately 4.6 million members across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and took effect on April 5, 2019; BCBS of Alabama covers approximately 2.9 million members and took effect on April 2, 2019; and BCBS of South Carolina covers approximately 800,000 members and took effect on March 15, 2019. There have now been 16 positive coverage policies issued by BCBSA healthcare plans, currently covering approximately 33 million members, following BCBSA Evidence Street's January 7, 2019 report, which stated that there is sufficient evidence to determine that Inspire therapy results in a meaningful improvement in net health outcomes for patients meeting specified criteria. In aggregate, there are a total of approximately 61 million members under all of the policies that cover Inspire therapy.

07:05 EDT Asanko Gold reports initial drill results from Tontokrom exploration target - Asanko Gold (AKG) announced initial drill results from the Tontokrom exploration target, part of the Asanko Gold Mine concession area in Ghana, West Africa. The AGM is a 50:50 joint venture with Gold Fields Ltd (GFI) which is managed and operated by Asanko. Drilling Highlights: Hole TTPC19-001 intersected 13.0m at 2.62 grams per tonne gold from 128m; Hole TTPC19-002 intersected 22.0m at 1.24 grams per tonne gold from 156m; Hole TTPC19-002 intersected 39.0m at 1.82 grams per tonne gold from 189m. Commenting on the drilling program, Greg McCunn, CEO said: "The results from the Phase 1 drilling program at Tontokrom are very encouraging, with results from six of the nine holes drilled confirming the consistency of mineralization along the shear corridor. We believe there is a strong potential for a major discovery at the South Camp and I'm pleased to see the commitment to exploration by our joint venture. We will shortly commence initial drilling on our second target, Fromenda, where historical drilling by a previous owner shows significant promise. The planned 5,000 meter program is designed to both confirm and expand upon previous drilling."

07:03 EDT Regeneron, Alnylam announce collaboration to discover RNAi therapeutics - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) announced a collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize new RNA interference therapeutics for a broad range of diseases by addressing disease targets expressed in the eye and central nervous system, in addition to a select number of targets expressed in the liver. The collaboration will leverage both companies' scientific and technological expertise and will build on Alnylam's recent preclinical data showing potent and highly durable delivery of RNAi therapeutics to achieve target gene silencing in the eye and CNS. The collaboration will also benefit from Regeneron's industry-leading VelociSuite technologies and capabilities from the Regeneron Genetics Center. Under the terms of the alliance, Alnylam will work exclusively with Regeneron to discover RNAi therapeutics for eye and CNS diseases. Regeneron will lead development and commercialization for all programs targeting eye diseases, with Alnylam entitled to potential milestone and royalty payments. The companies will jointly advance and alternate leadership on CNS programs, with the lead party retaining global development and commercial responsibility. For CNS programs, both companies will have the option at candidate selection to participate equally in potential future profits of programs led by the other party. The collaboration also includes a select number of RNAi therapeutic programs designed to target genes expressed in the liver, which can influence a wide variety of diseases throughout the body. These programs include a planned joint effort evaluating anti-C5 antibody-siRNA combinations for C5 complement-mediated diseases including evaluating the combination of Regeneron's pozelimab, currently in Phase 1 development, with Alnylam's cemdisiran, currently in Phase 2 development. Alnylam will retain control of cemdisiran monotherapy development, and Regeneron will lead combination development. The parties will equally share investment and potential future profits on the monotherapy program, and Alnylam will receive royalties on any potential combination product sales. For all other alliance liver programs, the parties will alternate leadership and participate equally in potential profits. The companies will continue their previously-announced collaboration to identify RNAi therapeutics for the chronic liver disease nonalcoholic steatohepatitis based on novel RGC findings. Alnylam retains broad global rights to all of its other unpartnered liver-directed clinical and preclinical pipeline programs.

06:58 EDT Vista Gold provides update on Mount Todd metallurgical testing - Vista Gold announced that the fine grinding tests on 470 kilograms of samples from its Mount Todd gold project are complete and that the final products are being returned to Denver for leach recovery testing. Due to backlogs at the labs of Core Metallurgy and FLSmidth, the testing program was delayed four to five weeks and final leach recovery results are now expected in May. The preliminary grinding test results confirm the results of previous tests, which indicated that the power required to achieve a target grind size of 38-45 microns is less than was estimated in the 2018 updated preliminary feasibility study.

