Stockwinners Market Radar for September 04, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

17:45 EDT Textron subsidiary awarded $272.16M Navy contract - Bell Textron was awarded a $272.16M fixed-price-incentive-firm-target contract for the production and delivery of eight UH-1Y and four AH-1Z helicopters for the government of the Czech Republic. Work is expected to be completed in November 2023. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $272.16M will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304. The Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.

17:34 EDT Teradyne, Etsy, Catalent rally on S&P500 index inclusion - Shares of Etsy (ETSY) are up 4.4%, Teradyne (TER) up 2.4%, and Catalent (CTLT) up 2.6% after S&P announced the companies' inclusion in the S&P500 index.

17:21 EDT Etsy, Teradyne, Catalent to join S&P 500 - S&P Dow Jones Indices will make the following index adjustments to the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 to ensure each index more appropriately represents its market capitalization range. The changes will be effective prior to the open of trading on Monday, September 21, 2020 to coincide with the September quarterly rebalance: S&P MidCap 400 constituents Etsy Inc. (ETSY), Teradyne Inc. (TER), and Catalent Inc. (CTLT) will move to the S&P 500, replacing H&R Block Inc. (HRB) Coty Inc. (COTY) and Kohl's Corp. (KSS), all of which will move to the S&P MidCap 400. S&P SmallCap 600 constituents Wingstop Inc. (WING), Medpace Holdings Inc. (MEDP), and Fox Factory Holding Corp. (FOXF) will move to the S&P MidCap 400, replacing PBF Energy Inc. (PBF), Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) and Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (CLI), all of which will move to the S&P SmallCap 600. Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (JAZZ) will replace Transocean Ltd (RIG) in the S&P MidCap 400. Transocean is no longer representative of the mid-cap market space. Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (COOP) and R1 RCM Inc. (RCM) will replace Express Inc. (EXPR) and Pennsylvania Real Estate (PEI) respectively in the S&P SmallCap 600. Express and Pennsylvania Real Estate are no longer representative of the small-cap market space.

17:18 EDT Correction: Berkshire Hathaway reports 3.3% stake in Wells Fargo - Previous note said more than 5%.

17:08 EDT Hexindai regains compliance with Nasdaq's minimum bid price rule - Hexindai announced that it has received a notification letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market, informing the company that it has regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). On September 4, 2020, Nasdaq provided confirmation to the Company that for the last 10 consecutive business days from August 24, 2020 to September 4, 2020, the closing bid price of the Company's ADSs has been at or above US$1.00.

16:49 EDT Berkshire Hathaway reports more than 5% passive stake in Wells Fargo - In a regulatory filing, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) reported a stake of more than 5% in Wells Fargo (WFC), with Warren Buffett directly holding 1.22M shares of common stock in the bank. The filing does not allow for activism, as the firm no longer is reporting a direct stake in the company.

16:29 EDT Biocept announces 1-for-10 reverse stock split - Biocept announced that, as a result of the company's one-for-ten reverse stock split which will become effective at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 4, 2020, the company's common stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on The Nasdaq Capital Market effective with the open of the market on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. Biocept's common shares will continue to trade under the ticker symbol "BIOC."

16:11 EDT Srax to acquire LD Micro, terms not disclosed - Srax announced that it will acquire LD Micro, a data and event company serving the small and micro-cap space. "LD Micro is, without a doubt, one of the most well known and respected brands in micro-cap. Chris Lahiji and his team have done an incredible job of creating a loyal community of investors and issuers," said Christopher Miglino, founder and CEO of SRAX. "LD Micro is also accretive to our investors from day one. We are confident that together we'll accelerate the adoption of Sequire, while also enhancing LD Micro's digital assets." As part of the transaction, Chris Lahiji will join SRAX's board of directors. Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP served as legal advisor to LD Micro. Silvestre Law Group served as counsel for SRAX. The transaction is expected to close next week.

