Stockwinners Market Radar for October 15, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service |
SRNE REGN | Hot Stocks18:46 EDT Sorrento Therapeutics CEO: Extremely happy with Regeneron data - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Henry Ji said the company has one of the most potent antibodies in the space. Regarding the company's recent CFO change, Ji said they wanted someone from one of the "big four" accounting firms.
|
BX | Hot Stocks18:46 EDT Blackstone says BioMed Realty to be sold for $14.6B to investor group - Blackstone announced that Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P. and co-investors have agreed to sell BioMed Realty for $14.6B to a group led by existing BioMed investors. This is part of a new long-term, perpetual capital, core+ return strategy managed by Blackstone. BioMed is the largest private owner of life science office buildings in the United States with an 11.3 million square foot portfolio concentrated in the leading innovation markets including Boston/Cambridge, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Cambridge U.K. In connection with the recapitalization, existing BioMed investors were offered the option to exit for cash or reinvest their proceeds from the sale. The investment will generate $6.5 billion of cumulative profits for BREP VIII and BioMed co-investors. BREP VIII, an opportunistic Real Estate investment fund, and co-investors acquired BioMed in January 2016. The recapitalization is expected to close within five business days of the conclusion of the "go-shop" process.
|
CE | Hot Stocks18:00 EDT Celanese announces price increases on engineered materials product lines, grades - Celanese Corporation announced it will increase prices by up to 10% on its engineered materials product portfolio globally. The price increase will be effective November 1, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is due to a significant demand increase for the company's specialty polymer products.
|
CEMI | Hot Stocks17:58 EDT Chembio Diagnostics submits EUA Application for SARS-CoV-2 antigen test system - Chembio Diagnostics submitted an application for Emergency Use Authorization to the FDA for the DPP SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test system, which has been designed to detect SARS-CoV-2 antigens in only 20 minutes. The DPP SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test system consists of a DPP SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test cartridge, a DPP Micro Reader optical analyzer and a minimally-invasive nasal swab.
|
VRSN | Hot Stocks17:56 EDT VeriSign CEO, CFO sell 6K shares of common stock each - VeriSign disclosed that its CEO James Bidzos and CFO George Kilguss sold 6K shares of common stock each on October 15th in a total transaction size of $2.56M.
|
FB | Hot Stocks17:42 EDT Oculus reports 'small number' of Quest 2 users having account troubles - Facebook's Oculus said via Twitter last night that it is aware of a "small number" of customers having trouble using its Quest 2 virtual reality headset with their Facebook accounts. "If you're one of the few who's having trouble getting set up, we're ready and available to help," the company said. Reference Link
|
MDNA | Hot Stocks17:34 EDT Medicenna Therapeutics advised by FDA to proceed with MDNA55 registration trial - Medicenna Therapeutics provided an update on the clinical development of MDNA55, an interleukin-4, or IL-4-guided, toxin targeting recurrent glioblastoma, or rGBM, the most common and uniformly fatal form of brain cancer. Following a recent End of Phase 2 meeting with the FDA regarding the regulatory and commercial pathway for MDNA55, the company has been advised to proceed with an open-label hybrid control design for a Phase 3 registration trial of MDNA55 in rGBM patients with no mutation in 1DH1/1DH2 genes. The FDA has also expressed a willingness to possibly consider an interim analysis of the trial if certain criteria are met. The proposed Phase 3 clinical trial design includes a concurrent 3:1 randomized cohort and an additional matched external control arm. The primary endpoint of overall survival, or OS, will be determined by a 1:1 analysis of the MDNA55 arm versus the pooled control arm, which will consist of external controls and subjects randomized to SOC. This hybrid trial design will reduce the overall number of subjects needed to enroll in the study to achieve the primary endpoint, and notably reduce the number of subjects that would be randomized to SOC treatment under a conventional 1:1 randomization. "We thank the FDA for their constructive and pioneering recommendations on our proposed trial design and are excited to proceed with this hybrid study approach," said Fahar Merchant, president and CEO of Medicenna. "We believe that this approach may provide us with the opportunity to deliver high integrity, robust overall survival data for MDNA55 in rGBM while minimizing the number of patients randomized to standard of care in this difficult to treat population. Conventional randomized control trials have been routinely required for registrational studies for new oncology therapeutics, and to our knowledge this groundbreaking design may be the first in oncology to include a substantial external control arm in a trial designed to support regulatory approval. This is expected to reduce overall enrollment requirements, expedite the time to study completion and invigorate our efforts to execute on a partnership strategy for future development. We look forward to providing additional updates on our clinical timelines and partnership discussions as our plans progress."
|
RIO | Hot Stocks17:32 EDT Rio Tinto reports Q3 Pilbara iron ore production 86.4M MT, down 1% y/y - Reports Q3 Pilbara iron ore shipments 82.1M MT, down 5%. Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said: "We have delivered a good operational performance across most of our assets catching up on planned maintenance activity, particularly in iron ore, and continuing to adapt to new operating conditions as we learn to live with COVID-19. We have maintained our capex guidance and our 2020 production guidance across our key products. We are focused on regaining the trust of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people with a focus on remedy. On Tuesday 13 October we wrote a letter to Traditional Owners in the Pilbara detailing that we will review all heritage disturbance in consultation with them; and shared our intention to modernise our agreements which includes modifying clauses to ensure respect, transparency and mutual benefit."
|
GVA | Hot Stocks17:32 EDT Granite Construction selected for $257M project in Central California - Granite has been selected by California Department of Transportation as the Construction Manager/General Contractor for the $257M State Route 99 Rehabilitation from El Dorado Street to Clinton Ave project in Fresno, California. The first phase of this contract is the construction management portion which is valued at $3M. The entire project is valued at $257M. The State Route 99 Rehabilitation from El Dorado Street to Clinton Ave project will reconstruct 3.2 miles of roadway with concrete pavement and alleviate road traffic backups through downtown Fresno. The Construction Management portion of the contract is expected to begin by the end of 2020, with the General Contractor phase of the project slated to begin in mid-2024. The contract will be booked into Granite's Q4 backlog.
|
REXR | Hot Stocks17:16 EDT Rexford Industrial acquires properties for $27.6M, sells properties for $44.2M - The company states: "Rexford Industrial Realty announced the acquisition of two industrial properties for $27.6 million and the disposition of three properties for $44.2 million. The acquisitions were funded using cash on hand."
|
RTX | Hot Stocks17:13 EDT Raytheon Technologies awarded $239.11M Air Force contract modification - Raytheon Technologies has been awarded a $239.11M definitization modification to a contract for StormBreaker production Lot 6. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed November 28, 2023. The current action relates to classified Foreign Military Sales, or FMS, and 6.3% of contract value supports FMS. FY20 production funding in the amount of $265.28M is being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $271.89M. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is the contracting activity.
|
SNEX | Hot Stocks17:02 EDT StoneX Group Chairman Radziwill sells over $356K in company shares - StoneX Group Chairman John Radziwill sold 6,520 shares of company stock between October 13 and 14 for $54.63 per share . The total transaction value of the sale was $356,190.
|
AWK | Hot Stocks16:58 EDT NJ American Water to comply with Murphy's executive order - New Jersey American Water President Cheryl Norton issued the following statement on Governor Murphy's executive order extending the moratorium on utility service shutoffs for nonpayment through March 15, 2021: "New Jersey American Water has been working with the Governor's office and the Board of Public Utilities on ways to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on residents and we will comply with today's executive order that continues to suspend utility shutoffs for nonpayment. We encourage our customers to contact us for payment options that will help them to not get too far behind on their bills."
|
HUN | Hot Stocks16:58 EDT Huntsman says outage at Louisiana MDI facility to impact Q4 EBITDA by $15M - Huntsman announced that due to a mechanical failure at a third-party raw material supplier, its Geismar, Louisiana MDI facility is experiencing a partial outage which is estimated to last approximately 5 weeks. It is currently estimated that this will impact the Company's fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA by approximately $15M. The Company will provide an update on its third quarter earnings conference call on October 29, 2020.
|
HPE | Hot Stocks16:57 EDT HP Enterprise 'on track' for annualized run-rate savings of $800M by FY22-end - HPE committed to taking a deliberate set of actions to strengthen its financial foundation and allocate resources to areas of growth when it announced a cost optimization and prioritization plan in May. The company remains on track with its guidance to generate a net annualized run-rate savings of $800M by the end of FY22, with most of the savings achieved by the end of FY21.
|
GOOG GOOGL | Hot Stocks16:53 EDT Google announces AI tools for Search during Search On livestream - "Today during our Search On livestream, we shared how we're bringing the most advanced AI into our products to further our mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," wrote Google's Prabhakar Raghavan, in a blog posting. "Last year we introduced how BERT language understanding systems are helping to deliver more relevant results in Google Search. Today we're excited to share that BERT is now used in almost every query in English, helping you get higher quality results for your questions. We're also sharing several new advancements to search ranking, made possible through our latest research in AI," including spelling ,the ability "to not just index web pages, but individual passages from the pages," and subtopics by applying "neural nets to understand subtopics around an interest, which helps deliver a greater diversity of content when you search for something broad," noted the company. Reference Link
|
HPE | Hot Stocks16:49 EDT HP Enterprise sees FY21 non-GAAP tax rate of 14%
|
HPE | Hot Stocks16:48 EDT HP Enterprise sees FY21 free cash flow $900M-$1.1B - Up 65% year-over-year at the mid-point.
|
BNGO | Hot Stocks16:35 EDT Bionano Genomics says Saphyr System able to analyze 'segmental duplications' - Bionano Genomics announced that a study led by scientists and clinicians from the Institute for Human Genetics at the UCSF School of Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and published in bioRxiv used Bionano's proprietary genome imaging technology to identify novel disease causing variants in patients with three different genetic diseases and in a diverse control dataset of 154 individuals. The study found that Bionano's Saphyr System was able to comprehensively analyze complex genome structures called segmental duplications and helped identify several novel structural variations associated with each disease causing locus increasing the understanding of these diseases. Segmental duplications are large segments of repetitive sequences tens to hundreds of thousands of base pairs in size. Short-read and long-read sequencing technologies cannot span these large segments of the genome. Only Bionano's optical mapping technology can image single molecules that are so long that they span the segmental duplications. These repetitive sequences can interact with each other when sperm or eggs are created and their rearrangement can cause severe genetic disease. Some of the most common of such diseases are microdeletions at 7q11.23, also known as Williams-Beuren syndrome, 15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome, 16p12.2 microdeletion syndrome and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, also known as DiGeorge syndrome.
|
AL EADSY | Hot Stocks16:35 EDT Air Lease announces delivery of A321-200neo LR jet to SAS - Air Lease Corporation (AL) announced the delivery of one new Airbus (EADSY) A321-200neo LR aircraft on long-term lease to SAS. Powered by CFM International LEAP-1A33 engines, this aircraft is the first of three A321-200neo LRs confirmed to deliver to the Scandinavian airline from ALC's order book with Airbus. The other two A321-200neo LR aircraft are scheduled to deliver to the airline in 2021. In addition to this new A321-200neo LR, SAS currently has two Airbus A320-200neo aircraft on long-term lease from ALC which delivered in 2020. With the two new A321-200neo LRs scheduled to deliver in 2021, the airline will have a total of five aircraft on lease from ALC next year.
|
AMRN | Hot Stocks16:33 EDT Amarin shares jump 9.3% after Vascepa data in patients with prior PCI
|
MGNX | Hot Stocks16:33 EDT MacroGenics announces publication of flotetuzumab data - MacroGenics announced the publication of a manuscript in Blood Advances, a journal of the American Society of Hematology. This represents the third publication of flotetuzumab data in 2020. Flotetuzumab is an investigational, clinical-stage bispecific DARTmolecule that recognizes both CD123 on leukemic cells and CD3 on T cells, with the intended result of T-cell-mediated killing of leukemic blasts. This most recent publication reports on the role of flotetuzumab in the immunotherapy of TP53-positive acute myeloid leukemia, or AML. It has previously been shown that an inflammatory gene expression signature in patients with AML correlated with a lack of response to induction chemotherapy. The same gene signature was shown to be associated with an increased probability of this subset of patients to respond to flotetuzumab. As further described in the article, AML with TP53 abnormalities was also associated with immune infiltration in the tumor microenvironment; moreover, patients with TP53 abnormalities derived benefit from flotetuzumab immunotherapy."The results published today in Blood Advances, combined with data from previous articles published in Blood and Science Translational Medicine, further support our decision to conduct a pivotal study of flotetuzumab in AML patients who have previously experienced either a primary induction failure or an early relapse when treated with standard-of-care chemotherapy regimens. These individuals represent approximately 40-50% of all AML patients," said Scott Koenig, president and CEO of MacroGenics. "Our single arm clinical trial is ongoing as an expansion of the Phase 1/2 study, for which we plan to enroll up to 200 patients. We plan to present interim results at a medical conference later this year."
|
AMRN | Hot Stocks16:32 EDT Amarin says Vascepa found to 'significantly reduce' ischemic vents - Amarin Corporation announced the presentation of REDUCE-IT PCI at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Connect, the 32nd annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, being held virtually from October 14 - October 18, 2020 adding to the growing body of knowledge on the clinical impact of VASCEPA. These new analyses supported by Amarin were presented during the TCT Connect 2020 Best of Abstracts session by Benjamin E. Peterson, M.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and Harvard Medical School. "The opportunity to further explore REDUCE-IT data and effects in those patients with prior PCI provides additional understanding of the potential benefit of icosapent ethyl in the clinical setting," commented Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, principal investigator of REDUCE-IT and senior author of the REDUCE-IT PCI analyses. "The findings of benefit in at-risk patients with prior PCI are consistent with previously presented data on overall reductions in first and total coronary revascularization events of 34% and 36%, respectively. Moreover, the statistically significant substantial benefit in reduced coronary revascularization procedures seen as early as 11 months provides clinicians with a potential additional intervention in a patient population for whom time is of the essence." The REDUCE-IT PCI analysis looked at 3,408 of patients enrolled in REDUCE-IT who had undergone a prior PCI. These patients were randomized a median of 2.9 years after PCI. Baseline characteristics were similar among patients randomized to VASCEPA versus placebo. Post hoc exploratory analyses of the subgroup of 3,408 patients with a prior PCI showed that, for the primary composite endpoint of 5-point MACE, time to first event was significantly reduced with VASCEPA versus placebo by 34% and total events were also reduced by 39%. For the key secondary composite endpoint of 3-point MACE, time to first event was reduced by 34% in the subgroup of patients with a prior PCI. Coronary revascularization procedures, such as stenting, are invasive, carry multiple risks, and can have significant direct and indirect costs. Patients with elevated triglycerides despite statin therapy have increased risk for ischemic events, including coronary revascularizations. These procedures, whether pre-scheduled or performed in an emergency, inevitably result in additional time spent in a healthcare setting. The latest statistical update from the American Heart Association (AHA) shows that, in 2014, an estimated 480,000 inpatient PCI procedures were performed in the United States with a mean inpatient hospital charge for PCI of $84,813. REDUCE-IT was not specifically powered to examine individual cardiovascular endpoints or patient subgroups, therefore p-values presented for these revascularization analyses are nominal and exploratory with no adjustment for multiple comparisons. In addition, coronary revascularization as an endpoint can sometimes be considered subjective; however, these endpoints were adjudicated by an independent, blinded clinical endpoint committee. Results from the total coronary revascularization events analyses are consistent across the various recurrent event statistical models and are also consistent with the first coronary revascularization events results. Together, the REDUCE-IT first and total coronary revascularization events results support the robustness and consistency of the clinical benefit of VASCEPA therapy in reducing coronary revascularization.
|
TRUE | Hot Stocks16:32 EDT TrueCar CFO Noel Watson resigns - TrueCar announced that Noel Watson has resigned as CFO to accept another business opportunity with a privately-held company outside of the automotive vertical. Watson expects to continue in his current position through November 16 in order to ensure a smooth transition for the company. Charles Thomas, the company's Controller, will serve as interim principal financial officer until a permanent candidate is identified.
|
ZGNX | Hot Stocks16:28 EDT Zogenix presents new Fintepla data in Dravet syndrome showing seizure reduction - Zogenix shared new data analyses for FINTEPLA, fenfluramine, oral solution in Dravet syndrome at the Child Neurology Society and International Child Neurology Congress 2020. Dravet syndrome is a rare, highly refractory form of infant- and childhood-onset epilepsy marked by frequent and often prolonged seizures that are difficult to control with existing medications, significant cognitive and motor impairments, and a higher risk of sudden death."In addition to the significant convulsive seizure reductions seen in all three multi-national Phase 3 studies of FINTEPLA in Dravet syndrome, we are proud to collaborate with expert clinician investigators to show the durability of the clinically meaningful seizure reduction that FINTEPLA provided for patients treated for up to two years," said Bradley S. Galer, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Zogenix. "Furthermore, new post-hoc data analysis from our studies demonstrated that for every two to three patients treated with FINTEPLA, one patient achieved greater than or equal to75% (profound) convulsive seizure reduction compared with placebo. We believe these new data analyses further showcase the clinical value that FINTEPLA provides for many Dravet syndrome patients and their families."
|
GLPG | Hot Stocks16:22 EDT Servier, Galapagos announce ROCCELLA trial failed to meet primary objective - Servier and Galapagos report that no signal of activity was observed in the topline results in their ROCCELLA Phase 2 trial with GLPG1972/S201086. ROCCELLA is a global, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose ranging trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of three different once-daily oral doses of GLPG1972/S201086 in 932 patients with knee osteoarthritis, or OA, over 52 weeks of treatment. The study population was aged between 40 to 76 years, mainly female and with a mean disease duration of 7 years. The primary objective of ROCCELLA was to demonstrate the efficacy of at least one dose of GLPG1972/S201086 compared to placebo after 52 weeks of treatment in reducing cartilage loss of the central medial tibiofemoral compartment of the target knee via quantitative MRI. The trial failed to meet the primary objective. The change from baseline to week 52 in cartilage thickness, in mm was -0.116 for the placebo group and -0.068, -0.097 and -0.085, for the low, medium and high dose, respectively. Statistically significant difference versus placebo was not reached in any of the treated groups.There was no significant difference compared to placebo observed on secondary endpoints, including clinical outcomes.Additional analyses are being conducted to fully evaluate the results, which will be presented at upcoming medical conferences. GLPG1972/S201086 was generally well-tolerated by patients in this Phase 2 trial.
|
BKH | Hot Stocks16:17 EDT Black Hills receives FERC approval for Wygen I power purchase agreement - Black Hills announced that utility subsidiary Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power, doing business as Black Hills Energy, and power generation subsidiary Black Hills Wyoming received approval of their joint application for a proposed 60-megawatt power purchase agreement from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Under the approved agreement, Black Hills Wyoming will continue to deliver 60 megawatts of base load capacity and energy to Cheyenne Light from its Wygen I power plant. The new agreement will commence on January 1, 2022, replacing the existing power purchase agreement, and will continue for 11 years, ending December 31, 2032. The Wygen I power plant is located near Gillette in northeast Wyoming and is a mine-mouth operation with the adjacent mining complex.
|
SALT | Hot Stocks16:17 EDT Scorpio Bulkers in pact to sell SBI Hera, an Ultramax bulk carrier for $18.5M - Scorpio Bulkers announced that the company has entered into an agreement with an unaffiliated third party to sell the SBI Hera, an Ultramax bulk carrier built in 2016, for approximately $18.5M. Delivery of the vessel is expected
|
ISRG | Hot Stocks16:10 EDT Intuitive Surgical slides 2.8% to $720 per share after Q3 results
|
ESGR | Hot Stocks16:08 EDT Enstar completes first insurance business transfer transaction in the U.S. - Enstar Group announced that it has successfully completed the first ever insurance business transfer to occur in the United States, having received judicial approval from the Oklahoma County District Court. The transaction occurred between two of our subsidiaries, Providence Washington Insurance Company and Yosemite Insurance Company. An IBT is a direct transfer of liabilities between insurers after review by an Independent Expert and receiving regulatory and judicial approval. The Oklahoma Insurance Business Transfer Act includes similar principles as the Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 in the United Kingdom. Notably, the legislative framework is designed with implied individual policyholder consent after a rigorous regulatory and judicial review process in which all affected stakeholders may participate. The IBT Act went into effect in Oklahoma on November 1, 2018. Although common in many parts of the world, this is the first insurance business transfer to occur in the United States.
