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

18:55 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - HIGHER: OrganiGram (OGI) up 6.9% after unveiling liquid, powdered cannabinoid product... AzurRX (AZRX) up 5.6% after initiating phase 2 clinical study for MS1819-SD. LOWER: New Mountain Finance (NMFC) down 2.9% after equity offering. Movers as of 18:45ET.

18:39 EDT Plains All American announces open season on Western Corridor Pipeline System - An affiliate of Plains All American Pipeline announced a binding open season for long-term commitments for light crude oil transportation service on its Western Corridor Pipeline System. The open season service will originate in northern Montana for delivery to Gulf Coast markets. Subject to sufficient commitments from shippers and receipt of any necessary permits and regulatory approvals, the existing System capacity will be expanded by up to an additional 70,000 barrels per day, and service on the expanded System is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021.

18:28 EDT Ellington Financial reports estimated book value per share $19.01 on June 30 - This estimate includes the effect of the previously announced monthly dividend of 14c per share, payable on July 25 to holders of record on June 28, with an ex-dividend date of June 27.

17:53 EDT Organigram jumps 5.5% after producing liquid, powdered cannabinoid product - Earlier, Organigram announced development technology to produce liquid, powdered cannabinoid products - In anticipation of the legalization of adult use recreational cannabis edibles in Canada, Organigram has developed a proprietary nano-emulsification technology that will allow for the production of both liquid and powdered cannabinoid products. In addition to the company's previously announced plans to launch a range of premium cannabinoid-infused chocolates, Organigram is planning to launch a variety of dried powder formulation beverage products in early 2020 in Canada. Shares of Organigram are up to $7.46 in after hours trading, up 38c per share, or 5.37% to 7.46 per share after rising 8% intra-day.

17:17 EDT Bar Harbor Bankshares to acquire 8 Maine bank branches - Bar Harbor Bankshares announced that its banking subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust has signed a definitive agreement to acquire eight branches located in central Maine with approximately $287M of deposits, $111M of loans and $284M of assets under management from People's United Bank, National Association. The eight branches will increase BHBT's total branch count to 56 in its footprint, and 22 in the State of Maine.

17:11 EDT Cornerstone Buildings CFO Jeffrey Lee buys 80K shares of firm stock - Cornerstone Buildings CFO Jeffrey Lee buys 80,000 shares of company stock at $5.85 per share between July 3 and July 8. The total transaction value of the purchase was $468,064.

17:04 EDT Ashland announces amendment to purchase agreement with INEOS Enterprises - Ashland announced an amendment to the purchase agreement for the sale of its Composites business and butanediol manufacturing facility in Marl, Germany to INEOS Enterprises. The amendment includes the removal of the maleic business from the sale, while the purchase price remains unchanged at $1.1B. Ashland's maleic business consists of one facility in West Virginia which generates annual revenue of approximately $75M. Ashland will retain full ownership of and be solely responsible for operations of the maleic business moving forward. The company intends to divest the maleic business after closing with all proceeds, less reasonable costs incurred by Ashland, being paid to INEOS Enterprises. The sale of the Composites and Marl BDO business is expected to close in late summer, subject to certain customary regulatory approvals, standard closing conditions and completion of required employee information and consultation processes.

17:03 EDT Beneficial owner of Stitch Fix Peter Fenton sells almost $3.3M in company share - Beneficial owner of Stitch Fix Peter Fenton disclosed n a filing that he had sold 105,731 shares of company stock at an average price of $30.95 per share between July 2 and July 5. The total transaction value of the sale was $3,272,311.

16:53 EDT TimkenSteel cuts approximately 55 jobs, sees Q2 charge of $3.6M - In a regulatory filing, the company said, "In June of 2019, TimkenSteel made organizational changes to support its lean enterprise efforts and enhance profitable and sustainable growth. These company-wide actions included the restructuring of its commercial and technology organizations to drive innovation and focus on the key growth areas identified by the company such as value-added components, energy products and government business. Given these and other restructuring efforts, the company implemented approximately 55 position eliminations. As a result of the headcount reduction, TimkenSteel will recognize restructuring charges of $3.6 million during the second quarter of 2019, consisting of severance, employee-related benefits and other associated expenses. TimkenSteel will record reserves for such restructuring charges that remain unpaid at quarter end as other current liabilities on the Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets. The company expects savings of approximately $2 million in fiscal 2019 with annual savings of approximately $7 million beginning in fiscal 2020. These amounts are incremental to the lean enterprise profitability improvement targets previously communicated by TimkenSteel."

16:31 EDT Black Hills units receive approvals for renewable ready service tariffs - Black Hills announced that its South Dakota Electric and Wyoming Electric subsidiaries, doing business as Black Hills Energy, received approvals from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and Wyoming Public Service Commission for new, voluntary renewable energy tariffs. In addition, the Wyoming commission also approved a joint application by the two electric utilities for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to build a $57M, 40-megawatt wind generation project. The Renewable Ready Service Tariffs will provide large commercial and industrial customers and governmental agencies in South Dakota and Wyoming a cost-effective option to purchase utility-scale renewable energy from Black Hills Energy for up to 100 percent of their electric energy needs.

16:23 EDT Pzena Investment AUM as of June 30 $37.4B - Pzena Investment Management eported its preliminary assets under management as of June 30. AUM for month-end June 2019, month-end May 2019, and month-end June 2018 are listed below: AUM As of as of As of June 30 $37.4B.

16:17 EDT La-Z-Boy names Keith Wilson as President of International business - La-Z-Boy Incorporated announced that Keith Wilson has been named President International. In this capacity, he will be responsible for all international sales, merchandising and marketing. He succeeds Doug Collier, who recently retired from La-Z-Boy. Wilson joined La-Z-Boy in 2016 in an interim capacity before being named Managing Director, La-Z-Boy U.K.

16:17 EDT Assurant finalizes 2019 property catastrophe reinsurance program - Assurant announced it has finalized its 2019 property catastrophe reinsurance program, reducing the company's financial exposure and protecting more than 3 million homeowners and renters policyholders against severe weather and other hazards. U.S. Program provides $1.16 billion of coverage in excess of a $80 million retention per-event with a projected probable maximum loss of approximately a 1-in-173-year storm, based on projected modeled loss estimates. When combined with the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, the program is covered for gross Florida losses of up to $1.4 billion. Multiyear reinsurance contracts cover approximately 35 percent of reinsurance layers. All layers of the program allow for one automatic reinstatement, except Layer 1 which has two reinstatements, and include a cascading feature that provides multi-event protection in which higher coverage layers drop down to $120 million as the lower layers and reinstatement limit are exhausted. 2019 reinsurance premiums for this program are estimated to be approximately $165 million pre-tax reflecting the significant decrease in catastrophe per-event retention and modest growth in exposure. "We are pleased to complete our 2019 catastrophe reinsurance program, which this year includes a significant reduction of our per-event retention to $80 million, as we look to lower our catastrophe exposure and produce more predictable earnings and cash flow," said Assurant President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Colberg.

16:13 EDT Group 1 Automotive acquires two BMW/MINI dealerships in New Mexico - Group 1 Automotive announced the expansion of its business presence in the New Mexico market with the acquisition of two BMW/MINI dealerships. The dealerships are located in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and represent the only BMW and MINI franchises in the state of New Mexico. Also included in the acquisition are BMW Motorrad franchises in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, making Group 1 the exclusive seller of BMW Motorcycles in New Mexico. These stores are Group 1's first motorcycle franchises in the U.S., adding to the existing relationship with BMW Motorrad in the U.K and Brazil. The dealerships are expected to generate approximately $100M in annualized revenue.

16:10 EDT Sanmina names Hartmut Liebel as COO - Sanmina announced Hartmut Liebel has joined the company as President and COO. Liebel brings over 20 years of experience in operational and financial leadership roles in the technology industry. He most recently served as President and CEO of privately owned iQor, a leading global provider of intelligent customer interaction and product outsourcing solutions.

16:08 EDT Nautilus appoints James Barr as CEO - Nautilus (NLS) announced that its board of directors has named James Barr as CEO. He will assume day-to-day leadership of the company on July 29 and will also join Nautilus' board of directors. Barr had experience transforming and growing large scale digital and multichannel businesses. Barr most recently was group president at Ritchie Bros (RBA). He led the company's global marketing, technology and online product teams, ran its online businesses and helped the company launch new offerings in asset management software.