16:02 EDT Zoom Telephonics Chairman Hitchcock may buy more shares - In a regulatory filing, Zoom Telephonics disclosed that Executive Chairman Jeremy Hitchcock and one or more other members of a stockholders group that also includes Elizabeth Cash Hitchcock have been approached by and have commenced discussions with the holders of an aggregate of approximately 3,571,520 shares of common stock of the company, including shares issuable upon exercise of stock options, concerning a possible purchase of all or a portion of such shares. The potential sellers include three members of the company's board of directors. "Although no purchase price has been determined or agreed upon by the parties, it is anticipated that any purchase price would be greater than the current trading price for the company's common stock because the transaction, if completed, would result in the group beneficially owning a majority of the company's outstanding common stock. If the transaction is completed, the group anticipates that Frank Manning, Peter Kramer and Joseph Donovan may resign from the company's board. There can be no assurance that any such transaction will be effected and Mr. Hitchcock and the group reserve the right to discontinue such discussions at any time. On September 4, 2020, Mr. Hitchcock disclosed the possible stock purchase to the company's board and requested that the board consider and advise Mr. Hitchcock whether the company has an interest in acquiring the offered shares. Although the group awaits the board's response to that request, the group reserves the right for one or more members of the group to proceed with such discussions and any transaction resulting therefrom at any time," the filing stated.

14:41 EDT DOD reaffirms original JEDI Cloud award to Microsoft - The Department of Defense announced it has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft's (MSFT) proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government. The JEDI Cloud contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will make a full range of cloud computing services available to the DoD. While contract performance will not begin immediately due to the Preliminary Injunction Order issued by the Court of Federal Claims on February 13, 2020, "DoD is eager to begin delivering this capability to our men and women in uniform," the Department stated in its notice. Previously it has been reported that a U.S. appeals court denied Oracle's (ORCL) appeal in its dispute over the Pentagon's $10B cloud-computing contract. Amazon (AMZN) also filed protests against Microsoft's JEDI deal, including one made directly with DoD. Reference Link

14:37 EDT Innovative Solutions announces special cash dividend of 65c per share - Innovative Solutions & Support announced that its board of directors has declared a special cash dividend in the amount of 65c per share. The dividend will be payable on or about October 1 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 15.

13:44 EDT Gap announces opening of first freestanding store in Spain - Gap Inc. in a post to its corporate site that on September 3, the franchise team opened Gap's first freestanding store in Spain in partnership with a local franchisee. "Although Gap Brand already has a presence in Spain (we have about 75 shop-in-shop locations with multi-channel partners such as El Corte Ingles), the opening of this store is an important milestone for positioning and growing the brand in the country. The new flagship store is located in Portal de l'Angel, which is in the heart of Barcelona's Gothic Quarters and a major shopping district for locals and tourists in the city," the company stated. Reference Link

13:05 EDT Microsoft to end support for Adobe Flash Player on Edge, IE 11 at end of 2020 - Microsoft (MSFT) said in a blog post that it is ending support for Adobe Flash Player (ADBE) on Microsoft Edge, both the new Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Edge Legacy, and Internet Explorer 11 at the end of 2020. In the new Microsoft Edge, Adobe Flash Player will be removed by January 2021. After December 2020, users will no longer receive "Security Update for Adobe Flash Player" from Microsoft that applies to Microsoft Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer 11. Beginning in January 2021, Adobe Flash Player will be disabled by default and all versions older than KB4561600 released in June 2020 will be blocked. Downloadable resources related to Adobe Flash Player that are hosted on Microsoft websites will no longer be available. Reference Link

12:57 EDT Morgan Stanley announces revision to Stress Capital Buffer - On September 4, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released corrected CCAR 2020 results showing that Morgan Stanley will be subject to a Stress Capital Buffer, or SCB, of 5.7%, which is 0.2% lower than the previously announced SCB of 5.9%, the firm announced. This SCB will be in effect from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. "Together with other features of the regulatory capital framework, this correction results in an aggregate U.S. Basel III Standardized Approach Common Equity Tier 1, or CET1, ratio of 13.2% instead of 13.4%, as previously announced. The firm's U.S. Basel III Standardized Approach CET1 ratio was 16.5% as of June 30, 2020," Morgan Stanley stated.

12:00 EDT Garrett Motion falls -15.3% - Garrett Motion is down -15.3%, or -56c to $3.11.