06:55 EDT Alnylam trading halted, news pending

06:53 EDT MGIC Investment issues March operating statistics - MGIC Investment issued an operational summary of its insurance subsidiaries for the month of March for their primary mortgage insurance. The beginning primary delinquent inventory was 32,692 in March with ending primary delinquent Inventory of 30,921. March insurance in force was $211.4B. The information concerning new delinquency notices and cures is compiled from reports received from loan servicers. The level of new notice and cure activity reported in a particular month can be influenced by, among other things, the date on which a servicer generates its report, the accuracy of the data provided by servicers, the number of business days in a month, transfers of servicing between loan servicers and whether all servicers have provided the reports in a given month.

06:37 EDT Senmiao Technology subsidiary completes $1.9M in vehicle sales transactions - Senmiao Technology announced that Senmiao's majority owned subsidiary, Hunan Ruixi Financial, has completed 193 vehicles sales transactions worth approximately $1.9M to ride-hailing drivers of Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing and ride-sharing platform in China. These vehicle sales occurred in the Chengdu, China market and represent the initial results of this corporate effort since the official launch of Ruixi's automobile sales business in Chengdu in late January. As the fleet of Didi drivers in the Chengdu region is expanding, Senmiao believes Ruixi is well positioned to continue to place purchase orders on vehicles catering to Didi drivers. To meet demand, Ruixi plans to draw on a credit facility of $59.7M granted by Bank of Changsha to fund vehicle purchases. Ruixi plans to sell up to 2,000 vehicles in the Chengdu market, including up to 500 electronic vehicles.

06:34 EDT Strata Skin Sciences receives notice of non-compliance from Nasdaq - Strata Skin Sciences received written notification from Nasdaq that the company is no longer in compliance with the Nasdaq listing rules since Strata has not yet filed its annual report on form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250 requires Nasdaq-listed companies to timely file all periodic reports. Strata has 60 days within which to either cure the deficiency or to submit a plan to Nasdaq showing how it intends to regain compliance. If the plan is accepted, Nasdaq can grant an extension of the grace period for shares of common stock to remain listed for up to 180 calendar days from the annual report's due date, or until September 30 to regain compliance.

06:22 EDT CMS finalizes policies to bring telehealth benefit to Medicare Advantage - On Friday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized policies that will increase plan choices and benefits, including allowing Medicare Advantage plans to include additional telehealth benefits. The agency said, "These policies continue the agency's efforts to modernize the Medicare Advantage and Part D programs, unleash innovation and drive competition to improve quality among private Medicare health and drug plans...The final policies announced today leverage new authorities provided to CMS in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which President Trump signed into law last year. CMS is finalizing changes that would allow Medicare Advantage beneficiaries to access additional telehealth benefits, starting in plan year 2020. These additional telehealth benefits offer patients the option to receive health care services from places like their homes, rather than requiring them to go to a healthcare facility." CMS is also finalizing changes that will make improvements to Medicare Advantage and Part D Star Ratings so that consumers can identify high-value plans. The final rule updates the methodology for calculating Star Ratings, which provide information to consumers on plan quality. The final rule will improve the quality of care for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid who participate in "Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans" or D-SNPs. The final rule will create one appeals process across Medicare and Medicaid, which will make it easier for enrollees in certain D-SNPs to navigate the healthcare system and have access to high quality services. The final rule will also require plans to more seamlessly integrate Medicare and Medicaid benefits across the two programs. Publicly-traded companies in the space include Teladoc (TDOC) and MYnd Analytics (MYND).

