Stockwinners Market Radar for May 20, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:42 EDT Quidel CFO sells 20K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Quidel discloses that its CFO Randall Steward sold 20K shares of common stock on May 18th. The total transaction size was $3.71M.

20:11 EDT Blackstone director sells 59.8K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Blackstone discloses that its Chief Legal Officer John Finley sold 59.8K shares of common stock on May 18th-19th. The total transaction size was $3.18M.

18:43 EDT Shake Shack's Vivian sells 25,000 class A common shares - In a regulatory filing, Shake Shack director Robert T. Vivian disclosed the sale of 25,000 class A common shares of the company on May 18 at a price of $52.25 per share.

18:27 EDT Republic Services CFO Charles Serianni to retire, Brian DelGhiaccio to succeed - Republic Services announced that after 23 years with the company, Charles "Chuck" Serianni, executive vice president and CFO, has provided the company one-year notice of his intent to retire, effective June 1, 2021. Serianni will be succeeded on June 1 by current executive vice president and chief transformation officer, Brian DelGhiaccio. Serianni will stay on as a special advisor to the CEO until his retirement in 2021 and will also work closely with DelGhiaccio to ensure a seamless transition. DelGhiaccio joined Republic Services in 1998 and has since held roles of increasing responsibility across the finance organization, including accounting, financial planning & analysis, investor relations, treasury and risk management. Prior to joining Republic, DelGhiaccio worked at Arthur Andersen as a senior consultant.

18:15 EDT ComEd files with ICC new rates to decrease residential energy bills - ComEd filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission new rates that will decrease the amount residential customers will pay for energy supply beginning in June. This will contribute to an even larger decrease of about $2 in the total monthly average residential customer bill next January if the ICC approves the lower delivery rates that ComEd requested last month - its third rate decrease in a row. Energy supply charges account for nearly half of the monthly residential customer bill, and ComEd passes these costs along to customers without profit or markup. The new Price to Compare, which is the sum of the purchased electricity and the transmission services charge, beginning in June will be 6.473 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 7.175 cents per kWh in January. This reflects a new purchased electricity charge for residential customers of 5.168 cents per kWh for the summer period, a decrease from about 6 cents per kWh for the non-summer period that began in January. New energy supply prices were established in the spring energy procurement event conducted by the Illinois Power Agency, which oversees purchases of energy on behalf of Illinois electric utilities ComEd and Ameren. The monthly transmission services charge, which is included in the supply section on ComEd bills, is increasing by about 30 cents on the average residential bill. In April, ComEd asked for an $11.5M decrease for the delivery of electricity compared to rates in effect in January of this year. With the new energy supply rates filed today, the average total monthly residential bill would be about $81 beginning in January of next year, which would be lower than ComEd customer bills in 2008. Based on the most recent national data, ComEd's combined rate for energy distribution and supply of 12.99 cents per kWh is below the national average and 20 percent below the average rate for utilities in the top 10 metropolitan areas by population.

17:58 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings fall to 1,112.32MT from 1,113.78MT - This is the first decline in holdings since May 6th.

17:52 EDT National Oilwell suspends quarterly dividend - National Oilwell announced that during its regularly-scheduled meeting, the Board of Directors elected to suspend the company's quarterly dividend until further notice. "With the view that capital is becoming increasingly scarce and valuable within our industry, we believe that it is in the best long-term interest of NOV's shareholders to suspend our dividend," commented Clay Williams, Chairman, President, and CEO. "While NOV's balance sheet and access to capital remain strong, the global economic shutdown has resulted in heightened uncertainty and an opaque outlook for the oilfield service industry. Thus, we feel that it is prudent to preserve the $77 million per year of cashflow from the dividend while we navigate through present market challenges, reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and position the company for the eventual market recovery."

17:12 EDT Tyler Technologies chairman sells 40K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Tyler Technologies discloses that its executive chairman John Marr sold 40K shares of common stock on May 18-19th. The total transaction size was $14.3M.

17:01 EDT Take-Two says 'Kerbal Space Program 2' delayed due to COVID-19 - Says "Kerbal Space Program 2" will be delayed due to COVID-19. Says currently has 93 games planned for the next five years.

16:48 EDT China Biologic's plasma supplier Xinjiang Deyuan breached cooperation deal - China Biologic declared that Xinjiang Deyuan Bioengineering Co, China Biologic's source plasma supplier and cooperation partner, has materially breached its strategic cooperation with China Biologic by entering into plasma supply arrangements with Southern Shuanglin Bio-Pharmacy Co, and that China Biologic will take all necessary measures to protect its rights. The company has learned from a public announcement issued on May 15, 2020 by Shuanglin, a company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, that Shuanglin and Xinjiang Deyuan have entered into a cooperation framework agreement regarding expansion of plasma collection stations, pursuant to which Xinjiang Deyuan has entrusted five plasma collection stations to Shuanglin and has begun to supply source plasma to Shuanglin after receiving approval from the Xinjiang Heath Commission for the entrustment arrangement, and Shuanglin has paid an initial deposit of RMB40 million to Xinjiang Deyuan.

16:43 EDT Altice USA CFO sells 40,000 class A common shares - In a regulatory filing, Altice USA CFO Michael Grau disclosed the sale of 40,000 class A common shares of the company on May 18 at a price of $24 per share.

16:39 EDT Take-Two says Q4 results 'significantly better than expected' - Says Q4 results "significantly better than expected." Says nearly all company's titles outperformed in Q4. Says Q4 saw big increase in viewing hours of Take-Two (TTWO) game streams on Twitch (AMZN). Says "NBA 2K20" has sold over 20M units. Sees "NBA 2K20" having highest-ever lifetime unit sales of any "NBA 2K" game. Says "Red Dead Redemption 2" has sold over 31M units worldwide since 2018 release. Says Rockstar will continue to support "GTA Online" and "Red Dead Online" with regular content updates. Comments taken from Q4 earnings conference call.

16:31 EDT ePlus announces 500,000 share stock repurchase plan - ePlus announced that its board of directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to 500,000 shares of ePlus' outstanding common stock over a 12-month period commencing May 28. The company's current repurchase plan will expire on May 27. ePlus had approximately 13.5M shares of common stock outstanding as of May 19.

16:25 EDT TakeTwo Interactive Software trading resumes

16:20 EDT Blue Apron COO Alan Blake to leave company to pursue another opportunity - Blue Apron announced changes to its operations management team. Effective immediately, Jason Hatcher, VP of operations, and Greg Wysocki, VP of procurement and supply chain will assume leadership of Blue Apron's fulfillment and supply chain operations and will report directly to CEO Linda Findley Kozlowski. Alan Blake, COO will be leaving the company on June 1 to pursue another opportunity.

16:19 EDT Aurora Cannabis to acquire Reliva for $40M in stock - Aurora Cannabis and Reliva announced that they have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Aurora will acquire all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of Reliva. Under the terms of the agreement, members of Reliva will receive approximately $40M of Aurora common shares. The transaction also includes a potential earn-out of up to a maximum of $45M payable in Aurora shares, cash or a combination thereof, over the next two years contingent upon Reliva achieving certain financial targets. The structure of the earn-out is designed to align risk and reward between Aurora shareholders and Reliva management to focus on continued strong operational and financial execution. The transaction is expected to close, subject to customary closing conditions, in June 2020. It is anticipated that the transaction will be immediately accretive to Aurora on an Adjusted EBITDA basis, consistent with Aurora's objective to drive towards Adjusted EBITDA profitability in its fiscal first quarter of 2021. the Transaction is aligned with Aurora's business transformation plan announced in February 2020 and provides immediate benefit to Aurora's objective to achieve Adjusted EBITDA profitability in the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the companies said. The transaction will add a talented U.S. management team, with strong international consumer packaged goods backgrounds and a proven track record of growth, to the core Aurora team. The combined company will have a leadership position in the global medical and Canadian recreational cannabis markets along with a leading market position in hemp-derived CBD in the U.S. "Together, Aurora and Reliva will partner to create an international cannabinoid leader that we believe can deliver robust revenue and profitable growth," said Michael Singer, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of Aurora. "We have taken the time necessary to carefully assess the Company's entry into the U.S. market and we firmly believe that the combination with Reliva will create significant long-term value as Reliva provides us options to grow in hemp-derived CBD internationally. Similar to Aurora, Reliva has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and successful track record of transforming categories and creating growth brands. We welcome Miguel Martin and his team to Aurora, and look forward to the opportunity to increase our operating scale, international reach, and product and brand diversity as we drive to Adjusted EBITDA profitability. We plan to capitalize on each company's market leadership and sales infrastructure to drive higher revenue growth than either company could independently accomplish."

16:16 EDT Equitable Holdings raises quarterly dividend 13% to 17c per share - The dividend on the common stock will be payable June 9 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1.

16:14 EDT Sundance Energy regains compliance with Nasdaq - Sundance Energy announced that it received confirmation from Nasdaq that it has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250 following the filing of its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 15. The letter also confirms that Nasdaq is closing the non-compliance matter.

16:13 EDT Boot Barn does not provide Q1 or FY21 guidance - The company states: "The COVID-19 crisis continues to adversely affect the company's results. Due to the ongoing uncertainty created by COVID-19, the company is not providing Q1 and FY21 guidance at this time."

16:10 EDT Shoe Carnival will not buyback any shares in FY20 - As of May 2, 2020, the Company had $43.1 million available for future repurchases under its share repurchase program. The Company does not anticipate repurchasing any shares in fiscal 2020 but will continue to reevaluate further share repurchases on an ongoing basis.