12:00 EDT Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3x Shares rises 7.7% - Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3x Shares is up 7.7%, or 81c to $11.35.

12:00 EDT FBL Financial rises 31.3% - FBL Financial is up 31.3%, or $11.67 to $48.92.

10:39 EDT Fastenal reports August sales down 2.2% to $465.22M - Fastenal earlier reported August net sales of $465.22M, down 2.2% compared to the same month of 2019. The company reported August daily sales of $22.15M, up 2.5% year-over-year. Reference Link

10:04 EDT Take-Two announces worldwide availability of NBA 2K21 - 2K announced that NBA 2K21 is now available on current-generation platforms worldwide. With its release, NBA 2K21 offers one-of-a-kind immersion into all facets of NBA basketball and basketball culture, including exciting improvements upon its best-in-class gameplay, competitive and community online features and deep, varied game modes. Featuring Portland Trail Blazers' superstar Damian Lillard on the cover, the current-gen version of NBA 2K21 is available for $59.99 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC and Google Stadia. The NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition for current-gen features basketball legend Kobe Bryant on a unique custom cover with his No. 8 jersey and will be available for $99.99

10:00 EDT Chatham Lodging rises 7.2% - Chatham Lodging is up 7.2%, or 53c to $7.86.

10:00 EDT FBL Financial rises 28.9% - FBL Financial is up 28.9%, or $10.75 to $48.00.

09:47 EDT Tortoise Acquisition falls -6.7% - Tortoise Acquisition is down -6.7%, or -$3.41 to $47.34.

09:47 EDT Cooper Companies rises 7.6% - Cooper Companies is up 7.6%, or $23.19 to $330.00.

09:47 EDT FBL Financial rises 26.9% - FBL Financial is up 26.9%, or $10.01 to $47.26.

09:30 EDT CureVac expects to receive up to EUR 252M from BMBF for vaccine development - CureVac has received notification from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, or BMBF, that CureVac is expected receive up to EUR 252M to support the development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The company said in a release, "In July 2020, CureVac had applied to a grant as part of a special program to accelerate the research and development of urgently needed vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. On July 29, the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Anja Karliczek, announced that CureVac and other companies were eligible for funding according to the recommendation of a panel of experts. In addition to the further development of CureVac's vaccine-candidate against COVID-19, the grant is expected to be used for the rapid expansion of the vaccine production. Payments are contingent on reaching predefined milestones. CureVac expects funding of up to 103 million euros in 2020 and up to 149 million euros in 2021."

09:19 EDT Amazon plans to add 10,000 more jobs in Seattle city Bellevue - Amazon.com said in a blog post, "Last February, we announced our plans to create 15,000 jobs in Bellevue-a growing, business-friendly community with great amenities, a high quality of life, and a fantastic talent pool. We have made good progress in hiring a talented staff in this location. Today, we are excited to announce that we plan to add 10,000 more jobs in Bellevue in the next few years. To accommodate these new roles in the city, we've secured an additional two million square feet of office space in downtown Bellevue by leasing new, iconic, and sustainable properties from Vulcan: 555 Tower and West Main." Reference Link

09:17 EDT Ampio completes enrollment for IV COVID-19 clinical trials - Ampio Pharmaceuticals announces the following: "Enrollment has been completed for the Ampion Phase I US based clinical trial for IV treatment of COVID-19 patients requiring supplemental oxygen. The final results from the 5-day treatment will be reported when the Safety Monitoring Committee and the Principal Investigator complete their evaluations which we expect should occur within the next week."

09:14 EDT Reading affiliate welcomes back guest at Angelika Film Center & Cafe - The Angelika Film Center & Cafe at Carmel Mountain Plaza, owned and operated by an affiliate of Reading International, welcomed back their loyal guests with extensive sanitization and safety measures in place. In an environment carefully designed to address COVID-19 concerns, and to comply with the various governmental guidelines applicable to the control of this novel virus, guests can return to share the magic of movies again on the big screen.