06:12 EDT Social Reality says previously issued financial statements can not be relied on - Social Reality announced that management of the company concluded and the audit committee of the company has concurred that the company's previously issued quarterly and year-to-date unaudited consolidated financial statements for March 31, 2017, June 30, 2017, September 30, 2017, December 31, 2017, March 31, 2018, June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2018 and that its audited consolidated financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2017 should no longer be relied upon. Similarly, related press releases, earnings releases and investor communications describing the company's financial statements for these periods should no longer be relied upon. The errors identified are all non-cash and primarily related to the company's classification of certain outstanding warrants with provisions that allow the warrant holder to force cash redemption under certain circumstances. In connection with the restatement, management has determined that a material weakness related to the accounting for financing transactions in the company's internal control over financial reporting existed for the periods from March 31, 2017 through December 31, 2018. The company's CEO and CFO have concluded that the company's disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at the reasonable assurance level as of March 31, 2017 through December 31, 2018, and the company's management has concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2018. The company anticipates that it will file amended quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2018, June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2018, to amend and restate its financial condition and financial results for the affected periods as soon as practicable.

06:11 EDT Capitol Investment to combine with Nesco in $1.1B deal - Capitol Investment and Nesco Holdings announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement in which Nesco will become a publicly listed company with an anticipated initial enterprise value of approximately $1.1B. Nesco is currently a portfolio company of Energy Capital Partners. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Capitol will become the owner of all the equity of Nesco and will be renamed Nesco Holdings, Inc. Capitol will become a Delaware domiciled corporation immediately prior to the closing of the transaction. The combined company will have an anticipated initial enterprise value of approximately $1.1B, implying a 7.9x multiple of projected 2019 Adjusted EBITDA and a 6.4x multiple of projected 2020 Adjusted EBITDA. At closing, current stockholders of Capitol and current Nesco shareholders will hold approximately 72% and 28%, respectively, of the issued and outstanding shares of the combined company's common stock, assuming no public shareholders of Capitol exercise redemption rights. The current Nesco shareholders will also receive $75M of cash consideration and incentive earnout shares totaling up to 1.8M common shares, issued in 0.9 million increments when the combined company's stock price reaches $13.00 and $16.00 per share. The net cash proceeds from the transaction are expected to be used to pay down Nesco's existing debt.

06:04 EDT United Therapeutics: BEAT study of esuberaprost did not meet primary endpoint - United Therapeutics announced that the BEAT clinical study of esuberaprost tablets in patients suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension did not meet its primary endpoint of delayed time to first clinical worsening event. Accordingly, United Therapeutics has decided to discontinue further esuberaprost development.

06:02 EDT Xoma acquires royalty rights to five hematology assets from Aronora - Xoma (XOMA) announced it has agreed to acquire the rights to potential royalty payments and a portion of the potential milestone payments associated with five hematology assets from Aronora. Three of the assets are anti-thrombotic candidates that are covered by a collaboration with Bayer (BAYRY), a global leader in hematology therapeutics. Two of the collaboration assets are in early to mid-stages of development and the third is a Phase 2 candidate that is subject to an option. In addition, XOMA agreed to acquire the rights to potential royalty payments and a portion of the potential upfront and milestone payments associated with two unpartnered hematology programs from Aronora. The five royalty interest assets XOMA acquired from Aronora are: Three Bayer collaboration monoclonal antibody programs targeting factor XI/XIa: BAY1213790 in Phase 2 clinical development; BAY1831865 in early clinical development; and Aronora's AB023 in Phase 2 development; and, Two proprietary hematology programs at Phase 1 and preclinical stage: AB002, a thrombin analog, and AB054, a factor XII mAb, positioned for acute cardiovascular events, medical device associated clots, and/or inflammation. Under the terms of the agreement, XOMA will make an initial $6M payment subject to closing conditions defined in the agreement. XOMA will make an additional payment of up to $3M to Aronora upon fulfillment of certain other conditions. In return, XOMA will receive, on average, low single-digit royalties on future sales of these five products and 10% of the milestones associated with each of the assets. In addition, XOMA could pay Aronora sales-based milestones on each asset if XOMA's royalty receipts related to each program exceed certain thresholds. XOMA expects this transaction to close within the next 90 days.