|
ISRG | Hot Stocks16:07 EDT Intuitive Surgical's first 9 months of 2020 saw 'significant impact' from COVID - The company states: "During the first nine months of 2020, the Company has experienced a significant impact to its procedure volumes and system placements, as healthcare systems around the world diverted resources to meet the increasing demands of responding to and managing COVID-19. The impact and timing of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business differs by geography. In the U.S., for example, while da Vinci procedures have recovered a significant portion of the pre-COVID-19 levels, the resurgence of COVID-19 in some states has had, and will likely continue to have, an adverse impact on the Company's procedure volumes. Due to the continued uncertainty around the scope and duration of the pandemic and the timing of global recovery and economic normalization, we cannot, at this time, reliably estimate the future impact on our operations and financial results."
|
ALTG | Hot Stocks16:07 EDT Alta Equipment to acquire Howell Tractor and Equipment, terms not disclosed - Alta Equipment Group announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Howell Tractor and Equipment, LLC., a privately held heavy equipment dealer serving Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana. Howell Tractor generated approximately $33.1M in revenue and had adjusted EBITDA of approximately $5M in the trailing twelve months through July 2020. Ryan Greenawalt, Chief Executive Officer of Alta, said, "We are excited to welcome Howell Tractor to the Alta family. As we continue to expand our presence in the Illinois and Northwest Indiana markets, adding an industry leader like Howell Tractor bolsters our best-in-class service offerings and product portfolio. We intend to build on the strength of Howell Tractor's reputation as a premier service provider and the partnerships it has established with leading manufacturers to enhance our overall customer experience." Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2020, subject to customary conditions.
|
HRTG | Hot Stocks16:07 EDT Heritage Insurance reports preliminary Q3 catastrophe and weather losses $24.5M - Heritage Insurance expects to incur approximately $24.5M of net current accident quarter catastrophe losses in Q3, primarily from Hurricanes Isaias and Sally. Additionally, the company expects to incur approximately $22.8M of net current accident quarter non-catastrophe weather losses in Q3, up from $11.9M in the prior year quarter, primarily reflecting wind and hail events in Florida.
|
ISRG | Hot Stocks16:06 EDT Intuitive Surgical reports Q3 global da Vinci procedures up 7% from last year - The company shipped 195 da Vinci Surgical Systems, a decrease of 29% compared with 275 in the third quarter of 2019. The company grew its da Vinci Surgical System installed base to 5,865 systems as of September 30, 2020, an increase of 8% compared with 5,406 as of the end of the third quarter of 2019.
|
JACK TSN | Hot Stocks15:46 EDT Jack in the Box introduces plant-based 'unchicken' sandwiches - Jack in the Box (JACK) and Raised & Rooted announced the exclusive debut of the Jack's Unchicken and Jack's Spicy Unchicken sandwiches at select locations in Monterey and Salinas, Calif., and Reno, Nev. The sandwiches are the first-ever plant-based "unchicken" sandwiches introduced by a quick-service restaurant, and have the taste, crunch and texture to satisfy even the most dedicated sandwich connoisseur. Raised & Rooted is Tyson Foods' (TSN) brand of alternative protein products launched in 2019. "Jack in the Box is delivering industry leading innovation with the first plant-based chicken sandwich at retail in the U.S.," said Jennifer Kennedy, chief product officer, Jack in the Box. "We are excited to meet the growing demand for meatless alternatives with our new Unchicken sandwiches providing indulgent taste, crispy crunch, and savory flavor in a new plant-based option." Jack's Unchicken sandwiches are only available at select locations in Monterey and Salinas, California, and Reno, Nevada The new plant-based sandwiches are available now through December 12, or while supplies last.
|
SBGI | Hot Stocks15:36 EDT Sinclair Broadcast acquires two Class A TV stations in Washington, DC for $8.5M - Sinclair Broadcast announced the acquisition of two Class A television stations located in the Washington, DC market. In addition to traditional broadcast programming, the company plans to use channel capacity from one of the stations to provide advanced "Broadcast Internet" services. WMTM sold WIAV-CD and WDCO-CD to Sinclair for $8.5M. The two stations will operate from their own transmitter facilities but will be coordinated with Sinclair's ABC affiliate in Washington, WJLA. While operating in ATSC 1.0 service, WIAV will continue to provide UniMas programming pursuant to a channel sharing agreement with Entravision and will also broadcast the TBD Network. WDCO will broadcast the TBD programming, as well. By converting WIAV to the Nextgen TV transmission standard, Sinclair will have a platform to demonstrate the multiple enhanced features of ATSC 3.0 "Mobile First" services. The station acquisitions coincide with the production of the first ATSC 3.0 broadcast-enabled cell phones developed by Sinclair through its joint venture with Saankhya Labs.
|
ZYNE | Hot Stocks15:08 EDT Zynerba presenting poster describing data from the CONNECT-FX trial - Zynerba Pharmaceuticals announced it is presenting a poster describing data from the CONNECT-FX trial describing the role of FMR1 methylation status in children and adolescents with Fragile X syndrome as a correlate to disease severity and as a prognostic biomarker. These data are being presented at the virtual Joint 16th International Child Neurology Congress & 49th Annual Child Neurology Society Meeting. These data will also be presented as an oral presentation during the "Research Pipeline: New Findings on Diagnostic and Therapeutics" session of the virtual American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2020 Annual Meeting on Friday, October 23. "We are excited to provide an update on the potential role of methylation status of the FMR1 gene as a predictive biomarker of preferential response to Zygel(TM) (ZYN002) in the treatment of the behavioral symptoms of FXS," said Zynerba's Chief Medical Officer, Joseph M. Palumbo, MD, FAPA, MACPsych. "These new data demonstrate that in patients diagnosed with FXS with a fully methylated FMR1 gene significantly more patients who received Zygel achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in their behavioral symptoms compared to patients who received placebo." A copy of the poster entitled, "ZYN002 Cannabidiol Transdermal Gel in Children and Adolescents With Fragile X Syndrome: Role of Methylation Status as a Correlate to Disease Severity and as a Prognostic Biomarker" is available on the Zynerba corporate website. Reference Link
|
ECPG | Hot Stocks15:06 EDT Encore Capital announces settlement of lawsuit filed by CFPB - Encore Capital Group announced the resolution of a lawsuit filed last month by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, against the company and its U.S. subsidiaries. The principal focus of the suit's allegations was that Encore's implementation of certain practices required under a 2015 consent order was not perfect, "although the company addressed those minor gaps years ago," Encore said. "Today's settlement includes a one-time payment to the CFPB and three narrow conduct provisions that have no incremental operational impact. This agreement will end the 2015 consent order and Encore has no further open issues with the CFPB," Encore added. Under the settlement, the company will take a one-time charge of $15M in the third quarter of 2020. It has also agreed to pay a total of approximately $9,000 in redress to 14 identified consumers. "In none of the consumer cases does the CFPB dispute that the underlying debt is valid. In terms of the three conduct provisions, all relate to already-implemented practices and do not have any incremental operational impact. Encore maintains it acted in accordance with all relevant laws," the company stated.
|
BYD... | Hot Stocks15:00 EDT New Jersey reports September gaming revenue up 6.5% to $323.3M - New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement reports that total gaming revenue for September was $323.3M, compared to $303.5M in September 2019, reflecting a 6.5% increase. Internet gaming win was $87.6M in September, compared to $41.1M in the prior period, reflecting an increase of 113.0%. Sports wagering gross revenue was $45.1M for the month. Casino win for September was $190.6M, decreasing 15.1% from the same month last year. During September, the casinos operated with certain restrictions due to COVID-19, the DGE noted. Publicly traded companies in the space include Boyd Gaming (BYD), Caesars (CZR), Churchill Downs (CHDN), DraftKings (DKNG), Flutter Entertainment (PDYPY), Gan Limited (GAN), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Penn National (PENN), William Hill (WIMHY) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN). Reference Link
|
TWTR... | Hot Stocks14:52 EDT FCC Chair Pai intends to 'clarify the meaning' of Section 230 - Ajit Pai, Chairman of the FCC, tweeted "I intend to move forward with an @FCC rulemaking to clarify the meaning of #Section230" along with a more detailed statement regarding his thoughts on the matter. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has been called "the tech industry's key legal shield" as it lets internet platforms avoid litigation over content that their users post. Alphabet's (GOOG) Google, Facebook (FB), and Twitter (TWTR) are among companies protected by Section 230. Reference Link
|
SWAV | Hot Stocks14:41 EDT ShockWave reports Disrupt CAD III met primary safety, effectiveness endpoints - Shockwave Medical announced earlier today that the coronary Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, study, Disrupt CAD III, met the primary safety and effectiveness endpoints. The results were presented earlier today in a late-breaking clinical session at the virtual 2020 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference, TCT Connect, and published simultaneously in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the company noted. Disrupt CAD III is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm, global IDE study investigating the Shockwave Coronary IVL System in de novo, calcified, stenotic, coronary arteries prior to stenting. The study enrolled 384 patients at 47 sites in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, including 100 patients in an optical coherence tomography sub-study. All data were core-lab adjudicated. Coronary IVL met both the safety and effectiveness goals in Disrupt CAD III with a 30-day freedom from MACE rate of 92.2% and a procedural success rate of 92.4%, respectively. Coronary IVL prior to stent implantation was well tolerated with a low rate of major peri-procedural clinical and angiographic complications. The individual components of the 7.8% MACE rate included low rates of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization at 30 days following the index procedure. In afternoon trading, ShockWave Medical shares are down 3% to $71.52.
|
CNI... | Hot Stocks14:41 EDT North American rail traffic rose 1.8% in week ended October 10 - The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending October 10. Total carloads for the week ending October 10 were 230,964 carloads, down 5.2% compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 289,488 containers and trailers, up 8.4% compared to 2019. North American rail volume for the week ending October 10, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 329,614 carloads, down 3.5% compared with the same week last year, and 384,502 intermodal units, up 6.9%t compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 714,116 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8%. North American rail volume for the first 41 weeks of 2020 was 26,320,732 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.5% 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
|
C | Hot Stocks14:04 EDT Citi reports September credit loss rate 2.53% vs. 2.75% last month - Reports September 30-plus day delinquency rate 1.37% vs. 1.33% last month.
|
PINC | Hot Stocks14:01 EDT Premier contracts with HHS on initiative to improve U.S. maternal health - Premier Inc. announced a new, two-year, $8M national partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women's Health to leverage Premier's data and proven performance improvement methodology to scale advancements in care for mothers and infants across the nation. Over the course of the partnership, Premier and the HHS Office of Women's Health will leverage Premier's data, which represents 45 percent of U.S. hospital discharges, to analyze the risk factors affecting maternal morbidity and mortality - such as rising maternal age, racial and ethnic disparities, socioeconomic factors and comorbidities. In addition, HHS and Premier will unite a cohort of at least 200 hospitals to join Premier's data-driven Perinatal Collaborative. Premier will implement standardized, evidence-based practices and care bundles with collaborative members, measuring outcomes to identify and scale the most effective practices. "Premier has long been a passionate advocate of putting mothers and babies at the center of care," said Susan DeVore, CEO of Premier. "We are honored to partner with HHS, which selected Premier for our gold-standard healthcare data, unmatched measurement and analytics capabilities, and proven track record of quality improvement. We look forward to working alongside HHS to make America the safest place in the world to give birth."
|
BSX | Hot Stocks13:55 EDT Boston Scientific sinks 2.5% in afternoon trading after presentation posted - Boston Scientific's move lower coincided with the company posting slides to its website for a TCT 2020 investor update. Reference Link
|
TRMB | Hot Stocks13:44 EDT Trimble appoints Jaime Nielsen as CPO, Mark Schwartz as CDO - Trimble announced that Jaime Nielsen has been appointed chief people officer; Mark Schwartz has been appointed chief digital officer; Leah Lambertson has been named head of sustainability; and Albert Momo will serve as chair of the Trimble Foundation, the company's philanthropic fund. As CPO, Nielsen will lead the people experience organization, formerly human resources, and support the company's strategic initiatives to foster a culture of inclusion that attracts, grows and retains the best and brightest talent. Nielsen joined Trimble in 2016 as vice president leading the people initiatives for Trimble's Transportation Sector. As Trimble's CDO, Schwartz will be responsible for leading the transformation initiatives of Trimble's business systems, processes and infrastructure to better serve the customer through the transition to "as-a-service" business models. Schwartz has served as Trimble's vice president of civil construction software responsible for solutions that connect the physical and digital worlds for project owners, civil engineers and contractors. Leah Lambertson serves as Trimble's senior vice president of operations. In addition to her current role, Lambertson will lead the company's sustainability initiatives. Throughout Lambertson's 29-year career, she has held a variety of director and senior-level management roles with increasing responsibilities leading Trimble's worldwide supply chain including manufacturing, IT, real estate and facilities. Momo serves as the vice president and executive director of Trimble's emerging markets and funded projects. In addition, Momo will serve as the chair of the Trimble Foundation Fund. Founded in 2017, Trimble Foundation was established to support Trimble's philanthropic efforts. The Foundation's primary areas of focus are female education and empowerment in developing countries and natural disaster relief and recovery.
|
MGM | Hot Stocks13:41 EDT MGM's Borgata to reopen Poker Room on October 21 - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, an MGM Resorts International resort and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will reopen The Poker Room at 10am on Wednesday, Oct. 21 following its closure earlier this year amidst the coronavirus crisis, the company announced. "Borgata Poker will return with 30 socially distanced tables following the company's comprehensive health and safety protocols designed to protect employees and customers," MGM stated.
|
SPI | Hot Stocks13:32 EDT SPI Energy jumps 32% after EV unit in pact with Shaanxi Tongjia Auto - Shares of SPI Energy are up over $2.15 per share or 32% to $9.37 per share in Thursday afternoon trading after the photovoltaic solutions company announced its, subsidiary EdisonFuture was in a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Shaanxi Tongjia Automobile, a China-based off-road vehicle manufacturer along with electric cargo vans, buses, cargo trucks.
|
SNE | Hot Stocks13:14 EDT Sony launches PS4 system software update 8.00, including changes to Party - Sid Shuman Senior Director, SIE Content Communications for Sony PlayStation said in a blog posting earlier: "Following this update, users are seeing a notification about Party Safety and that voice chats in parties may be recorded. Voice chat recording for moderation is a feature that will be available on PS5 when it launches, and will enable users to record their voice chats on PS5 and submit them for moderation review. The pop up you're seeing on PS4 right now is to let you know that when you participate in a chat with a PS5 user (post-launch), they may submit those recordings from their PS5 console to SIE. Our latest system software update for PlayStation 4, version 8.00, is launching today globally. This update includes changes to the existing Party and Messages features, new avatars, updated parental controls and more. Here are some of the key features in this update: Updates to Party and Messages: Following this update, Party and Messages will be more tightly linked together and you will see changes to the UI. New Avatars: We're expanding the collection of pre-set avatars for players to showcase on their Profile. An array of new avatars from your favorite games will be available, including Bloodborne, Journey, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, The Last of Us Part II, The Last of Us Remastered, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and many more. Mute all Mics from Quick Menu. Simplified and more flexible Parental Controls." Reference Link
|
PTON | Hot Stocks12:54 EDT Peloton sued for patent infringement by Icon Health - In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District of Delaware on October 15, Icon Health & Fitness, the maker of the NordicTrack fitness bicycle, accused Peloton of infringing two patent claims, including one for a swiveling touchscreen and one related to automatic change of resistance levels during classes. A lawyer for Peloton, Steven Feldman, told Bloomberg that the lawsuit is "a retaliatory filing intended to deflect attention away from Icon's blatant infringement of Peloton's leaderboard technology and other deceptive practices."
|
OTGLY... | Hot Stocks12:53 EDT 'Cyberpunk 2077' launching on Google Stadia November 19 - CD Projekt Red (OTGLY) said that its upcoming game "Cyberpunk 2077" will be coming to Google Stadia (GOOGL), Alphabet's video game streaming service, on November 19, the same day the game launches on other platforms. "Availability of Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia depends on the availability of Stadia in your territory," CD Projekt noted on Twitter. The game will also be launching on PC, Xbox One (MSFT), and PlayStation 4 (SNE). Reference Link
|
VAR SMMNY | Hot Stocks12:44 EDT Varian stockholders approve combination with Siemens Healthineers - Varian (VAR) announced that its stockholders have voted to approve the previously announced pending combination with Siemens Healthineers AG (SMMNY) at a special meeting. Varian said the transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2021, subject to other regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. "The overwhelming support our stockholders have expressed for this combination reflects the compelling value and important opportunity to shape the future of healthcare we see with Siemens Healthineers. This vote brings us closer not only toward completing this transformative combination, but also toward realizing our vision of a world without fear of cancer. We look forward to securing the remaining regulatory approvals and closing the transaction," added Varian CEO Dow Wilson.
|
GILD | Hot Stocks12:15 EDT Gilead's remdesivir added to WHO's list of prequalified medicines for COVID-19 - Gilead's remdesivir has been added to the World Health Organization's list of prequalified medicines for COVID-19. Reference Link
|
TWTR FB | Hot Stocks12:09 EDT Senator Josh Hawley says Judiciary Committee to seek subpoena for Twitter CEO - Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tweeted earlier: "Pleased to announce the full Judiciary Committee will vote on subpoena to @Twitter and @jack on Tuesday. That subpoena should include @Facebook." Subsequently, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Senate Republicans said the Senate Judiciary Committee would issue a subpoena to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for Twitter having blocked a New York Post article relating to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Reference Link
|
GOOG GOOGL | Hot Stocks12:08 EDT YouTube bans conspiracy content that targets individuals - In a blog post, the company said, "Today, we are taking another step in our efforts to curb hate and harassment by removing more conspiracy theory content used to justify real-world violence...Nearly two years ago, we took a major step to limit the reach of harmful misinformation by updating our recommendations system. This resulted in a 70% drop in views coming from our search and discovery systems. In fact, when we looked at QAnon content, we saw the number of views that come from non-subscribed recommendations to prominent Q-related channels dropped by over 80% since January 2019...Today we're further expanding both our hate and harassment policies to prohibit content that targets an individual or group with conspiracy theories that have been used to justify real-world violence. One example would be content that threatens or harrasses someone by suggesting they are complicit in one of these harmful conspiracies, such as QAnon or Pizzagate. As always, context matters, so news coverage on these issues or content discussing them without targeting individuals or protected groups may stay up. We will begin enforcing this updated policy today, and will ramp up in the weeks to come." Reference Link
|
AXP | Hot Stocks12:04 EDT American Express reports September net write-off rate 2.0% vs. 2.5% last month - Reports September 30 days past due loans as a percentage of total 1.1% vs. 1.2% last month.
|
TUFN | Hot Stocks12:01 EDT Tufin falls -9.2% - Tufin is down -9.2%, or -73c to $7.20.
|
LEAF | Hot Stocks12:00 EDT Leaf Group falls -15.3% - Leaf Group is down -15.3%, or -$1.08 to $5.98.
|
FSLY | Hot Stocks12:00 EDT Fastly falls -23.7% - Fastly is down -23.7%, or -$29.23 to $93.95.
|
GME | Hot Stocks12:00 EDT GameStop rises 9.8% - GameStop is up 9.8%, or $1.20 to $13.45.
|
NHF | Hot Stocks12:00 EDT NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund rises 11.6% - NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund is up 11.6%, or 97c to $9.33.
|
CARS | Hot Stocks12:00 EDT Cars.com rises 17.5% - Cars.com is up 17.5%, or $1.40 to $9.41.
|
LVMUY TIF | Hot Stocks11:56 EDT LVMH says trial in Tiffany suit scheduled for January 5, 2021 - The company said in its earnings release, "LVMH filed its countersuit against Tiffany with the Delaware Chancery Court on September 28. To date, nine of the ten required regulatory authorisations have already been obtained and LVMH expects to receive approval from the European Commission by the end of October. The trial is scheduled for January 5, 2021."
|
RNSDF RNLSY | Hot Stocks11:54 EDT Renault unveils new electric vehicle Megane eVision - Renault unviled the Megane eVision, an "innovative" show-car based on the entirely new modular CMF-EV platform. "The Megane eVision makes the most of what the new platform designed by the Alliance has to offer," the company said. "This dynamic hatchback features one of the thinnest batteries on the market and a new ultra-compact powertrain offering more roominess. Its sophisticated features and the lighting signature accentuate the modern look of the car, which breaks the existing codes of electric vehicles when it comes to use, size and design, as well as energy efficiency. This vehicle of tomorrow will very soon become a reality, with the production model of the show-car set to be introduced in 2021." Reference Link
|
LVMUY | Hot Stocks11:51 EDT LVMH says will continue to exercise 'caution,' strengthen cost controls - The company said in its earnings release, "In a very turbulent context, marked by continuing economic and health uncertainties, LVMH will continue to exercise caution, strengthen its cost controls and selectivity in its investments. The Group will maintain a strategy focused on preserving the value of its brands, by continuing its marketing and communication investments and relying on the exceptional quality of its products and the reactivity of its organisation. LVMH will rely on the power of its brands and the talent of its teams to further extend its global leadership in the luxury market in 2020."