16:09 EDT Expedia reports Q1 adjusted EBITDA ($76M) vs. $176M a year ago

16:09 EDT Galapagos, Gilead report Phase 2B/3 results from filgotinib study - Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Galapagos (GLPG) announced "positive topline results from Selection a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2b/3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of the investigational, oral, once-daily, selective JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib in or biologic-experienced adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis UC. Filgotinib 200 mg achieved all primary endpoints in the study, inducing clinical remission at Week 10 and maintaining clinical remission at Week 58 in a significantly higher proportion of patients compared with placebo. Filgotinib 100 mg did not achieve statistically significant clinical remission at Week 10. "We are encouraged by the early response as an induction therapy and the durable efficacy as a maintenance therapy observed in the SELECTION trial," said Merdad Parsey, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, Gilead Sciences. "Patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis can struggle to effectively manage their disease. These topline data suggest that filgotinib could play a role in helping more patients achieve a meaningful and sustained improvement in treatment response with an oral therapy."

16:08 EDT Take-Two says games seeing heightened levels of engagement growth - "At Take-Two, our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees and their families," the company said. "All of our offices moved largely to work-from-home environments by mid-March. We are continuing to find ways to support our employees and their families as we navigate through this unprecedented situation, including services to help families balance work and home life. The digital nature of our content means our creative talent can continue to work on game development from home. The shift to remote working adds complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process; however, based on our work to date, we currently do not expect any delays other than what has been announced. With more people staying at home, we have experienced, and are continuing to experience, heightened levels of engagement and Net Bookings growth-to-date. The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we are not able to predict."

16:06 EDT Gilead's Filgotinib 200mg achieved all primary endpoint in ph2b/3 trial in UC - Gilead (GILD) and Galapagos NV (GLPG) announced positive topline results from SELECTION, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2b/3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of the investigational, oral, once-daily, selective JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib in 1,348 biologic-naive or biologic-experienced adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, or UC. Filgotinib 200 mg achieved all primary endpoints in the study, inducing clinical remission at Week 10 and maintaining clinical remission at Week 58 in a significantly higher proportion of patients compared with placebo. Filgotinib 100 mg did not achieve statistically significant clinical remission at Week 10. Among biologic-naive patients, a statistically significant higher proportion of patients achieved clinical remission at Week 10 when treated with filgotinib 200 mg compared with placebo. Among biologic-experienced patients, a statistically significant higher proportion of patients achieved clinical remission at Week 10 when treated with filgotinib 200 mg compared with placebo. Patients who achieved clinical response or remission after 10 weeks of treatment with filgotinib 100 mg or 200 mg were subsequently re-randomized to their induction dose of filgotinib or placebo in a 2:1 ratio and treated through Week 58 (maintenance trial, n=558). Both doses of filgotinib achieved the primary endpoint in this maintenance trial. At Week 58, 37.2 percent of biologic-naive and biologic-experienced patients receiving filgotinib 200 mg achieved clinical remission, compared with 11.2 percent treated with placebo. Of patients receiving filgotinib 100 mg, 23.8 percent achieved clinical remission at Week 58, compared with 13.5 percent treated with placebo.

16:04 EDT Expedia reports Q1 room night growth (14%) - Reports Q1 gross bookings dwon 39% y/y.

14:28 EDT Moderna Chair says company put out extent of data it had avaliable - Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan said "many folks are expressing expertise and guessing what we may or may not have" in terms of data on its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, but he said that the company put out the extent of the data that it had available at this point from its early stage study. The company felt it was "prudent" to add to its resources with a stock offering given the "sense of urgency and obligation" that Moderna feels to be able to work on its vaccine candidate, added Afeyan in response to the stock sales that followed soon after the company's report of its vaccine data. Asked about rival companies working on treatments and vaccines, Afeyan said "the only race that matters is the race against this virus."

14:04 EDT Marriott's Grissen sells 20,000 class A common shares - In a regulatory filing, Marriott group president, Americas, David Grissen disclosed the sale of 20,000 class A common shares of the company on May 19 at a price of $92.8054 per share.

13:36 EDT CommScope files patent infringement lawsuits against SOLiD - CommScope announced that it filed patent infringement lawsuits against SOLiD, a manufacturer of distributed antenna systems based in South Korea. Two actions were filed, one in the Northern District of Texas and another in the United Kingdom, the company said in a statement. The complaints assert multiple patents relating to CommScope's digital DAS innovations against SOLiD's Genesis DAS product, it added. "CommScope has invested heavily in innovation in the field of digital distributed antenna systems to benefit its customers and reinforce its position as a global leader in wireless and wireline network infrastructure," said Matt Melester, chief technology officer for CommScope's Venue and Campus Networks. "We must vigorously protect these valuable assets, and this action against SOLiD is a necessary step to prevent unauthorized infringement."

13:27 EDT North American rail traffic dropped 20.9% in week ended May 16 - The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 16. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 416,115 carloads and intermodal units, down 22% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending May 16 were 184,415 carloads, down 30.2% compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 231,700 containers and trailers, down 14% compared to 2019..."The 30.2% decline in total U.S. carloads last week was the biggest year-over-year weekly decline for total carloads since 1988, when our data begin. Coal didn't help: last week was the fifth straight week in which coal carloads were down at least 40% from last year," said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray.North American rail volume for the week ending May 16, 2020, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 263,409 carloads, down 29.2% compared with the same week last year, and 312,917 intermodal units, down 12.3% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 576,326 carloads and intermodal units, down 20.9%. North American rail volume for the first 20 weeks of 2020 was 12,554,512 carloads and intermodal units, down 11 percent compared with 2019. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Genesee & Wyoming (GWR), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Union Pacific (UNP). Reference Link

13:04 EDT Correction: Perrigo expects Ireland Judicial Review trial to begin in June

12:44 EDT Twitter testing new way to join a conversation - "Twitter is where you go to see and talk about what's happening. But sometimes, unwanted replies make it hard to have meaningful conversations. (Ahem, reply guys.) Since last year, we've been working to give people more control over their conversations starting with the ability to hide replies. We also began trying out new ways to start conversations with casual, fleeting thoughts. And now, we're testing new settings that let you choose who can reply to your Tweet and join your conversation.Before you Tweet, you'll be able to choose who can reply with three options: everyone (standard Twitter, and the default setting), only people you follow, or only people you mention. Tweets with the latter two settings will be labeled and the reply icon will be grayed out so that it's clear for people if they can't reply. People who can't reply will still be able to view, Retweet, Retweet with Comment, and like these Tweets. For now, only a limited group of people globally on Twitter for iOS, Android, and twitter.com can Tweet with these settings, but everyone can see these conversations. Learn more in our help center," said Director of Product Management Suzanne Xie in a blog posting. Reference Link

12:43 EDT Diamond Hill Capital names Anna Corona chief people officer - Diamond Hill Capital Management, an independent active asset manager and a subsidiary of Diamond Hill Investment Group, Inc. announced the appointment of Anna Corona as chief people officer, effective May 18. Corona reports to Heather Brilliant, CFA, Diamond Hill's president and CEO, and serves on the firm's management team. Before joining Diamond Hill, Corona was head of talent and culture for Morningstar Australasia, based in Sydney.

12:42 EDT Panasonic takes 20% minority ownership stake in Blue Yonder - Panasonic announced that it is making an equity investment in Blue Yonder, an end-to-end supply chain software provider. The investment via a secondary sale of shares values Blue Yonder at an enterprise value of $5.5B. It builds upon a strong strategic relationship between the two companies, including a joint venture in Japan announced in April 2019. Panasonic will have a 20% minority ownership stake and one seat on the Board of Directors of Blue Yonder. "Modern day supply chains face a number of challenges including rapidly shifting demand, hyper-personalization of consumer needs, labor shortages and operational inefficiencies, so by further developing our relationship with supply chain software specialists Blue Yonder, I believe we will be able to make larger, more transformative contributions to a greater number of customers," stated Yasu Higuchi, Representative Director of Panasonic Corporation and CEO of Panasonic's Connected Solutions Company. "In order to do so, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of Blue Yonder's advanced global solutions and business model so that we can augment and further elevate our own solutions capability. Through this collaboration, we aim to become a global leading provider of frontline process innovation."

12:25 EDT Boxlight signs $10M supply agreement - Boxlight Corporation announced it has entered into a supply agreement and strategic partnership with CEC Finance and Logistics to provide up to $10M of Boxlight hardware solutions in multiple US warehouses. The agreement between Boxlight and CEC will provide Boxlight solutions, including interactive flat panel displays, in warehouses located in Los Angeles and New Jersey, tightening delivery times and increasing just-in-time delivery to customers throughout the US. The partnership will also increase efficiencies for shipping and logistics and decrease overall freight costs to customers.

12:02 EDT Royal Caribbean extends suspension of most sailings through July 31 - Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that it has decided to extend the suspension of most sailings through July 31, 2020, with the exception of sailings from China, which will be suspended through the end of June, "given ongoing global public health circumstances." The company added: "We are working with our guests and travel partners to address this disruption to their vacations, and we are genuinely sorry for their inconvenience. We expect to return to service on August 1."

12:00 EDT Small Cap Bear 3x falls -10.8% - Small Cap Bear 3x is down -10.8%, or -$3.42 to $28.36.

12:00 EDT Aurora Cannabis falls -11.1% - Aurora Cannabis is down -11.1%, or -$1.62 to $13.03.

12:00 EDT Oil States rises 16.8% - Oil States is up 16.8%, or 52c to $3.62.