06:00 EDT Versum says revised proposal from Merck KGaA 'superior' to Entegris - Versum Materials (VSM) announced that it has received a revised proposal from Merck KGaA (MKGAY), Darmstadt, Germany to acquire Versum for $53 per share, and that Versum's board, in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, has unanimously determined that this proposal constitutes a "Superior Proposal" as defined in Versum's previously announced merger agreement with Entegris (ENTG). Under the terms of Merck's revised proposal, Merck would acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Versum for $53 per share in cash, an increase from the previously announced $48 per share proposal made by Merck on February 27. On April 7, Versum notified Entegris that Versum had received the revised proposal from Merck, that Versum's board has unanimously determined that Merck's proposal constitutes a "Superior Proposal," and that Versum's board intends to terminate the Entegris merger agreement to enter into a definitive merger agreement with respect to Merck's proposal. Consistent with the terms of the Entegris merger agreement, Entegris has the right, during the four business day period ending on April 11, to propose revisions to the existing merger agreement between Versum and Entegris. Versum is required to, and intends to, negotiate in good faith with Entegris during this period, and the Versum board will consider in good faith any changes to the Entegris merger agreement that Entegris may propose during this period. If Versum terminates the Entegris merger agreement to enter into a definitive agreement with respect to Merck's revised proposal, Versum is required to pay a $140M termination fee to Entegris.

05:56 EDT RADA Electronic announces over $6M in new orders - RADA Electronic announced the receipt of over $6M in new orders in the past month, which are expected to be delivered during 2019. Out of these new orders, $5M were for RADA's software-defined AESA radars for international counter UAV solutions. The majority of these were initial orders from new defense customers, which possess significant future potential for repeated follow-on orders. There were also repeated orders from existing defense customers, which are expanding their deployments of their systems that incorporate our radars. Over $1M were follow-on orders for RADA's legacy avionics, including digital video recorders and ongoing maintenance orders for RADA's wide installment base of core avionics for military airborne platforms.

05:37 EDT Avenatti claims Nike bribed players to attend 'Nike' colleges - Attorney Michael Avenatti on Saturday tweeted a link to evidence he claims shows "Nike bribed players to attend 'Nike' colleges." He said "Here is a link to only SOME of the evidence showing Nike bribed players to attend "Nike" colleges. This evidence is now in the hands of law enforcement. Nike bribed over 100 players as part of their scheme and purposely hid the payments from the NCAA & fed investigators... Nike should be criminally indicted on well over 200 counts and should also explain why they misled their investors/the SEC. If I'm lying or the docs are not legit, I challenge @nike to issue a stmt claiming no bribes were ever paid. Just Do It Nike!" He also made allegations against Duke University's Zion Williamson, saying "About this denial by Coach K the other day relating to payments by Nike...Can you please ask Zion Williamson's mother - Sharonda Sampson - whether she was paid by @nike for bogus 'consulting services' in 2016/17 as part of a Nike bribe to get Zion to go to Duke? Thx." Reference Link

05:20 EDT MICT receives $1.3M in orders for 4th generation SmartHub hardware platform - MICT, announced that Micronet Ltd., has received two purchase orders totaling $1.3M to supply and deliver its 4th generation SmartHub hardware platform. Micronet Ltd., an entity in which MICT has an ownership stake of approximately 39.53%, received the purchase orders from a leading U.S. telematics service provider, and a current Micronet customer.The 4th generation SmartHub hardware platform is a rugged Android-based fix-mount on board computer, offering advanced functionality at a competitive price. Installed in the driver's cabin, the SmartHub hardware platform enables monitoring and management of vehicle fleets including Android-based advanced computing assignments such as follow-up of tasks, two-way communication with the fleet manager, remote vehicle and engineering equipment diagnostics, monitoring behavior, and drivers' hours of services.

05:14 EDT Alnylam, Sanofi conclude research, option phase of 2014 RNAi collaboration - Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) announced that Alnylam and Sanofi (SNY) have agreed to conclude the research and option phase of the companies' 2014 RNAi therapeutics alliance in rare genetic diseases. The material collaboration terms for patisiran, vutrisiran, and fitusiran, as previously announced, will continue unchanged. As part of the agreement, Alnylam will advance a selected investigational asset in an undisclosed rare genetic disease through the end of IND-enabling studies. Sanofi will be responsible for any potential further development or commercialization of this asset. If this product is approved, Alnylam will be eligible to receive tiered double-digit royalties on its global net sales. In addition, Alnylam and Sanofi have agreed to amend certain terms of the companies' equity agreement, with Sanofi obtaining a release of its lock-up of Alnylam stock holdings, subject to certain trading restrictions, amongst other provisions.