|
LVMUY TIF | Hot Stocks11:50 EDT LVMH Tiffany says trial in Tiffany suit scheduled for January 5 - The company said in its earnings release, "LVMH filed its countersuit against Tiffany with the Delaware Chancery Court on September 28. To date, nine of the ten required regulatory authorisations have already been obtained and LVMH expects to receive approval from the European Commission by the end of October. The trial is scheduled for January 5, 2021."
|
UAL | Hot Stocks11:30 EDT United Airlines doesn't see demand getting back to normal until 2024
|
UAL | Hot Stocks11:07 EDT United Airlines 'reasonably confident' airline will return to NY-JFK
|
STM | Hot Stocks11:04 EDT STMicroelectronics acquires SOMOS Semiconductor, terms not disclosed - STMicroelectronics announced the acquisition and integration of the assets of SOMOS Semiconductor. SOMOS, based in Marly-le-Roy, France, is a fabless semiconductor company founded in 2018, and specialized in silicon-based power amplifiers and in RF Front-End Modules, or FEM, products. "With this acquisition, we reinforce our ambition to play a major role in RF FEM for a buoyant connectivity IoT market and we strengthen our roadmap of RF Front-End for the 5G markets. With the recent acquisition of BeSpoon for UWB technology and Riot Micro for NB-IoT modems, ST now offers its customers complete connectivity solutions leveraging the market-leading STM32 solutions and ecosystem," said Claude Dardanne, President, Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group, at STMicroelectronics. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
|
UAL | Hot Stocks11:03 EDT United Airlines sees $15M-$20M daily cash burn in Q4
|
UAL | Hot Stocks11:02 EDT United Airlines sees 'end of beginning' of COVID crisis
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:57 EDT United Airlines sees turning cash positive before network rivals in 2021
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:57 EDT United Airlines: Revenue recovering faster than at network rivals
|
PTON | Hot Stocks10:56 EDT Peloton announces recall of PR70P clip-in pedals due to risk of axle breaks - Peloton Interactive, Inc., in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, announces a recall of out-of-warranty PR70P clip-in pedals due to risk of axle breaks. These pedals can break unexpectedly during use, which may result in injury, the company said in a blog post. PR70P pedals are the first generation of pedals and were fitted on Bikes sold between July 2013 and May 2016. "If you bought your Bike between July 2013 and May 2016 and have never replaced your pedals, you may still have PR70P pedals fitted on your Bike," it said. Peloton has received 120 reports of pedal breakages and sixteen reports of injuries. Of those, five injuries required medical care, such as stitches to the lower leg. These pedals are outside the one-year warranty. Peloton recommends that Members change their Peloton Bike pedals annually. No other pedals are affected by this recall. Reference Link
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:52 EDT United Airlines: Focus is on return to profitability as soon as possible
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:49 EDT United Airlines continues to see widely available COVID vaccine by late 2021
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:48 EDT United Airlines sees Q4 revenue down around 67%, capacity down around 55%
|
AMZN | Hot Stocks10:48 EDT Amazon: Echo Dot was most popular item purchased on Prime Day globally
|
AMZN | Hot Stocks10:47 EDT Amazon plans to invest $18B in small, medium-sized busiensses
|
AMZN | Hot Stocks10:47 EDT Amazon: Prime members saved over $1.4B during Prime Day 2020
|
AMZN | Hot Stocks10:46 EDT Amazon: Third party sellers surpassed $3.5B in Prime Day 2020 sales - After holding Prime Day in India in August, Amazon just wrapped the two-day event across 19 additional countries, delivering big sales for small businesses and big savings for Prime members in the U.S., U.K., U.A.E., Turkey, Spain, Singapore, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Austria, and Australia. Amazon is on track to invest $18 billion this year to help small and medium-sized businesses succeed in its store, and designed this Prime Day to support small businesses even more-including funding a promotion that helped drive over $900 million in sales for small businesses in the two weeks leading up to Prime Day. This Prime Day delivered the two biggest days ever for third-party sellers, nearly all of which are small and medium-sized businesses. Sellers saw record-breaking sales, surpassing $3.5 billion in total across 19 countries. In addition, Prime members around the world saved over $1.4 billion during the epic deals event, securing deep discounts and getting a jump start on their holiday shopping.
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:39 EDT United Airlines sees next 12-15 months continuing to be difficult
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:38 EDT United Airlines CEO sees 'light at the end of the tunnel'
|
UAL | Hot Stocks10:38 EDT United Airlines CEO had 'one of my toughest days' after announcing furloughs - CEO Scott Kirby says he had "one of my toughest days as CEO" on October 1 after having to furlough more than 13,000 team members. Comments taken from Q3 earnings conference call.
|
BAC | Hot Stocks10:30 EDT Bank of America reports September net charge-offs 1.94% vs. 2.11% last month - Reports 30-plus day delinquency rate 1.20% vs. 1.08% last month.
|
SRPT LYSGF | Hot Stocks10:20 EDT Sarepta down 1% after partner reports patient death in clinical trial
|
LYSGF SRPT | Hot Stocks10:18 EDT Sarepta partner Lysogene reports patient death in AAVance clinical trial - Lysogene (LYSGF) announced that a patient has passed away in the AAVance clinical trial, a global Phase 2/3 gene therapy trial for the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIA, or MPS IIIA, also known as Sanfilippo syndrome type A. "The immediate cause of death is currently unknown and additional information is being collected. At this time, there is no evidence that the event is linked to the study drug administration. Lysogene is diligently following per study protocol the 18 patients who have been treated in the clinical trial," the company stated. In accordance with the agreements signed between Lysogene and Sarepta Therapeutics, (SRPT) Sarepta will hold exclusive commercial rights to LYS-SAF302 in the United States and markets outside Europe; and Lysogene will maintain commercial exclusivity of LYS-SAF302 in Europe, the company noted.
|
FLIR | Hot Stocks10:03 EDT FLIR Systems receives additional $26M contract for U.S. Army program - FLIR Systems announced it has been awarded a $26M contract modification in support of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle Sensor Suite Upgrade program for the U.S. Army. The Other Transaction Authority agreement was awarded through the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense as a follow-on to a $48M contract announced in April 2019. FLIR is the lead integrator in modernizing the Army's NBCRV system with improved and autonomous CBRN sensors. Work on the NBCRV program has begun and is expected to continue through 2022 at FLIR facilities in West Lafayette, Indiana; Stillwater, Oklahoma; and Elkridge, Maryland.
|
BAESY | Hot Stocks10:01 EDT BAE Systems awarded $11.7M contract by U.S. Army - The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a one-year, $11.7M contract to provide information technology services to the Army Cyber Command to assist with the operation, maintenance, and technical aspects of the ARCYBER enterprise IT environment. The company will provide system integration and management, including network and systems administration, and cyber and IT engineering support at ARCYBER Headquarters in Fort Gordon, Georgia. BAE Systems is utilizing its Federated Secure Cloud approach and processes to implement and maintain ARCYBER's Multiple Independent Levels of Security virtual desktop infrastructure. The company will operate and maintain the Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Information Management/Enterprise Information Technology Service Management environment for ARCYBER.
|
AA | Hot Stocks10:00 EDT Alcoa falls -8.1% - Alcoa is down -8.1%, or -$1.05 to $11.95.
|
LEAF | Hot Stocks10:00 EDT Leaf Group falls -17.0% - Leaf Group is down -17.0%, or -$1.20 to $5.86.
|
FSLY | Hot Stocks10:00 EDT Fastly falls -29.0% - Fastly is down -29.0%, or -$35.75 to $87.43.
|
NHF | Hot Stocks10:00 EDT NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund rises 8.6% - NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund is up 8.6%, or 72c to $9.08.
|
USX | Hot Stocks10:00 EDT U.S. Xpress Enterprises rises 8.7% - U.S. Xpress Enterprises is up 8.7%, or 87c to $10.86.
|
CARS | Hot Stocks10:00 EDT Cars.com rises 19.2% - Cars.com is up 19.2%, or $1.54 to $9.55.
|
HYLN | Hot Stocks09:50 EDT Hyliion, American Natural Gas announce partnership agreement - Hyliion and American Natural Gas announced a partnership agreement that offers Hyliion customers discounted pricing for renewable natural gas at ANG fueling stations across the country. For qualifying fleet customers, ANG has also agreed to build new fueling stations near Hyliion's customer locations with no upfront capital costs to such customers. Hyliion and ANG also entered into a sales agreement that includes a pre-order of up to 250 Hypertruck ERX vehicles, allowing for early availability of Hyliion's fully electric powertrain to ANG and its fleet customers. Using RNG, the Hypertruck ERX is an electric solution for Class 8 vehicles that offers a net-negative carbon emissions profile and the lowest total cost of ownership over the life of the vehicle compared to current competitive offerings.
|
UVXY | Hot Stocks09:47 EDT ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF rises 5.7% - ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF is up 5.7%, or 94c to $17.38.
|
NHF | Hot Stocks09:47 EDT NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund rises 10.6% - NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund is up 10.6%, or 89c to $9.25.
|
CARS | Hot Stocks09:47 EDT Cars.com rises 16.1% - Cars.com is up 16.1%, or $1.29 to $9.30.
|
GH | Hot Stocks09:45 EDT Aetna says Guardant360CDx testing panel considered 'not medically necessary' - In a Pharmacogenetic and Pharmacodynamic Testing clinical policy bulletin from Aetna, with a last review date of October 13, the insurer said: "Aetna considers Guardant360CDx testing panel not medically necessary for assessing candidacy of persons with non-small cell lung cancer for treatment with osimertinib (Tagrisso), because there is no proven advantage of the Guardant360 CDx gene panel over targeted EGFR mutation testing or small targeted panels for this indication." The Guardant360CDx testing panel is offered by Guardant Health. Reference Link
|
CMPI | Hot Stocks09:35 EDT Checkmate announces early release of data to be presented on CMP-001 - Checkmate Pharmaceuticals announced new data presentations evaluating CMP-001, Checkmate's Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, at The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting to be held virtually November 9-14. Presentation Details: Intratumoral injection of CMP-001, a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, in combination with pembrolizumab reversed programmed death receptor 1 blockade resistance in advanced melanoma. "The abstracts for these presentations appeared briefly on the SITC website in error prior to their intended release on November 9, 2020, and as a result are provided in full," the company reported. "These data continue to demonstrate the compelling clinical activity and manageable safety profile of CMP-001 in combination with anti-PD-1 antibodies in patients with melanoma. Of particular note, we are encouraged by the maturing results in the neoadjuvant study that will be presented by Dr. Davar, including a pathological response rate of 70%, and a 1-year relapse-free survival of 82%, which trended higher in patients achieving a pathological response," said Dr. James Wooldridge, Chief Medical Officer at Checkmate Pharmaceuticals.
|
SFT | Hot Stocks09:32 EDT Shift announces inaugural trading on Nasdaq following close of combination - Shift announced shares of its common stock have begun trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SFT" and warrants under ticker symbol "SFTTW." "Trading on the Nasdaq represents an extremely exciting milestone for our company. We want to extend a huge thanks to the entire Shift team for their hard work and dedication, our amazing customers for their trust in us to deliver an exceptional experience, and to our shareholders for their support. We look forward to delivering shareholder value for years to come," commented George Arison, Shift co-CEO.
|
CMPI | Hot Stocks09:27 EDT Checkmate Pharmaceuticals announces data presentations for CMP-001 - Checkmate Pharmaceuticals announced new data presentations evaluating CMP-001, Checkmate's Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, at The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting to be held virtually November 9-14, 2020. Presentation Details: Intratumoral injection of CMP-001, a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, in combination with pembrolizumab reversed programmed death receptor 1 blockade resistance in advanced melanoma. Background: Therapeutic options are limited for patients with advanced melanoma that is refractory to PD-1 blockade. This study was performed in this patient population to assess the safety and antitumor activity of CMP-001, a CpG-A TLR9 agonist packaged within a virus-like particle. Methods: Patients were eligible for this 2-part, open-label, multicenter, phase 1b study if they had metastatic/unresectable melanoma and stable disease after greater than or equal to12 weeks or progressive disease on/after anti-PD-1 therapy. Part 1 evaluated CMP-001 plus pembrolizumab dose-escalation and dose-expansion. Part 2 evaluated CMP-001 monotherapy. Accessible lesion were injected intratumorally with CMP-001, at a polysorbate 20 concentration of either 0.01% or 0.00167%. The Part 1 primary objective was to identify the recommended phase 2 dose and schedule of CMP-001 plus pembrolizumab, while the Part 2 primary objective was to assess the safety of CMP-001 monotherapy. Secondary objectives for both parts were a preliminary assessment of antitumor activity of CMP-001 plus pembrolizumab and CMP-001 monotherapy, and the overall safety profile and pharmacodynamics of the combination. Results: In Part 1 and Part 2, 93.1% and 80.0% of patients had PD as their last response to prior anti-PD-1 therapy, respectively. The most common treatment-related adverse events were flu-like symptoms and injection-site reactions. Grade 3/4 TRAEs were reported in 36.5% and 22.5% of patients, the most common being hypotension. No Grade 5 TRAEs were observed. In Part 1, the best objective response rate in patients treated with pembrolizumab and CMP-001 was 23.5%, while CMP-001 PS20 resulted in a lower ORR of 11.5%. Seven additional patients had a delayed response after initial PD. The median duration of response was greater than1 year. In the 37 RECIST v1.1 and post-progression responders, the mean regression in injected and noninjected target lesions was 54.7% and 52.7%, respectively. In Part 2, the best ORR with CMP-001 monotherapy was 17.5%; the response duration was shorter than in Part 1. Intratumoral CMP-001 PS20 0.01% 10 mg was selected as the RP2D. Conclusion: Intratumoral CMP-001 was well-tolerated and provided both local and distant responses in patients with advanced melanoma with disease progression on prior PD-1 blockade. CMP-001 monotherapy induced systemic tumor regression in some patients, but duration of response was substantially increased by the addition of pembrolizumab. Title: Phase II Trial of Neoadjuvant Nivolumab and Intra-Tumoral CMP-001 in High-Risk Resectable Melanoma: Background: Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade produces major pathological responses in ~30% of patients with high-risk resectable melanoma with durable relapse-free benefit, and increased circulating activated CD8+ T cells. CMP-001 is a type A CpG packaged within a virus-like particle that activates tumor-associated plasmacytoid dendritic cells via TLR9 inducing type I interferons and anti-tumor CD8+ T cells. CMP-001/pembrolizumab produces durable anti-tumor responses in PD-1 refractory melanoma. We previously reported preliminary evidence of efficacy of neoadjuvant IT CMP/Nivo in high-risk resectable MEL; and herein present final results on 30 evaluable patients. Methods: 30 pts with stage III B/C/D MEL were enrolled. Pre-operatively, CMP-001 was dosed at 5mg subcutaneous, then 10mg IT weekly; and Nivo was dosed 240mg q2weeks for 3 doses - both over a 7-week period. Post-operatively, Nivo was dosed 480mg q4weeks with CMP-001 5mg q4 weeks SC for 48 weeks. Primary endpoints included major pathologic response rate, and incidence of dose-limiting toxicities. Secondary endpoints were radiographic response, relapse-free survival and overall survival. Pathological response was scored by blinded pathologist based on residual volume of tumor using prior cutoffs: 0%; 0%less thanRVTless than10%; 10%less thanRVTless than50% and RVTgreater than50%. Radiographic response was assessed using RECIST v1.1. Sequential blood draws and tumor biopsies were collected and analyzed for CD8+ T cell infiltrate, multiparameter flow cytometry and multiplex immunofluorescence. Results: 30 pts with advanced MEL were enrolled, and staged as: IIIB, IIIC, IIID. 29/30 of pts completed 7 weeks of neoadjuvant Nivo/CMP; while 1 pt had a delay in surgery related to a pre-operative infection unrelated to therapy. No DLTs were reported; although grade 3/4 irAE were reported in 3 pts leading to CMP-001 discontinuation in 2 pts. Radiographic responses seen in 13 pts, while 9 pts had stable disease and 8 pts had progressive disease. Pathological responses were seen in 70% of pts: pCR 15, pMR 3, 3 pPR; while 9 had pNR. Pathological responders had increased CD8+ TIL and CD303+ pDC intra-tumorally by mIF; and activated PD1+/Ki67+ CD8+ T cells by MFC peripherally. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant CMP/Nivo has an acceptable toxicity profile and promising efficacy. MPR rate is 60% in 30 pts. 1-year RFS was 82% and 89%; and median RFS is 9 months and unreached. Response is associated with evidence of immune activation intra-tumorally and peripherally. IT CMP001 together increases clinical efficacy of PD-1 blockade alone with minimal additional toxicity in neoadjuvant MEL. Title: Intravenous CMP-001, a CpG-A Toll-like receptor 9 agonist delivered via a virus-like particle, causes tumor regression in syngeneic Hepa1-6 mouse models of hepatocellular carcinoma: Background: Therapeutic options are limited for patients with liver metastases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Intratumoral and subcutaneous injections of CMP-001, a CpG-A TLR9 agonist packaged within a virus-like particle, have shown evidence of antitumor activity in patients with melanoma refractory to PD-1 blockade. In mice, CMP-001 intravenous distributes primarily to the liver, while CMP-001 subcutaneous is found mostly in local tissues and draining lymph nodes. The antitumor activity of CMP-001 intravenous and subcutaneous were compared with PD-1 blockade or sorafenib in two Hepa1-6 orthotopic mouse models of HCC. Methods: Groups of 10-15 C57BL/6J mice were orthotopically implanted with syngeneic murine hepatoma cells using two different models. Model 1 used 1.5 x 106 Hepa1-6 cells injected into the spleen following a partial hepatectomy; Model 2 used 1 x 106 Hepa1-6-Luc cells injected into the upper left lobe of intact liver. Treatment was initiated 3-7 days later with either CMP-001 intravenous or subcutaneous Q4-5Dx3-4 doses, PD-1 blocking antibody intraperitoneal Q3-4Dx2, or sorafenib QD oral. Antitumor activity was assessed by tumor imaging, liver weight, and/or survival. Results: CMP-001 was compared with PD-1 blocking antibody therapy in Model 1, the more aggressive model. All animals were sacrificed at day 15 due to institutional welfare requirements. Tumor growth inhibition was assessed by comparison of liver weight to body weight ratios, which relative to untreated control mice showed that CMP-001 intravenous achieved 85% mean TGI compared with 63% mean TGI for CMP-001 subcutaneous and 15% mean TGI for PD-1 blocking antibody intraperitoneal. CMP-001 intravenous was compared to sorafenib oral in Model 2, which utilized an engineered Hepa1-6 cell line that expresses luciferase to enable noninvasive monitoring of liver tumor growth. CMP-001 intravenous was active, with a 67% mean TGI, and survival that was comparable to sorafenib. Conclusion: In orthotopic mouse models of HCC, the antitumor activity of CMP-001 intravenous was greater than PD-1 blockade and comparable to sorafenib. CMP-001 intravenous was more active than CMP-001 subcutaneous in this model, which we hypothesize is due to increased liver exposure with intravenous infusion. Antitumor activity of CMP-001 monotherapy may be increased by combining it with standard of care or other therapies, as observed relative to historical benchmarks in ongoing CMP-001 clinical trials in patients with melanoma. CMP-001 intravenous may be a promising treatment option for patients with primary or metastatic liver cancers.
|
CLSK | Hot Stocks09:26 EDT CleanSpark awarded $370K microgrid hardware order - CleanSpark has been awarded a $370K order for its intelligent automatic transfer switch switchgear. The company's intelligent switchgear is used to automatically transfer power supply from a primary source to a backup source when it senses a failure or outage, thus assuring uninterrupted power. This order represents a follow-on order for a Houston, TX based energy developer specializing in natural gas turbine powered microgrids. The final deployments of these units are expected to be on multiple Texas locations of the nation's largest retail chain.
|
LLY | Hot Stocks09:21 EDT Eli Lilly to acquire Disarm Therapeutics for upfront payment of $135M - Eli Lilly and Company announced a definitive agreement to acquire Disarm Therapeutics, a privately-held biotechnology company creating a new class of disease-modifying therapeutics for patients with axonal degeneration. Disarm has discovered novel, potent SARM1 inhibitors and is advancing them in preclinical development, with the goal of delivering breakthrough treatments to patients with peripheral neuropathy and other neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will acquire Disarm for an upfront payment of $135M. Disarm equityholders may be eligible for up to $1.225B in additional future payments for potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones should Lilly successfully develop and commercialize new medicines resulting from the acquisition. This transaction will be reflected in Lilly's reported results and financial guidance according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. There will be no change to Lilly's 2020 non-GAAP earnings per share guidance as a result of this transaction.