11:58 EDT Amazon set to release new sci-fi shooter game Crucible on Wednesday - Reference Link

11:08 EDT Air France-KLM to end of Airbus A380 operations, take EUR 500M write-down - Air France-KLM (AFLYY) announced that in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis and its impact on anticipated activity levels, the company is ending Air France Airbus A380 operations. It said, "Initially scheduled by the end of 2022, the phase-out of Airbus A380 fleet fits in the Air France-KLM Group fleet simplification strategy of making the fleet more competitive, by continuing its transformation with more modern, high-performance aircraft with a significantly reduced environmental footprint. Five of the Airbus A380 aircraft in the current fleet are owned by Air France or on finance lease, while four are on operating lease. The global impact of the Airbus A380 phase-out write down is estimated at 500 million euros and will be booked in the second quarter of 2020 as a non-current cost/expenses. Airbus A380 will be replaced by new generation aircraft, including Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, whose deliveries are ongoing."

10:49 EDT Phunware partners with HP Enterprise on mobile healthcare solution - Phunware (PHUN) announced that it has partnered with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to offer HPE's healthcare customers a digital front door on mobile by integrating Aruba Networks mobility solutions with Phunware's Multiscreen-as-a-Service healthcare products and solutions.

10:31 EDT Charlotte's Web earns U.S. utility patent for hemp variety - Charlotte's Web has earned U.S. utility patent U.S. 10,653,085, its second U.S. patent for hemp genetics. This patent is for 'CW1AS1', a new hemp variety created by company co-founder Joel Stanley and Sr. Director of Cultivation R&D Bear Reel.

10:00 EDT Small Cap Bear 3x falls -7.1% - Small Cap Bear 3x is down -7.1%, or -$2.25 to $29.53.

10:00 EDT Cementos Pacasmayo falls -12.8% - Cementos Pacasmayo is down -12.8%, or -95c to $6.50.

10:00 EDT Everi Holdings rises 12.4% - Everi Holdings is up 12.4%, or 66c to $5.99.

09:56 EDT Investor group releases presentation detailing why change at GameStop is needed - Hestia Capital Partners LP, Permit Capital Enterprise Fund, L.P. and their affiliates, who beneficially own approximately 7.2% of the outstanding common stock of GameStop Corp., announced that they have issued a detailed investor presentation titled "More Change Is Needed". The Investor Group has nominated two directors, Paul J. Evans and Kurtis J. Wolf, for election to GameStop's 2020 Annual Meeting scheduled for June 12, 2020. The investor group said in part: "Despite being a valuable business with significant competitive advantages in the game retailing industry, GameStop's Board has overseen $2.5 billion in stockholder value destruction, underperforming its proxy peers on key financial and operational metrics, including total shareholder returns on a one, three, five and ten year period. In March 2019, the Investor Group entered into a Cooperation Agreement to add two new directors to an expanded Board of 11 members, including Lizabeth Dunn, the Investor Group's nominee. Since then, the Company's performance has continued to deteriorate." It added that "GameStop's response to Covid-19 has been slow and its communications to employees created confusion and fear" and that "The Board's recent refreshment is not enough to drive the change that is needed."

09:47 EDT Lowe's doesn't see Q1 growth pulling sales from future demand

09:43 EDT Lowe's plans to give mid-quarter updates in Q2

09:32 EDT Atossa Therapeutics announces in vitro testing results of AT-H201 - Atossa Therapeutics announced results from in vitro testing of AT-H201, Atossa's proprietary COVID-19 drug candidate. The preliminary study results show that AT-H201 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infectivity of VERO cells in a laboratory culture, which are the standard cell types being used to study infectivity of the coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2, sometimes called the coronavirus, is the COVID-19 infectious agent. AT-H201 is designed to act as a "chemical vaccine" by binding to the surface of the coronavirus and inhibiting the ability of the virus to enter a cell. Significant findings from the testing include: AT-H201 components inhibited SARS-CoV-2 from infecting VERO cells in a laboratory culture. This is the first submicromolar inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 identified to date in published literature, meaning that a relatively small amount of the drug is necessary to result in an anti-viral effect. Testing was also performed on remdesivir, an anti-viral medication being studied by others for use in COVID-19 patients, and the generic anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which is also being studied by others in COVID-19 patients. In these laboratory tests, the components of AT-H201 were found to be at least four-times more potent than remdesivir and at least twenty-times more potent than hydroxychloroquine. Potency was measured by microscopic examination of the cytopathic effect caused by SARS-CoV-2 in VERO cells. The testing was conducted on behalf of Atossa by a leading academic research institute. Atossa plans to publish a manuscript of these test results. Successful in vitro tests do not guarantee similar results from in vivo studies, including in human clinical trials. Additional safety and efficacy studies must be successfully completed and regulatory approvals must be obtained before AT-H201 may be commercialized.

09:30 EDT Lowe's: U.S. comp sales for May MTD trending at or above April's results

09:19 EDT Genetic Technologies accelerating development of COVID-19 risk test - Genetic Technologies Limited is to commence accelerating development of a polygenic risk score test to predict an individual's risk of developing life-threatening complications should they become infected with COVID-19.

09:16 EDT Cinedigm expands U.S. distribution on IMDb TV - Cinedigm announced that IMDb TV is now offering Cinedigm's free ad-supported linear channels CONtv, Dove Channel, Comedy Dynamics and Docurama. The launch of these four channels on Amazon's IMDb TV further extends the reach and distribution of Cinedigm's ad-supported business. Cinedigm continues to make good on its commitment to bring the Company's diverse and eclectic portfolio of channels to as many consumers as possible by easily making them accessible across all major video streaming platforms.

09:15 EDT LivaNova announces publication of VNS Therapy study - LivaNova announced the publication of a new study in the International Journal of Bipolar Disorders that showed adding Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy, or VNS Therapy, to treatment as usual, or TAU, significantly improves outcomes in patients with treatment-resistant bipolar depression, or TRBD. The study examined patients from a five-year prospective registry and found 63% of TRBD patients treated with adjunctive VNS Therapy in addition to TAU had a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, as measured by a 50% or greater reduction in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, compared with 39% of patients in the TAU alone group. The study also showed that TRBD patients treated with adjunctive VNS Therapy experienced both a more durable anti-depressant effect and a significantly greater mean reduction in suicidality score than for patients receiving TAU alone. The study was conducted with a patient population of 156 TRBD patients with 97 in the adjunctive VNS Therapy group and 59 in the TAU group. Before treatment, subjects in the adjunctive VNS Therapy group had, on average, suffered from 20.7 lifetime episodes of depression, had approximately three lifetime suicide events and had been treated with nine different therapies, including an antidepressant at some point. In comparison to the TAU group and prior to the study, patients in the adjunctive VNS Therapy group had experienced more episodes of depression, psychiatric hospitalizations, lifetime suicide attempts, along with a higher suicidality score and more severe symptoms based on MADRS and other scales at baseline. The study concluded that VNS Therapy as an adjunctive treatment to TAU was more effective than TAU alone in reducing depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. In addition, patients who received adjunctive VNS Therapy had a more rapid onset of response and more durable antidepressant effects. The study drew the conclusion that adjunctive VNS Therapy is an efficacious antidepressant treatment for patients with TRBD.

09:13 EDT Cerner, Health IQ partner to support health systems with predictive analytics - Hospital IQ and Cerner Corporation announced a relationship to support health systems with predictive analytics to improve clinical and operational awareness. This collaboration will provide health systems with near real-time analytics and predictive capabilities to gain insight into where resources are being used, where they may be needed and how they can be deployed more efficiently. Health system operators, administrators and clinical leaders can increase foresight and knowledge of their operations for staff to take specific actions that improve how they deliver care.

09:12 EDT Identiv, MintID launch NFC-protected, IoT-connected gold, silver bullion - Identiv announced its partnership with MintID to launch near field communication-protected, Internet of Things-connected gold and silver bullion. Until now, consumers have struggled with the uncertainty of whether or not the precious metal products they own are actually genuine. Together, Identiv and MintID developed an AES-128 bit encrypted, tamper-proof NFC label that, when embedded directly at the source, MintID customers can use to authenticate their investments in real time with MintID's iOS and Android mobile apps. MintID's mission is to prevent counterfeiting in the precious metals space. The company has developed an end-to-end solution for authenticating precious metal products, such as silver coins or solid gold bars, and all types of luxury goods. MintID embeds NFC tags onto products directly at minting agencies. Upon tapping with a mobile device, the chip uses NFC to display a product's specifications, via MintID's Android or iOS mobile app, allowing manufacturers, suppliers, and consumers to track the supply chain of the physical product.

09:11 EDT Lowe's: COVID-19 created less disruption in more rural areas of the country

09:09 EDT Leaf Group CFO Jantoon Reigersman steps down - Leaf Group announced that CFO Jantoon Reigersman stepped down to pursue other opportunities, effective May 19, 2020. Brian Gephart, CAO, has been appointed interim CFO and will serve in that role until a permanent successor for Mr. Reigersman has been named. Mr. Gephart joined Leaf Group in 2019 following positions at JH Capital Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and has extensive expertise in capital markets, technical accounting and financial reporting.

09:07 EDT Leaf Group concludes strategic review, says current strategy 'best path' - Leaf Group announced that its Board of Directors has concluded its previously announced review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value. The Board of Directors assessed an exhaustive range of alternatives over the course of the last year, during which time the Company's business and operating environment have also improved. As a result of the comprehensive review, the Board of Directors unanimously determined that the Company's current business strategy as an independent company is the best path forward to create the greatest value for Leaf Group's shareholders. The strategic review was conducted by a Special Committee of the Board of Directors consisting of independent directors, with the support of outside financial and legal advisors. Over the course of the comprehensive review, the Special Committee of the Board of Directors and its advisors considered a full range of alternatives to maximize shareholder value, including a sale of the Company, divestitures of certain assets and various financing alternatives. Leaf Group and its advisors contacted over 160 potential acquirers regarding a possible sale of the Company or certain assets, and entered into non-disclosure agreements with 45 of those parties to facilitate discussions. Additionally, Leaf Group and its advisors contacted over 48 companies to discuss financing options. The Company engaged in negotiations with parties concerning potential asset sales; however, this process did not yield any transaction offers that the Board of Directors and its advisors determined would provide more value to Leaf Group's shareholders than the value that can be created by the Company's continued ownership and operation of those assets. While multiple parties expressed interest in potential transactions related to certain of the Company's assets, no party submitted an offer to acquire the entire company.