09:09 EDT FBL Financial receives non-binding acquisition proposal from FBPCIC - FBL Financial announced that it has received a non-binding proposal dated September 4 from Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance, or FBPCIC, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock of the company that are not currently owned by FBPCIC or the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation at a purchase price of $47.00 per share in cash. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation owns approximately 60% of the company's Class A common stock and approximately 67% of the company's Class B common stock.

09:03 EDT RCI Hospitality reports Aug. revenue up 23% to $9.4M vs. $7.6M in July - RCI Hospitality announced that business continued to improve in August. The company said in a release, "August revenues for clubs and restaurants totaled $9.4 million, up 23% compared to $7.6 million in July. Revenues are running at an average of $2.2 million per week, up 22% from $1.8 million at the end of July. 34 locations open today, up from 31 on August 10th as government Covid-19 restrictions have relaxed in some markets. Most locations continue to reopen to strong sales and a steadier flow of business versus prior to the pandemic. All 10 Bombshells are open as of September 1st - two were closed parts of July and August. Two mid-sized clubs - Phoenix and Pittsburgh - reopened last week. Two larger clubs preparing to reopen."

08:39 EDT Color Star Technology announces product launching conference in Beijing - Color Star Technology officially held a new product launching conference in Beijing on September 2, announcing the "Color World" global online cultural entertainment platform independently developed by its subsidiary Color China - The sharing platform will be launched globally on September 10, Beijing time, and the "Fearless, Color World" Cloud Concert will be held at the same time. Artist Yuan Xiaolou made an appearance at the event. As a star tutor of "Color World", he was also very happy to share the beauty of art with the help of a powerful platform, and to impart his painting skills to students around the world. "Color World" is independently developed and built by the world's top software development team, which has built a very complete and powerful platform for online entertainment knowledge sharing and exchange. From the early stage of research and development, a wealth of celebrity resource library has been established, covering multiple fields in the entertainment industry. At present, Color China has reached long-term strategic cooperation in Thailand, South Korea, Romania, and other countries and regions based on the strong appeal of the Company, and it has embedded the "Color World" cultural and entertainment sharing platform.

08:36 EDT FOREWARN partners with South Bend Area REALTORS - FOREWARN announced that the South Bend Area REALTORS has contracted to make FOREWARN services available for the 500+ REALTOR members it serves in South Bend and throughout the surrounding St. Joseph County area in an effort to promote proactive real estate agent safety. The FOREWARN services purchased by SBAR will be available to SBAR's entire 500+ real estate agent membership at no additional cost to individual agents. On September 1, 2020, existing SBAR members received specific instructions on how to move forward with activating their FOREWARN subscription.

08:33 EDT Kite submits sBLA to FDA for Yescarta - Kite, a Gilead company, announced that it has submitted a supplemental biologics license application, or sBLA, to the FDA for Yescarta for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma after two or more prior lines of systemic therapy. Yescarta was previously granted breakthrough therapy designation, or BTD, by the FDA for these indications. If approved, Yescarta would become the first chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, T cell therapy approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL. The sBLA submission is supported by data from the primary analysis of the Phase 2 ZUMA-5 trial, which is being submitted for presentation at an upcoming scientific congress. Findings from an interim analysis of ZUMA-5 were recently presented during an oral session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

08:30 EDT Aemetis closes $35.5M Phase I EB-5 Program - Aemetis announced the closing of its $35.5M Phase I EB-5 Program, which was funded by 71 foreign investors. The EB-5 Program is a U.S. Government program authorized by the Immigration and Naturalization Act designed to provide employment-based visa preferences for immigrant investors who deploy capital into U.S.-based projects that provide jobs for American workers. Aemetis closed its Phase I EB-5 Program with the issuance of 71 subordinated convertible promissory notes, raising $35.5M of low interest investment funds used to create both direct and indirect jobs at its high grade alcohol and fuel ethanol plant in Keyes, California. On November 21, 2019, the EB-5 Program minimum investment increased from $500,000 to $900,000 per investor. Aemetis has launched the Phase II EB-5 offering with plans to issue $50M in additional EB-5 notes, and received an approved Project Exemplar from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, demonstrating that about 2,000 jobs are expected to be created by Aemetis, allowing 200 investors the opportunity to participate the offering. Eight investors in the Phase II EB-5 offering have received National Interest Expedite approval, which is granted to EB-5 projects that have strategic importance to the United States. The NIE approval allows investors to benefit from an approximately three-month application review process instead of the regular multi-year review process. The Phase I EB-5 offering provided Aemetis with a 3% interest rate, subordinated funding instrument that matures four years from the date of funding, while providing automatic extensions for one year periods beyond the original note term while investor immigration approvals are pending. $35M of the Phase I EB-5 offering proceeds were received during prior quarters and used to repay Third Eye Capital senior debt bridge funding.