|
WBA | Hot Stocks09:20 EDT Walgreens Boots Alliance sees 1H21 adjusted EPS down 17% to down 23% - Sees 2H21 adjusted EPS up 30% to up 40%. Comments taken from Q4 earnings conference call.
|
CINF | Hot Stocks09:18 EDT Cincinnati Financial reports preliminary estimated Q3 storm losses of $266M - Cincinnati Financial's consolidated Q3 results are expected to include pretax catastrophe losses of approximately $266M - representing an impact on Q3 combined ratio of approximately 18.3%, based on estimated property casualty earned premiums. The August 2020 Midwest derecho caused approximately $103M of losses, after an estimated reinsurance recovery of $17M. Hurricane Laura caused approximately $46M in losses, including $30M for Cincinnati Global Underwriting Ltdsm and $12M for Cincinnati Re. Q3 estimates also include catastrophe losses from several less severe storms. The estimate for total Q3 catastrophe losses incurred includes approximately: $128M for the commercial lines insurance segment; $83M for the personal lines insurance segment; $1M for the excess and surplus lines insurance segment; $10M for Cincinnati Re and $44M for Cincinnati Global. Estimated losses and expenses from catastrophe-related claims are expected to bring the company's Q3 property casualty combined ratio to approximately 102.6% to 104.6%. Net written premium growth is estimated to be approximately 3% for the quarte
|
TSLA | Hot Stocks09:16 EDT Tesla lowers price of Model S for second time in a week - Tesla CEO Elon Musk cut the price of the company's Model S for the second time in a week on Wednesday, saying via Twitter: "The gauntlet has been thrown down! The prophecy will be fulfilled. Model S price changes to $69,420!" Reference Link
|
BLDP HON | Hot Stocks09:15 EDT Ballard Power sells UAV business to Honeywell, terms not disclosed - Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) announced that it has sold the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle business assets of its subsidiary located in Southborough, Massachusetts to Honeywell (HON). All employees of the UAV subsidiary will transition to Honeywell Aerospace. Financial terms have not been disclosed. The companies are also committed to a long-term strategic collaboration to combine Ballard's expertise in fuel cell technology with Honeywell's leadership in aerospace and are working on agreements in respect of this collaboration.
|
CMTL | Hot Stocks09:12 EDT Comtech awarded $2.6M of additional funding on a previously announced order - Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its first quarter of fiscal 2021, its Mission-Critical Technologies group, which is part of Comtech's Government Solutions segment, was awarded $2.6M of additional funding on a previously announced $223.4M contract to provide Very Small Aperture Terminals to support the U.S. Army. The contract has been funded $217.6M to date.
|
SMAR MIME | Hot Stocks09:11 EDT Smartsheet selected by Mimecast to be deployed across organization - Smartsheet (SMAR) announced Mimecast (MIME) has selected Smartsheet to drive strategic enterprise initiatives across its organization. As more companies leverage the leading SaaS security solution, Mimecast looked to scale its strategic enterprise initiatives but needed to develop a standardized process to increase overall efficiency and speed. Mimecast uses Smartsheet to manage, track and execute ongoing strategic initiatives by streamlining processes and collaboration across departments. Smartsheet's capabilities also provide the company's executive team with visibility into the ongoing projects, progress status, and key success metrics.
|
CMTL | Hot Stocks09:10 EDT Comtech achieveISO 9001:2015 re-certification for location technologies - Comtech Telecommunications has obtained re-certification of its ISO 9001:2015 designation. The ISO 9001 standard certification is used by organizations to demonstrate their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements and to exhibit continuous improvement. The certification is a key indicator of Comtech's dedication to Quality Management Systems. The standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. To meet ISO standards, a company must demonstrate that its processes are tailored to performance improvement organization-wide. The designation requires re-certification every three years to maintain ISO 9001 status.
|
RST | Hot Stocks09:09 EDT Rosetta Stone trading halted, news dissemination
|
HURN | Hot Stocks09:08 EDT Huron announces acquisition of ForceIQ, terms undisclosed - Global professional services firm Huron announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire ForceIQ, a leading Salesforce Industries partner focused on helping clients drive digital transformation and innovation at scale powered by the cloud. Huron and ForceIQ will use their combined industry, functional and technical expertise to help organizations create exceptional digital customer experiences that drive long-term growth. "Businesses are being forced to rethink how they engage with their customers and reassess how they get work done as a result of the disruption in today's economic environment," said James H. Roth, chief executive officer of Huron. "This acquisition accelerates Huron's commitment to helping our clients better compete in disruptive and highly competitive markets." ForceIQ, a certified Salesforce Industries partner, helps organizations design, build and bring to market products, services and experiences powered by Salesforce. Since its founding in 2018, ForceIQ has focused on providing digital innovation for patients, providers and payors using the Salesforce and Vlocity technologies. More than 65 global employees will join Huron in addition to the business's founders, Daniel Townsend, Jonathan Williams and Deepak Bandi.
|
IBM NOW | Hot Stocks09:08 EDT IBM and ServiceNow expand partnership with new joint solution - IBM (IBM) and ServiceNow (NOW) are expanding their strategic partnership designed to apply AI to automate IT operations. Available later this year, a new joint solution will combine IBM's AI-powered hybrid cloud software and professional services to ServiceNow's intelligent workflow capabilities and IT service and operations management products. The solution is engineered to help clients realize AI-driven insights from their data, create a baseline of a typical IT environment, and take recommended actions on outlying behavior to help prevent and fix IT issues at scale. IBM and ServiceNow will deliver a joint IT solution that marries IBM Watson AIOps with ServiceNow's intelligent workflow capabilities and market-leading ITSM and ITOM Visibility products to help customers prevent and fix IT issues at scale.
|
MGA | Hot Stocks09:08 EDT Magna to collaborate with Fisker on engineering, manufacturing of Fisker Ocean - As part of Magna's strategic direction to support traditional automakers as well as new entrants, the company announced that it has signed agreements with Fisker Inc. that provide the framework for a platform sharing and manufacturing cooperation for the Fisker Ocean SUV. Fisker, an e-mobility automaker, announced plans to start production in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Fisker Ocean will initially be manufactured exclusively by Magna in Europe. The vehicle will leverage Magna's EV architecture combined with the Fisker-Flexible Platform Adaptive Design to create a lightweight, aluminum intensive platform for the Fisker Ocean. As part of the cooperation, Fisker will issue Magna warrants to purchase shares currently representing approximately 6% of its equity.
|
TGEN | Hot Stocks09:06 EDT Tecogen receives order for three Tecopower systems - Tecogen announced the sale of three 75 kW Tecopower systems to an Energy Services Company. The units will be installed on behalf of a Housing Authority in Massachusetts.
|
GOGO | Hot Stocks09:05 EDT Gogo's AVANCE L3 selected by Textron Aviation for Beechcraft King Air 360 - Gogo Business Aviation's AVANCE L3 system has been selected by Textron Aviation as a factory option on new production Beechcraft King Air 360/360ER aircraft. The King Air 360 is the first model in the King Air turboprop family to offer the AVANCE L3 as a factory option. The aircraft is currently in production with customer deliveries expected to begin in the coming weeks. The updated flagship turboprop King Air 360 offers the latest technological advancements in the cockpit and in the cabin, including the AVANCE L3 for inflight connectivity and entertainment.
|
JCOM | Hot Stocks09:05 EDT j2 Global partners with NAACP on $6M media program - J2 Globa announced a contribution to the NAACP of $6M in advertising inventory across J2 Global media properties, over three years, to advance key NAACP messages and initiatives. J2 began working with NAACP in the aftermath of George Floyd's death with the launch of its "#WeAreDoneDying" campaign across J2 Global digital media properties, promoting NAACP's social movement urging Congress to take measures to ensure Black lives are protected. In fall 2020, J2 distributed NAACP's campaign to increase civic participation. "We are excited to partner with J2 to advance critical messages around the issues that impact the Black community," said Aba Blankson, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, of NAACP. "J2's commitment to racial equity and the promotion of social justice initiatives could not come at a more crucial time. While our nation grapples with one of the most tumultuous years in its history, we all have a role to play in eradicating systemic racism. As one of the largest media brands on the globe, we are pleased that J2 has picked up the baton in the most meaningful way." "It's an honor to partner with the country's leading civil rights organization," said Vivek Shah, CEO of J2 Global. "We proudly support NAACP's vision and ongoing efforts to eradicate racial inequality and injustice."
|
FMBI | Hot Stocks09:05 EDT First Midwest to consolidate 17 branches in early 2021 - First Midwest Bancorp announced plans to optimize its retail branch network as part of its ongoing commitment to best meet the evolving needs and preferences of its clients. By the end of 2020, First Midwest will fully re-open the lobbies of 23 branches that were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2021, it will consolidate 17 branches, or approximately 15% of its branch network. Following these actions, First Midwest's branch distribution network will remain one of the largest in the Chicagoland area, serving clients from 105 locations. The branch consolidations will have minimal impact on market coverage for First Midwest clients. Nearly all locations are within close proximity of another First Midwest branch, and approximately half have been closed over the past six months due to the pandemic.
|
ZI | Hot Stocks09:04 EDT ZoomInfo acquires Clickagy - ZoomInfo announced that it has acquired Clickagy, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered buyer intent data. Along with this acquisition, ZoomInfo is launching Streaming Intent, a solution that identifies companies with above-average search volume on business-to-business, or B2B, topics within minutes of their web activity. As ZoomInfo continues to enhance its go-to-market intelligence platform, the acquisition of Clickagy provides sellers and marketers with streaming behavioral intent data that is expansive and customizable. Using an advanced natural language processing engine which correctly identifies context, Clickagy's technology delivers stronger, more reliable intent signals in real time. Clickagy's extensive database gathers intent data from over 300,000 publisher domains and includes 6 trillion-plus new keyword-to-device pairings each month, sourced from over 91 percent of accessible devices in the United States.
|
VERB | Hot Stocks09:04 EDT Verb Technology adds Market America to roster of clients - VERB Technology Company announced that Market America has begun adoption of verbCRM, VERB's interactive video-based customer relationship management and sales enablement platform, for its global network of entrepreneurs or distributors. Market America's primary shopping website, SHOP.COM, provides consumers access to approximately 300 million products, including Market America's exclusive brands and thousands of top retail brands.
|
NDAQ | Hot Stocks09:04 EDT Dealpath announces strategic investment from Nasdaq Ventures - Dealpath announced a strategic investment from Nasdaq's investment arm, Nasdaq Ventures, as it continues to rapidly expand its modern, cloud-based real estate deal management platform. Nasdaq's strategic investment in Dealpath initiates a developing partnership to further enhance real estate investment workflows and supports Dealpath's vision of creating an efficient, digital, global marketplace for the built world.
|
HON BLDP | Hot Stocks09:03 EDT Honeywell acquires Ballard Power's Ballard Unmanned Systems - Honeywell (HON) has acquired assets from privately held Ballard Unmanned Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ballard Power Systems (BLDP). Ballard Unmanned Systems designs and produces stored-hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems that power unmanned aerial systems, particularly those used for energy inspection, cargo delivery, and other commercial and defense applications where demand for UAS services is growing. Honeywell is acquiring the key intellectual property, inventory and equipment of Ballard Unmanned Systems. Ballard's team of fuel-cell experts will also join Honeywell as part of the acquisition. Honeywell intends to introduce a family of fuel cell power systems for a variety of UAS vehicles. Honeywell will also collaborate with Ballard Power Systems on broader aviation applications.
|
EVC | Hot Stocks09:03 EDT Entravision acquires a majority investment in Cisneros Interactive - Entravision Communications announced that Entravision has acquired a majority investment in Cisneros Interactive. This investment deepens and enhances Entravision's digital product offerings, while positioning the combined platforms to be one of the largest premier digital advertising companies serving the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets.
|
UAL | Hot Stocks09:03 EDT United Airlines starts COVID-19 testing program at San Francisco airport - Customers traveling on United from San Francisco International Airport to Hawaii were the first to experience the airline's COVID-19 pilot testing program, allowing customers who return a negative result to bypass the state's mandatory quarantine requirements and enjoy their time on the islands sooner. In collaboration with San Francisco International Airport, customers now have the option to take a same-day, pre-flight rapid test at the airport or a conveniently-located drive-through test at United's San Francisco Maintenance Center ahead of their trip. United has been approved by the Hawaii Department of Health as a trusted testing and travel partner and was the first U.S. carrier to announce its plans to make COVID-19 tests available to customers.
|
ICBK | Hot Stocks09:02 EDT County Bancorp appoints Andrew Steimle as chairman of the board - County Bancorp recently named Andrew Steimle as Chairman of the Board. Steimle has served on the County Bancorp, Inc. and Investors Community Bank board of directors since April 2008 and has been active on various committees since joining the board. He is a business and real estate attorney practicing in Wisconsin since 1995 and is a founding partner of Steimle Birschbach LLC. The firm is a boutique law firm concentrating in legal matters pertaining to business, real estate and estate planning.
|
MS | Hot Stocks09:01 EDT Morgan Stanley sees resuming buybacks in Q1
|
MIRM | Hot Stocks08:58 EDT Mirum Pharmaceuticals partnering with Eversana for U.S. launch of maralixibat - Mirum Pharmaceuticals has partnered with Eversana, a provider of commercial services to the life science industry, to lead the U.S. market access, distribution and patient services for maralixibat. Maralixibat is a novel, minimally absorbed, orally administered apical sodium dependent bile acid transporter inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of cholestatic pruritus in patients with Alagille syndrome. Mirum initiated its rolling New Drug Application to the FDA in August, expects to complete the NDA submission in 1Q21, and is preparing for launch in the second half of 2021. Mirum will utilize Eversana's commercialization platform to provide integrated nationwide distribution, specialty pharmacy, patient services and Hub support for maralixibat, if approved.
|
TGNA | Hot Stocks08:58 EDT Tegna sees full year subscription revenue up in the 'high-twenties percentage' - Full year subscription revenue growth is now expected to be up in the high-twenties percentage-wise compared to 2019, an improvement from our prior outlook of up mid-twenties reaffirmed on August 10.
|
OCN | Hot Stocks08:58 EDT Ocwen comments on settlement with Florida AG, Office of Financial Regulation - Ocwen Financial issued the following statement in conjunction with the resolution of the lawsuit filed in 2017 against the Company by the State of Florida Office of the Attorney General and State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation regarding certain legacy servicing activities. "Ocwen believes that it has sound legal and factual defenses to all of the State of Florida's claims but concluded that it is in the best interest of its stakeholders to resolve this matter without admitting liability in order to avoid the further distraction and expense of litigation. With the resolution of this lawsuit, the Company has resolved the last state matter arising from the legacy actions taken in April 2017. We believe Ocwen's servicing practices have and continue to result in substantial benefits to consumers. Since the financial crisis, we have helped more than 1.5 million U.S. homeowners in need of assistance avoid foreclosure, forgiven approximately $19 billion in mortgage debt and, most recently, provided forbearance relief to more than 170,000 homeowners who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to continuing to work proactively and productively with our home-state regulators to create positive outcomes for the customers we serve." The settlement includes a combined total payment to the State of Florida of $5,160,000, and an additional $1 million payable in two years in the event specific loan modification-related obligations are not satisfied during that time. In addition, the Company has agreed to certain late fee waivers, a targeted loan modification program for certain eligible Florida borrowers, and certain non-monetary reporting and handling obligations. The settlement will result in an incremental accrual to the Company's recorded liability as reported at June 30, 2020 that Ocwen believes is not material to its financial condition.
|
MS | Hot Stocks08:53 EDT Morgan Stanley encouraged by client engagement in first few weeks of Q4
|
MCD | Hot Stocks08:53 EDT McDonald's names Mahrukh Hussain as interim general counsel
|
MCD | Hot Stocks08:52 EDT McDonald's general counsel retiring after Parkinson's disease diagnosis - In a regulatory filing, McDonald's said that on October 12, Jerome Krulewitch, Corporate Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, notified McDonald's Corporation that he will retire from his current role, effective immediately. Krulewitch has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and has been advised by doctors to step down from his role. A search is underway and until Krulewitch's successor is identified, Mahrukh Hussain, who was serving as the U.S. General Counsel, will take on the role of Interim General Counsel and Secretary.
|
MIRM | Hot Stocks08:52 EDT Mirum partners with Eversana in commercialization of Maralixibat - Mirum Pharmaceuticals announced it has partnered with EVERSANA, a leading provider of commercial services to the life science industry, to lead the U.S. market access, distribution and patient services for maralixibat. Maralixibat is a novel, minimally absorbed, orally administered apical sodium dependent bile acid transporter inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of cholestatic pruritus in patients with Alagille syndrome, ALGS. Mirum initiated its rolling New Drug Application, NDA, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2020, expects to complete the NDA submission in the first quarter of 2021, and is preparing for launch in the second half of 2021. Mirum will utilize EVERSANA's commercialization platform to provide integrated nationwide distribution, specialty pharmacy, patient services and Hub support for maralixibat, if approved. "We are working diligently to prepare for the potential launch of maralixibat in the United States and one of the most important components is ensuring comprehensive support for patients and their families," said Chris Peetz, president and chief executive officer at Mirum. "We are pleased to partner with EVERSANA and are confident in their ability to provide end-to-end services to ensure maralixibat will reach patients and their families efficiently and effectively once the medication is available for prescribing. In parallel, we are preparing to file a marketing authorization application for maralixibat in PFIC2 this year, and these programs will help to refine our strategies as we finalize launch plans in Europe."
|
CWT | Hot Stocks08:47 EDT CPUC issues proposed decision on California Water's 2018 general rate case - An Administrative Law Judge with the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision yesterday in the 2018 General Rate Case and Infrastructure Improvement Plan for California Water Service. The proposed decision is subject to adoption by the CPUC and can be considered no earlier than the CPUC's Nov. 19, 2020 meeting. If adopted as proposed, the decision would approve the settlement reached in October 2019 by Cal Water and the CPUC's Public Advocates Office, allow Cal Water to continue its decoupling balancing accounts through 2022, and allow Cal Water to retain its pension and medical cost balancing accounts. The proposed decision further resolves a small number of other issues which were not included in the settlement. Under this proposed decision, Cal Water would be authorized to invest $828 million in its districts throughout California through 2021. This includes $148M of water system infrastructure upgrades that would be recovered via the CPUC's advice letter procedure after those projects are completed. The proposed decision authorizes Cal Water to increase total revenue company-wide by approximately $6.6M in 2020, $20.3M in 2021, $20.9M in 2022, and up to $17.3M when the advice letter projects are completed. Rate changes would vary by service area.
|
CNDT | Hot Stocks08:46 EDT Conduent receives 'Visa Ready for Transit' certification for ATLAS Ops system - Conduent Transportation announced that its ATLAS Ops fare collection system has achieved Visa Ready for Transit certification. Conduent's ATLAS Open Media back-office module and its VPE 430 smartcard ticket validator device have been certified by the international Visa Ready for Transit program, which recognizes ready-to-deploy solutions that simplify payments for public transportation services and reduce the need for traditional tickets or smartcards. The certification provides transit agencies with the confidence that technology partners, such as Conduent Transportation, offer solutions and capabilities to simplify the process of identifying the right partner and expertise, streamline testing and implementation, and meet Visa's standards for security.