09:05 EDT 10x Genomics launches targeted gene expression solution - Building on its earlier reveal at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology General Meeting, 10x Genomics launched its Targeted Gene Expression Solution for single cell and shortly following for spatial genomic research. Targeted Gene Expression gives scientists the ability to focus their research on the cell types and biomarkers that matter most to their research, enabling them to answer biological questions quickly and efficiently. This approach also captures unique gene expression signatures, probes disease and drug targets and allows for the discovery of mechanisms through which small molecules act. Using this technology, researchers can measure the effects of activation or inhibition of signalling pathways. In addition, it also allows the scientific community to dissect signalling pathways using targeted CRISPR screens. 10x's Targeted Gene Expression Solution benefits from a list of comprehensive pre-designed gene panels that are relevant for different research areas, including cancer, immunology, neuroscience and various disease and drug targeting applications. This technology is also customizable for individualized research goals, improving experimental efficiency while maintaining high gene sensitivities. A 10x Custom Panel Designer, which will be released later this year, will enable customers to either add on genes to existing panels or create fully custom panels.

09:04 EDT Lowe's CEO: 'Everything changed' in late February with COVID-19 - Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

09:03 EDT GigaMedia CEO Cheng-Ming Huang purchases over 110,000 shares - GigaMedia-s Chief Executive Officer Cheng-Ming Huang has purchased a total of 110,190 shares of GigaMedia stock by Pacific Star Universal Group at an average price of $2.452 on May 15th, 18th and 19th. The purchases were made during an open window period. Cheng-Ming Huang now holds a total of 983,259 shares, an ownership of around 8.90% in the company.

09:02 EDT TMSR Holding changes name to 'Code Chain New Continent Limited' - TMSR Holding announced that effective May 18, the company has changed name to "Code Chain New Continent Limited." On the same day, the company has also changed its trading symbol and started trading under "CCNC".

08:51 EDT White Gold announces fully funded 2020 exploration program - White Gold announced its fully funded 2020 exploration program on its extensive 422,000+ hectare land package, representing over 40% of the emerging White Gold District in Yukon, Canada. The 2020 exploration program which is budgeted at approximately $4.0 Million has been designed to further test existing targets and recent high grade discoveries on the Company's White Gold, Hen, and JP Ross properties, as well as to identify and advance other targets on its extensive regional land package. Backed by partners Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) and Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC), the 2020 exploration program is scheduled to commence in the coming weeks. Highlights Include: Ryan's Surprise target: 1,500 m diamond drill program to test for strike and down-dip extensions of mineralization encountered with 2019 diamond drilling. Titan target: 1,500 m diamond drill program to test the extents of high-grade mineralization encountered in 2019 rotary air blast drilling which included 72.81 g/t Au over 6.09 m from 10.67 m depth, within a 32 m zone of mineralization. Approximately 25 RAB holes will be drilled to test high-priority targets on the White Gold, Hen and JP Ross properties. Mechanical trenching will be carried out on multiple targets on the JP Ross property to collect key structural data to aid in ongoing interpretations and future drill planning. Extensive regional exploration work on other properties will include geologic mapping and prospecting, soil sampling, GT probe sampling, ultra high-resolution drone imagery, and ground magnetics and VLF surveying on the Betty, Nolan, Bonanza and Tea properties.

08:48 EDT Cidara Therapeutics doses first patient in Phase 3 ReSPECT trial of rezafungin - Cidara Therapeutics and Mundipharma announced that the first patient has been dosed in its ReSPECT pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of the company's lead antifungal candidate, rezafungin, for the prevention of invasive fungal disease in patients undergoing allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation. Rezafungin is a novel, once-weekly echinocandin being developed for both the treatment and prevention of severe fungal infections. Cidara is supported in the ongoing development of rezafungin by Mundipharma, who will be responsible for bringing the therapy to patients outside the U.S. and Japan. The ReSPECT trial is a global, randomized, double-blind, controlled, pivotal Phase 3 trial of rezafungin versus the standard antimicrobial regimen to prevent invasive fungal disease due to Candida, Aspergillus and Pneumocystis in subjects undergoing allogeneic BMT. Rezafungin, dosed once-weekly, will be compared to a daily regimen containing multiple drugs including fluconazole or posaconazole, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, also known as Bactrim, for 90 days, at which time fungal-free survival will be measured as the primary efficacy outcome. The trial will enroll approximately 462 adults with underlying conditions, such as acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, lymphoma and aplastic anemia, across approximately 30 BMT centers.

08:44 EDT Target started to see normalization of all categories after April 15 - The stabilization has continued in May, CEO Brian Cornell said.

08:42 EDT GoodData announces strategic partnership, investment from Visa - GoodData announced an investment and strategic partnership with Visa. The investment further bolsters Visa's commitment to providing access to aggregated data and analytics that help Visa clients and partners understand the impact and effectiveness of the critical decisions they are making. For GoodData, the new investment amplifies its leadership position as an innovative all-in-one data platform enabling companies to add new insight services to existing offerings, develop entirely new business models, and better partner with their business networks.

08:40 EDT Evoke Pharma receives FDA conditional acceptance of Gimoti brand - Evoke Pharma announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has conditionally accepted the proprietary brand name, "Gimoti," for the Company's nasal spray product candidate for the relief of symptoms in adult women with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis as resubmitted in the 505(b)(2) New Drug Application. The name Gimoti was developed in compliance with FDA's Guidance for Industry, Contents of a Complete Submission for the Evaluation of Proprietary Names. Based on the development program, which included research with physicians and pharmacists, as well as an international name assessment, the Company believes Gimoti is a proprietary name with strong marketing potential that is also consistent with FDA's goal of preventing medication errors and potential harm to the public by ensuring that only appropriate proprietary names are approved for use.

08:38 EDT Golar LNG release sustainability reports, plans to set ESG targets in 2021 - In order to enhance Golar LNG's sustainability disclosures and to permit the development of ESG targets, Golar today publishes its Sustainability Report on its website. After consulting with investors and internal focus groups to develop the right KPIs, Golar has identified five priority focus areas and reported key facts and figures about our 2019 ESG performance across each one: Health, Safety, & Security: Golar's number one priority is maintaining safety through learning and cooperation, fostering a sense of community, and minimising risk. We have a very strong safety culture based on trust, care, openness about failure and learning from mistakes. In 2019, we reported 0 serious marine incidents or fatalities and a lost-time injury frequency of .86 per million exposure hours Environmental Impact: Golar operates responsibly and prioritises working with our charterers to make commercial decisions that limit our environmental footprint, including operating our vessels predominantly on LNG. In 2019, Scope 1 emissions for our entire fleet totalled 1.89mn metric tonnes. Energy Efficiency & Innovation: Golar maximises energy efficiency by repurposing its vessels, which extends their life and prevents scrappages, by incorporating pioneering technology into its operations, including the use of Heat Recovery Steam Generators on FLNG vessels to recover energy from liquefaction trains, by conducting trim optimisation studies on its carrier fleet, and by developing a seawater discharge turbine for FSRUs that produces clean energy to improve system efficiency. Through our 50 % owned subsidiary, Golar Power, we are also working to develop modern and efficient LNG fueled power and transportation solutions for industrial and public use that significantly lower global energy and transportation costs and materially reduce their environmental footprint. People & Communities: Golar follows fair hiring practices and encourages learning and development across our diverse workforce. In 2019, we achieved a high retention rate of more than 95% for our offshore crew, indicating that crew members continually return to Golar vessels rather than pursuing other opportunities. Governance & Ethics: Golar is committed to principles of transparency, human rights, anti-bribery, and anti-corruption. To supplement the oversight efforts of the Management Team and the Board of Directors, we have established a dedicated Safety, Environment and Ethics Committee to oversee our ESG performance, reporting, and key initiatives. For each of our five priority ESG focus areas, Golar is also undertaking an exercise to set appropriate long-term ESG reporting targets by 2021 in consultation with our shareholders, charterers, and other key stakeholders. Setting these comparable targets will further aid Golar in fulfilling our commitment to be at the forefront of delivering LNG as an alternative to more emission-intensive fossil fuels while meeting global energy demand.

08:37 EDT Cheetah Mobile approves special dividend of 14c per share - Cheetah Mobile approved a special cash dividend of $1.44 per ADS, or 14c per ordinary share. The cash dividend will be paid on July 9 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 23. The aggregate amount of cash dividends to be paid is approximately $200M, which will be funded by cash on the company's balance sheet.

08:34 EDT Royal Caribbean says Q1 loss due to COVID-19 - The company noted, "The net loss for the quarter is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business."

08:33 EDT Beyond Air achieves primary endpoint in pilot bronchiolitis study - Beyond Air announced positive top-line results from its third pilot study in bronchiolitis patients that showed, on an intent-to-treat (basis, 150 parts per million NO is statistically significant compared to both the 85 ppm NO and control arms of the study. The randomized, double blind, controlled study was performed at eight sites in Israel and enrolled 89 patients under the age of 12 months. The patients were randomized equally across three arms: standard supportive therapy; 85 ppm NO + SST and 150 ppm NO + SST. Study treatment was delivered to patients intermittently four times per day for 40 minutes for up to five days. The primary endpoint was time to fit-to-discharge, a composite of the modified TAL score and sustained oxygen saturation on room air. For the primary endpoint, on an ITT basis, a comparison of relative hazards is displayed in the table below, which shows statistical significance of the 150 ppm NO arm compared to the other two arms. For the key secondary endpoint of hospital length of stay, on an ITT basis, the results are also displayed in the table and show statistical significance of the 150 ppm NO arm compared to the other two arms. There was no statistical difference between the 85 ppm NO arm and SST on either endpoint. NO therapy was generally well tolerated. There were no serious adverse events related to NO therapy, with no adverse events leading to discontinuation of NO therapy.