16:06 EDT TreeHouse to sell Snacks Division to Atlas Holdings for $90M - TreeHouse Foods announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the company's Snacks Division to Atlas Holdings. Atlas has agreed to pay $90M for the Division, subject to certain post-closing adjustments. TreeHouse projected the Snacks Division to generate net sales of approximately $670M in 2019. TreeHouse plans to use the net proceeds of the sale to pay down debt. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter. TreeHouse plans to update its full-year guidance to reflect this transaction in its second quarter earnings announcement.

16:06 EDT AzurRx BioPharma begins Initiation of phase 2 clinical study for MS1819-SD - AzurRx BioPharma announced that it has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial to investigate MS1819-SD in combination with standard porcine enzyme replacement therapy for patients with cystic fibrosis that suffer from severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, but continue to experience clinical symptoms of fat malabsorption despite taking the maximum daily dose of PERTs. The digestive standard of care for both CF and chronic pancreatitis patients with EPI are commercially-available PERTs. Ideally, a stable daily dose of PERT will enable CF patients to eat a normal to high-fat diet and minimize unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms. In practice, however, a substantial number of CF patients do not achieve normal absorption of fat with PERTs. Achieving an optimal nutritional status, including normal fat absorption levels, in CF patients is important for maintaining better pulmonary function, physical performance and prolonging survival. Furthermore, a decline of body mass index around the age of 18 years predicts a substantial drop in lung function.

16:05 EDT Amgen completes offer to Nuevolution shareholders - Amgen announced a recommended public cash offer to the shareholders of Nuevolution AB to tender all their shares in Nuevolution to Amgen for SEK 32.50 per share in cash. At the end of the Offer acceptance period on July 4, the Offer had been accepted by shareholders representing a total of 48,313,224 shares and votes in Nuevolution, corresponding to approximately 97.6% of the total number of issued and outstanding shares and votes in Nuevolution. As communicated in the Offer announcement and the offer document describing the Offer, which was published on June 12, the Offer did not include warrants issued by Nuevolution to participants under the incentive programs implemented by Nuevolution, and Amgen provided Warrant holders an opportunity to sell all their Warrants to Amgen outside of the Offer. The Warrant Offer has been accepted by Warrant holders representing all 5,109,254 Warrants allotted under the programs, corresponding to 5,109,254 shares and votes in Nuevolution, if exercised. In total, the securities tendered by shareholders and Warrant holders into the Offer and the Warrant Offer, respectively, correspond to approximately 97.8% of the total number of shares and votes in Nuevolution on a fully diluted basis. Amgen did not own or control any securities in Nuevolution at the time of the Offer announcement, and has not, since then, acquired any securities in Nuevolution outside of the Offer and the Warrant Offer. Amgen hereby declares the Offer unconditional, announces that all conditions for completion of the Offer have either been satisfied or waived and declares that it is completing the Offer. Settlement in respect of shares duly tendered on or before July 4 is expected to occur on or around July 15. To give remaining shareholders of Nuevolution the possibility to accept the Offer, Amgen has decided to extend the acceptance period until 17:00 (CEST) on July 24. Settlement in respect of shares tendered during the extended acceptance period is expected to occur on or around July 19 for shareholders accepting the Offer no later than on July 12 and on or around July 31 for the shareholders accepting the Offer after July 12. During the extended acceptance period, Amgen may acquire, or enter into agreements to acquire, shares in Nuevolution outside of the Offer. Such acquisitions or agreements will be made in accordance with applicable Swedish laws and regulations. Amgen intends to initiate compulsory acquisition proceedings with respect to the remaining Nuevolution shares, and to promote a de-listing of the Nuevolution shares from Nasdaq Stockholm.

15:48 EDT Essa Pharma says court reserved judgment on planned Realm acquisition - Essa Pharma (EPIX) announces that the hearing at the High Court of Justice in England and Wales in respect of the proposed scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the U.K. Companies Act 2006, pursuant to which Essa will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Realm Therapeutics (RLM), took place today in London. "The court reserved judgment and, as such, the court has not yet rendered its decision upon the sanctioning of the scheme. As a consequence of the reserved judgment, there is likely to be an update to the expected timetable of principal events for the implementation of the scheme from that set out in the announcement made by the company on June 26, 2019. The company will release an announcement as soon as reasonably practicable following receipt of the court's judgment and will include an updated timetable of principal events as applicable," Essa stated.

15:27 EDT BeyondSpring's Huang not worried about U.S.-China trade dispute - BeyondSpring (BYSI) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, CEO Lan Huang talked about any potential implications to the company from the evolving U.S.-China trade relationship: "We have already our strategies of making the drugs domestically in China for the domestic approval. So we don't have this worry. Also, Plinabulin has been rewarded a research five-year grant, the government Innovation Grant, and it will also have the chance to go into the National Insurance. Early this year or late last year, the Chinese government also announced this rule saying that there's no tax for innovative oncology drug shipment into China. Human health and especially the welfare of cancer patients is of highest priority for the government so they don't even get put tax on it." "Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company.

14:26 EDT BeyondSpring CEO says discussing partnerships with global pharma companies - BeyondSpring (BYSI) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, CEO Lan Huang talked about BeyondSpring's upcoming events: "By the end of the year, we are planning to file for NDA in China. China has this new conditional approval rule just for the life-threatening diseases. If the trending is good, they will let you to submit for approval because those patients are really in need of great, innovative medicine. That's number one, which is a big milestone for us. Number two, we are also planning to apply for NDA in the U.S. for the CIN indication. That's also within the 12-month frame. Number three, we are expecting to see the second look of the Phase 3 in refractory non-small cell lung cancer, which will be a big event for the company. Number four, we keep discussing partnerships with global pharma, and could be a nice milestone also in the next 12 months. When the data is available, we will be able to present it at relevant conferences." "Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company. The remainder of this interview to follow.

14:00 EDT BeyondSpring CEO says Plinabulin trial in NSCLC 'going forward really nicely' - BeyondSpring (BYSI) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, CEO Lan Huang discussed the ongoing Phase 3 trial of Plinabulin/docetaxel in refractory non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC: "The study is going forward really nicely. We have enrolled over 420 patients now globally, and we have already finished our first interim look. In the first interim look, the DSMB also reviewed our data not only on the safety but also on efficacy and there's no resizing of the patients. They advised us to go forward without upsizing the patient count. From a sophisticated investor point of view that data looks pretty good, trending in the right direction, and we are very happy with that. Regarding the second look, everything's going forward as we planned and we are expecting probably by the end of this year or next year, because it's all driven by events. We will also need to clean the data before we can say anything and that's why the timeline is not carved in stone. But as far as what we can see from our side, things are progressing nicely forward as we planned." "Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company. The remainder of this interview to follow.

13:57 EDT VirnetX says appeals court vacates prior decisions in patent case against Apple - VirnetX (VHC) announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in Appeal Nos. 2017-1368, 2017-1383 as to two decisions issued by the United States Patent & Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board that had found unpatentable claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,502,135 and 7,490,151. The decision vacated and remanded both of the decisions, "agreeing with VirnetX including the Board abused its discretion in denying VirnetX the opportunity to file a motion for additional discovery as to real party-in-interest issues; many of the Board's positions as to the prior art lacked substantial evidence; and the Board misconstrued the claims," the company stated. "We are extremely pleased with the Federal Court's decision which vindicates many of VirnetX's arguments about the Patent Board's decisions. This decision comes on the heels of the Federal Circuit's prior decision in Appeal No. 2018-1751 on June 28, 2019 as to another Board decision against U.S. Patent No. 7,418,504, where the Board's finding of unpatentability as to claims 5, 12, and 13 was also vacated," said Kendall Larsen, VirnetX CEO and President.

13:48 EDT BASF to reduce 6,000 positions worldwide by end of 2021 - BASF said it is "systematically implementing the measures announced in connection with its strategy, especially regarding portfolio management and cost reduction." It added, "The ongoing excellence program is expected to deliver a positive contribution to EBITDA of EUR $2 billion annually from the end of 2021 onward. In total, BASF is planning a reduction of around 6,000 positions worldwide by the end of 2021."

13:40 EDT BASF cites 'significantly weaker-than-expected' industrial production

13:01 EDT Senator Blumenthal calls on DIRECTV, AT&T to accept Nexstar's extension offer - Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal has issued a letter urging direct broadcast satellite service provider DIRECTV (T) and AT&T U-verse to immediately restore carriage of Nexstar-owned (NXST) WTNH-TV and WCTX-TV, Nexstar said. Effective 11:59 p.m. CT on July 3, 2019, AT&T/DIRECTV dropped the network and local community programming for Nexstar-owned stations impacting viewers in 97 markets across the country. The action follows AT&T/DIRECTV's refusal to accept Nexstar's offer for an extension which would have allowed viewers in Hartford-New Haven as well as other affected markets to view their favorite network shows, special events, sports, local news and other programming while the parties continue to negotiate. In the letter dated July 5, Senator Blumenthal acknowledges that local consumers "value Connecticut-based journalism and broadcasting" and strongly urges AT&T/DIRECTV to "immediately provide carriage of WTNH and WCTX through at least August 2, 2019 as requested by Nexstar" which would provide both parties time to come to an agreement "without barring AT&T/DirecTV consumers from viewing their local news coverage."