|
GRIL | Hot Stocks08:42 EDT Muscle Maker targets store openings across all aspects of non-traditional model - The company said, "As a newly public company, we feel it is important to provide open dialog and updates to our investors, in order to keep everyone abreast of the execution on our commitment to our non-traditional location growth strategy. After the market close on October 14th, the Company published, via an 8K filing, a detailed investor update letter. This update letter is meant as a progress report regarding where we are today and where we hope to be in the near future...While nearly everyone has been impacted in some way from COVID, we see opportunity within the recent economic dislocation. We have seen an increased focus on, and an acceleration in, the adoption of our health-oriented offering throughout our conversations with larger non-traditional channels. An intended use of proceeds from our mid-February IPO was allocated to the continued expansion on the military front. With the opening of Camp Elmore we have remained committed to what we feel is a large and unique opportunity in the military. The pandemic has slowed this growth path, but the plan is still very much intact and we are beginning to see movement on that front, and hope to continue our expansion there very soon. To support those efforts, we have nominated Major General Malcolm Frost for a seat on our board; if successfully voted in, he will help steward our military expansion plans, not only with the Army, but throughout all of the branches of the Armed Forces. A second area of non-traditional growth focus is a planned geographic expansion via the "Ghost Kitchen" model, while this had started pre-COVID, it has been greatly accelerated and emphasized as a result of our current environment. We continue to feel that this is an excellent opportunity, not only for the immediate future, but one that matches the changing dynamics of the industry. We were early movers in this area and formed a relationship with one of the largest and best funded players in this sector. We have previously announced an initial 10 location commitment to the "Ghost Kitchen" delivery-only model and have since signed leases for nine of these locations. We currently have opened three ghost kitchen locations with another four locations under construction and anticipated to open over the next quarter. We continue to hold discussions with several ghost kitchen companies and identify new locations to support our growth initiatives. Our plan currently calls for an additional 30+ ghost kitchens across multiple geographic markets. Ghost kitchens are a capital-light, company-owned expansion opportunity by which we can significantly increase our footprint, geographic reach and brand awareness in a way that we feel better fits both the current environment and the future of the quick service restaurant segment. We believe ghost kitchens are highly disruptive to the restaurant industry especially given the current Covid-19 climate and the growing need for off-premise food services and delivery. As an extension of this concept, we recently announced a pilot agreement with Reef Technology. Reef's standalone kitchens are located in neighborhoods which are underserved by traditional delivery methods and will complement our ghost kitchen portfolio nicely. Reef is different from our other Ghost Kitchen relationships as they operate under a licensing agreement, which requires no capital outlay by Muscle Maker. We are hopeful that the pilot program, which gets under way in November/December can lead to a more in-depth relationship. A third area of our non-traditional growth path includes universities. To date we have announced five location wins, recently opening two locations on the NOVA Community College Campus in Virginia and we intend to open Texas Tech by year end. Universities, like the Military opportunity, are an ideal strategic and demographic fit, as gaining access provides a high barrier to entrance on the competitive front, and student populations present large captive audiences with less economic sensitivity. The nation-wide opportunity for expansion throughout the University systems is something we intend to focus intensely on, and we anticipate having more to update investors on in this regard in the immediate future. This month we successfully raised an additional $5.6m of equity to further strengthen our balance sheet, and to ensure that we are well capitalized to execute on our in-hand opportunities. Some of these opportunities have been previously announced and we will continue to provide updates as we continue to see our pipeline of attractive non-traditional opportunities grow. While our focus will remain on the non-traditional niche, the significant dislocation experienced by the entire restaurant industry has also began to present inorganic opportunities that may offer a more rapid and accretive growth path relative to our currently presented plans. This is not to say that we would pivot away from our organic expansion, but rather, look to augment that growth if the opportunity to buy vs build presents better economics and strategic synergies."
|
MS | Hot Stocks08:42 EDT Morgan Stanley's equity underwriting pipeline 'remains healthy'
|
MS | Hot Stocks08:42 EDT Morgan Stanley looks to reinstate distribution plan in Q1 if approval secured
|
MS | Hot Stocks08:40 EDT Morgan Stanley CFO: YTD revenue hits post-crisis record - Comments taken from Q3 earnings conference call.
|
ORBC | Hot Stocks08:40 EDT MarineTraffic extends partnership with Orbcomm for satellite AIS data - ORBCOMM announced that MarineTraffic has extended their contract through the end of 2023 for ORBCOMM's satellite Automatic Identification System data used for ship tracking and other maritime navigational and safety efforts.
|
ECL | Hot Stocks08:39 EDT Ecolab renews partnership with American Hotel & Lodging Association - Ecolab has renewed its partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Association, AHLA. This continued partnership comes as the hospitality industry, which has always met rigorous cleaning and safety standards, works to meet new health and safety expectations presented by COVID-19. "Ecolab has always been a strong partner to the hotel industry. As we navigate these unprecedented times, we are grateful for Ecolab's support and expertise," said Chip Rogers, AHLA president and CEO. "We appreciate Ecolab's technical knowledge on industry programs like AHLA's Safe Stay initiative and value their continued work to advance cleaner, safer practices for the hospitality industry at large. We look forward to continuing our partnership and collaborating for years to come."
|
DKNG | Hot Stocks08:38 EDT DraftKings, Turner Sports enter multi-year agreement - DraftKings and Turner Sports have entered into a multi-year agreement making the digital sports entertainment and gaming company the exclusive sportsbook and daily fantasy sports provider across select Turner Sports and Bleacher Report properties, excluding NBA programming. Under the arrangement, DraftKings will provide sports betting information and daily fantasy content across Turner Sports telecasts and Bleacher Report digital channels including the B/R app. Planned integrations will include custom content segments, DraftKings' betting odds and daily fantasy statistics, original content, personalized automated alerts and editorial across B/R channels including the B/R Betting vertical.
|
UAVS | Hot Stocks08:37 EDT Ageagle Aerial Systems enters contract manufacturing agreement with Valqari - AgEagle Aerial Systems has entered into a two-year exclusive contract manufacturing agreement with Valqari, LLC to produce Valqari's Drone Delivery Station. Valqari's patented station is the only solution that has solved the "last inch" logistic problems associated with drone deliveries and it allows for an entirely automated and safe drone package delivery. Built to Valqari's patented design specifications, AgEagle will manufacture and assemble the Drone Delivery Stations in its new manufacturing and assembly facility in Wichita, Kansas. In related news, AgEagle announced that it has also made an equity investment in Valqari in association with its current early stage funding round.
|
RDVT | Hot Stocks08:35 EDT FOREWARN partners with Southern Indiana REALTORS Association - FOREWARN announced that the Southern Indiana REALTOR Association has contracted to make FOREWARN services available for the 700+ primary REALTOR members it serves in Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Orange, Scott, and Washington counties as well as several Kentucky counties in the Louisville area in an effort to promote proactive real estate agent safety.
|
ETON | Hot Stocks08:34 EDT Eton receives FDA acceptance for NDA filing for zonisamide oral suspension - Eton Pharmaceuticals announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing the company's new drug application for zonisamide oral suspension. The application has been assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of May 29, 2021. The application was submitted for the treatment of partial seizures in patients with epilepsy. Zonisamide is one of Eton's three neurology-focused oral liquid product candidates that have been submitted to the FDA, and all three product candidates are expected to be approved and launched in 2021.
|
HIHO | Hot Stocks08:34 EDT Highway Holdings gets initial $1.5M order from gaming console maker Playmaji - Highway Holdings announced that the company has received an initial manufacturing order valued at approximately $1.5M from Playmaji, a California-based company, for an "innovative gaming console designed to play new and legacy video games with premium quality and patent-protected modular gaming technology," said the company. The order is the first order received under an exclusive two-year contract to manufacture Playmaji's new Polymega game consoles and accessories. The exclusive manufacturing agreement, if fully utilized during the two-year period, represents a value of not less than $8.8M. "The location of our operations in Myanmar and the company's top-quality capabilities were important considerations in this customer's selection of Highway Holdings. However, the initial order will be produced at the company's facility in China due to current travel restrictions in order to meet delivery schedules for the expected holiday seasonal demand. We anticipate this product line will contribute meaningfully to the company's sales during the next few years, supported by exciting consumer marketing initiatives by Playmaji and increasing home entertainment demand due to the worldwide impact of the coronavirus. We look forward to mutual success and a long-term relationship," said Roland Kohl, chairman, president and chief executive officer. Kohl noted that the manufacturing contract was the result of a cooperative spirit over a considerable time period, and an extensive prototype development program. "Given our strict quality requirements and risks associated with today's ever-changing geopolitical climate, we found great value in the investments that Highway Holdings made to expand its operations into Myanmar, while also maintaining a presence in South China -- a large hub for our international supply chain. The team at Highway Holdings has been critical to executing our vision of Polymega brand products to date, and we are excited to bring Polymega into market this year in cooperation with the company's expert production team," said Bryan Bernal, chief executive officer and co-founder of Playmaji. As part of the exclusivity agreement, Highway Holdings was granted a two-year option to purchase up to 10% of the equity of Playmaji.
|
EDTK | Hot Stocks08:33 EDT Skillful Craftsman expects to launch new Cloud Education Platform in Q4 - Skillful Craftsman Education Technology announced that a new version of its Cloud Education Platform is undergoing final testing and is expected to launch in fourth quarter 2020. The new version of its Cloud Education Platform will be designed to implement the latest innovative technology and a new structural concept. After six months of development and construction, it is now entering the final internal testing stage. The Company plans to launch the platform upon successful completion of this internal testing. This new version of the Cloud Platform will utilize a new infrastructure that will augment capacity, security, and various front-end functional add-ons. With increased cloud and system capacity, the new infrastructure is being designed to accommodate and operate with larger data loads, providing faster processing and response times. It is anticipated that these capabilities will enable new add-on functions and will be compatible with the emerging 5G infrastructure. Security enhancements will be deployed in the new infrastructure to improve the security and stability of the operating system, heightened information encryption, as well as anti-theft and anti-download protection for course materials and other student resources. The new infrastructure is also being designed to prevent SQL and XSS attacks. This new infrastructure is being designed to allow for a variety of front-end functional add-ons and layout upgrades that are not offered on the current platform, so that the platform can support compatible layouts and optimized learning tools, facilitating better user habits and user experience.
|
ROK | Hot Stocks08:32 EDT Rockwell Automation to reverse salary reductions, reinstate 401(k) match - Rockwell Automation announced that temporary salary reductions implemented in May will be reversed at the end of November. The company match for U.S. employees participating in the 401(k) retirement savings plan will also be reinstated at that time. Blake Moret, Rockwell Automation chairman and CEO, said, "I appreciate our employees' dedication to our customers, communities, and each other during these challenging times. Their safety, engagement, technical innovation and domain expertise are the foundation of our success. Disciplined control of costs and a gradually improving market environment enable us to reverse these actions before the end of the calendar year, one month earlier than the plan we announced in July. As we continue to closely manage costs in an uncertain environment, our differentiated technology, domain expertise and recent acquisitions position us well to profitably accelerate growth."
|
SABR AAL | Hot Stocks08:32 EDT Sabre, American Airlines renew global distribution agreement - Sabre (SABR) and American Airlines (AAL) have renewed their long-term, worldwide distribution agreement. Sabre will continue to distribute American Airlines flights and services through the Sabre travel marketplace, ensuring that Sabre connected-agencies will continue to have access to the same American Airlines content. American Airlines employs Sabre's travel marketplace as well its SabreSonic reservations system, and multiple other airline IT solutions.
|
ALL | Hot Stocks08:27 EDT Allstate announces September catastrophe losses of $339M - Allstate announced estimated catastrophe losses for the month of September of $339M, pre-tax. Catastrophe losses in September included 20 events at an estimated cost of $293M, pre-tax, plus unfavorable reserve reestimates. Eleven wildfire events across California, Oregon and Washington accounted for approximately 65% of September estimated catastrophe losses. Unfavorable reserve reestimates during the month of September primarily related to $64M of reserve strengthening, net of anticipated reinsurance recoveries, from Hurricane Laura. Allstate previously announced $651M, pre-tax, in estimated catastrophe losses for July and August, bringing estimated catastrophe losses for Q3 to $990M, pre-tax.
|
PACB | Hot Stocks08:25 EDT Pacific Biosciences, Children's Mercy Kansas City partner to fight rare disease - Children's Mercy Kansas City and Pacific Biosciences of California announced a collaboration designed to further understand the most challenging pediatric diseases. The organizations will team up to sequence a statistically significant cohort of rare disease cases for which previous whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing studies yielded no answers. It is estimated that as many as 25 million Americans - approximately 1 in 13 people - are affected by a rare, and often undiagnosed, condition. In rare disease studies, conventional techniques for whole-genome and whole-exome analysis based on short-read sequencing typically lead to identification of a causal variant in less than 50% of cases. Utilizing PacBio's Single Molecule, Real-Time Sequencing technology to generate highly accurate long reads, known as HiFi reads, clinical researchers have demonstrated that they can detect disease-causing structural and small variants missed by short-read sequencing platforms. This new study is designed to evaluate the rate at which HiFi sequencing identifies overlooked causal variation. The Children's Mercy Research Institute at Children's Mercy has launched Genomic Answers for Kids, a first-of-its-kind clinical data repository to facilitate the search for answers and novel treatments for pediatric genetic conditions. The goal is to collect genomic data and health information for 30,000 children and their families over the next seven years, ultimately creating a database of nearly 100,000 genomes. Children's Mercy has recently invested in Sequel II Systems to incorporate HiFi sequencing into this effort. As part of the new collaboration, scientists will evaluate the ability of HiFi data to reproduce all variants previously detected by short-read methods and to identify novel variants that could explain disease phenotypes. Children's Mercy and PacBio will be working with the Microsoft Genomics team to build Microsoft Azure cloud-based analysis solutions and a data repository for this unique data set.
|
NBEV | Hot Stocks08:23 EDT NewAge's DSD Division on track for double-digit organic growth in 2020 - NewAge announced that its DSD Division has added ZenWTR, to its portfolio and is on track to record double-digit organic growth in 2020 over 2019. NewAge has been awarded the exclusive distribution rights in its market area for ZenWTR. Every bottle of ZenWTR is made from 100% recycled, Certified Ocean-Bound plastic sourced from coastal environments. The brand is vapor distilled, has a 9.5pH alkalinity level, and is infused with electrolytes for superior hydration and minerals for a pure, clean, and crisp taste. As part of the launch, NewAge will be providing special blitz programs and incentives, along with multiple in-market activities to drive increased availability, awareness, and consumer trial. The model that NewAge is employing is consistent with what it has been doing with many of its long-standing partners like Sparkling Ice, Jarritos, and others that are recently experiencing record growth.
|
PVCT | Hot Stocks08:22 EDT Provectus announces acceptance of PV-10 pancreatic cancer abstract - Provectus announced that H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center will present non-clinical data from ongoing research on investigational autolytic cancer immunotherapy PV-10, an injectable formulation of Provectus' proprietary rose bengal disodium, as a single-agent and in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs, to be held online from November 9-14, 2020. RBD selectively accumulates in the lysosomes of cancer cells upon contact, disrupts these lysosomes, and causes the cells to die. Intralesional administration of PV-10 for the treatment of solid tumors can yield immunogenic cell death and induce tumor-specific reactivity in circulating T cells. The abstract accepted for poster presentation at SITC 2020 is entitled "Intralesional injection of rose bengal augments the efficacy of gemcitabine chemotherapy against pancreatic tumors". Moffitt co-authors include Patrick Innamarato, PhD, Jennifer Morse, MS, Amy Mackay, Sarah Asby, Matthew Beatty, PhD, Jaime Blauvelt, Scott Kidd, John Mullinax, MD, Amod Sarnaik, MD, and Shari Pilon-Thomas, PhD.
|
EVFM | Hot Stocks08:18 EDT Evofem secures $25M strategic investment from Adjuvant Capital - Evofem Biosciences has sold $25M of unsecured convertible promissory notes to funds affiliated with Adjuvant Capital. The notes are convertible into shares of Evofem common stock at a conversion price of $3.65 per share. Proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used to support EVOGUARD, Evofem's planned Phase 3 clinical trial of EVO100 for the prevention of urogenital chlamydia and gonorrhea in women, and to expand global market access for Phexxi vaginal contraceptive gel. Phexxi, a non-hormonal vaginal contraceptive gel, was approved in May 2020 by the FDA. The company launched Phexxi in the U.S: on September 8 and intends to commercialize Phexxi outside the U.S. with global biopharmaceutical partners. Evofem is on track to initiate the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial EVOGUARD in Q4 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EVO100 for the prevention of urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea in women. There are no FDA-approved prescription products for the prevention of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea infections. EVO100 has been granted Fast Track Designation for the prevention of chlamydia in women by the FDA, and is an FDA-designated Qualified Infectious Disease Product for the prevention of gonorrhea in women.
|
TRNX | Hot Stocks08:16 EDT BBHC announces resignation of all independent directors - BBHC announced that the Company's three independent Directors have all tendered their formal resignation from the Company's Board of Directors. All three resignations were voluntary and were effective September 30, 2020. None of these resignations were the result of any disagreements with the policies, practices or procedures of the Company. In conjunction with these resignations, the Company appointed its CFO Tyler Wilson to the Board of Directors. The Company also appointed Scott Mahoney, its CEO to the role of Chairman of the Board.
|
ATIF | Hot Stocks08:15 EDT ATIF Holdings signs strategic collaboration with Dongshan IITB - ATIF Holdings announced that through its viable interest entity, Qianhai Asia Times International Finance Services Co. Ltd., it signed a strategic collaboration agreement on October 11, 2020 with the Industry and Information Technology Bureau of Dongshan County in Fujian Province, to target the Dongshan-based enterprises as potential clients for the Company, for its financial consulting and overseas listing advisory services. Based on the strategic collaboration, Dongshan IITB will be responsible for organizing financial forums, salons and exchange activities for the local enterprises to connect with ATIF. ATIF will provide its professional services such as investment and financing consulting, connection of investment institutions and overseas listing advisory to the companies selected by Dongshan IITB.
|
TTNP | Hot Stocks08:14 EDT Titan Pharmaceuticals announces strategic restructuring - Titan Pharmaceuticals announced a strategic restructuring. The company plans to: restructure the company to focus on ProNeura-based product development, specifically a kappa opioid receptor agonist and nalmefene; discontinue its U.S. Probuphine implant sales and wind down Probuphine commercialization activities; make strategic senior management changes; substantially reduce its operating costs; and complete negotiations with its lenders to eliminate outstanding debt. Probuphine is the first product based on Titan's ProNeura technology approved in the U.S., Canada and the EU for the maintenance treatment of opioid use disorder. Titan determined to wind down its U.S. Probuphine business and redirect its focus and resources on its ProNeura-based product development efforts. The company believes that administration of JT-09 ProNeura implants could potentially deliver therapeutic concentrations of JT-09 in the treatment of pruritus for up to one year. In Q1, the company met with the to review its development plans and obtain guidance regarding filing an IND for its nalmefene implant development program. Titan expects to complete the IND-enabling non-clinical studies in mid-2021, followed by filing of the IND. Current Executive Chairman Marc Rubin will assume the position of Chairman and CEO and its current Executive VP and Chief Scientific Officer, Kate DeVarney will be appointed President and COO. While there will be costs in the near term associated with the wind down of commercial operations and Titan's transition back to a development stage company, the change is expected to result in a lower operating cash burn moving forward. Titan is in negotiations to eliminate its outstanding debt, which is secured by a lien on all of its assets.
|
VSAT AVAV | Hot Stocks08:14 EDT ViaSat, AeroVironment to collaborate on contract awarded under RCSUS initiative - Viasat (VSAT) and AeroVironment (AVAV) announced they will collaborate on a contract awarded under the U.S. Army Reconfigurable Communications for Small Unmanned Systems initiative. The project will provide U.S. military customers flying small UAS platforms the ability to deploy a robust, on-demand, highly-secure communications network that will address the growing electronic warfare capabilities of peer and near-peer adversaries. Viasat is the prime contractor on the award and will work with AeroVironment to develop and demonstrate advanced, encrypted communications suitable for AeroVironment's portable, hand-launched Puma AE tactical UAS. The two companies will seek to strengthen the communications and transmission security of AeroVironment's Digital Data Link radios currently used by the U.S. Army by converting them into a Type 1 crypto communication system for video and data transmission.
|
THRM | Hot Stocks08:13 EDT Gentherm launches ASTOPAD Patient Warming System - Gentherm announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has launched the ASTOPAD Patient Warming System in the United States. The ASTOPAD system can be utilized in all surgical procedures and helps prevent and treat hypothermia in patients throughout the perioperative journey. The ASTOPAD Patient Warming System is a proven device that has been utilized by hospitals outside the United States since 1989. The system consists of a silent electronic controller and a selection of proprietary warming blankets. The controller has two cable connections that can control two blankets simultaneously. A warming blanket can be placed over and/or under the patient, where the temperature settings of the controller range from 32 degrees C - 39 degrees C, and can be set individually in precise 0.5 degrees C increments.