08:03 EDT Lexicon begins patient dosing in Relief-DPN-1 Phase 2 study - Lexicon Pharmaceuticals announced the commencement of patient dosing with blinded study drug in RELIEF-DPN-1, a Phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center clinical study of LX9211 for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. LX9211 is a potent oral small molecule inhibitor of adaptor associated kinase 1, AAK1. "We are pleased to progress with patient dosing in our first proof-of-concept study of LX9211, in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain," said Praveen Tyle, Ph.D., executive vice president of research and development. "Based on preclinical data, we believe that LX9211 has the potential to significantly reduce pain response without addictive properties while offering a novel therapeutic approach to neuropathic pain through inhibition of AAK1. We are preparing for an additional Phase 2 study in post-herpetic neuralgia that is expected to commence later this year and are evaluating opportunities in other areas of neuropathic pain, based on promising results in multiple preclinical models and a favorable Phase 1 clinical safety profile."

08:03 EDT Global Blood Therapeutics announces new employment inducement grants - Global Blood Therapeutics announced that on September 1, 2020, the compensation committee of GBT's board of directors granted seven new employees options to purchase an aggregate of 11,678 shares of the company's common stock with a per share exercise price of $60.45 and restricted stock units for an aggregate of 46,585 shares of the company's common stock. These awards were made under GBT's Amended and Restated 2017 Inducement Equity Plan. The above-described awards were each granted as an inducement material to the employees entering into employment with the company in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), and were granted pursuant to the terms of the Plan. The Plan was adopted by GBT's board of directors in January 2017 and has been amended and restated from time to time.

08:01 EDT Comscore signs multi-year agreement with Nextdoor - Comscore said in a release ,"Comscore announced an agreement to provide Nextdoor, the neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services, with Comscore's industry-leading digital audience measurement. The multi-year agreement includes access to Comscore's Media Metrix Multi-Platform, and Plan Metrix Multi-Platform, which combines consumers' desktop and mobile behavior with advanced audience information to drive relevant advertising opportunities."

07:33 EDT Crinetics provides data from Paltusotine, ACTH antagonist development programs - Crinetics Pharmaceuticals announced that a presentation on the company's orally administered, small molecule adrenocorticotropic hormone antagonist was selected for a late-breaking session at the virtual European Congress of Endocrinology on September 8, 2020. In addition, a poster summarizing results from Phase 1 bioavailability studies of paltusotine, the company's lead candidate for the treatment of acromegaly, will be available to congress attendees from September 5-9, 2020. Crinetics is developing an ACTH antagonist for the treatment of diseases associated with excess ACTH such as Cushing's disease and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In the presentation at eECE, Crinetics will present data that one of a lead series of experimental ACTH antagonists reduced corticosterone levels and had a positive effect on adrenal gland size, morphology and function after seven days of repeat dosing in a rat model of ACTH excess. Based on these favorable preclinical in vivo results, Crinetics plans to advance its lead ACTH antagonist into Phase 1 single-ascending dose and multiple-ascending dose studies in healthy volunteers in late 2020 or early 2021. Separately, in a poster presentation at eECE, Crinetics will report results from a Phase 1 study showing that paltusotine provided a favorable mean oral bioavailability of 70%. In addition, no abundant circulating metabolites of paltusotine were identified. Adverse events associated with paltusotine were generally mild and transient and were consistent with those reported with other somatostatin agonists. The results of this study suggest that paltusotine exhibits excellent properties appropriate for chronic once-daily oral treatment of patients with acromegaly. In April 2020, Crinetics reported interim results from an exploratory analysis of the first 13 patients who entered the ACROBAT Edge Phase 2 trial on octreotide or lanreotide depot monotherapy, which showed that, as of the cutoff date, switching to once daily oral paltusotine maintained IGF-1 levels at those achieved with prior depot therapy. Paltusotine was well tolerated and the adverse events observed were similar to those of other somatostatin agonists. No discontinuations due to drug-related adverse events occurred, and the most common treatment-emergent adverse events were headache, arthralgia, peripheral swelling, back pain and hyperhidrosis.