13:00 EDT BeyondSpring CEO says U.S.-China trade fight not a worry for company

13:00 EDT Plinabulin combo could become important standard of care, BeyondSpring CEO says

12:36 EDT Nordstrom looks to hire nearly 1,200 employees for NYC flagship store - Nordstrom said it is looking to hire nearly 1,200 employees for its New York City flagship store, opening at 225 West 57th Street on October 24, 2019, steps away from Columbus Circle. Sales and support positions will be posted on Monday, July 8 and interested applicants are invited to apply for jobs online. Sales positions are available in all areas, including women's apparel, designer, shoes, beauty and the kid's department. Hiring will also take place for various support positions in alterations, building services, housekeeping, loss prevention, as well as jobs in the store's food and beverage offerings.

12:03 EDT TSYS enters multi-year, exclusive agreement with SpotOn Transact - SpotOn Transact announced they recently extended their partnership with TSYS in a multi-year, exclusive agreement, which will enable SpotOn to expand payments capabilities to merchants and go deeper in the small- and medium-sized business space.

12:02 EDT ReneSola CEO Xianshou Li resigns, Shelley Xu appointed CEO - ReneSola announced that its CEO, Xianshou Li, due to personal reasons, resigned from his position as CEO and from all other managerial positions held by him in ReneSola and any of its subsidiaries, effective July 8. The board has accepted his resignation and has appointed Shelley Xu as the new CEO of the company. Prior to the appointment, Shelley Xu was Group Vice President, overseeing project development and construction in Asia Pacific region.

12:00 EDT Noah Holdings falls -17.7% - Noah Holdings is down -17.7%, or -$7.92 to $36.82.

12:00 EDT Chaparral Energy rises 7.1% - Chaparral Energy is up 7.1%, or 35c to $5.27.

12:00 EDT Orion Group rises 14.2% - Orion Group is up 14.2%, or 44c to $3.54.

11:02 EDT Arthur J. Gallagher acquires Stonehenge Insurance Solutions, terms not disclosed - Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Stonehenge Insurance Solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2007, Stonehenge Insurance Solutions offers commercial insurance products and consulting services to Professional Employer Organizations and Staffing clients throughout the United States. Stonehenge delivers specialized products such as worker's compensation; professional, employment practices, general and cyber liability; commercial, hired and non-owned auto; workplace violence; umbrella coverages; and many other customized solutions. Jeff Rendel, Troy Reynolds, Chris O'Connor and their associates will relocate to their new offices in Tequesta, Florida, in July, under the direction of Peter Doyle, head of Gallagher's Southeast region retail property/casualty brokerage operations.

10:00 EDT GSX Techedu falls -6.5% - GSX Techedu is down -6.5%, or -69c to $9.91.

10:00 EDT Noah Holdings falls -20.5% - Noah Holdings is down -20.5%, or -$9.15 to $35.59.

10:00 EDT Inspire Medical rises 4.5% - Inspire Medical is up 4.5%, or $2.87 to $66.75.

09:55 EDT Noah sinks after controlling shareholder of Camsing criminally detained - Noah Holdings earlier today provided an update on the status of certain credit funds managed by Shanghai Gopher Asset Management, a consolidated affiliated entity of Noah. The company said, "In the course of their investing activities, these credit funds provided supply chain financing involving third party companies related to Camsing International Holding Limited, with a total principal amount of about RMB3.4 billion. The controlling shareholder of Camsing has recently been criminally detained by the Chinese police in connection with suspected fraudulent activity. As the fund manager of these funds, Shanghai Gopher Asset Management has initiated various legal actions and is committed to taking the best course of action to fulfill its obligations and to protect the interests of the investors of these funds." Shares of Noah Holdings are down 19%, or $8.57, to $36.04 in early trading.

09:47 EDT Noah Holdings falls -16.4% - Noah Holdings is down -16.4%, or -$7.32 to $37.42.

09:47 EDT AZZ Inc. rises 7.1% - AZZ Inc. is up 7.1%, or $3.26 to $49.36.

09:47 EDT Amneal Pharmaceuticals rises 9.3% - Amneal Pharmaceuticals is up 9.3%, or 62c to $7.28.

09:33 EDT Medtronic: HeartWare HV AD shows 95% freedom from disabling stroke at 2 years - Medtronic announced two-year outcomes from the LATERAL clinical trial evaluating the use of its HeartWare HVAD System in patients who received the system via a less-invasive, thoracotomy implant approach. The HVAD System is a heart pump, called a left ventricular assist device, that helps increase the amount of blood that circulates through the body in patients with advanced heart failure. Presented at the ASAIO 65th Annual Conference, the data showed that after two years of follow up, 95 percent of HVAD patients implanted via thoracotomy were free from disabling stroke. Additionally: A review of adverse events occurring in the LATERAL trial revealed that adverse events were more likely to occur during the first 30 days after implant, with a significant decline in bleeding, arrhythmias and strokes in the later time periods that patients are on LVAD support. Overall adverse event rates were meaningfully reduced one to six months post implant. The late risk of stroke was very low, with total strokes occurring at only 0.05 EPPY in years one to two post-implant. And previously published data from the LATERAL trial showed 87 percent survival at two years.

09:32 EDT Coherus Biosciences sees Q2 preliminary UDENYCA net sales $79M-$84M - Coherus BioSciences announced that UDENYCA preliminary unaudited net sales for the quarter that ended June 30 are expected to be in the range of $79M-$84M. Coherus will not disclose topline gross sales, discounts, or gross-to-net data until these data are reported in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30.

09:16 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Symantec (SYMC), up 5% after Bloomberg reports Broadcom (AVGO) has secured financing and identified cost savings for the acquisition of the company in an all-cash deal valued at more than $22B... Sangamo (SGMO), up 15% after announcing updated results from the Phase 1/2 Alta study evaluating investigational SB-525 gene therapy for severe hemophilia A... Orion Group (ORN), up 6% after B. Riley FBR analyst Alex Rygiel upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $5 from $4. The recent weakness in the shares, partly due to deletion from the Russell 2000 index, was overdone, Rygiel tells investors... Sol-Gel (SLGL), up 6% after reporting the primary and secondary endpoints were achieved in Phase 3 trials of Epsolay. LOWER: Intra-Cellular (ITCI), down 16% after Study 401 of lumateperone did not its meet primary endpoint... Deutsche Bank (DB), down 5% after announcing it will reduce its workforce by 18,000 employees by 2022 as part of a broad restructuring plan. The bank also plans an exit of its Global Equities and a reduction in corporate and investment banking risk weighted assets... CannTrust (CTST), down 19% after receiving a compliance report from Health Canada notifying the company that its greenhouse facility in Pelham, Ontario is non-compliant with certain regulations... NetApp (NTAP), down 6% after Citi analyst Jim Suva downgraded shares to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $55 from $67. The competitive landscape with Dell (DELL) against the slowing macro environment adds more pressure to the company, Suva tells investors... BNY Mellon (BK), down 3% after Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck double downgraded the stock to Underweight from Overweight and downgraded her industry view for large cap banks to In-Line from Attractive.

09:14 EDT EyePoint commercially launches DEXYCU in U.S. - EyePoint Pharmaceuticals commercially launched DEXYCU 9% in March in the United States. DEXYCU is the first and only U.S. FDA approved intraocular steroid for the treatment of postoperative inflammation and is administered as a single dose at the end of cataract surgery.

09:13 EDT SPX Corporation acquires SGS Refrigeration, terms not disclosed - SPX Corporation announced that it has completed the acquisition of SGS Refrigeration based in Dixon, Illinois. SGS is a manufacturer and distributor of industrial refrigeration products in the North American market. SGS's 2018 annual revenues were approximately $15M, including approximately $3.5M of inter-company sales with SPX. The company's results will be reported as a part of SPX's HVAC Cooling business unit within its HVAC segment.