|
DNLI | Hot Stocks08:12 EDT Denali Therapeutics to highlight progress across biotherapeutics portfolio - Denali Therapeutics will host a virtual R&D Day webinar highlighting progress across the Company's broad and diverse biotherapeutics portfolio enabled by its BBB transport vehicle platform. The webinar will begin at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time and can be accessed here. Denali's TV technology is engineered to significantly increase brain access for multiple therapeutic modalities: enzyme/protein replacement therapy via ETV/PTV, antibody delivery via ATV, and oligonucleotide delivery via OTV, enhancing and unlocking brain targets for biotherapeutics. The Company will share new preclinical data from select TV-enabled biotherapeutic programs in its portfolio including: Enzyme TV and Protein TV Platform: ETV:IDS robustly modulated disease-relevant biomarkers including glycosaminoglycans, lysosomal lipid biomarkers, and neurofilament light and was associated with improvements in neurobehavioral deficits and motor function as well as correction of skeletal disease manifestations after systemic administration in a mouse model of Hunter syndrome; ETV:SGSH significantly reduced levels of GAGs in the brain and the cerebral spinal fluid following a single dose in a mouse model of Sanfilippo syndrome Type A. PTV Progranulin restored lysosomal function and reduced microglial activation in the brain of granulin knock-out mice; Bis-monoacylglycero-phosphate has been identified as a translatable biomarker for frontotemporal dementia in humans Antibody TV Platform: ATV:Abeta had higher brain uptake and improved engagement of plaques compared to an Abeta antibody at similar doses in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease; ATV:TREM2 showed enhanced brain uptake and greater impact on microglia than similar doses and exposure of standard TREM2 antibody in mice; ATV:HER2 showed increased brain concentrations and improved anti-tumor activity in a mouse xenograft model, suggesting potential for treatment of HER2-positive central nervous system metastases. Oligonucleotide TV Platform: Antisense OTV knocked down target gene expression in the brain and spinal cord after systemic administration via intravenous infusion while a standard antisense oligonucleotide control had no effect. Denali and Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG, a leader in ASO technology, recently entered into a research and option agreement to develop novel ASO molecules that can be delivered to the CNS using Denali's OTV technology. R&D Day Summary of ETV:IDS Flagship Program DNL310: Denali's flagship ETV program is ETV:IDS for Hunter syndrome, a rare neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes for the enzyme IDS. Existing enzyme replacement therapies do not effectively cross the BBB and do not address neurodegeneration in patients. Intravenous administration of ETV:IDS is designed to take advantage of a highly vascularized CNS, and the nearly 400 miles of capillaries in the human brain, to actively transport biotherapeutics through receptor mediated transcytosis into the brain. Denali has engineered aspects of its TV technology for accessing all brain regions and brain cell types to enable and enhance therapeutic benefit. Through intravenous administration, Denali's investigational ETV:IDS aims to treat the behavioral and cognitive aspects of Hunter syndrome while maintaining benefit for the entire body. Previously, Denali published research showing for the first time that in patients with Hunter syndrome, abnormalities in GAGs, the substrate of IDS enzymatic activity, are correlated with biomarkers of secondary lysosomal dysfunction, axonal injury, and inflammation.1 The Company will share published and new biomarker data from multiple studies of a mouse model of Hunter syndrome demonstrating that systemically administered ETV:IDS achieved high concentration and broad distribution of IDS enzymes in the brain, led to reduction in GAGs, corrected the abnormal accumulation of lysosomal lipids, and slowed neuroaxonal injury, as evidenced by a reduction in Nf-L. In addition, new preclinical data will be presented showing that systemic administration of ETV:IDS was associated with improvements in neurobehavioral deficits and motor function as well as correction of skeletal disease manifestations. Denali will also share additional details on the status and design of the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of DNL310, which began enrolling pediatric patients with Hunter syndrome in August 2020. Denali expects to announce data from an interim analysis of safety and biomarker data on CSF GAG reduction by year end 2020. Based on preclinical data showing that GAG reduction in the CSF correlates with GAG reduction in the brain after systemic administration of ETV:IDS, Denali considers a reduction of CSF GAG levels by approximately 50 percent in patients to be proof-of-concept for its TV technology. Furthermore, an approximate 50 percent reduction in CSF GAG levels is anticipated to be associated with subsequent improvements in lysosomal function and neurodegeneration biomarkers; therefore, additional biomarkers of lysosomal function and neuroaxonal injury will be measured in the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial. The Company expects additional safety and biomarker data from the Phase 1/2 trial to be available in mid-2021. The Phase 1/2 trial is designed to inform dose selection to evaluate the effects of treatment with DNL310 on neurocognitive outcomes in a potential subsequent Phase 2/3 pivotal trial.
|
ATIF | Hot Stocks08:12 EDT ATIF Holdings forms strategic collaboration with Dongshan IITB - ATIF Holdings announced that through its viable interest entity, Qianhai Asia Times International Finance Services Co. Ltd., it signed a strategic collaboration agreement on October 11, with the Industry and Information Technology Bureau of Dongshan County in Fujian Province, to target the Dongshan-based enterprises as potential clients for the Company, for its financial consulting and overseas listing advisory services. Based on the strategic collaboration, Dongshan IITB will be responsible for organizing financial forums, salons and exchange activities for the local enterprises to connect with ATIF. ATIF will provide its professional services such as investment and financing consulting, connection of investment institutions and overseas listing advisory to the companies selected by Dongshan IITB.
|
ABMD | Hot Stocks08:10 EDT Abiomed announces new Protect lII study data showing reduced rates of MACCE - Abiomed announces new PROTECT III study data that demonstrates reduced rates of MACCE when Impella is used to achieve a more complete revascularization in a single setting for high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention, PCI, patients. PROTECT III is an ongoing, prospective, single-arm FDA post-approval study for the PMA approval of Impella 2.5 and Impella CP in high-risk PCI. The PROTECT III interim analysis findings are being presented by William O'Neill, MD, medical director of the Center for Structural Heart Disease at Henry Ford Hospital, at TCT Connect, the 32nd annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, as a part of the "Best of Abstracts" session at 3:24 p.m. EDT today.
|
DHR | Hot Stocks08:10 EDT Danaher's Beckman Coulter receives BARDA funding - Beckman Coulter announced that it was awarded funding by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority part of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for a multi-center clinical trial to validate the ability of its Monocyte Distribution Width hematology biomarker to aid in the rapid detection of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. Recently defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MIS-C is a rare but severe complication seen in children following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The BARDA award will help fund a collaborative effort between Beckman Coulter and academic partners at Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Florida to validate the effectiveness of the biomarker to detect MIS-C with a large, multi-center clinical trial to support regulatory submissions. Preliminary results from a study initiated at MGH earlier this year revealed that MDW has the potential to aid in the rapid detection of MIS-C. An abnormal MDW could potentially aid in triaging patients for care, starting treatment early and determining patient disposition.
|
RGLS | Hot Stocks08:09 EDT Regulus: First patient dosed in Phase 1b clinical trial of RGLS4326 - Regulus Therapeutics announced initiation of dosing in its Phase 1b clinical study of RGLS4326 in patients with ADPKD. The first cohort is expected to enroll up to nine patients who will receive RGLS4326 every two weeks over a six week period. The company anticipates availability of results from the first cohort by the end of Q1 2021.
|
ALLO | Hot Stocks08:08 EDT Allogene Therapeutics, MD Anderson announce collaboration for AlloCAR T - Allogene Therapeutics and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced a strategic five-year collaboration agreement for the preclinical and clinical investigation of AlloCAR T candidates across Allogene's broad portfolio of hematologic and solid tumors. Under the agreement, MD Anderson and Allogene will collaborate on the design and conduct of preclinical and clinical studies with oversight from a joint steering committee. Allogene will provide funding, developmental candidates, and other support. Responsibility for regulatory filings will be agreed upon by the joint steering committee.
|
CRNC | Hot Stocks08:07 EDT Dongfeng Motor selects Cerence, PATEO to advance in-car voice assistant - Cerence announced that Dongfeng Motor has selected connected car and automotive assistant products from Cerence and PATEO CONNECT+, a leading connected car company in Asia, for its next-generation Aeolus AX7. To build an intuitive, conversational assistant experience, Dongfeng has chosen Cerence ARK, a turnkey automotive assistant, to quickly develop, deploy and manage a fully localized automotive voice assistant that will be integrated into a head unit designed and built by PATEO. With ARK, Cerence combined its state-of-the-art, AI-powered voice assistant features, including wake-up word, speech recognition, speech signal enhancement, natural language understanding, and text to speech, to deliver a responsive, fast and highly intelligent assistant that serves as the digital centerpiece of the Aeolus AX7.
|
EIGR | Hot Stocks08:05 EDT Eiger BioPharmaceuticals' Interferon Lambda shows COVID-19 load decline in trial - Eiger BioPharmaceuticals announced results of the ILIAD Study - Interferon Lambda for Immediate Antiviral Therapy at Diagnosis in COVID-19 -, an investigator sponsored randomized trial of Peginterferon Lambda in outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 conducted at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. The main efficacy outcomes were viral load decline and the proportion of individuals with a negative nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 at Day 7. A total of 60 patients were followed for 14 days. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA viral load decline from baseline was significantly greater in the Lambda group than in the placebo group from Day 5 onwards. After controlling for baseline viral load, those treated with Lambda were 4.1-fold more likely to clear by Day 7 than those in the placebo arm. For those with baseline viral load greater than 6 log copies/mL, the proportion negative at Day 7 in the Lambda group was 15 of 19 - 79% - compared to 6 of 16 - 38% - in the placebo group. This difference translated into a median time to clearance of 7 days with Lambda compared to 10 days in the placebo group. Across all patients, by Day 7, 24 of 30 patients - 80% - in the Lambda group were negative compared to 19 of 30 - 63% - in the placebo arm. Participants with low viral loads also had milder symptoms at baseline with symptoms improving over time in both groups. Lambda was well-tolerated with few adverse events, which included minimal elevations of transaminases which self-resolved.
|
SNY TBIO | Hot Stocks08:05 EDT Sanofi, Translate Bio: COVID-19 vaccine candidate induced high antibody levels - Sanofi Pasteur (SNY) and Translate Bio (TBIO) announced the preclinical results for MRT5500, a mRNA-based vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. Preclinical evaluation of MRT5500, importantly, demonstrated a favorable immune response profile against SARS-CoV-2. These data support the selection of MRT5500 for clinical development. A Phase 1/2 clinical trial is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020. Full results are available here. MRT5500 is being developed under a collaboration agreement between Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio. The main findings of the preclinical studies demonstrate the potential of MRT5500 to elicit neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. In mice, four dose levels were assessed at 0.2, 1, 5 and 10 microgram per dose using a two-dose vaccination schedule, administered three weeks apart. MRT5500 induced dose-dependent levels of binding antibodies and neutralizing antibodies specific to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. 100% seroconversion was observed at all dose levels after one administration, and a further increase in titers was observed following a second administration. Neutralizing antibody titers were observed across all dose levels after receiving the two-dose-administration regimen. In the higher dose groups, titers were detected after one administration of MRT5500 and were more pronounced after the second administration. In non-human primates, three dose levels were assessed at 15, 45 and 135 microgram per dose using a two-administration vaccination schedule, three weeks apart. The potency of MRT5500 was assessed by two types of neutralization assays: pseudovirus neutralization and micro-neutralization. After the first administration, the majority of NHPs developed neutralizing antibodies reactive to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and those antibody titers were further enhanced after a second administration with 100% of NHPs reaching levels significantly higher than those from human convalescent sera by day 35. It was also demonstrated that MRT5500-immunized mice and non-human primates exhibited a Th1-biased T cell response against SARS-CoV-2. The preprint publication "Immunogenicity of novel mRNA COVID-19 vaccine MRT5500 in mice and non-human primates," is available here.
|
CDOR | Hot Stocks08:04 EDT Condor Hospitality Trust signs settlement agreement with NHT parties - Condor Hospitality Trust announced that it along with its operating partnership, Condor Hospitality Limited Partnership signed a settlement agreement and certain of its affiliates, following the Company's previously announced termination of the merger agreement with Parent and certain of its affiliate Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the NHT Parties have agreed to make three payments to the Company totaling $7,000,000. The first payment of $2,250,000 is to be made within two business days of the execution of the Settlement Agreement, the second payment of $2,500,000 is to be made on or before October 30, 2020 and the third payment of $2,250,000 is to be made on or before December 30, 2020 Upon timely payment of all of the Settlement Payments, the NHT Parties' settlement liability will be satisfied in full. In the event that any of the Settlement Payments are not timely made, in addition to the Settlement Payments, an amount of $4,925,000, together with an amount to cover the Company's fees and expenses related to the collection and enforcement of the Settlement Payments, will be owing to the Company. NHT, Parent, and certain affiliates of Parent have issued a promissory note to the Company evidencing their obligation to make these payments. In exchange for these payment obligations, the NHT Parties have been released from all claims or liabilities relating to the Merger Agreement. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Company Parties also have been released from all claims or liabilities relating to the Merger Agreement.
|
NLS | Hot Stocks08:04 EDT Nautilus appoints Nick Nelson as chief business officer - Nautilus announced the appointment of Nick Nelson as chief business officer. Joining the company on the heels of Nautilus' recent $76M series B funding, Nelson will drive the design and execution of the company's business development activities, including partnerships, alliances, and community engagement. Nelson has leadership experience with diagnostics, therapeutics and life science companies. Before joining Nautilus, he was chief business officer at Caris Life Sciences where he led all business development and strategic partnerships, and also led the creation of industry leading products for biopharma and oncology therapeutic development.
|
NOK QCOM | Hot Stocks08:02 EDT Nokia utilizes Qualcomm 5G RAN platform to enhance 5G Smart Node portfolio - Nokia (NOK) announced its market-leading Smart Node portfolio of All-in-One base stations for 5G indoor use will be powered by Qualcomm Technologies' (QCOM) unique chipsets. The product, which leverages the industry-leading Qualcomm 5G RAN platform for small cells, is designed to deliver ubiquitous indoor 5G coverage for residential and enterprise networks. The new 5G Smart Node complements Nokia's portfolio of 5G Small Cells such as the AirScale Micro Remote Radio Head and AirScale Indoor Radio, which are commercially deployed by many operator networks globally to boost 5G capacity and coverage. It is expected to be available from Q1 2021. Nokia is working with Qualcomm Technologies to bring its 5G RAN technology into Nokia's Smart Node portfolio, delivering 5G in a compact, cost-effective plug-and-play package for smaller indoor network use-cases. Nokia's use of Qualcomm Technologies' innovations will enable 5G deployment at a significantly lower price point and smaller form factor, lowering the barriers to entry into the 5G-powered world. The working relationship underscores Nokia's commitment to selecting best-in-class partners for the delivery of unmatched solutions within the industry's only end-to-end 5G portfolio.
|
PEG | Hot Stocks07:47 EDT PSEG's Nuclear's Salem Unit 1 conducts planned refueling, maintenance outage - PSEG Nuclear's Salem Unit 1 entered its planned refueling and maintenance outage on Oct. 3, when operators safely removed the unit from the regional power grid. Salem 1 is one of three nuclear units operated by PSEG in Salem County, New Jersey. Collectively, the three nuclear units produce roughly 40% of the state's electricity and more than 90% of its carbon-free energy, making them a critical pillar of New Jersey's clean energy ambitions to achieve net-zero by 2050. A refueling and maintenance outage is a multi-week, comprehensive process involving thousands of inspections, surveillances and maintenance activities.
|
J | Hot Stocks07:47 EDT Jacobs Engineering awarded multiple contracts by Jacksonville Port Authority - Jacobs was selected to provide civil, structural and marine engineering consulting and design services for the Jacksonville Port Authority, or JAXPORT. The largest container port in Florida, JAXPORT is deepening its shipping channel to accommodate more cargo aboard the larger ships calling on them from destinations throughout Asia and other world markets through both the Panama and Suez canals. Each contract spans three years with renewals possible for two additional one-year periods.
|
IBIO TEVA | Hot Stocks07:45 EDT iBio appoints Alexandra Kropotova to board of directors - iBio announced the appointment of Dr. Alexandra Kropotova to its Board of Directors, effective as of October 14, 2020. Dr. Kropotova has also been appointed as a member of iBio's new Science & Technology Committee, which shall be chaired by Dr. Philip Russell. Since 2016, she has served as Vice President, Global Specialty R&D, Respiratory & Inflammation Therapeutic Area at Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), where she leads the design and execution of global clinical development programs, the majority of which are biologic candidates for pulmonary, chronic inflammatory or autoimmune indications.
|
WDOFF | Hot Stocks07:44 EDT Wesdome Gold Mines announces Q3 gold production of 20,008 ounces - Wesdome Gold Mines announces its gold production results for the third quarter of 2020. Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO commented, "Production in the third quarter of 20,008 ounces was lower than the previous quarter due to annual planned mill maintenance from May deferred to August, and the upgrade of the hoist control system affecting the productivity of the Eagle River mine. Year to date production of 70,272 ounces leaves us well positioned to achieve our full year guidance range of 90,000 - 100,000 ounces."
|
DOCRF | Hot Stocks07:42 EDT CloudMD closes acquisition of Snapclarity - CloudMD Software & Services closed the previously announced acquisition of Snapclarity. The company said, "Snapclarity is a pioneer, on-demand, digital platform that provides an assessment for mental health disorders which includes a personalized care plan, access to online resources, a clinical health care team and the ability to match to the right therapists. The platform utilized by employers, individuals, therapists and insurers offers a continuity of care program that effectively blends the supported intervention with technology, artificial intelligence and human touch. This is accomplished through a suite of proprietary digital tools that are designed by clinicians and grounded in evidence-based practices that are proven to positively impact outcomes. Individuals, employees and patients feel empowered, motivated and supported throughout their entire treatment journey." Snapclarity will also be integrated into CloudMD On Demand, an online telemedicine service that aims to provide turnkey and readily accessible virtual healthcare options to enterprise level partners. Individuals, patients and employees are looking for a comprehensive approach to physical and mental healthcare. It is well documented that often times there is direct relationship between mental and physical health and having one, centralized, whole person care platform is both important and effective. CloudMD has acquired 100% of Snapclarity by way of a three-cornered amalgamation pursuant to the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act. Total consideration payable by the Company in connection with the acquisition is $3.35M, subject to certain holdbacks, payable as up to C$975,000 in cash and up to C$2,375,000 in shares of the Company, to be issued at a deemed price of $0.70 per share. All shares issued pursuant to the acquisition are subject to a two year release. Additionally, subject to future TSX-V approval and the achievement of certain performance conditions in 2021 and 2022, Snapclarity may earn up to an additional $3.65M in equity-based consideration.
|
RVLGF | Hot Stocks07:41 EDT Revival Gold reports results from first seven drill holes from 2020 campaign - Revival Gold announces results from the first seven holes from the Company's 2020 drilling program and provides an update on exploration at the former producing Beartrack Gold Project and the adjacent Arnett Gold Project located in Lemhi County, Idaho. All seven exploration drill holes released from the Haidee target area at Arnett intersected near-surface leachable mineralization along the northwestern and southeastern strike extension of the Haidee deposit. Results indicate that the structures that control mineralization are continuous along strike and have extended known mineralization beyond the current resource approximately 100 meters to the northwest and 50 meters to the southeast. Highlights include: 0.63 g/t Au over 22.9 meters1 in AC20-43D; 0.38 g/t Au over 41.0 meters1 in AC20-42D; 0.30 g/t Au over 9.9 meters1 in AC20-41D. A total of 30 exploration and infill drill holes for approximately 4,900 meters have been completed by two rigs on the Haidee target since drilling began on August 4th, 2020. With the completion of drilling at Haidee the two rigs will now be moved to Beartrack. One rig will drill at the new Rabbit target area approximately 3 km south of the current resource at Beartrack and the second rig will pursue potential extensions of mineralization between the North and South Pits at Beartrack. A third drill rig was mobilized to Beartrack on September 23rd, 2020 and has completed an initial 470-meter exploration drill hole between the North and South Pits. This hole, BT20-226D, intersected the Panther Creek Shear Zone, the primary control for Beartrack mineralization, and encountered both oxidized and unoxidized sulfides. Four follow-up holes are planned for this area and drill pad preparation is underway. Assay results from BT20-226D and the remaining 23 holes at Haidee, will be released as the results become available. The third rig is currently drilling in the Joss area at the south end of the current Beartrack resource.
|
MS | Hot Stocks07:37 EDT Morgan Stanley reports Q3 ROE 13.2%, ROTCE 15% - The allowance for credit losses on loans and lending commitments was $1.3B as of September 30, an increase of approximately 8% over the previous quarter. Institutional Securities reported net revenues for the current quarter of $6.1B compared with $5B a year ago. Pre-tax income was $2B compared with $1.3B a year ago. Reports Q3 sales and trading net revenues up 20% from a year ago.
|
OPGN | Hot Stocks07:36 EDT OpGen to discontinue Acuitas AMR Gene Panel trial, FISH product line - Legacy FISH products business including Quick FISH and PNA FISH to be discontinued by mid-2021 in Europe, the U.S. and rest of world with last production lots to be manufactured in early 2021. Acuitas AMR Gene Panel urine clinical trial to be discontinued as focus shifts to Unyvero platform for complicated UTI indication as well as additional future applications.