07:31 EDT AnPac Bio announces results from lung cancer prognosis, recurrence study - AnPac Bio-Medical Sciences announced results from a completed a multi-year lung cancer prognosis and recurrence study in collaboration with a major hospital in China. The clinical study began in 2014, with the enrollment and completed all follow-up and testing in 2020. Approximately 1,000 confirmed lung cancer patients were tested in the clinical study using AnPac Bio's cancer differentiation analysis technology for prognosis and recurrence utility evaluations throughout initial diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments, and remission. Initial results from the study indicate that CDA technology could act as a viable tool for measuring and evaluating lung cancer treatment and efficacy and recurrence following remission. Furthermore, AnPac Bio believes that compared with many competing methods, CDA technology, which is based on bio-physical signals in the blood, is more cost effective. A summary of the results from this multi-year clinical study are as follows: CDA value is a good indicator of a patient's response to treatment. CDA values are statistically different between complete response patient group and stable disease patient group, and between CR patient group and progressive disease patient group, indicating that CDA could be used for cancer prognosis. Patient groups with higher CDA values have statistically lower five-year survival probability than patient groups with lower CDA values which shows that CDA values could be a good indicator predicting the outcome of a treatment. In a number of cases, CDA values increased ahead of the onset of the cancer's recurrence, indicating that CDA technology could potentially be used as a recurrence monitor.

07:16 EDT NanoViricides reports on presentation regarding progress of SARS-CoV-2 drug - NanoViricides reported on the presentation by Anil Diwan, its president and executive chairman, at the LD 500 investor conference. Diwan presented the company's progress in developing a drug to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 spectrum of diseases. The company said, "He summarized the Company's progress since embarking into this endeavor with very limited resources since about January, 2020, and boot-strapping on its past work against coronaviruses. Dr. Diwan stated that the Company is close to declaring a clinical candidate for treating patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The Company has previously reported that its development candidates have shown to be effective against multiple coronaviruses in the Company's own BSL2 Virology Lab, and have also shown to be highly effective in an animal study to combat infection by a related coronavirus that uses the same ACE2 receptor as does SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Diwan stated that this broad-spectrum effectiveness against coronaviruses provides scientific reasoning that even as a field coronavirus strain mutates, our drug candidates would continue to remain effective, unlike antibodies and vaccines. In addition, our current development candidates against COVID-19 have also been shown to be extremely safe in animal studies. Their effectiveness in cell culture and animal models has led us to believe that they are worthy of human clinical development. Subsequently, the Company has completed CMC ("Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls") studies that would be required for an IND ("Investigational New Drug) application to the U.S. FDA. The Company is also in the process of drafting sections of an IND for COVID-19 drug candidate. The Company is currently conducting studies to finalize its clinical candidate.Dr. Diwan further stated the Company's intent of developing an integrated approach to combat SARS-CoV-2 that could potentially result in a cure for the virus. The virus lifecycle is a convolution of two parts: (a) re-infection of a host cell by external virus (after primary infection from outside the host body), and (b) replication (i.e. production of new virus particles) in infected cells and egress of the newly produced virus particles to feed back into the (a) re-infection cycle, completing the loop. Dr. Diwan explained that if both parts of the virus lifecycle are blocked, then a virus infection would be cured, except in the case of latent viruses. A nanoviricide(R) is uniquely capable of accomplishing this task of integrated attack against both the re-infection and replication mechanisms, as the Company has previously stated. The nanoviricide is already designed to block the re-infection cycle part. In addition, it can carry in its "belly", a payload that can block the replication cycle part.NanoViricides has accelerated its anti-coronavirus program to develop a "second generation" nanoviricide against coronaviruses that is designed to block both re-infection and replication cycles, in addition to the current development of the "first generation" anti-coronavirus drug intended to block the re-infection cycle part. The Company accelerated these efforts due to both the severity of the pandemic, and the difficulty of curing the SARS-CoV-2 infection as exemplified by several recent unsuccessful or partially successful clinical studies. In particular, the Company has successfully encapsulated remdesivir inside its current development drug candidates. The resulting drug, which is expected to be superior to remdesivir alone, as well as many other drugs, is already in pre-clinical testing, Dr. Diwan disclosed... Soon after it files an IND for a COVID-19 drug candidate, the Company intends to re-engage its NV-HHV-101 shingles drug candidate clinical trials program towards IND filing. The Company has put the shingles program on hold due to perceived difficulties in conducting proposed shingles clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company is near finalizing the selection of clinical trial sites and finalizing clinical trial protocols for the shingles IND filing. The NV-HHV-101 drug candidate is expected to open up a billion dollar market for the shingles treatment space, and also lead to further development of drugs against other herpesviruses such as HSV-1 that causes "cold sores" and HSV-2 that causes genital herpes. The multiple indications enabled by the HerpeCide(TM) program drug candidates may potentially address a several billion dollar marketspace."