08:31 EDT Lazydays acquires Desert Autoplex RV dealership in Phoenix - Lazydays Holdings has completed its acquisition of Korges Enterprises, or Desert Autoplex RV, located in Mesa, Arizona in the Phoenix Metro Area. Desert Autoplex RV is an RV dealership with brands including Newmar, Forest River and Northwood. The dealership will be branded as Lazydays RV of Phoenix.

08:26 EDT Celestica's Newmarket operation wins contract with StarFish Medical - Celestica announced it has won a program to build 7,500 ventilators for StarFish Medical Inc., a Canadian medical device company, at Celestica's operation in Newmarket, Ontario. Celestica will begin manufacturing of the ventilators in May and intends to deliver the finished products on behalf of StarFish Medical to Health Canada for distribution early in the fourth quarter of 2020. StarFish leads the Canadian Emergency Ventilators project, part of the Canadian Government's plan to mobilize industry to fight COVID-19. That plan includes Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's Next Generation Manufacturing Canada initiative to build capacity through superclusters. The initiative will quickly bring to market more than 30,000 ventilators in Canada to meet the demand for lifesaving medical equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

08:23 EDT CHF Solutions says publication highlights use of ultrafiltration - CHF Solutions announced a publication highlighting the use of ultrafiltration for fluid management of critically ill patients suffering from COVID-19. "SARS-CoV-2 and Intravascular Volume Management Strategies in the Critically Ill" calls attention to fluid stewardship in COVID-19 patients by judiciously applying the evidence-based resuscitation principles to the specific clinical features of COVID-19 patients. Highlights of ultrafiltration identified in the publication include: Isolated ultrafiltration is an optimal strategy that primarily focuses on fluid extraction and optimization of volume status; Portable ultrafiltration devices could prove particularly helpful because the extremely small extracorporeal volume will help avoid potentially adverse hemodynamic impact in critically ill COVID-19 patients, and the predictability of the fluid extraction will make it more likely to achieve the precise goal for the de-escalation process; and Rapid device deployment capability and ease of use of dedicated ultrafiltration machines is helpful with the high number of infected patients and limited resources.

08:21 EDT Iqvia to manage COVID SHIELD study of generic Hydroxychloroquine - Iqvia announced that the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia has selected Iqvia to manage COVID SHIELD, a Phase II/III randomized, double-blinded clinical study of preventive care for frontline healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID SHIELD clinical study will test an expanded indication for generic Hydroxychloroquine, or HCQ, as a prophylactic treatment to prevent high-risk healthcare workers from contracting COVID-19. Local hospitals across Australia will administer HCQ or a placebo to approximately 2,250 healthcare professionals who are currently looking after COVID-19 patients. To streamline this trial without placing undue risks and burden on the frontline healthcare workers or clinical teams, Iqvia will use virtual clinical tools and technologies. These virtual technologies include remote monitoring, eConsent, eTMF, and e-source. Participating healthcare workers for this study will be located across several Australian states, including Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, as well as the Australian Capital Territory.

08:19 EDT Vaxart announces selection for oral COVID-19 vaccine lead candidate - Vaxart announced that it has selected its lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate and has contracted with KindredBio to manufacture bulk vaccine under cGMP to complement the manufacturing capacity of partner Emergent BioSolutions. In January 2020, Vaxart initiated a program to develop a COVID-19 vaccine based on its VAAST oral vaccines platform. The Company evaluated multiple vaccine candidates in its preclinical models and has chosen the lead candidate for cGMP manufacturing and clinical testing based on the magnitude and the breadth of the immune response. Vaxart has contracted with Emergent BioSolutions and Kindred Biosciences to produce bulk vaccine under cGMP for upcoming clinical trials. The vaccine tablets will be manufactured at Vaxart.

08:17 EDT Royal Caribbean sees FY21 CapEx $2.1B - Since the last earnings call, the company has identified approximately $3B and $1.4B of capital expenditure reductions or deferrals in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The projected capital expenditures for the remainder of 2020 and 2021 are $0.5B and $2.1B, respectively. The company continues to evaluate ways to further reduce these expenditures. The company believes COVID-19 has impacted shipyard operations and will result in delivery delays of ships previously planned for delivery in 2020 and 2021.

08:16 EDT Nexstar reaches exclusive broadcast agreement for Las Vegas Raiders programming - Nexstar Broadcasting, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar, and the National Football League's Las Vegas Raiders, announced they have reached an exclusive agreement on a content partnership and broadcast rights that will deliver Raiders' pre-season football games and a variety of related programming to five Nexstar television markets across three states, reaching more than 9M television households. The multi-year agreement will enable KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, KRON-TV in the Bay Area, KTVX-TV in Salt Lake City, KHON-TV in Honolulu, and KGET-TV in Bakersfield, California, to become the "Official Home of the Raiders" in their respective markets and to air Raiders' pre-season games, The Silver and Black Show, an annual NFL draft special, as well as a special preview of the upcoming season and regular post-game programming throughout the regular season. The broadcasts kicked off in April with an hour-long 2020 NFL pre-draft special. Much of the original programming airing on Nexstar stations will be created in the Raiders Cox Studios located in Henderson, Nevada at the team's Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.

08:15 EDT Royal Caribbean estimates monthly cash burn $250M-$275M - The company estimates its cash burn to be, on average, in the range of approximately $250M-$275M per month during a prolonged suspension of operations. This range includes ongoing ship operating expenses, administrative expenses, debt service expense, hedging costs, expected necessary capital expenditures and excludes cash refunds of customer deposits as well as cash inflows from new and existing bookings. The company is considering ways to further reduce the average monthly requirement under a further prolonged out-of-service scenario and during start-up of operations.

08:13 EDT Enzo Biochem launches test for detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody - Enzo Biochem announced that it is currently offering a SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA assay kit for serological detection of IgG antibodies against the novel coronavirus under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization authority as both products and services. While molecular tests detect the presence of viral RNA to diagnose active infection, serological tests are used to detect the presence of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The emphasis in the coming months is shifting towards mass-market serological testing to determine if individuals were previously exposed to the novel coronavirus and are likely to have already recovered from infection. Accordingly, it is believed that serological testing will play an important role in enabling the workforce to return to their places of employment. The assay permits the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in human serum and is designed to provide accurate results in a clinical laboratory setting with low- to high-throughput processing of specimens. In a clinical study, performance of the SARS-CoV-2 ELISA Kit was compared with a molecular diagnosis using serum samples from approximately 150 individuals. Positive percent agreement and negative percent agreement with a comparator PCR observed 96.5% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Clinical assays for antibodies must be reliable and have high specificity without cross-reactivity to related viruses. These new serological tests, which are built on Enzo's proprietary ELISA platform, work with serum specimens and are formatted for both manual test processing situations as well as automated, high-throughput clinical workflows. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is an analytical, plate-based technique to detect the presence of a target analyte in a liquid sample using affinity reagents. The Immunoglobulin G Antibody Kit detects IgG antibodies specific for SARS-CoV-2 to identify individuals previously exposed to and infected by the coronavirus, even if they have never displayed symptoms. Enzo's high-throughput kit for IgG antibody utilizes a routine blood collection at a lab's patient service center, a doctor's office, or a hospital. The sample is then sent to the clinical laboratory for processing and analysis. This workflow permits scalable testing to be performed under controlled conditions to deliver accurate and sensitive results. Enzo's proprietary 96-well ELISA based technology is readily scalable to meet the needs of the clinical laboratory environment, while providing reliable and economical results. All kits are manufactured at Enzo's GMP certified production facilities.

08:11 EDT Citi announces partnership with NBA for purchasing facility to buy MDI loans - Citi announced a partnership program with the National Banking Association, or NBA, where Citi has created a purchasing facility that allows it to buy loans in the secondary market from Minority-Owned Depository Institutions, or MDIs, originated under the Small Business Administration, or SBA, Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. Citi's purchasing facility will assume up to $50M in SBA loans from MDIs, which serve urban and underserved communities. This is part of Citi's ongoing commitment to expand networks and facilitate the inclusion of community banks and MDIs to better serve diverse communities. NBA Member Banks that are MDIs and have SBA PPP lender approval are able to take part in this purchasing program with Citi. This partnership will provide Member Banks with capital by enabling them to sell loans originated under the PPP to Citi in the secondary market. This asset purchase will move the loans off the MDI's balance sheet and over to Citi. Servicing of the loans will remain with the originator banks and MDIs participating in the program have the potential to retain 100% of the fees earned through the origination of the loan through the SBA. As part of the program, Citi will purchase up to $50M of existing SBA approved PPP loans from MDI Member Banks, including Unity National Bank, with the expectation that other MDI Member Banks will participate.

08:11 EDT Target reports total company comp growth of over 60% in April

08:10 EDT Target CEO: Healthy retail sector 'critical' to health of U.S. economy

08:09 EDT Royal Caribbean says 2020 bookings 'meaningfully lower' than last year - Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the company started the year in a strong booked position and at higher prices on a prior year comparable basis. Given the impact of COVID-19, booking volumes for the remainder of 2020 are meaningfully lower than the same time last year at prices that are down low-single digits. Although still early in the booking cycle, the booked position for 2021 is within historical ranges when compared to same time last year with 2021 prices up mid-single digits compared to 2020. The company has implemented various programs in order to best serve its booked guests providing the choice of future cruise credits in lieu of providing cash refunds for both cancelled sailings and future bookings. As of April 30, approximately 45% of the guests booked on cancelled sailings have requested cash refunds. Additionally, as of March 31, the company had $2.4B in customer deposits. The company also continues to take future bookings for 2020, 2021 and 2022, and receive new customer deposits and final payments on these bookings.