|
ARMP | Hot Stocks07:36 EDT Armata Pharmaceuticals receives IND clearance for Phase 1b/2a trial of AP-PA02 - Armata Pharmaceuticals' IND has been cleared by the FDA to initiate a clinical trial of its lead therapeutic candidate, AP-PA02, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. The SWARM-P.a. study will be a Phase 1b/2a, multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, single ascending dose and multiple ascending dose clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of inhaled AP-PA02 in subjects with cystic fibrosis and chronic pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Barring worsening COVID-19 conditions, Armata expects to initiate the SAD cohort by the end of this year.
|
AMAG | Hot Stocks07:35 EDT Covis Group commences tender offer for all shares of Amag Pharmaceuticals - Covis Group announced the commencement of a cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of AMAG Pharmaceuticals. The tender offer is being made pursuant to the merger agreement announced by Covis and AMAG on October 1, under which Covis has agreed to acquire AMAG for $13.75 per share. The transaction has a total enterprise value of approximately $647M, including net debt. The $13.75 per share all-cash tender offer represents a premium of approximately 46% over AMAG's closing stock price on September 30, the last full trading day prior to the announcement. The tender offer will expire at 12:00 midnight (New York City time) on November 12, unless the offer period is extended in accordance with the Merger Agreement and the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. The completion of the tender offer will be conditioned on AMAG's stockholders tendering at least a majority of AMAG's outstanding shares and other customary closing conditions.
|
OPGN | Hot Stocks07:35 EDT OpGen takes steps to expand Unyvero platform, product pipeline - In addition, the company announced details regarding a strategic reprioritization of its product portfolio, platform pipeline and priorities going forward. This reprioritization was based on feedback from extensive market research, a customer survey of 150 stakeholders in the decision making on new diagnostic platforms, and key opinion leader interviews conducted by an independent market research firm over the past two quarters. Following a review of this research, OpGen and its Board decided to consolidate the company's product portfolio on its proprietary Unyvero platform and unique bioinformatics capabilities. As a result of this change in priority, the company anticipates the following key impacts: Product portfolio going forward to be centered around rapid, molecular diagnostic platform offerings and increased focus on value added bioinformatics solutions, including Ares Genetics' next generation sequencing-based and artificial intelligence powered AMR and AST prediction capabilities. Following the successful completion of the three phases of the partnered R&D program as announced in the H1-2020 earnings call, Ares Genetics has recently received formal notification from its undisclosed global leading IVD corporation partner that they have exercised their option to exclusively negotiate with Ares Genetics the scope and terms of a potential exclusive license or other arrangement with Ares to Ares Genetics' technology in the field of human clinical diagnostics in the coming months. Platform consolidation to realize significant operational synergies and cost savings over time as fewer products and platforms would need to be maintained from a regulatory, quality management and logistics and service standpoint. Unyvero platform and product portfolio to be expanded beyond lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia to include complicated urinary tract infections and invasive joint infections in the U.S. with clinical trials for future FDA submission and clearance anticipated to start in 2021. Products in both indications are fully developed and already CE-IVD marked and commercially available in Europe and other markets. Acuitas AMR Gene Panel for Isolates expected to see near term clearance decision by the U.S. FDA after OpGen's October 2020 submission of a formal response to the FDA's January 2020 Request for Additional Information request. If cleared by the FDA, OpGen anticipates swift commercial launch in the U.S. in the following months.
|
OPGN | Hot Stocks07:33 EDT OpGen reports balance sheet of $10.4M in cash as of Sept. 30 - The company also expanded its capacity under its ATM program by an additional $6.4M, and continues to have access to an additional EUR5.0M tranche of non-dilutive debt financing for COVID-19 related R&D programs from the European Investment Bank.
|
TUP | Hot Stocks07:32 EDT Tupperware Brands awarded U.S. patent for PONDS - Tupperware Brands announces the issuance of a U.S. patent for PONDS, a unique device designed to grow vegetables in low earth orbit with minimal maintenance.
|
PGEN | Hot Stocks07:31 EDT Precigen's UltraPorator system receives FDA clearance - Precigen announced U.S. FDA clearance and successful technology transfer for its UltraPorator system, an exclusive device and proprietary software solution for the scale-up of rapid and cost-effective manufacturing of UltraCAR-T therapies. The FDA cleared UltraPorator as a manufacturing device for clinical trials of Precigen's investigational UltraCAR-T therapies in compliance with current good manufacturing practices. In addition, the Precigen team has successfully completed technology transfer of the UltraPorator system for the manufacturing of UltraCAR-T in the ongoing clinical trials for PRGN-3005 in ovarian cancer at the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and for PRGN-3006 in acute myeloid leukemia at the Moffitt Cancer Center.
|
MYGN | Hot Stocks07:29 EDT Myriad files 2020 proxy statement, announces corporate governance changes - Myriad Genetics announced that the company has filed its fiscal year 2020 proxy statement and made significant changes to its board structure, executive compensation and corporate governance policies to better serve key company stakeholders. Since the fall of 2019, Myriad has added six new members to its board of directors and announced the retirement of three board members. New board members include Lee N. Newcomer M.D., Colleen F. Reitan, Daniel M. Skovronsky M.D., Ph.D, Daniel K. Spiegelman, Rashmi Kumar, and Paul J. Diaz. Retiring from the board of directors following the annual meeting on December 4, 2020 are John T. Henderson, M.D., Lawrence C. Best, and Walter Gilbert, Ph.D. In March 2020, S. Louise Phanstiel assumed the role of board chair. The new board structure is designed to combine the continuity of tenured directors with new perspectives from recently added members with broad experience in managed care, health technology, and financial oversight. In addition, Myriad is enacting new policies that reflect industry best practices, including: Moving from plurality voting to majority voting for directors; Implementing a retirement process for directors at age 75; Expanding the scope of the Audit and Finance Committee and redefining the Strategic Committee to the new Research and Product Innovation Committee; Enhancing board diversity with 44% of board members now reflecting diverse backgrounds; Related Executive Compensation Changes. Myriad also is making multiple changes to its compensation policies to match business performance with compensation. These changes include: Business objectives for Vice Presidents and above will now be based on company financial performance, with 70% of bonus payout tied to the achievement of revenue and operating income targets; Equity granted as long-term incentive compensation will now consist of 50% performance shares, with the number of shares tied to the company's performance on earnings per share and relative total shareholder return; Reducing management payouts under a change-of-control and moving to a double trigger system for equity vesting; Elimination of future cash long-term incentive programs. In order to better align with general industry standards for financial reporting and facilitate comparison with other companies, Myriad will adjust its fiscal year end from June 30th to December 31st. Myriad will file an Annual Report on Form 10KT for a six-month transition period from July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Fiscal year 2021 will now run from January 1, 2021 through the end of the calendar year on December 31, 2021.
|
MBXBF | Hot Stocks07:26 EDT Microbix Biosystems launches STI-related quality assessment products - Microbix Biosystems announces its creation, external verification, and registration of new quality assessment products to help ensure the accuracy of workflows at labs conducting nucleic acid testing for sexually-transmitted Mycoplasma genitalium infections. Mgen is a small bacteria that causes widespread and persistent infection of the urinary and reproductive tracts in men and women. Mgen infections impact as many as one-in-five sexually-active adults, are a frequent cause of urethral or reproductive tract inflammation, and a cause of infertility. Mgen infections can be treated with antibiotic therapy, although drug-resistant strains are a growing problem. In spite of its relative ubiquity, testing for Mgen is not widespread. This has been largely due to very limited availability of validated control materials to help ensure the accuracy and reliability of nucleic acid tests for Mgen infections. Mgen is notoriously difficult to culture ex-vivo, making it extremely challenging to create adequate quantities of test workflow quality control materials. Microbix has overcome this challenge and can now supply quantities sufficient to meet expected commercial demand. Using its expertise and that of collaborators, Microbix has created and is now launching whole-genome and whole-process QAPS for nucleic acid Mgen tests, branded as REDx Mycoplasma genitalium positive or negative controls and available in a refrigeration-stable liquid vial format. These new Mgen QAPs have achieved their "CE mark" to permit sale across the EU, have been added under Microbix's U.S. FDA establishment registration, and are targeted to become available in Australia and Canada. Microbix has created its Mgen QAPs to support laboratory proficiency testing and accreditation, test development or lab training, and clinical lab workflows. External validation of these products has been completed with multiple well-recognized makers of nucleic acid tests for Mgen infections and multiple international laboratory proficiency testing and accreditation organizations. As for all Microbix's QAPs, the Mgen-test variants are designed to provide support for quality management systems regardless of what specific tests are in use and additional to whatever on-board controls are used within particular tests. As such they supplement accuracy without risk to patients. Ordering enquiries should be directed to Microbix or its distributors: Alpha-Tec Systems, Inc., Diagnostic International Distribution S.p.A., Labquality Oy, The Medical Supply Company of Ireland, and R-Biopharm AG. Microbix believes these Mgen products are complimentary to its QAPs for high-risk variants of Human Papilloma Virus. With Mgen and HPV QAPs, Microbix has a growing line of products to support testing for sexually-transmitted infections.
|
CXBMF | Hot Stocks07:24 EDT Calibre Mining makes final acquistion payments of $15.5M to B2Gold - Calibre Mining announced it is now debt-free after making the final acquisition-related payments of $15.5M to B2Gold Corp. As announced on March 25, 2020, Calibre and B2Gold agreed to defer the payment of the $10M "Deferred Acquisition Payment" and the $5.5M "Working Capital Adjustment" payment for up to a six-month period from October 15, 2020 to April 15, 2021.
|
ONEW | Hot Stocks07:23 EDT OneWater Marine announces management changes to support growth - OneWater Marine has announced a series of organizational realignments to position the business closer to its customers, and increase its agility to capture near- and long-term growth opportunities. The following store realignment and leadership changes were effective October 1, 2020: Executive Vice President Scott Cunningham will continue to bring his deep experience and leadership to the entire OneWater organization, while also overseeing Gulf Coast Operations including Legendary Marine, Sunrise Marine, Marina Mikes and Central Marine. After founding and leading Bosun's Marine for 35 years, Tim Leedham, will be promoted to lead the Northeast Region, which will include all of the Bosun's Marine locations in Massachusetts as well as the new rebranded Bosun's Marine Maryland location in Grasonville. Vice President Donald Drummonds will expand his leadership role to include the Midwest Region which includes the following dealerships; South Shore Marine, Spend-a-Day Marine, Lookout Marine, The Slalom Shop, and Phil Dill Boats. With an expanded role and promotion to Vice President, Joey Jones, will lead the East Florida region which includes the Ocean Blue Yacht Sales, Caribee Boat Sales, and SunDance Marine locations. Bryan Braley of Grande Yachts will lead the Yacht and Brokerage division that includes the existing Grande Yachts locations in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Maryland. George Hernandez has been promoted to Vice President and will lead the South Texas region including the Texas Marine and SMG Boats locations in the Houston market. Mr. Hernandez has a 21-year tenure with Texas Marine, most recently serving as general manager.
|
AOTVF | Hot Stocks07:21 EDT Ascot Resources places order for SAG, ball mills - Ascot Resources announced it has signed an agreement for the delivery of the Semi-Autogenous Grinding and ball mills, which is critical path, long lead time equipment required in the refurbishment of the concentrator facility for re-starting the past producing historic Premier gold mine, on the Premier Gold Property, located in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. The Company has signed an agreement with Montreal based Farnell-Thompson Applied Technologies for delivery of the SAG and ball mills and related parts to the PGP mill site. Farnell-Thompson is an industry leader in heavy machinery engineering design with significant experience in the design and delivery of grinding mills. The order comprises a 22-foot diameter by 8-foot effective grinding length SAG mill and 14.5-foot diameter by 19.5-foot effective grinding length ball mill. Both mills will be driven by 2000 KW, low speed synchronous motors at 78% critical speed. The mills will be supported on 90-inch diameter hydrodynamic trunnion bearings which will be interchangeable. The mill lube systems will be identical for both mills.
|
EVLO | Hot Stocks07:19 EDT Evelo Biosciences to host KOL discussion on potential of EDP1815 - Evelo Biosciences announced that it will host a key opinion leader discussion on the unmet need in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, including the potential of EDP1815 to serve as a new therapeutic option for patients living with mild to moderate disease. The event will be held virtually on Thursday, October 22, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET. As part of the event, Benjamin Ehst, M.D., Ph.D., Board-certified Dermatologist, Investigator and Clinical Associate Professor with the Oregon Medical Research Center, will discuss the current treatment landscape and unmet need in psoriasis. Additionally, Evelo management will host a panel discussion with Dr. Ehst to review the opportunity for EDP1815 in atopic dermatitis. Evelo's management team will also review the design of its recently initiated Phase 2 trial in psoriasis and provide an overview of the clinical data generated with EDP1815 to date, as well as the Company's platform and upcoming milestones.
|
ITPOF | Hot Stocks07:18 EDT Intertape Polymer appoints Jane Craighead, Chris Cawston to board - Intertape Polymer Group announced the appointment of Jane Craighead and Chris Cawston, each of Ontario, Canada, as new board members of the Company. Jane Craighead has been a member of the board of Clearwater Seafoods since 2015 and Jarislowsky Fraser Limited since 2018. Chris Cawston was previously a member of the board of AutoServe1 from 2014 until the sale of the business in 2019. Mr. Cawston was most recently the President of Sym-Tech Inc, a leading provider of Finance and Insurance solutions to automobile dealers and original equipment manufacturers.
|
VBLT | Hot Stocks07:17 EDT VBL Therapeutics granted European patent for MOSPD2 platform technology - VBL Therapeutics announced that the European Patent Office has granted Patent #3328401, which covers VBL's proprietary investigational anti-MOSPD2 monoclonal antibodies to treat oncology conditions. VBL has identified MOSPD2 as a novel target whose expression is induced in multiple tumors, including colon, esophagus, liver and breast among others. Expression of MOSPD2 plays a role in the ability of cancer cells to metastasize. The point that MOSPD2 is expressed abundantly and specifically on tumors, but not on normal tissues, makes it a good and novel target for killing of tumor cells. The claims in the granted patent cover the use of such anti-MOSPD2 antibody/antibody fragment to treat a wide range of cancers which express MOSPD2, including solid tumors and hematological cancers. The patent is expected to provide protection for VBL's anti-MOSPD2 platform, until at least July 2036.
|
GOLD | Hot Stocks07:16 EDT Barrick Gold reports Q3 sales of 1.25M ounces of gold, 116M pounds of copper - Barrick Gold reported preliminary third quarter sales of 1.25 million ounces of gold and 116 million pounds of copper, as well as preliminary third quarter production of 1.16 million ounces of gold and 103 million pounds of copper. Group gold production for the first nine months of 2020 was 3.6 million ounces, and the company remains on track to achieve full-year production guidance. The average market price for gold in the third quarter was $1,909 per ounce, while the average market price for copper in the third quarter was $2.96 per pound. Preliminary third quarter gold production was slightly higher than the second quarter of 2020, notwithstanding the fact that there was no third quarter production at Porgera in Papua New Guinea which was placed on care and maintenance on April 25, 2020. Excluding Porgera, third quarter gold production was 3% higher than the second quarter mainly due to stronger performances from Carlin and Pueblo Viejo following the completion of scheduled plant maintenance in the prior quarter. Preliminary third quarter gold sales were slightly higher than the previous quarter, and exceeded third quarter production following the export of the remaining stockpiled concentrate in Tanzania. Third quarter gold cost of sales per ounce is expected to be in line, total cash costs per ounce are expected to be 2-4% lower and gold all-in sustaining costs per ounce are expected to be 5-7% lower, than in the second quarter of 2020. Preliminary third quarter copper production and sales were both lower than the previous quarter, primarily as a result of lower throughput at Lumwana following plant maintenance completed in the quarter. Third quarter copper cost of sales per pound is expected to be 4-6% lower and C1 cash costs per pound are expected to be 5-7% lower than the prior quarter. Copper all-in sustaining costs per pound are expected to be 6-8% higher than the second quarter of 2020 as a result of higher capitalized stripping at Lumwana.
|
THTX | Hot Stocks07:14 EDT Theratechnologies says liquidity position sufficient for the foreseeable future - The company said, "As at August 31, 2020, cash, bonds and money market funds amounted to $26,847,000. Based on management's estimate and current level of operations, we believe that our current liquidity position is sufficient to finance our operations in the foreseeable future."
|
DTIL | Hot Stocks07:12 EDT Precision BioSciences says U.S. PTAB upholds allogeneic CAR T patents - Precision BioSciences announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board has ruled in favor of Precision BioSciences in two patent interference proceedings that challenged nine U.S. patents owned by Precision. The patents, which issued in 2018, relate to Precision BioSciences' allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell platform. Specifically, the patents relate to allogeneic CAR T cells produced by inserting a gene encoding a CAR into the T cell receptor alpha chain locus, as well as methods of using those cells for cancer immunotherapy. CAR T cells produced using this single-step process have exhibited consistent performance, been manufactured at large scale and reduced cost, and shown to protect patients from graft vs. host disease. In the interference proceedings, a third party argued that it had invented the technology in 2012. The PTAB, however, found that the third-party patent application did not satisfy the written description requirement and rejected these claims while maintaining the claims in all nine of Precision's patents. The proceedings before the PTAB were U.S. Interference Nos. 106,117 and 106,118. The third party has the right to appeal the decisions. The Precision BioSciences patents involved were U.S. Pat. No. 9,889,160, U.S. Pat. No. Patent 9,889,161, U.S. Pat. No. 9,950,010, U.S. Pat. No. 9,950,011, U.S. Pat. No. 9,969,975, U.S. Pat. No. 9,993,501, U.S. Pat. No. 9,993,502, U.S. Pat. No. 10,093,899, and U.S. Pat. No. 10,093,900. Precision BioSciences was represented by Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC.
|
KALV | Hot Stocks07:11 EDT KalVista completes enrollment in KVD900, provides update on HAE franchise - KalVista provided an update on its franchise of oral therapies for treatment of hereditary angioedema, or HAE. "We have completed enrollment of our Phase 2 trial for our oral on-demand HAE treatment, KVD900, and remain on track to deliver data before the end of this year. We are also pleased to announce data from KVD824, our oral program for HAE prophylaxis, and to introduce our oral Factor XIIa program, which we believe represents the next generation of HAE therapeutics," said Andrew Crockett, CEO of KalVista. "Our ongoing work to optimize the exposure profile of KVD824 has yielded a formulation that maintains the concentrations we believe are required to compete with approved injectable therapies, while showing an encouraging safety and tolerability profile in up to 14 days of dosing. We intend to submit an Investigational New Drug application for a Phase 2 study to evaluate KVD824 in prevention of HAE attacks in the first quarter of 2021. Looking to the future, we are also excited to share early data on our oral Factor XIIa inhibitor program as an additional HAE therapy, with IND-enabling studies anticipated in 2021."
|
AVXL | Hot Stocks07:10 EDT Anavex announces results from PoC Phase 2 trial of ANAVEX 2-73 - Anavex Life Sciences announced results from the proof of concept Phase 2 controlled trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of ANAVEX 2-73 in patients with Parkinson's disease dementia. The study found that ANAVEX 2-73 was safe and well tolerated in oral doses up to 50 mg once daily. The results show clinically meaningful, dose-dependent, and statistically significant improvements in the Cognitive Drug Research computerized assessment system analysis. The study confirmed the precision medicine approach of targeting SIGMAR1 as a genetic biomarker of response to ANAVEX2-73. The ANAVEX 2-73-PDD-001 study was an international, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical study and randomized 132 patients with PDD equally to target doses of 30mg, 50mg ANAVEX 2-73 or placebo, respectively. In addition to safety and cognitive efficacy, sleep function was assessed during the study at week 8 and week 14. ANAVEX 2-73-PDD-001 study results will be submitted for presentation at a medical conference and for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Anavex is planning a pivotal trial of ANAVEX 2-73 in Parkinson's disease dementia after submitting the results of the study to the FDA to obtain regulatory guidance. After completing the trial, participants were able to enroll in a voluntary 48-week open-label extension study, ANAVEX 2-73-PDD-EP-001, which continues to assess safety, long term efficacy and changes in gut microbiota. ANAVEX 2-73 is an orally available, small-molecule activator of the sigma-1 receptor, which has been shown to be pivotal to restoring neural cell homeostasis and promoting neuroplasticity.