09:11 EDT CEL-SCI announces new LEAPS data presented at i-Chem2019 - CEL-SCI announced new LEAPS data presented at i-Chem2019. The LEAPS work was performed in conjunction with researchers at CEL-SCI on CEL-4000 and a newly discovered LEAPS conjugate, DerG-PG275Cit. Both vaccines were evaluated alone and in combination in the model of proteoglycan, or PG, induced arthritis, or PGIA, called recombinant PG G1 domain-induced arthritis, or GIA, an autoimmune mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis, or RA. The conclusion was that vaccination with DerG LEAPS conjugates of distinct PG epitopes alone or together were effective at modulating the inflammatory response and arresting the progression of arthritis. As observed previously, the DerGPG70 conjugate modulated disease through up-regulation of Th2, and down-regulation of Th1 and Th17 responses. The results suggest that the two vaccines act mechanistically on different immune responses. The combination of the two vaccines provided not only broader epitope coverage, but also a greater therapeutic effect than either vaccine alone. The LEAPS platform technology is currently being utilized to develop a therapeutic antigen-specific treatment for RA under a $1.5M grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, or NIAMS, part of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. Upon completion of preclinical and investigational new drug, or IND, enabling studies for the antigen-specific LEAPS vaccine treatment of RA, CEL-SCI intends to file an IND application with the FDA.

09:06 EDT Y-mAbs plans to submit clinical/safety, non-clinical portions of BLA in November - Y-mAbs Therapeutics announced that it has completed a Type B Pre-Biologics License Application meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding a potential pathway for FDA approval of naxitamab for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory high-risk neuroblastoma. At the meeting, the Company reached alignment with the FDA on an Accelerated Approval Pathway for naxitamab along with a rolling BLA submission. The Company expects to submit the Clinical/Safety portion and the non-Clinical portion of the BLA in November 2019. For the CMC portion, the Company believes it will have sufficient data from the process performance qualification batches to complete the CMC portion in early 2020. However, Y-mAbs is still investigating possibilities for accelerating the submission of the CMC portion, and hope to comply with the FDA requirements at an earlier time. Under naxitamab's breakthrough therapy designation, the compound qualifies for a Rolling BLA, which enables individual modules of the application to be submitted by the Company and reviewed by the FDA on a rolling basis, rather than waiting for all sections to be completed before submission. The rolling application process will provide the Company with the opportunity for ongoing communications with the FDA, and, during this rolling process, the Company anticipates that it will be able to address any substantial matters raised by the FDA. Based on the previously announced efficacy data from Study 12-230 in relapsed/refractory high-risk neuroblastoma patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the FDA determined that efficacy data from all 37 patients of the Company's multicenter Study 201 would not be required for the BLA filing. The FDA advised the Company that the available data for the first group of patients treated outside MSK in Study 201 would be sufficient for the BLA filing. The first group consists of 24 patients, of which 11 were evaluable prior to the pre-BLA meeting and showed an overall response rate of 73%, including 55% complete responses, as assessed by the investigators. The Company intends to announce the complete dataset for Study 201 once the data becomes available.

09:03 EDT GTEC Holdings announces milestone payment linked to Health Canada license - In accordance with the amended and restated Share Purchase Agreement dated September 15, 2017 among GreenTec Holdings and the vendors of Grey Bruce Farms, as assigned to GTEC Holdings by an Assignment and Assumption and Consent dated June 11, 2018 between GTEC, GreenTec and such Vendors, receipt of the Cultivation License from Health Canada, entitles the Vendors to a "Milestone Payment" pursuant to the Agreement and GTEC will issue 2,222,222 shares to the Vendors at a deemed price of $0.45, based on the most recent 3-day volume weighted average price, for an aggregate value of $1 million. Norton Singhavon, the Company's CEO, who is one of the Vendors, will receive approximately 1,444,768 shares issued in connection with the Milestone Payment. The share issuance is subject to TSX Venture approval and, upon issuance; will be subject to a statutory 4-month and a day hold. The shares to be issued to Mr. Singhavon is considered to be a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. However, the related party transaction is exempt from minority approval, information circular and formal valuation requirements pursuant to Sections 5.5 and 5.7 of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the gross securities issued nor the consideration paid by the insiders exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

09:00 EDT GTEC Holdings clarifies engagement with ROK Consulting for advisory services - GTEC wishes to clarify that further to the press release issued June 27, 2019, it has engaged ROK Consulting to perform advisory services in marketing communications. The Services will be provided in connection with GTEC's planned expansion across Western Canada. Subject to Exchange approval, in exchange for the Services rendered, the Company has issued 100,000 common shares of GTEC at a deemed value of $0.55 per share. The Common Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance thereof and bear a legend as required by the United States Securities Act of 1933.

08:57 EDT Recon Technology: Future Gas Station enters pact for smart gas stations - Recon Technology announced the company's 43%-owned subsidiary, Future Gas Station Technology, has entered into a deep cooperation agreement for smart gas stations with Zhejiang sales branch of PetroChina Co. Ltd. and Alipay Information Technology Co. to cooperate on a smart gas station project. The Agreement was signed on June 6 and is effective for one year. Pursuant to the Agreement, all the parties plan to cooperate on the Project by basing on the gas stations of CNPC in Zhejiang, combining the gas station resources of Zhejiang CNPC, the software, the hardware and the e-voucher capabilities of FGS and the digital technology and marketing capabilities of Ant Financial Services Group to use on the gas stations. The purpose is to improve the refueling rates of the gas stations during peak hours, boost marketing efficiency, reduce marketing costs, and promote the Project to other provinces and gasoline companies across China. If necessary, the subsidiaries of the parties will sign another specific cooperation agreement.

08:53 EDT Sunesis completes safety evaluation period for cohort in Phase 1b/2 trial - Sunesis Pharmaceuticals announced the promotion of Judy Fox, Ph.D. from CSO, SVP to CSO, EVP, Research & Development and the promotion of Parvinder Hyare from VP, Global Oncology Operations to SVP, Commercial. Fox rejoined Sunesis in 2017 as Chief Scientific Officer and program leader for vecabrutinib. Hyare joined Sunesis in July 2014. The company also announced that it has completed the safety evaluation period for the 200 mg cohort of the ongoing Phase 1b/2 trial of its non-covalent BTK inhibitor vecabrutinib in adults with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other B-cell malignancies. To date, vecabrutinib has a favorable safety profile with no drug-related serious adverse events, supporting dose escalation to Cohort 5. This cohort is now open.

08:48 EDT Affiliated Managers completes investment in Garda Capital Partners - Affiliated Managers Group announced the completion of its investment in Garda Capital Partners LP. Garda is an alternative investment manager specializing in fixed income relative value strategies and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. As part of the transaction, Garda's senior partners have agreed to long-term commitments with the firm. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

08:48 EDT SORL Auto Parts committee retains financial, legal advisors - SORL Auto Parts announced that, on July 1, the Special Committee of independent directors of the company has engaged Duff & Phelps as its independent financial advisor and engaged Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Beijing Representative Office as its independent legal counsel on June 18. In May, in response to a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated April 25, from Xiaoping Zhang, the Chairman and CEO of the company, Shuping Chi and Xiaofeng Zhang, directors of the company, and Ruili Group Co., Ltd. to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company not owned by them or their affiliates, the company increased the size of its board of directors from seven to nine and appointed Xiao Lin and Binghua Feng as independent directors to fill newly created vacancies. Thereafter, the Board formed a special committee of independent directors consisting of Xiao Lin and Binghua Feng to review, evaluate and negotiate the Proposal and any alternative thereto and to make a recommendation with respect to the Proposal and any alternative thereto. The company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that neither the Special Committee nor the Board has set a definitive timetable for the completion of its evaluation of the Proposal or to make any decision with respect to the company's response to the Proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that the Proposal or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.

08:45 EDT Papa John's appoints Jim Norberg as chief restaurant operations officer - Papa John's (PZZA) announced the appointment of Jim Norberg as its chief restaurant operations officer. Norberg will oversee the operations of Papa John's corporate and franchise restaurants in North America. Norberg spent more than 30 years of his career at McDonald's (MCD). His most recent role was executive VP and COO, where he managed operations for 14,000 U.S. restaurants. After his tenure at McDonald's, Norberg has served as an independent strategic advisor to organizations in the restaurant, hospitality, entertainment and consumer goods industry. As chief restaurant operations officer, Norberg will lead the company's operations excellence team to drive continuous efficiency improvements and deliver sustainable year-over-year increases in sales, customer satisfaction and profit margins for the brand across both its corporate and franchise restaurants.

08:44 EDT Aqua Metals appoints Susanne Meline to board increasing directors to seven - Aqua Metals announced that Susanne Meline was appointed to the Company's Board of Directors, increasing the number of directors to seven, as well as to the Board's Audit Committee. She is a co-founder of Francis Capital Management, a value-based investment advisor focusing on small cap stocks, where she has worked since 2003.