07:03 EDT AbbVie, I-MAB enter into global strategic partnership - AbbVie (ABBV) and I-Mab (IMAB) announced that AbbVie and I-Mab have signed a broad, global collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of lemzoparlimab (also known as TJC4), an innovative anti-CD47 monoclonal antibody internally discovered and developed by I-Mab for the treatment of multiple cancers. The companies said in a release, "In addition, the two partners have the potential to expand the collaboration to additional transformative therapies. The collaboration established today provides AbbVie with an exclusive global license, excluding greater China, to develop and commercialize lemzoparlimab. Both companies will collaborate to design and conduct further global clinical trials to evaluate lemzoparlimab in multiple cancers. I-Mab retains all rights to develop and to commercialize lemzoparlimab in mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong. The collaboration also allows for potential collaboration on future CD47-related therapeutic agents. Each party will have the opportunity subject to further licenses to explore each other's related programs in their respective territories. The companies will share manufacturing responsibilities with AbbVie being the primary manufacturer for global supply. The collaboration will accelerate I-Mab's establishment of commercial production operations in China.Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will pay I-Mab $180 million in an upfront payment to exclusively license lemzoparlimab, along with $20 million in a milestone payment based on the Phase 1 results, for a total of $200 million. In addition, I-Mab will be eligible to receive up to $1.74 billion in success-based milestone payments for lemzoparlimab, of which $840 million are based on clinical development and regulatory approval milestones, with the remainder based on commercial milestones. Upon commercialization of lemzoparlimab, AbbVie will also pay tiered royalties from low-to-mid teen percentages on global net sales outside of greater China."

07:01 EDT NeuroMetrix reports scientific presentation at PAINWeek 2020 conference - NeuroMetrix reported that it will present a scientific poster at the PAINWeek 2020 Live Virtual Conference to be held September 11 - 13. PAINWeek is the preferred resource in the U.S. for frontline practitioners treating acute and chronic pain. The poster is titled "Real-World Outcomes from High-Dose Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in Individuals With Chronic Knee Pain". The poster presents an analysis of 1,136 Quell users with chronic knee pain who used their device regularly over the first 70 days following initiation of therapy. A key strength of this longitudinal observational study was the use of an intention-to-treat analysis to decrease bias. The study demonstrated a clinically meaningful group mean improvement in pain severity and functional impairment as assessed by the Brief Pain Inventory - Short Form.