08:08 EDT Target had strongest comp sales in history in last few weeks of April

08:07 EDT ManTech announces creation of FEDSIM Center of Excellence - ManTech announced a major milestone in the government services contracting industry: creation of a FEDSIM Center of Excellence, and the hiring of key FEDSIM experts to lead their new proposal, knowledge management and competitive intelligence initiatives. ManTech's FEDSIM COE is expressly designed to support GSA's FEDSIM customers with cost-effective technology solutions at speed. The FEDSIM COE will provide cutting-edge strategy and processes, and create best practices for all of the company's FEDSIM opportunities.

08:04 EDT National MI announces integration with PMI Rate Pro - National Mortgage Insurance Corporation announced that it is now fully integrated with PMI Rate Pro, a software platform that quickly gives loan officers all available mortgage insurance rates, enabling them to identify the most affordable rates for their borrowers. PMI Rate Pro was founded by Nomi Smith and Luke Landau, two experienced loan officers. It is a stand-alone tool built with an application programming interface, and is customer relationship management-agnostic

08:03 EDT Target CEO: Q1 'unlike anything we've seen in company's history' - Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

08:03 EDT Hoth Therapeutics licenses novel peptide COVID-19 therapeutic - Hoth Therapeutics announced licensing technology and intellectual property exclusively from Virginia Commonwealth University for a novel peptide therapeutic to prevent spike protein binding, which may be a leading cause of COVID-19, and slow its transmission. The research is being led by inventor Michael Peters, Professor, Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at VCU, College of Engineering, and is being aided, in part, by supercomputers as part of the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium through a virtual system that scientists can use to interactively share computing resources known as the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment. The consortium is a private-public partnership that includes the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and major technology corporations. Researchers at VCU have developed at novel peptide that binds with extremely high affinity to SD1 segment of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mimicking its attachment to ACE2. This high binding affinity helps block the spike protein from attaching to the ACE2 surface receptor, thus limiting the transmission of the virus. Further development of the novel peptide can also allow a novel target for the SARS-CoV-2.

08:00 EDT Kindred Biosciences enters COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing agremeent with Vaxart - Kindred Biosciences (KIN) has entered into an agreement with Vaxart (VXRT) for the manufacture of Vaxart's oral vaccine candidate for COVID-19. KindredBio will provide manufacturing services from its biological development and cGMP manufacturing facility in Burlingame, CA. There, KindredBio will produce the candidate vaccine bulk drug substance under Good Manufacturing Practices, and provide it to Vaxart to be formulated into a vaccine tablet to be taken by mouth instead of by needle injection. KindredBio will manufacture the vaccine for clinical trials beginning in the second half of 2020.

07:36 EDT Strongbridge Biopharma announces $30M debt facility with Avenue - Strongbridge Biopharma announced that it and its subsidiaries have entered into a $30M debt facility with Avenue Venture Opportunities Fund, L.P. Under the terms of the loan agreement, Strongbridge U.S. Inc., a subsidiary of Strongbridge Biopharma plc, borrowed $10M at closing. The debt facility also provides Strongbridge U.S. Inc., with two potential additional tranches of up to $10M each. The first additional tranche is available between October 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 if the Company achieves positive top-line data for RECORLEV in its Phase 3 LOGICS clinical trial. The second additional tranche is available between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022 if the Company achieves FDA approval of RECORLEV, subject to approval from Avenue's investment committee. The debt facility has a four-year term, no minimum revenue or cash balance financial covenants and an interest-only period of up to 36 months assuming the Company achieves positive top-line data for RECORLEV in its Phase 3 LOGICS clinical trial and the Company receives FDA approval of RECORLEV. The Company believes that the new debt facility will extend its cash runway through the first quarter of 2022, which is at least two additional quarters beyond previous guidance. Pursuant to the loan agreement, Strongbridge issued to Avenue warrants to purchase up to 267,390 ordinary shares of Strongbridge at a per share exercise price of the lower of $1.87, or the effective price of any bona fide equity financing prior to December 31, 2020. Avenue also has the right to convert up to $3M of the principal outstanding of the loan into Strongbridge ordinary shares at a price per share of the lower of $2.24, or 20% above the effective price of any bona fide equity financing prior to December 31, 2020, subject to the terms and conditions described in the loan agreement.

07:33 EDT Primoris announces industrial awards valued over $62M - Primoris Services Corporation announced two new industrial awards with a combined value over $62M. The contracts were secured by Primoris Industrial Constructors, part of the Power, Industrial, and Engineering segment. The first award is for the construction of the outside the battery limits portion of a renewable diesel expansion project in Louisiana. The scope includes civil, mechanical, structural, and electrical work. The project was designed by Primoris Design & Construction under a separate contract, and Primoris Industrial Constructors will coordinate with Primoris Design & Construction to ensure an efficient engineering and construction interface. Work is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2020, and completion is expected in the third quarter of 2021. The second award is for the civil portion of an air separation unit and partial oxidation plant expansion project in Texas. The plant expansion will help lower the existing plant's NOx and CO2 emissions. The scope includes foundations, underground piping, and a grounding grid. Work is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2020, and completion is expected in the third quarter of 2020.

07:31 EDT Kitov Pharmaceuticals announces commercial launch of Consensi - Kitov Pharma announced the U.S. commercial launch of Consensi, a fixed-dose combination of celecoxib and amlodipine besylate, designed for the simultaneous treatment of hypertension and osteoarthritis pain. Consensi is being sold in the U.S. by Burke Therapeutics, the marketing partner of Kitov's U.S. distributor, Coeptis Pharmaceuticals

07:29 EDT Constellation Software reaches deal to combine TSS operating group with Topicus - Constellation Software announced that it has, acting through its TSS operating group and its subsidiary TPCS Holding, entered into a binding agreement with IJssel to purchase 100% of the shares of Topicus.com. Once the transaction is completed, TSS and Topicus will operate together under the operating group name "Topicus.com". Under the guidance of Constellation, Topicus.com intends to explore opportunities for a future public listing of its shares. Pursuant to such listing, it is anticipated that Constellation would remain a significant shareholder of Topicus.com, and that the current Constellation shareholders would be entitled to receive, pro rata and via dividend, common shares in Topicus.com. The purchase of Topicus will be financed with TSS' cash on hand and its existing revolving line of credit and requires no funding from Constellation. Consideration will be in the form of a cash payment plus the issuance to the Seller of approximately 9% of the shares of the new operating group Topicus.com. Annual gross revenues of Topicus for 2019 were approximately EUR101M and total tangible assets at December 31, 2019 were approximately EUR7M. Topicus employs approximately 1,000 employees. The transaction is currently expected to close in 2020, subject to the satisfaction of certain standard closing conditions including clearance from the Dutch Competition Authority.

07:19 EDT Sodexo launches 'Rise with Sodexo' program - Sodexo announced the global launch of "Rise with Sodexo", a program intended for its clients to meet the health, operational and confidence challenges as a result of the worldwide global COVID-19 pandemic. As many countries emerge progressively from confinement, employees expect to feel safe within the workplace and cared for when remote working, and consumers want to make sure they can count on the companies they trust to adopt the highest Health & Safety standards. In this context, convinced the value of our expertise and services, and our commitment in Corporate Responsibility are essential to regain trust in this extremely volatile environment, Sodexo developed "Rise with Sodexo" to help our clients resume, adapt and thrive each day with a comprehensive range of essential and innovative services. Drawing on lessons learned from our support for businesses based in Asia during the restart of their activities, Sodexo teams and experts have identified the new needs of clients and employees from all sectors of activity.

07:17 EDT Calibre Mining reports exploration results from Libertad, Limon - Calibre Mining provided an update on exploration results from the Company's diamond drilling programs. Recent drilling has confirmed resource expansion potential down plunge at the Panteon deposit at Limon and at the Jabali West underground mine at Libertad. Drilling has also demonstrated positive gold grades and continuity along strike at the previously untested Tranca prospect and at the Amalia prospect, which like Tranca, had not been drill tested prior to the current exploration program. Exploration activities will recommence upon the restart of mining operations with an increased scope of 60,000 metres now planned, an increase of approximately 30% from the previous 47,000 metres. The increased scope will increase the number of rigs drilling from six to ten in the fourth quarter of 2020, with four scheduled at Limon, four at Libertad and two at Pavon. Drilling at Limon continued at the Panteon and Limon Norte deposits. Drilling at Libertad focused on four targets: Tranca, resource expansion and delineation drilling at Jabali Central and Jabali West, and follow up drilling at the Amalia prospect. Highlighted drilling results are summarized below: Jabali West Underground Deposit: 23.46 g/t Au over 3.3 metres Estimated True Width in hole JB20-476; 10.27 g/t Au over 3.9 metres ETW in hole JB20-480; and 9.78 g/t Au over 2.1 metres ETW in hole JB20-489. Tranca Gold Prospect: 3.92 g/t Au over 4.5 metres ETW in hole TR20-009; 1.62 g/t Au over 4.6 metres ETW in hole TR20-002; and 2.09 g/t Au over 4.7 metres ETW in hole TR20-003. Amalia Gold Prospect: 19.99 g/t Au over 1.9 metres ETW in hole EZ20-007; 5.24 g/t Au over 6.7 metres ETW in hole EZ20-011; and 3.86 g/t Au over 3.1 metres ETW in hole EZ20-015. Panteon Gold Deposit: 4.25 g/t Au over 2.1 metres ETW in hole LIM-20-4429; and 2.08 g/t Au over 6.0 metres ETW in hole LIM-20-4433.