08:40 EDT Provectus provides update on GI Tumor Program for PV-10 - Provectus provided an update on the Company's gastrointestinal tumor clinical development program for its lead investigational cancer drug PV-10, which is administered percutaneously when targeting primary or metastatic tumors of the liver, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, metastatic neuroendocrine tumors, and metastatic uveal melanoma. Intratumoral injection of oncolytic immunotherapy PV-10 can yield immunogenic cell death in solid tumor cancers that results in tumor-specific reactivity in circulating T cells.1-5 The Company's oncology drug development strategy includes: Further demonstrating PV-10's activity in non-T cell and T cell inflamed and low and high tumor mutation burden tumor types, Further demonstrating the T cell response generated by PV-10 treatment, and Contrasting and comparing PV-10 treatment - activity and induced immune response - with that of checkpoint inhibitor and other drug classes in monotherapy and combination therapy settings.Provectus believes this strategy should quicken the advancement of single-agent PV-10 along a pathway-to-approval in solid tumor cancer indications where there is high unmet need, limited activity from other therapies, and the opportunity to further display a functional immune response from PV-10 treatment, such as for mNET. Provectus also believes this approach should permit the Company to develop and advance a combination therapy involving a CI or other drug class along a pathway-to-approval in an indication where there is high unmet need, limited activity from standard of care treatment, and the opportunity to display how PV-10 augments clinical response to existing or emerging SOCs, such as for mUM. The Company plans to present further lesion-level efficacy, preliminary patient-level efficacy, further clinical and biomarker outcome, and preliminary T cell response data from single-agent PV-10 treatment of mNET at a regional annual scientific meeting in the third quarter of 2019 and a global GI-focused medical conference in the first quarter of 2020. Investigators and researchers collaborating with Provectus plan to present the design of a Phase 2 mNET study combining PV-10 and an agent from a class of CI drugs at the abovementioned scientific meeting. The Company would seek partial or total sponsored-financial support for this trial. The Company is exploring possible collaboration with another group of investigators to develop a Phase 2 mNET study design of PV-10 and an agent from another class of CI drugs. The Company would also seek partial or total sponsored-financial support for this trial. The Company plans to present preliminary lesion- and patient-level efficacy data from PV-10 treatment of mUM at a global immuno-oncology-focused medical conference in the fourth quarter of 2019. mUM patients have received PV-10 monotherapy and PV-10 in combination with two CI drugs, anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 agents. Provectus has extended its long-standing scientific research relationship with the laboratory of Shari Pilon-Thomas, PhD at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. A key aim of her new research initiative is to elucidate PV-10's mechanism of action in HCC, where the MOA hypothesis is the release of damage associated molecular patterns from PV-10 treatment. Dr. Pilon-Thomas' team have previously elucidated PV-10's DAMP pathway in both a murine model of and clinical work on cutaneous melanoma. Ajay Maker, MD and his team at the University of Illinois at Chicago have previously elucidated a comparable DAMP pathway for PV-10 in colon cancer. PV-10, a lysosome-targeting treatment, may trigger several different pathways to achieve the death of cancer. Aru Narendran, MD, PhD and his team at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada have shown that PV-10 treatment leads to poly-ADP ribose polymerase cleavage and tumor cell apoptosis in refractory neuroblastoma cell lines.5 Dr. Narendran's team is currently pursuing the hypothesis of a third distinct PV-10-mediated cancer cell death pathway through an ongoing scientific research initiative with the Company. As of the first quarter of 2019, an analysis of six patients who have received PV-10 monotherapy treatment for HCC displayed a median overall survival of 2.5 years.

08:36 EDT Internap announces multi-year agreement for colocation, Performance IP services - Internap Corporation announced a multi-year agreement for colocation and Performance IP services. The customer selected INAP for its high-density colocation solutions, the quality of its strategically located Tier 3 data centers, and its latency-reducing Performance IP service. By choosing INAP's flagship data centers in Atlanta and Seattle, the company will begin the consolidation of its US footprint.

08:34 EDT Tyme Technologies presents updated data from TYME-88-Panc Phase II study - Tyme Technologies announced that its multicenter open-label Phase II TYME-88-Panc study evaluating SM-88 as an oral monotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer continues to demonstrate encouraging results and a well-tolerated safety profile. The data from the TYME-88-Panc study were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology 21st World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer. Updated results from the ongoing multicenter open-label Phase II TYME-88-Panc study involved 49 heavily pretreated patients with radiographically progressive metastatic pancreatic cancer who had significant disease related morbidity before receiving TYME's investigational agent SM-88. More than 80% of patients had received at least two prior lines of therapy. Of the 49 patients, 38 patients were evaluable for efficacy, as defined in the protocol. TYME-88-Panc is a two-part study in which Part 1 was intended to determine optimal dosing and assess if early clinical benefit supported further development of SM-88 in pancreatic cancer. This study is being performed under a TYME IND with input from the FDA prior to study initiation.In this study, based on information available as of April 25, 2019, the median overall survival of evaluable patients was 6.4 months. Certain efficacy indicators correlated with greater OS, including achieving SD or better and decreases in CTCs. A RECIST clinical benefit rate of stable disease or better was achieved by 44% of patients with available imaging. Notably, patients achieving stable disease or better demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in survival with a 92% reduction in risk of death The CBR was durable with majority of these patients remaining in stable disease or better at more than 7 months after receiving treatment with SM-88. The measurement of CTCs is emerging as an important prognostic indicator in patients with pancreatic cancer. This is now the second TYME study in cancer patients showing that SM-88 reduces CTCs. In a previous study of patients with prostate cancer, SM-88 treatment was also associated with a reduction in CTC count. In the TYME-88-Panc study, a median reduction of 63% in CTC burden was observed in evaluable patients. Importantly, patients with available results reaching an 80% reduction or greater in CTCs demonstrated a 60% decrease in risk of death. In addition to these findings from the TYME-88-Panc study, data were also presented on subgroup analyses. TYME identified several screening criteria that were associated with rapidly declining prognostic factors defined as greater than 2 lines of prior therapy; age greater than 75 years old; albumin less than 3.5 g/dl. Patients with no indicators of poor prognosis had a better trend in survival. TYME identified key sub-groups of patients who performed better. Patients with 1 or 2 prior lines of therapy had a better trend in survival. Female patients had a statistically significant trend toward better survival. These encouraging findings warrant further clinical evaluation of these subgroups. As of April 25, 2019, the study reported that SM-88 was well tolerated with only 4.0% of patients who experienced serious adverse events deemed at least possibly related to SM-88. One patient with reported SAEs continued on treatment. The TYME-88-Panc research results are from an investigational study. SM-88 is not approved for the treatment of patients with any disease condition.

08:30 EDT Alder Biopharmaceuticals to present new data on eptinezumab at AHS meeting - Alder BioPharmaceuticals announced that it will present new analyses of efficacy and quality of life data from its clinical trials for eptinezumab at the American Headache Society's 61st Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia, PA being held on July 11-14, 2019. Eptinezumab is an investigational monoclonal antibody delivered by IV administration. It was designed for 100% bioavailability with high specificity and strong binding for rapid, robust and sustained suppression of calcitonin gene-related peptide. At the meeting, more than a dozen presentations related to eptinezumab's safety and efficacy of response in migraine prevention will be shared, including an analysis of 100% response rates for patients with episodic or chronic migraine who were treated with eptinezumab in the Phase 3 PROMISE-1 and PROMISE-2 clinical trials. Another key presentation will focus on the impact of eptinezumab on migraine severity and quality of life. Additional eptinezumab presentations at the meeting will feature a visual representation of the molecule's binding properties and further analyses related to safety and quality of life data. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted the Biologics License Application (BLA) filing for eptinezumab in April 2019, and set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date of February 21, 2020. If approved, eptinezumab will be the first-to-market IV therapy for migraine prevention.

08:28 EDT ADMA Biologics receives FDA approval for license transfers for BIVIGAM, Nabi-HB - ADMA Biologics announces the United States Food and Drug Administration has notified ADMA the licenses for BIVIGAM and Nabi-HB have been revoked from Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corporation, U.S. License No. 1792 and transferred and issued to ADMA's U.S. License No. 2019.

08:25 EDT TeleNav appoints Adeel Manzoor as CFO - Telenav (TNAV) has selected Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) executive Adeel Manzoor to become the company's CFO. Manzoor comes to Telenav after serving as CFO & VP of Storage & Big Data; CFO & VP of Mission Critical Systems & High Performance Compute and as CFO & VP of Converged Infrastructure for HPE. At Telenav, he succeeds Fuad Ahmad, who has served as Telenav's consulting interim CFO since January 2019. Ahmad, a partner of consulting firm FLG Partners, LLC, plans to continue to provide financial consulting services to the company until the end of September for transition purposes.