06:25 EDT 111, Inc., Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Sales sign cooperation agreement - 111, Inc. and Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Sales, an affiliate of Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals, signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai. Under the agreement, 111 will be the first Internet-based omni-channel business partner of Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Sales. Both parties will deepen their cooperation in digital medicine innovation to drive the penetration of its portfolio of medical health products into wider online and offline markets through integration of 111's smart supply chain. The partnership also extends to cover the likes of big data, digital marketing, brand co-building and offering of direct services to patients, making concerted efforts to create a quality value chain.

06:11 EDT Patterson-UTI reports an average of 59 drilling rigs operating in August - Patterson-UTI reported that for the month of August, the company had an average of 59 drilling rigs operating. For the two months ended August 31, the company had an average of 59 drilling rigs operating.

06:04 EDT Baker Hughes reports August U.S. rig count down 5 to 250 rigs - Baker Hughes reported in a release, "The average U.S. rig count for August 2020 was 250, down 5 from the 255 counted in July 2020, and down 679 from the 926 counted in August 2019. The average Canadian rig count for August 2020 was 53, up 21 from the 32 counted in July 2020, and down 89 from the 142 counted in August 2019. The international rig count for August 2020 was 747 up 4 from the 743 counted in July 2020, and down 391 from the 1,138 counted in August 2019. The international offshore rig count for August 2020 was 184, up 1 from the 183 counted in July 2020, and down 60 from the 244 counted in August 2019. The worldwide rig count for August 2020 was 1,050, up 20 from the 1,030 counted in July 2020, and down 1,156 from the 2,206 counted in August 2019."

06:03 EDT Baker Hughes reports August U.S. rig count down 5 to 250 rigs

05:42 EDT Roche COVID, flu test receives Emergency Use Authorization from FDA - Roche announced that the cobas SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Test for use on the cobas 6800/8800 Systems has received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This test is intended for the simultaneous qualitative detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and influenza B in patients suspected by their healthcare provider of having respiratory viral infection consistent with COVID-19. Additionally, it is available in markets accepting the CE mark. "With the approaching flu season, this new test is particularly important as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza infections can hardly be differentiated by symptoms alone. Now, with a single test, healthcare professionals can confidently provide the right diagnosis and most effective treatment plan for their patients," said Thomas Schinecker, CEO of Roche Diagnostics.

05:24 EDT Just Eat Takeaway.com receives regulatory approvals required for Grubhub deal - Grubhub said in a release, "Just Eat Takeaway.com and Grubhub announce receipt of all regulatory approvals required in respect of Just Eat Takeaway.com's proposed acquisition of Grubhub. On June 10, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Grubhub announced that the parties had entered into a definitive agreement whereby Just Eat Takeaway.com is to acquire 100% of the shares of Grubhub in an all-share combination. Additionally, on September 4, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Grubhub announced the entry into an amendment to the Merger Agreement to extend the long stop date under the Merger Agreement from June 10, 2021 to December 31, 2021. The amendment provides additional certainty for the parties regarding the timing of the necessary steps to completion, including the registration of Just Eat Takeaway.com ordinary and American depositary shares in the U.S. under the Securities Act of 1933. The Transaction remains subject to the approval of both Just Eat Takeaway.com's and Grubhub's shareholders, as well as other customary closing conditions.Just Eat Takeaway.com and Grubhub note the Transaction is proceeding as expected and continue to expect the Transaction to be completed in the first half of 2021."

05:16 EDT Volaris reports August traffic down 64.9% year-over-year - Volaris reports August preliminary traffic results in a release, "Volaris leads the recovery in air travel in Mexico with a solid month-on-month capacity improvement, driven by resilient VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) traffic and a large bus switching target market. In August 2020, capacity measured by ASMs (Available Seat Miles) was 78.6% compared to the same month of last year, an increase of 21.8% versus July 2020. Demand measured by RPMs (Revenue Passenger Miles) was 68.4% of last year's. This represents an increase of 20.8% versus the previous month. Volaris transported a total of 1.2 million passengers during the month of August 2020, which represents 64.9% of August 2019 and an increase of 21.6% versus July 2020. Booked load factor for August 2020 was 72.6%, a decrease of 10.9 pp year over year, explained by a significant ramp-up in capacity in the US. Flown load factor in August was closer to booked load factor, with no shows returning to more normal levels."