07:14 EDT Investor Group says 'more change is needed' at GameStop - Hestia Capital Partners LP, Permit Capital Enterprise Fund, L.P. and their affiliates, who beneficially own approximately 7.2% of the outstanding common stock of GameStop, announced that they have issued a detailed investor presentation titled "More Change Is Needed". The Investor Group has nominated two highly qualified directors, Paul Evans and Kurtis Wolf, for election to GameStop's 2020 Annual Meeting scheduled for June 12. Reference Link

07:12 EDT Inovio's COVID-19 vaccine INO-4800 generates antibodies and immune responses - Inovio announced the publication of the preclinical study data for IN0-4800, its COVID-19 DNA vaccine, demonstrating "robust" neutralizing antibody and T cell immune responses against coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications by INOVIO scientists and collaborators from The Wistar Institute, the University of Texas, Public Health England, Fudan University, and Advaccine. Kate Broderick, Inovio's Senior VP of R&D and Team Lead for COVID-19 vaccine development, said, "These positive preclinical results from our COVID-19 DNA vaccine not only highlight the potency of our DNA medicines platform, but also build on our previously reported positive Phase 1/2a data from our vaccine against the coronavirus that causes MERS, which demonstrated near-100% seroconversion and neutralization from a similarly designed vaccine INO-4700. The potent neutralizing antibody and T cell immune responses generated in multiple animal models are supportive of our currently on-going INO-4800 clinical trials." The studies demonstrated that vaccination with INO-4800 generated "robust" binding and neutralizing antibody as well as T cell responses in mice and guinea pigs. The authors demonstrated virus neutralizing activity using three separate neutralization assays testing the vaccine's ability to generate antibodies which can block virus infection. Study authors also detected these antibodies in the lungs of the vaccinated animals which could be important in providing protection from SARS-CoV-2. In addition, high levels of Spike-specific T cell responses were observed with INO-4800 vaccination, which could be important in mediating protection from the virus infectio. A Phase 2/3 efficacy trial is planned to start in July/August pending regulatory approval.

07:10 EDT McKesson down 4.2% after reporting Q4 results, giving FY21 guidance

07:10 EDT CoinPayments announces strategic partnership with Shopify - CoinPayments announced a new strategic partnership with Shopify. The collaboration will bring CoinPayments' crypto payments processing platform to all Shopify merchants as both companies look to fuel wider adoption of payments in digital currencies. This announcement follows a successful beta trial that started in 2019. Under the terms of the partnership, CoinPayments will now be a visible payment option for merchants on the Shopify platform and will make cryptocurrency transactions easier and more accessible while reducing transaction fees. Vendors will now get paid faster in any of the 1,800 cryptocurrencies supported by CoinPayments while gaining access to untapped markets globally. This partnership further enables cross-border payments, allowing merchants to eliminate the hassle of working with multiple payment processors across different jurisdictions.

07:08 EDT NortonLifeLock names Gagan Singh as Chief Product Officer - NortonLifeLock announced the appointment of Gagan Singh to chief product officer. In this newly created role, Singh will drive NortonLifeLock's Cyber Safety product strategy and oversee the company's overall customer experience, product management and product design. Singh will report to NortonLifeLock President Samir Kapuria. Singh joins NortonLifeLock from Avast where he held senior level executive roles including chief product officer and general manager of Mobile, IoT and Family Business Units. Prior to Avast, Singh held a variety of roles leading product, strategy and operations at a number of consumer focused companies.

07:06 EDT Aldeyra to advance ADX-1612 to testing for COVID-19, provides update on ADX-629 - Aldeyra Therapeutics announced the planned advancement of the investigational new HSP90 inhibitor ADX-1612 to clinical testing for COVID-19, and provided an update on ADX-629, a novel investigational RASP inhibitor in development for COVID-19 and other inflammatory diseases. ADX-1612, which has been clinically tested in more than 1,600 subjects for the potential treatment of cancer, is an inhibitor of chaperone protein HSP90, a target widely implicated in viral disease. Aldeyra announced that ADX-1612 has demonstrated nanomolar potency similar to or greater than that of remdesivir in an in vitro model. Complementary to the nucleic acid inhibition mechanism of action of remdesivir and related antiviral compounds, ADX-1612 potentially leads to the inhibition of proteins associated with viral replication and infection, and thereby may enhance the activity of other antiviral drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. Via expression profiling of human cell lines infected with SARS-CoV-2, HSP90 was recently identified as a key pharmaceutical target for viral inhibition. Pending FDA feedback, an investigational new drug, or IND, submission for ADX-1612 is expected in Q3. Aldeyra also announced that ADX-629, a novel orally administered investigational RASP inhibitor, has been granted a BARDA CoronaWatch meeting. ADX-629 has completed pre-IND discussions with the Pulmonary Division of the FDA, and Aldeyra expects to submit an IND application in June. Severe COVID-19 is characterized by cytokine release syndrome, which may lead to respiratory compromise, often including the requirement for mechanical ventilation. In a preclinical model of cytokine storm, ADX-629 has demonstrated broad-based reductions across a variety of TH1, TH2, and TH17 inflammatory cytokines, while upregulating the key anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10.

07:04 EDT MediWound expects mid-2020 submission of NexoBrid BLA to FDA - The company said, "Over the past several weeks, MediWound has implemented several measures to safeguard the health and well-being of its employees, their families and healthcare providers, including implementing appropriate expense reduction measures, while continuing to manufacture and supply NexoBrid to patients with severe burn injuries. The Company continues to manufacture NexoBrid and maintains a significant safety stock of all key raw materials and NexoBrid inventory to meet expected demand over the next several quarters. At this time the Company does not expect any disruptions to its manufacturing operations and global supply chain. Following the initiation of the procurement of NexoBrid for emergency response, MediWound began manufacturing NexoBrid and building an emergency stockpile. As a result of shifting priorities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, BARDA requested an adjustment to the delivery plan of NexoBrid emergency stock. The first delivery of NexoBrid is currently expected in the third quarter of 2020. On the clinical front, the Company has resumed new patient screening and randomization in its U.S. EscharEx phase 2 adaptive design study for the treatment of VLUs in regions where COVID-19 clinical trial restrictions are being lifted, and in compliance with applicable governmental orders and clinical sites policies and procedures. Consequently, the pre-defined interim assessment is anticipated in the first half of 2021. In addition, enrollment in the NexoBrid expanded access program continues with enhanced safety measures, such as remote visits and virtual tools. The Company also continues to plan for a mid-2020 submission of the NexoBrid Biologics License Application to the FDA. The Company expects cash use for ongoing operating activities in 2020 to be in the range of $8 million to $10 million. At this time, the Company cannot predict the extent or duration of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on its ongoing financial and operating results. "

07:03 EDT AstraZeneca, Merck announce U.S. approval of LYNPARZA for HHR gene-mutated mCRPC - AstraZeneca (AZN) and Merck (MRK) announced that LYNPARZA has been approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic homologous recombination repair, or HRR, gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC, who have progressed following prior treatment with enzalutamide or abiraterone. Patients will be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for LYNPARZA. The approval by the FDA was based on results from the Phase III PROfound trial, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

07:00 EDT Ryder adds food-grade capabilities to e-commerce fulfillment centers - Ryder has added food-grade capabilities to its e-commerce fulfillment network, including a new facility near Philadelphia, as well as added food grade capabilities to two additional facilities within the network to meet evolving consumer buying trends. Ryder's new e-commerce fulfillment center near Philadelphia is a 340,000-square-foot food-grade facility scheduled to begin the integration of automation technology this summer. The automation will allow Ryder to fulfill more than 70,000 packages a day with future expansion of more than 136,000 packages in a three-shift operation. Ryder has also obtained FDA-certification for two other food-grade e-commerce fulfillment facilities near Los Angeles and Dallas, both of which originally opened in early 201

06:55 EDT Aldeyra trading halted, news pending

06:49 EDT Halliburton board declares 20% voluntary reduction to annual retainer - Halliburton's board of directors has also approved a 20% voluntary reduction to their annual retainer. The board's action follows salary reductions already taken by the members of the executive committee. "Halliburton continues to take measures to strengthen our liquidity and financial resilience under the current circumstances. We implemented a $1 billion action plan to reduce overhead and other costs, lowered capital expenditures roughly 50 percent from 2019 levels and accelerated the implementation of our North American service delivery improvement strategy," said Jeff Miller, Halliburton chairman, president and CEO. "Today's dividend announcement reflects our commitment in the near term to deliver shareholder returns while maintaining a strong liquidity position. The dividend supports our shareholder value proposition by maintaining a reasonable payout as we navigate these uncertain times. More importantly, it places the Company in a strong position, financially and structurally, to take advantage of the market's eventual recovery."