08:21 EDT Covia announces sale of Calera, Alabama lime facility for $135M - Covia announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to sell its Calera, Alabama lime processing facility to Mississippi Lime Company for total proceeds of $135M in cash, subject to certain adjustments set forth in the definitive agreement, or a multiple of approximately nine times Calera's 2018 gross profit. In 2018, Calera generated sales of $48.1M and gross profit of $15.1M. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2019 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including Hart-Scott-Rodino review.

08:18 EDT Dentsply Sirona appoints Jorge Gomez as CFO - DENTSPLY SIRONA (XRAY) announced the appointment of Jorge Gomez as CFO. Jorge Gomez served as CFO of Cardinal Health (CAH) since January 2018.

08:17 EDT Shenandoah appoints Heather Banks as CHRO - Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (SHEN) announces that Heather Banks has joined the company as VP and chief human resources officer. Banks will report to president and CEO Christopher French. Banks most recently served as the CHRO of American Woodmark (AMWD).

08:13 EDT GTX Corp. announces sale of patents, technology to Inpixon - GTX Corp. announced that it has sold two patents and certain other assets and also provided two separate patent licenses to Inpixon in exchange for a combination of cash and shares of Inpixon common stock. Inpixon entered into this transaction with GTX to acquire certain outdoor GPS-tracking technology and license intellectual property to expand the breadth of available systems it can offer to enterprise and government customers.

08:11 EDT Velan urges shareholders to vote against Progenics directors - Velan Capital, one of the largest stockholders of Progenics, issued a statement urging stockholders to follow the recommendation of Institutional Shareholder Services by voting AGAINST the election of Progenics directors Peter Crowley and Michael Kishbauch at the company's upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled to be held on July 11.

08:10 EDT NetSol Technologies acquires remaining stake in Virtual Lease Services - NETSOL Technologies has acquired the remaining 49% stake of Virtual Lease Services, a UK-based portfolio and risk management servicing partner for business and consumer finance providers. NETSOL initially acquired a 51% majority stake in VLS through a joint venture partnership with Investec in 2011.

08:08 EDT TiVo extends long-term i-Guide renewal, patent licensing agreement with Shaw - TiVo (TIVO) announced that Shaw Communications (SJR) has entered into a multi-year extension of its agreement for TiVo's i-Guide and its intellectual property license, and expanded its Rovi patent portfolio IP license to also cover the TiVo patent portfolio. Shaw Communications is a leading Canadian connectivity company. Within the expanded scope of this long-term deal, Shaw Communications will gain broader access to TiVo's next-generation IP offerings for use across all platforms including BlueSky TV. Shaw Communications will also continue to leverage TiVo's i-Guide, an intuitive IPG that provides easy-to-use linear TV listings navigation plus VOD and DVR capabilities.

08:07 EDT Bellicum Pharmaceuticals announces Rivo-cel achieves primary endpoint in trial - Bellicum Pharmaceuticals announced that the primary endpoint of event free survival at 180 days in its BP-004 European registration trial for rivo-cel has been achieved. Data from this trial will form the basis of an anticipated submission of European Marketing Authorisation Application for rivo-cel and rimiducid in support of potential regulatory approval. These clinical results indicate that adding rivo-cel to stem cell transplants in patients lacking a matched donor delivered comparable outcomes to HLA-matched unrelated donor transplants. These data suggest that, if approved, rivo-cel could become an attractive treatment option for the 20-25% of stem cell transplant patients who lack an HLA-matched donor. In addition, rivo-cel may also benefit patients who urgently need a curative transplant and are at risk from waiting to search for an HLA-matched unrelated donor, which can take several months. In the final analysis, Event Free Survival at 180 days of 90.9% in the BP-004 study was non-inferior to EFS at 180 days of 89.9% from the comparative C/CP-004 study of patients who received a MUD HLA 10/10 transplant. A 10/10 matched transplant represents a highly compatible match based on a standardized assessment of the histocompatibility of 10 surface protein antigens on white blood cells. Further, key secondary endpoints, tested in a hierarchical fashion, including transplant-related mortality, graft-versus-host-disease, relapse-free survival, and disease-free survival also demonstrated non-inferiority. Finally, clinical outcomes in patients given rimiducid because of visceral GvHD or refractoriness to standard treatment were positive and consistent with previously presented data. Management is planning to present additional results from the study, including longer term follow-up data, at an appropriate future medical meeting. In light of this positive pivotal trial outcome and planned MAA filings in Europe, Bellicum is actively seeking a strategic partner for rivo-cel in anticipation of a potential commercial launch.

08:06 EDT Covia sells Southern Lime business to Mississippi Lime - Mississippi Lime announced it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire the Calera, Alabama lime business of Covia operating historically as Southern Lime. The Calera business supplies high-calcium quicklime and hydrated lime products to customers in the Southeastern U.S. and across a range of end uses and applications. The Calera operation increases Mississippi Lime's production facilities to nine locations, supported by a network of distribution sites throughout the country. The business will be fully integrated into existing Mississippi Lime operations. The acquisition broadens HBM's expertise in the chemicals and minerals sector, anchored by Mississippi Lime. HBM continues to grow its portfolio with investments outside of the lime industry, with a focus on precision machined components, packaging and environmental services. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approval.

08:02 EDT Sol-Gel Technologies expects cash resources to enable funding through 3Q20 - The Company estimates its revenue for the second quarter of 2019 attributable to sales of its partnered generic product, acyclovir cream, 5%, with Perrigo to be approximately $7M. To date, this is the only generic acyclovir cream available on the U.S. market. As of June 30, 2019, the Company's cash, cash equivalents, deposits and marketable securities is expected to be approximately $49.8M, excluding the approximate $7M in revenue from acyclovir cream, 5%, in the second quarter of 2019. Based on current assumptions, the Company expects its existing cash resources will enable funding of operational and capital expenditure requirements through the third quarter of 2020.

08:01 EDT Sol-Gel says 11 subjects discontinued treatment in Epsolay Phase 3 program - Sol-Gel Technologies announced positive results from its Phase 3 program evaluating Epsolay microencapsulated benzoyl peroxide cream, 5%, made with the Company's proprietary microencapsulation technology, for the treatment of papulopustular rosacea.To assess the efficacy and safety of Epsolay in moderate-to-severe papulopustular rosacea, 733 patients aged 18 and older were enrolled in two identical, double-blind, vehicle-controlled Phase 3 clinical trials at 54 sites across the U.S. Patients were randomized at a 2:1 ratio to be treated once-daily with either Epsolay or vehicle cream for 12 weeks. After the initiation of treatment, clinical and safety evaluations were performed at Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12. The primary efficacy endpoints for both trials were success in IGA score at Week 12, defined as "clear" or almost clear" on a scale of 0 to 4, and a reduction in absolute mean inflammatory lesion count at week 12. In study SGT 54-01, patients in the Epsolay and vehicle treatment groups had a baseline mean inflammatory lesion count of 25.7 and 26.3, respectively. The proportion of patients with "moderate" or "severe" IGA in the Epsolay treatment group was 86.4% and 13.6%, respectively, and 88.1% and 11.9%, respectively, in the vehicle treatment group. In study SGT 54-02, patients in Epsolay and vehicle treatment groups had a baseline mean inflammatory lesion count of 29.8 and 27.5, respectively. The proportion of patients with "moderate" or "severe" IGA in the Epsolay treatment group was 90.8% and 9.2%, respectively, and 91.8% and 8.2%, respectively, in the vehicle treatment group. Epsolay appeared to be generally safe and well-tolerated with a low rate of cutaneous side effects comparable to vehicle. Adverse events were primarily mild to moderate in severity with the most frequently reported adverse events across both studies being application site erythema and application site pain reported by less than 3.4% of subjects. There was no treatment-related serious adverse events, with a combined total of 2 unrelated serious adverse events reported across both trials. A combined total of 11 subjects discontinued treatment due to an adverse event across both trials.

07:52 EDT Harvard Bioscience appoints James Green as president, CEO - Harvard Bioscience (HBIO) announced that James Green has been named president and CEO of the company by its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Additionally, Harvard Bioscience's Board has appointed Bertrand Loy as Lead Independent Director. Green has been a member of the company's Board since April 2015, and chairman of the Board since June 2017, and will continue to serve as chairman. Green will succeed Jeff Duchemin as president and CEO. Green served as president and CEO of Analogic Corporation from 2007 to 2016. Recently, as President of Spacelabs Healthcare, Green led global restructuring. Bertrand Loy has been a member of the company's Board of Directors since November 2014, serves as chairman of the Board's Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. Loy is president, CEO and a Director of Entegris (ENTG).

07:39 EDT Cannabis Science CEO intends to acquire majority control of company - Cannabis Science announced that Raymond Dabney, founder and CEO of Cannabis Science, is completing a negotiated majority control acquisition of another U.S. public company. Dabney intends to acquire majority control of CBIS with this new U.S. public company. The acquisitions are designed to provide Cannabis Science, its partners, and its successful initiatives direct access to expansion capital to help fast-track the Company's growth globally. Under Dabney's leadership, Cannabis Science's first mandate to complete the acquisition is to bring Cannabis Science's fully-reporting status current and bring its required FINRA/SEC filings and financials up to date. The new branding strategies and interactive media offerings will further allow the group of Companies to establish improved communications, consumer services, product orderings, and improved interactions with doctors, nurses, and other health-care professionals. The strategy is focused on all consumer-focused information service operations for seamless communications between the complete group of companies and the general public, consumer ordering questions, and inquiries. "Over the last several years, we have invested heavily in our clinical drug-development, education, and economic development initiatives. As for drug-development, we have a tremendous pipeline of potential products and are planning for clinical trials this year. The Company's goal is to grow each of these operating units into a billion-dollar operating unit. We also have a number of products currently available and under development for the state and over-the-counter markets. Similarly, we have made considerable progress with our education and economic development programs. This first acquisition is certainly the next step closer to greatness and should position Cannabis Science to instantly multiply its dollar and asset values to assumed real market valuation numbers for all our shareholders," said Dabney.

07:34 EDT Siga Technologies awarded DoD contract to develop expanded indication for TPOXX - SIGA Technologies announced that it has been awarded a multi-year contract from the United States Department of Defense to support work necessary to gain a potential label expansion for TPOXX that would include Post-Exposure Prophylaxis of smallpox. The contract is valued at up to $19.5M, with an initial award of $12.4M. The initial funding will support several activities, including manufacturing material for clinical trials, initial preparation for a human clinical safety study, and assembling regulatory filings that SIGA has designed with input from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to evaluate the use of TPOXX for PEP. As previously announced, SIGA is already working with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease on animal studies to evaluate the efficacy of TPOXX as a potential PEP therapy for smallpox. On July 13, 2018, the FDA approved oral TPOXX for the treatment of smallpox to mitigate the impact of a potential outbreak or bioterror attack. TPOXX, a small-molecule antiviral treatment for smallpox, is the first therapy specifically approved for this indication, and was developed through funding and collaboration with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as early stage development supported by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and DoD.

07:32 EDT Titan Medical appoints Chad Zaring as Chief Commercial Officer - Titan Medical (TMDI) announces that Chad Zaring has joined the company as Chief Commercial Officer, a new position. "Zaring has deep experience developing and executing commercial strategies and driving sales for leading surgical robotics companies and will be responsible for the launch of Titan's single-port robotic surgery system following receipt of regulatory clearances." He will report to David McNally, Titan's CEO. Zaring joins Titan from Medtronic (MDT), where since September 2017 he was vice president robotics, imaging and navigation.

07:31 EDT W.P. Carey announces $70M investment in clean-energy food production site - W. P. Carey announced that on June 27 it completed a $70M sale-leaseback of a mission-critical food production and distribution site in the Northeastern U.S. The site consists of six buildings totaling more than 400,000 square feet, which are triple-net leased under a master lease for a period of 25 years to an industry-leading supplier of ice cream and beverages.

07:30 EDT Intra Cellular Therapies trading resumes

07:17 EDT James E Wagner announces Health Canada approval for sale of cannabis oils - James E. Wagner Cultivation Corporation announced that on July 5, 2019, it received approval of a licence amendment from Health Canada, allowing for the sale of formulated cannabis oil from the Corporation's pilot facility, JWC 1, located at 855 Trillium Drive in Kitchener, ON. JWC intends to commence the sale of formulated cannabis oil to its medical patients on July 9, 2019. JWC will expand its product offerings to include formulated cannabis oil, which will be available in multiple sizes, including 25 ml and 50 ml bottles of JWC's THC and Balanced THC:CBD oils. The Corporation's high CBD oil is available in a 25 ml bottle, containing a total of 2500mg of CBD.

07:13 EDT Valeritas says V-Go device demonstrates economic advantages - Valeritas Holdings announced positive data from a retrospective study using the HealthCore Integrated Research Database comparing patients using V-Go to patients using multiple daily injection therapy. The study demonstrates V-Go users experienced lower insulin dose requirements and lower diabetes-related medication cost while lowering average blood sugar levels, as measured by A1c. Results from the study demonstrate that despite similar baseline insulin Rx fills and diabetes medication costs, V-Go users required fewer insulin Rx fills, had a smaller increase in diabetes medication costs, and a decrease in insulin total daily dose, compared to MDI users, during the last six months of follow-up.

07:08 EDT Target to kick off 'Target Deal Days' on July 15 - Next week, Target will kick off Target Deal Days, the retailer's biggest sale of the summer. On Monday, July 15, and Tuesday, July 16, guests can enjoy deals on hundreds of thousands of items on Target.com - from furniture and apparel to must-have kitchen appliances - with no membership required. And for guests who want their purchases fast, Target offers the broadest options in retail for delivery and pickup, including same day.

07:07 EDT AerCap purchases 11 aircraft, sells 23 in Q2 - AerCap has announced its major business transactions during Q2. The company signed lease agreements for 48 aircraft, including 4 widebody aircraft and 44 narrowbody aircraft. AerCap purchased 11 aircraft, including six Airbus (EADSY) A320neo Family aircraft, four Boeing (BA) 787-9s and 1 Embraer (ERJ) E2. The company executed sale transactions for 23 aircraft, including nine Airbus A320 Family aircraft, three Airbus A330s, four Boeing 737NGs, one Boeing 737 Classic, one Boeing 777-200ER, one Boeing 777-300, two Boeing 747s and one Boeing 767 from AerCap's owned portfolio and 1 Airbus A300 from AerCap's managed portfolio. Lastly, AerCap signed financing transactions for $1.5B.

07:06 EDT Intra-Cellular says Study 401 of lumateperone did not meet primary endpoint - Intra-Cellular Therapiesannounced top-line results from two Phase 3 clinical trials evaluating lumateperone as monotherapy in the treatment of major depressive episodes associated with Bipolar I or Bipolar II disorder. Study 401 was conducted solely in the U.S. A total of 554 patients were randomized 1:1:1 to lumateperone 42 mg, lumateperone 28 mg, or placebo. In this trial, neither dose of lumateperone met the primary endpoint of statistical separation from placebo as measured by change from baseline on the MADRS total score. There was a high placebo response in this trial. Lumateperone 42 mg and 28 mg demonstrated a LS mean reduction from baseline on the MADRS total score of 20.7 points and 18.9 points, respectively, versus 19.7 points on placebo.

07:04 EDT Intra-Cellular announces Study 404 of lumateperone met primary endpoint - Intra-Cellular Therapies announced top-line results from two Phase 3 clinical trials evaluating lumateperone as monotherapy in the treatment of major depressive episodes associated with Bipolar I or Bipolar II disorder. In Study 404, lumateperone 42 mg met the primary endpoint for improvement in depression as measured by change from baseline versus placebo on the MADRS total score. Study 404 also met its key secondary endpoint, Clinical Global Impression Scale for Bipolar for Severity of Illness Total Score. In both trials, lumateperone demonstrated a favorable safety profile and was generally well-tolerated. Study 404 was conducted globally including in the U.S. A total of 381 patients were randomized 1:1 to lumateperone 42 mg or placebo. In this trial, once-daily lumateperone 42 mg met the primary endpoint with statistically significant greater improvement over placebo at week 6 as measured by change from baseline on the MADRS total score. In the intent-to-treat study population, the least squares mean reduction from baseline for lumateperone 42 mg was 16.7 points, versus 12.1 points for placebo. Moreover, lumateperone 42 mg showed statistically significant separation from placebo as early as week 1, which was maintained at every time point throughout the trial. Lumateperone 42 mg also met the key secondary endpoint of statistically significant improvement on the CGI-BP-S Total Score and on the CGI component that specifically assesses depression. These results were supported by statistically significant benefits on responder rates and remission rates, demonstrating the clinical meaningfulness of the primary outcome. In addition, in subgroup analyses of patients with Bipolar I and patients with Bipolar II disorder lumateperone 42 mg demonstrated statistically significant improvement versus placebo on the MADRS total score in both subgroups. Study 401 was conducted solely in the U.S. A total of 554 patients were randomized 1:1:1 to lumateperone 42 mg, lumateperone 28 mg, or placebo. In this trial, neither dose of lumateperone met the primary endpoint of statistical separation from placebo as measured by change from baseline on the MADRS total score. There was a high placebo response in this trial. Lumateperone 42 mg and 28 mg demonstrated a LS mean reduction from baseline on the MADRS total score of 20.7 points and 18.9 points, respectively, versus 19.7 points on placebo. Consistent with previous studies in schizophrenia, lumateperone was well-tolerated in both bipolar depression studies, with a favorable safety profile. The rates of discontinuation due to treatment emergent adverse events for both doses of lumateperone were low. In Study 404, the most commonly reported adverse events that were observed at a rate greater than 5% and higher than placebo were headache, somnolence and nausea. In Study 401, the most commonly reported adverse events that were observed at rates greater than 5% and higher than placebo for either dose were somnolence, headache, nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue. Importantly, the rates of akathisia, restlessness and extrapyramidal symptoms combined were less than 1% and similar to placebo in both studies. These findings are consistent with previous lumateperone trials in patients with schizophrenia and provide further evidence supporting lumateperone's favorable safety and tolerability profile across different patient populations.