06:37 EDT Target down 1.1% after reporting Q1 results

06:36 EDT Farmland Partners announces court order to unmask defendants in litigation - Farmland Partners announced that the Honorable Kristin Mix, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Colorado, ruled in favor of the company in two orders issued on May 18 in Farmland Partners Inc. v. Rota Fortunae, et al. The company said, "this matter concerns the short-and-distort scheme set forth in Farmland Partners' July 23, 2018 complaint whereby Rota Fortunae and his co-conspirators posted false and misleading statements on SeekingAlpha.com about Farmland Partners (the "Posting") while taking sizeable short positions in Farmland Partners' stock to earn substantial profits from the market's negative reaction to the Posting." In a ruling granting Farmland Partners' motion to compel discovery, the court rejected Rota Fortunae's arguments that he could proceed anonymously and ordered that Rota Fortunae could no longer hide behind his pseudonym and withhold the names of his co-conspirators. The court held that Rota Fortunae may not prevent discovery into the merits of Farmland Partners' claims by refusing to give Farmland Partners documents and other information that would reveal his identity. Magistrate Judge Mix rejected Rota Fortunae's argument that the First Amendment protected his right to anonymity-holding the First Amendment does not protect defamatory speech-and after summarizing Rota Fortunae's efforts to avoid discovery for nearly two years, ordered Rota Fortunae to respond fully to the company's discovery requests-and to identify himself-within 20 days and to sit for a deposition within 45 days. The court's discovery order came on the heels of the court's denial of Rota Fortunae's motions to dismiss earlier the same day. In that order, the court denied Rota Fortunae's motion to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, and permitted all of Farmland Partners' causes of action to go forward against Rota Fortunae and his anonymous co-defendants. While the court held that some of Rota Fortunae's statements were non-actionable opinions, the court denied Rota Fortunae's request to dismiss the defamation claim. As the court recognized: "FPI's allegations further show the strong motive that Rota had to publish defamatory statements, as Rota stood to profit from a public sell-off of FPI's stock due to his short position."

06:33 EDT New Residential announces $600M capital raise - New Residential announced a $600M capital raise through entry into a private senior secured loan agreement structured and led by Canyon Partners, with participation from credit funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group. Canyon and Fortress will also receive warrants to acquire the company's common stock at specific prices over a three year period. The senior secured loan agreement and the issuance of the warrants were unanimously approved by the independent members of the company's board of directors and by the members of the audit committee of the company's board of directors.

06:29 EDT AstraZeneca, Merck's Lynparza gets U.S. FDA approval for prostate cancer - AstraZeneca (AZN) and Merck & Co (MRK) announced that Lynparza has been approved in the US for patients with homologous recombination repair gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration was based on results from the Phase III PROfound trial, which were published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Maha Hussain, one of the principal investigators of the PROfound trial and deputy director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, said: "Prostate cancer has lagged behind other solid tumours in the era of precision medicine. I am thrilled by the approval of Lynparza which now brings a molecularly targeted treatment to men with HRR gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in the US. The PROfound trial was an international effort and I want to thank the patients, their families, the investigators and their teams involved in making it possible." Roy Baynes, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development, Chief Medical Officer, MSD Research Laboratories, said, "Lynparza is the only PARP inhibitor approved with Phase III data for men with HRR gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. This approval highlights the importance of genomic testing to help identify treatment options for men in this patient population. We are proud to work in collaboration with AstraZeneca toward our overall goal of improving outcomes for patients."

06:25 EDT NanoViricides announces observation in animal model for COVID-19 drug candidates - NanoViricides announced that effectiveness against infection by an ACE2-utilizing coronavirus in an animal model has been observed for the drug candidates it is developing against SARS-CoV-2 to treat COVID-19 spectrum of diseases. NanoViricides is developing an animal model for coronavirus infection using hCoV-NL63 as a surrogate for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. HCoV-NL63 is a circulating human coronavirus that causes a disease that is similar to SARS-CoV-2, but much milder. Both viruses utilize the same cell receptor, namely ACE2, to gain entry into the cell. Because it causes a mild disease, hCoV-NL63 can be used in BSL2 environments, and the Company believes it is a useful surrogate for development of therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this lethal direct-lung-infection model, animals in all groups developed lung disease which later led to multi-organ failures, a clinical pathology resembling that of the SARS-CoV-2. Reduction in loss of body weight at day 7 was used as the primary indicator of drug effectiveness. Rats were infected directly into lungs with lethal amounts of hCoV-NL63 virus particles and then different groups were treated separately with five different nanoviricides drug candidates, remdesivir as a positive control, and the vehicle as a negative control. The treatment was intravenous by tail-vein injection once daily for five days, except in the case of remdesivir wherein it was by tail-vein injection twice daily. Animals treated with the five different nanoviricides showed significantly reduced body weight loss. The body weight loss was only 3.9% for the best nanoviricide candidate, ranging to 11.2% for the potentially least effective one, as compared to 20% in the vehicle-treated control group, in female animals. Male animals treated with the same nanoviricides also showed significantly reduced body weight loss. The body weight loss in male animals was 8% for the best nanoviricide candidate and ranged up to 10.9% for the potentially least effective one, as compared to 25% in the vehicle-treated control group. In comparison, remdesivir treatment led to a body weight loss of 15.2% in females and 18.6% in males in this study (see below). Smaller numbers mean less loss in body weight compared to starting body weight in the group, and indicate greater drug effectiveness.The effectiveness of nanoviricide drug candidates in this model is consistent with the effectiveness observed in cell culture studies against infection of both hCoV-NL63, which was used in this study, and hCoV-229E, another circulating coronavirus that uses a distinctly different receptor, namely APN. Thus this study corroborates the previous cell-culture effectiveness reported by the company and provides confidence to the company that these nanoviricides drug candidates may be expected to result in a clinical candidate to be pursued in human clinical trials. The company believes the fact that these nanoviricides anti-coronavirus drug candidates are effective against two distinctly different coronaviruses that use different cellular receptors is significant. Specifically, it provides a basis to scientists indicating that even if the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus mutates, the nanoviricides can be expected to continue to remain effective. The company believes that these nanoviricides drug candidates are potentially superior to favipravir, based on cell culture studies and may be superior to remdesivir based on the results of this study, however, a definite conclusion to that effect cannot be drawn. Oral favipravir and infusion of remdesivir are two anti-viral drugs in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19. Prior to filing for human clinical trials, NanoViricides plans on conducting studies to further determine the effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, perform drug development studies for safety/toxicology, and request a pre-IND meeting with the FDA for regulatory guidance.

06:14 EDT Corning executives, employees to take temporary pay cuts - On May 20, Corning announced temporary compensation actions in response to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the company. Effective June 1, the base salary of the company's CEO will be reduced by 40% and each of the other named executive officers' salary will be reduced by 30%. Each non-employee director's cash compensation will be reduced by 40%. Additionally, the company is taking action to reduce the salaries, from 5%-30%, for all other salaried employees in the United States from June 1 through December 31. The company will take similar actions outside the United States based on local regulations and mutual consent requirements. The company is taking these and other actions to preserve cash in 2020, and will issue equity to each employee, including the named executive officers, in the form of restricted stock units and stock options, in an amount equivalent to the employee's salary reduction on the grant date. Similarly, each non-employee director will receive restricted stock units in an amount equivalent to the director's fee reduction.

06:07 EDT Century Casinos provides business update amid COVID-19 pandemic - The company said, "In late 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19 was identified in China and has since spread throughout much of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on the Company's first quarter 2020 results of operations and financial condition, and we expect this situation will have an adverse impact on our second quarter 2020 results. The trends below are not the only items that could impact the Company's future performance, and the views of management are preliminary based on currently available information. Between March 14, 2020 and March 17, 2020, the Company closed all of its casinos, hotels and other facilities to comply with quarantines issued by governments to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Company anticipates a phased approach to reopening will be recommended by government officials in the jurisdictions where it operates, which could include reduced levels of gaming space, social distancing at slot machines and table games or reduced capacity within the casino, limited restaurant operating hours or continued closure of restaurants, requirements to wear face masks, including the potential to require guests to wear face masks, increased frequency of disinfecting surfaces and other measures to account for varying levels of demand. The Company's casinos rely on a local customer base and, as such, the Company anticipates that its operations could resume at a quicker rate than those of casinos at destination resorts. The timing for reopening the Company's closed locations will depend on determinations by governments in each jurisdiction. The Company reopened its Poland casinos on May 18, 2020. Based on information currently available, the Company is anticipating reopening most of its other locations beginning in June 2020 and no later than August 2020. However, the Company cannot predict how quickly customers will return to its casinos. The Company permanently closed Century Casino Bath in March 2020 and four of the ship-based casinos that the Company operated prior to their closures in March 2020 will not reopen due to expiration of the Company's concession agreements for those casinos. Due to the temporary closures of its casinos, hotels and other facilities, the Company has taken actions to reduce operating costs, including furloughing most of its personnel and implementing reduced work weeks for other personnel. During the closures, the Company will continue to pay benefits to its United States and Canadian employees, inclusive of part time employees, through May 2020. In Poland, all employees were paid reduced salaries based on local employment laws. In March 2020, as a proactive measure to increase its cash position and preserve financial flexibility in light of the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company borrowed an additional $17.4 million on its revolving credit facility with Macquarie Capital ("Macquarie") and its credit agreement with UniCredit Bank Austria AG ("UniCredit"). The Company has no remaining availability under these credit facilities. As of April 30, 2020, the Company had $50.0 million in cash on hand. The Company currently is not generating any revenue from its properties, and estimates that the net cash outflow during the time the operations continue to be fully suspended will be, on average, approximately $8.0 million per month. Management estimates that the Company will need approximately $19.8 million to reopen operations and cover short-term cash needs at the casinos. During the first quarter of 2020, the Company concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated closure of its casinos were triggering events that could indicate possible impairment of its goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. The Company performed a quantitative and qualitative impairment analysis and determined that goodwill and casino licenses related to certain reporting units were impaired. As a result, the Company recorded $33.0 million to impairment - goodwill and intangible assets on its condensed consolidated statement of (loss) earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2020."

05:25 EDT Cellcom Israel announces CFO resignation - Cellcom Israel announced that Shlomi Fruhling, the company's CFO, informed the company of his intention to resign his position, in the near term, at a date yet to be determined.

05:18 EDT Clorox raises quarterly dividend by 5% to $1.11 per share from $1.06 per share - Clorox announced that its board has declared a 5% increase in the quarterly dividend, from $1.06 to $1.11 per share on the company's common stock. The dividend is payable August 14, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 29.