06:58 EDT Lannett enters distribution agreement for Levothyroxine, pays $20M upfront - Lannett announced that it has entered into a future exclusive supply and distribution agreement for the approved Levothyroxine sodium tablets of Cediprof, a wholly owned subsidiary of privately held Neolpharma Pharmaceutical. Under the agreement, Lannett will commence U.S. distribution of the product no later than August 1, 2022. Lannett will make an upfront payment of $20M within the next five business days and will receive a portion of the net profits once it commences distribution of the product. The term of the agreement is 10 years, which begins upon commencement of distribution. Other terms were not disclosed.

06:57 EDT Intra Cellular Therapies trading halted, news pending

06:53 EDT Inspire Medical: UnitedHealthcare to provide coverage for Inspire therapy - Inspire Medical (INSP) announced that UnitedHealthcare will provide coverage for the company's Inspire therapy effective August 1. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (UNH).

06:50 EDT ITT acquisition of Matrix Composites expected to be accretive in first year - ITT announced that it has acquired Matrix Composites. The transaction, valued at $29M, was funded from the company's cash and is expected to be accretive in the first year. The transaction value includes an earnout and is subject to customary working capital adjustments.

06:45 EDT Crane raises all-cash purchase price to acquire Circor to $48.00 per share

06:37 EDT Neptune Wellness appoints Michael Cammarata as CEO - Neptune Wellness announced the appointment of Michael Cammarata, a successful entrepreneur and innovator in the wellness industry, as its CEO and Member of the board effective, July 8. After over 4 years, Jim Hamilton has stepped down from his role as CEO and director but will remain as an advisor to the board. Cammarata is the co-founder of Schmidt's Naturals.

06:36 EDT Civeo awarded contract in Australia with expected revenue of about A$82M - Civeo announced that it was awarded a contract from BHP Billiton Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd to provide rooms and hospitality services from the company's existing Coppabella and Nebo accommodations facilities in Australia. The contract is for an initial four year time period with an option to extend for an additional year. It is anticipated that the initial commitment will generate approximately A$82M in total revenues over 2019-2023. This contract was already contemplated in the full year 2019 adjusted corporate EBITDA guidance of $95-$101M communicated on the first quarter earnings conference call.

06:20 EDT Instagram boss Mosseri says taking time off to 'recharge' - Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said via Twitter on Sunday that he's taking some time off this month to "recharge" with his family. Mosseri asked Twitter for "suggestions of people in the real world to spend time with once I'm back on the grid." Reference Link

06:10 EDT G. Willi-Food provides update on two potential acquisitions - G. Willi-Food provided an update regarding two separate and independent memorandums of understanding, as described in the company's press release on April 22. In regards to the memorandum of understanding for an investment in Miki Food, the parties are still in the stage of due diligence in order to complete the deal to sign a specific agreement that will include conditions precedent which are customary in agreements of this kind. In regards to the memorandum of understanding for an investment in Bikurei Hasadeh, it was decided at this stage to delay the negotiations and the due diligence process and it was agreed that the parties would resume discussions in a few months. There is no guarantee that either of the transactions will be completed or, if completed, what the final terms of the transactions will be.

06:07 EDT M.D.C. Holdings reports preliminary Q2 net new home orders up 32% to 2,273 - Reports preliminary Q2 ending active subdivisions increased 14% to 187 from 164. Reports preliminary Q2 average sales price of approximately $484,000. Reports preliminary Q2 new home deliveries of 1,514 compared with 1,512 a year ago. Homes in backlog increased 7% to 4,293 from 3,998. Gross margins are expected to exceed 19%. Larry Mizel, MDC's chairman and CEO, said, "We are encouraged by the positive momentum generated by the year-over-year improvement in both our community count and our absorption rate. These improvements resulted in a 32% year-over-year increase in our 2019 second quarter net new home orders, which was our largest quarterly percentage increase since 2012. Importantly, the growth in our new home orders has been complemented by strong gross margins, which are expected to exceed 19% in the second quarter. Given the success of our spring selling season, we believe that we are well positioned for the remainder of 2019."

06:01 EDT Orange Business Services to transform Sony's global network - Orange Business Services (ORAN) has been chosen by Sony Group (SNE) to consolidate and transform the communications infrastructure of Sony's two largest operating companies initially into a harmonized, future-proof network for an improved user experience around the world. Built on the Orange Flexible SD-WAN solution, the new Sony network will connect more than 500 locations in over 50 countries across five continents to deliver improved performance, security and scalability to their operations. Orange will now be Sony's principal global provider, delivering a fully automated, intelligent network for all global business units over time. The SD-WAN future-proof platform will enable Sony to share IT talent and have complete end-to-end visibility for improved global service agility.

05:54 EDT BiondVax enrolls first participant in second cohort of M-001 flu vaccine trial - Pharmaceuticals announced that the first participants in the second cohort of the pivotal, clinical efficacy, Phase 3 trial of the M-001 universal flu vaccine candidate have been successfully enrolled.

05:43 EDT Nano Dimension announces steps to reduce expenses, headcount reduction of 20% - Nano Dimension announced several corporate updates. "Since Nano Dimension introduced the DragonFly Pro to the electronics market six quarters ago, the company successfully built a global reseller channel and delivered dozens of systems to end users printing thousands of PCBs. Working closely with key aerospace, defense and consumer electronics customers, it is becoming increasingly clear that 3D printed electronics is a transformative force in the electronic industry and one of the highest growth potential segments within the additive manufacturing market." Amit Dror, CEO of Nano Dimension said, "In the coming weeks, after a year of extensive product development in close cooperation with select customers, the company plans to launch a new system within the DragonFly family. This new 3D printer delivers substantial performance improvements and mission critical features that were developed in direct response to customer needs. The new system is expected to significantly increase the value for our existing and targeted customers and fuel further revenue growth as we expand our end user universe and use cases." Concurrent with the eminent product launch mentioned above, the company took decisive steps to reduce its operating expenses. The restructuring included a headcount reduction of approximately 20%. These actions are expected to reduce the company's use of cash in the coming periods. Separately, the company is announcing that Simon Fried, Co-Founder and former President of North America, has decided to step down from his executive role, to pursue other opportunities. Fried will continue to serve on the company's board of directors and to advise the company to ensure a smooth transition. "Nano Dimension plans to strengthen its efforts to accelerate the adoption of its products, with the sole purpose of expanding its customer use cases from prototyping to production," said Mr. Dror. "We believe that the combined actions we have taken position the company's products and structure better for sustainable growth. We strongly believe in our technology, which is second to none, and in the disruptive changes it is leading in the electronics industry," Dror concluded.

05:28 EDT Cellcom Israel announces dismissal of purported class action lawsuit - Cellcom Israel announced the dismissal with prejudice of a purported class action filed against the company's wholly owned subsidiary, and two other Israeli international calls operators, alleging that the defendants unlawfully charge random customers with excessive and unreasonable prices for outgoing calls from Israel. The total amount claimed from the defendants, if the lawsuit was certified as a class action, was not estimated by the plaintiffs.

05:12 EDT ObsEva completes patient recruitment in PRIMROSE 1 Phase 3 clinical trial - ObsEva reported completion of patient recruitment of its Phase 3 clinical trial PRIMROSE 1 evaluating oral gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor antagonist linzagolix for the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding associated with uterine fibroids.