|
IMV | Hot Stocks07:10 EDT IMV Inc. announces biomarker presentations in patients treated with DPX-Survivac - IMV Inc. announces that biomarkers associated with clinical response in patients with r/r DLBCL treated with DPX-Survivac combination therapy will be presented at The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, SITC, 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting. The poster title is: Baseline PD-L1 expression and tumor immune infiltration is associated with clinical response in patients with r/r DLBCL treated with DPX-Survivac, low-dose cyclophosphamide and pembrolizumab
|
WBA | Hot Stocks07:09 EDT Walgreens Boots Alliance reports Q4 Boots.com sales rose 155% - Boots.com sales rose 155% and Walgreens.com sales rose 39% in Q4. Walgreens has completed more than 1M COVID-19 tests at more than 440 sites in 49 states and has increased testing capacity to 500,000 per month. More than 70% of testing sites are located in underserved areas. Results are generally provided within 24-72 hours. Walgreens also launched a COVID-19 testing program for businesses.
|
APLS | Hot Stocks07:08 EDT Apellis announces observational study results on complement activation, COVID-19 - Apellis Pharmaceuticals announced observational study results that found a correlation between COVID-19 severity and complement overactivation, which is a key immune response. Additionally, preliminary open-label safety data from six patients in a Phase 1/2 study support advancement of APL-9, an investigational targeted C3 therapy designed for acute interventions, for severe COVID-19. These results also showed that key markers of inflammation were within or near normal range at the end of the APL-9 treatment period. In the 41-patient observational study, data from 40 patients with evaluable blood samples demonstrated that increased complement activation showed a correlation with disease severity. C3a, C4a, Bb and terminal complement complex levels each correlated statistically with COVID-19 severity as quantified by the National Early Warning Score, a widely used assessment for the need for critical care. A similar correlation was observed with lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein and cytokine interleukin 6 . In addition, 39 patients had substantially elevated systemic levels of C3a, a marker for C3 activation, with median C3a levels 3.7 times the upper limit of normal. Multiple complement pathways were activated as evidenced by systemic elevations of C4a, Bb and TCC. Complement overactivation is known to worsen respiratory diseases by killing healthy cells and causing further complications such as blood clots and multiorgan failure, making it difficult for patients to recover. Apellis also announced preliminary results from the first part of the interventional Phase 1/2 study of APL-9 in patients with severe COVID-19. Of the six patients enrolled, all patients had elevated C3a and CRP levels and five of the six patients had elevated LDH levels at baseline. Five patients completed the study and were discharged from the hospital. Additionally, in these patients, C3a, LDH and CRP levels were within the normal reference range by the end of the APL-9 treatment period. Three patients experienced four treatment-emergent adverse events, which were all considered unrelated to study treatment. One serious adverse event of respiratory failure, which was considered unrelated to the study treatment, led to death from failed intubation. Based on the results, an independent data monitoring committee recommended continuing the investigation of APL-9 in this study. Apellis is currently enrolling an additional 60 patients with COVID-19 and respiratory failure who require oxygen supplementation or mechanical ventilation into the randomized, double-blind, controlled phase of the study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of APL-9.
|
IONS | Hot Stocks07:07 EDT Ionis Pharmaceuticals: IONIS-PKK-L being investigated in COVID-19 study - Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced that IONIS-PKK-L is being evaluated in an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical study to determine its effectiveness in reducing the severity of respiratory complications in patients with COVID-19. The trial coordinators are Fernando G. Zampieri, M.D., Ph.D., and Alexandre Biasi Cavalcanti, M.D., Hospital do Coracao, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study will enroll up to 110 patients at 25 hospitals in Brazil. Ionis has provided IONIS-PKK-L and funding to the Brazilian Research for Intensive Care Network to support the study. In the study, a single dose of IONIS-PKK-L or placebo will be administered subcutaneously to hospital patients who present with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. The primary endpoint is the number of days alive and free of oxygen support up to 15 days.
|
TNXP | Hot Stocks07:06 EDT Tonix Pharmaceuticals enrolls first patient in PRECISION study - Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced that the first participant was enrolled in the observational PRECISION study, to examine the immune responses to COVID-19 in healthy volunteers who have recovered from COVID-19 or were asymptomatic. The research is part of an ongoing collaboration between Columbia University and Tonix that focuses on T cell and antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The research encompasses two projects. The study led by Dr. Ilya Trakht, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, has the potential to lead to the isolation and characterization of therapeutically relevant fully human monoclonal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The study led by Dr. Sergei Rudchenko, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, is designed to generate DNA aptamer-based anti-idiotypes to selected monoclonal antibodies identified in Dr. Ilya Trakht's study. Such aptamers have the potential to identify biomarkers for protective CoV-2 immunity and may lead to accelerated precision medicine-driven vaccines designed to protect against COVID-19.
|
TECH | Hot Stocks07:06 EDT Bio-Techne's Woburn, Massachusetts facility granted ISO 13485:2016 certification - Bio-Techne's Woburn, Massachusetts site received ISO 13485:2016 certification for Medical Device and Quality Management Systems. Bio-Techne's Woburn facility produces Cloudz Cell Activation Kits, a magnetic-free bead-based technology for the expansion of immune cells. ISO 13485:2016 is an internationally recognized quality standard intended to ensure the consistent design, development, production, installation, and sale of medical devices that are safe for their intended purposes.
|
HUSN | Hot Stocks07:05 EDT Hudson Capital enters into definitive merger agreement with FreightHub - Hudson Capital has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire FreightHub, a North American transportation logistics platform company focused on US-Mexico cross-border shipping. Existing Fr8Hub shareholders intend to invest $12M in connection with the closing of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Fr8Hub is simplifying domestic and international cross-border shipping through its cloud-based transportation logistics platform. The company's digital freight marketplace, transportation management systems, public application programming interface, and customer support tools have been designed to maximize efficiency from scheduling to delivery for shippers and carriers. Fr8Hub's innovative digital freight matching technology connects shippers with a broad network of reliable carriers and drivers in Mexico, Canada and the United States' borders. The company's proprietary platform enables shippers to autonomously manage their own fleet and post loads in the marketplace to minimize dead space and, at the same time, seamlessly integrate with third-party systems to streamline communication amongst partners. Altogether, Fr8Hub's mission is to make shipping simple, transparent, and efficient. With Fr8Hub 2.0 software in place, Fr8Hub's monthly revenue grew from $247,000 in May 2020 to over $1.0 million in September 2020. With this press release, Fr8Hub management is providing full year 2020 revenue guidance to be in excess of $9 million. Fr8Hub has exhibited month-over-month revenue growth while introducing its next generation of software, Fr8Hub 2.0, and further establishing the company amongst its peers in the digital freight sector, including Uber Freight LLC, Convoy Inc, Transfix, Inc, and NEXT Trucking Inc. The merger agreement includes a revenue earnout schedule. The following shows the 2020 guided revenue and the 2021, 2022, and 2023 revenue earnouts targets: 2020 guidance: $9M, yoy growth rate 114%. 2021 earnout target: $25M, yoy growth rate 178%. 2022 earnout target: $50M, yoy growth rate 100%. 2023 earnout target: $100M, yoy growth rate 100%. Consummation of the merger will require approval of the shareholders of both Hudson Capital and Fr8Hub and is subject to other customary closing conditions, including the receipt of listing approval of the post-closing company by The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC and the completion of the review of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 to be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed merger. Immediately following the closing of the merger, the former Fr8Hub shareholders will hold approximately 85.7% of the combined company and the shareholders of Hudson Capital will retain ownership of approximately 14.3% of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis. Additionally, Fr8Hub will make a cash payment of $1.75 million to Hudson at closing. The Merger Agreement includes a revenue earnout schedule, based upon Fr8Hub achieving annual revenue thresholds of $25 million, $50 million and $100 million in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively. In the event Fr8Hub meets these annual revenue thresholds, existing Fr8Hub stockholders shall receive 3.33% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, in the combined company, on a fully-diluted basis as of the last day of the applicable calendar year-end, up to a maximum of 10.0% in the aggregate over the three year period. Finally, the current assets and liabilities of Hudson will be spun-off to existing shareholders of Hudson immediately prior to the closing of the transaction. Upon completion of the merger, the existing Fr8Hub board will lead the merged company and Mike Flinker will serve as President and Director. The Boards of Directors of each of Hudson Capital and Fr8Hub have unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction will require the approval of the shareholders of both Hudson Capital and Fr8Hub, and is subject to other customary closing conditions, including the receipt of approval from The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC and the completion of the review of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 to be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed merger. The transaction is expected to close early in 1Q21.
|
SBT | Hot Stocks07:04 EDT Sterling Bancorp in pact to sell substantially all assets of Quantum - Sterling Bancorp announced that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, QCM,, doing business as Quantum Capital Management , entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to sell substantially all of its assets, which consist primarily of client advisory agreements. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including third-party consents, and is expected to occur before year-end.In connection with the execution of the Asset Purchase Agreement, Mr. Peter Sinatra, CEO of Quantum, notified the Company of his resignation from the Company's Board of Directors and the Bank's Board of Directors, effective immediately, as well as his resignation from all other positions with Quantum, the Company, the Bank, and each of their subsidiaries and affiliates, effective upon the closing of the transaction. "The sale of the Quantum assets and our exit from this business represents another step towards the streamlining of our business lines to focus on the Bank's core competencies. Additionally, we believe this transaction offers the Quantum employees and clients a more attractive platform from which to conduct their business. On behalf of the Company's Board, I sincerely thank Peter for his service to the Board and to Quantum," said Thomas M. O'Brien, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.
|
BHC | Hot Stocks07:03 EDT Bausch Health acquires license for myopia control contact lens from BHVI - Bausch Health has acquired an exclusive license for a myopia control contact lens design developed by BHVI, an Australian not-for-profit organization with an international focus on vision research. Bausch + Lomb will pair BHVI's contact lens design with its contact lens technologies to develop potential contact lens treatments designed to slow the progression of myopia in children.
|
LHCG | Hot Stocks07:03 EDT LHC Group, CHRISTUS Health expand JV partnership in Texas - LHC Group and CHRISTUS Health announced an expansion of their joint venture partnership with an agreement to add a hospice provider in San Marcos, Texas. It is anticipated that the agreement will be finalized Nov. 1, subject to customary closing conditions. Once the agreement is finalized, the LHC Group-CHRISTUS partnership will include 22 home health, hospice, palliative care, community-based, and long-term acute care locations across three states.
|
CARR | Hot Stocks06:57 EDT California school district to install 3,700 Carrier OptiClean units - California's San Bernardino City Unified School District will install 3,700 Carrier OptiClean dual-mode air scrubber and negative air machines to purify the air in classrooms across its 72 schools. The OptiClean units will help to improve indoor air quality for the district, as its more than 60,000 students, teachers and staff return to campuses. This announcement comes on the heels of the recent acquisition of 1,500 OptiClean units by the Alvord Unified School District in Riverside, California, to assist with their plan for the return of 20,000 students, teachers and staff to their 23 campuses. Carrier is a part of Carrier Global.
|
JPM | Hot Stocks06:53 EDT JPMorgan reports September net credit loss 1.92.% vs. 2.18% last month - Reports September 30-plus day delinquencies 0.98% vs. 0.95% last month.
|
CMC | Hot Stocks06:50 EDT Commercial Metals sees Q1 margin headwinds in North America from scrap costs - "We expect finished steel volumes for our North America and Europe operations to follow typical seasonal trends in the first fiscal quarter, with some negative impact in North America due to storms in the Texas and Gulf Coast markets," said Smith. "Shipments of steel and downstream products in the near-term should be supported by our solid construction backlog. We anticipate margin headwinds in the first quarter within North America due to the recent rise in scrap costs mitigated, in part, by steel price increases that became effective during the quarter. The market for long products in Europe is expected to remain challenged due to elevated import levels. However, demand appears solid, driven by construction sector resilience, and rebounding Central European industrial production."
|
HBP | Hot Stocks06:49 EDT Mill Road offers to acquire all outstanding Huttig Building shares for $4/share - In a regulatory filing, Mill Road Capital Management and its affiliated funds disclosed that they have proposed the acquisition of Huttig Building Products. In its proposal letter, Mill Road stated: "As you know, Mill Road is one of the largest shareholders of Huttig with ownership of 8.1% of the company's outstanding shares. We hope that the Board of Directors finds this improved proposal compelling for the company's shareholders. Based on our review of publicly available information to date, Mill Road proposes to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of the company not already owned by Mill Road for $4.00 per share which represents a premium of 142% over the company's closing share price on August 6th, the date we submitted our prior proposal. The purchase price would be payable in cash. Given our familiarity with the company and significant experience executing going-private transactions, we believe we can complete customary business, accounting, and legal due diligence and negotiate definitive documentation within 45 days. Our proposal is contingent on 1) receiving a 45 day period of exclusivity, 2) confirming that the company's current COVID-impacted annualized earnings power is at least as high as its earnings power immediately prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 3) completing our customary due diligence."
|
BRO | Hot Stocks06:48 EDT Brown & Brown's Hull & Company acquires J.E. Brown & Associates - J. Scott Penny, Chief Acquisitions Officer of Brown & Brown, and David Brown and Wendy Heathorn, the principals of J.E. Brown & Associates Insurance Services, announced that Hull & Company, a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, has acquired substantially all of the assets of J.E. Brown. Founded in 1989, J.E. Brown is a managing general agency for retail insurance agents placing property and casualty insurance for businesses and individuals.
|
MRK | Hot Stocks06:46 EDT Merck: FDA approves expanded indication for KEYTRUDA - Merck announced that the U.S. FDA has approved an expanded label for KEYTRUDA, Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The approval is based on results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-204 trial in which KEYTRUDA significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% compared to brentuximab vedotin. Additionally, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 13.2 months for patients treated with KEYTRUDA and 8.3 months for patients treated with BV. The FDA also approved an updated pediatric indication for KEYTRUDA for the treatment of pediatric patients with refractory cHL, or cHL that has relapsed after two or more lines of therapy.
|
TIF | Hot Stocks06:44 EDT Tiffany reports August-September earnings up 25% y-o-y - Tiffany reported preliminary sales and operating earnings for August and September. Worldwide net sales for the two-month period declined slightly from the comparable period in 2019 and operating earnings, inclusive of transaction-related expenses, increased approximately 25% from the comparable 2019 period. Positive sales trends are continuing in October. Globally, e-commerce sales continued to grow, nearly doubling in the two-month period from the comparable period in 2019 and representing 13% of total net sales year-to-date through September 30. E-Commerce sales have historically represented approximately 6% of total net sales. Sales in Mainland China remained strong and the Tiffany T1 line, the company's newest gold and gold with diamonds jewelry collection, continued its performance during the two-month period. Sales in the U.S. declined by a low double-digit percentage in the two-month period relative to the comparable period in the prior year. The company expects the sales trends in the U.S. to further improve in Q4. Tiffany's cash balance continued to be in excess of $1B at September 30 and is expected to be approximately $900M at year-end. The 30% decrease in capital expenditures relative to plan largely reflects costs deferred to 2021 due to the legally mandated temporary shutdown of the Fifth Avenue flagship renovation earlier this year and the company's decision to defer certain planned store openings and renovations to 2021.
|
MDJH | Hot Stocks06:44 EDT MDJM Ltd awarded up to $3M sales agent contract with Tianxiao for garden project - MDJM Ltd announced that it has signed a sales agent contract with Tianjin Tianxiao Real Estate. Pursuant to the contract, MDJH will serve as the sales agent for the "Style Pomegranate Garden" project, a large-scale residential project located in Hedong District, Tianjin, with a total construction area of over 333,000 square feet and a contract value of up to $3M.
|
PNM | Hot Stocks06:40 EDT PNM Resources subsidiary breaks ground on 50 MW solar customer program - Public Service Company of New Mexico, the wholly-owned New Mexico utility subsidiary of PNM Resources, joins the partners of the PNM Solar Direct program to break ground on the 50-megawatt solar facility supplying emissions-free energy to customers. The virtual groundbreaking provides a glimpse into the first utility-scale solar facility on Jicarilla Apache Nation land and the third largest solar facility on tribal lands in the United States. The program was designed to provide local governments, tribes, educational entities and large customers an opportunity to meet their clean energy goals. Under the program, these customers can take advantage of utility-scale solar pricing while avoiding the up-front investment needed to construct and maintain individual customer-sited facilities. The collaboration with customers and utilization of third-party energy developers fully embraces this approach and provides the lowest-cost solution for achieving the transition to clean energy. The planned solar capacity adds to PNM's renewable portfolio and furthers the progress towards the industry-leading goal to achieve 100% emissions-free energy by 2040. PNM currently serves New Mexico customers with 658 megawatts of renewable capacity and has received regulatory approvals to grow this capacity to 2,015 megawatts by the end of 2022. The additional solar capacity will also help PNM meet the state renewable portfolio standards of 40% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2040.
|
TRMB | Hot Stocks06:37 EDT Trimble appoints Jaime Nielsen as CPO, Mark Schwartz as CDO - Trimble announced that Jaime Nielsen has been appointed chief people officer, or CPO, and Mark Schwartz has been appointed chief digital officer, or CDO. As chief people officer, Jaime Nielsen will lead the people experience organization, formerly human resources, and support the company's strategic initiatives. Jaime Nielsen joined Trimble in 2006 as vice president leading the people initiatives for Trimble's transportation sector. During her 22-year career, Nielsen has held director and senior-level management roles centered on building connected cultures through global engagement strategies, while focusing on strategic talent management and building diverse, high-performing talent pools. As Trimble's chief digital officer, Schwartz will be responsible for leading the transformation initiatives of Trimble's business systems, processes and infrastructure to better serve the customer through the transition to "as-a-service" business models. Schwartz has served as Trimble's vice president of civil construction software responsible for solutions that connect the physical and digital worlds for project owners, civil engineers and contractors. These solutions optimize the design process, allowing COO of a joint venture between Trimble and Caterpillar as well as serving in several senior management roles in finance and technology over his 23-year career.
|
SAGE | Hot Stocks06:35 EDT Sage Therapeutics reports safety and tolerability data for Zuranolone - Sage Therapeutics reported interim, topline results from a July data cut of the ongoing Phase 3 open-label SHORELINE Study. This clinical study was designed to naturalistically follow patients with major depressive disorder and evaluate the safety and tolerability of zuranolone 30 mg in adults for up to one year. For the primary endpoint of safety and tolerability, data to date show that zuranolone was generally well-tolerated in the 30 mg dose and among the initial patients treated with the 50 mg dose. Adverse events reported in the trial during the period analyzed were generally consistent with results seen in previous clinical trials. Secondary endpoints included response and remission and the number of times a patient received retreatment. At the time of this analysis, patients with a clinical response to the initial 14-day course of zuranolone 30 mg used a mean number of 1.9 treatments per year. Nearly half of trial participants with positive response to initial 14-day course of zuranolone 30 mg did not need an additional zuranolone treatment course. For those who needed retreatment with the 30 mg dose, safety, tolerability and efficacy results were similar to those seen in the initial treatment course. The study provides real world insight into the potential use of zuranolone, if successfully developed and approved as an as-needed treatment for MDD. The company plans to report comprehensive data from the 30 mg dose in the first half of 2021 and will include additional subsets of data within the primary and secondary endpoints.
|
BTG | Hot Stocks06:34 EDT B2Gold reports Q3 gold production of 248,733 ounces - B2Gold announced its gold production and gold revenue for Q3. Consolidated gold production of 248,733 ounces from the company's three operating mines, above budget by 1% and an increase of 17% over Q3 of 2019. Total gold production of 263,813 ounces. Record quarterly consolidated gold revenue of $487M, an increase of $176M over the third quarter of 2019. The Fekola Mine continues to operate unimpeded and no operational days have been lost due to the recent political developments and demonstrations in Mali.
|
SYF | Hot Stocks06:29 EDT Synchrony reports September net charge offs 3.61% vs. 3.54% last month - Reports September 30-plus day delinquencies 1.68% vs. 1.68% last month.
|
WNS | Hot Stocks06:21 EDT WNS Holdings CEO says 'visibility has now improved' - "In the fiscal second quarter, WNS made solid progress growing our top line, adjusting our cost structure, and ensuring our ability to service clients' requirements in a difficult business environment," said Keshav Murugesh, WNS's CEO. "As a result we were able to post solid sequential revenue growth and healthy margins. We are also pleased that visibility has now improved to the point where the company is comfortable providing annual guidance. Looking forward, while we are seeing some delays in converting larger signed deals into revenue, we are pleased with the overall health of the sales pipeline including new opportunity additions, progress of deals through the pipeline, and contract signings for both new logos and existing client expansions. While we continue to expect some volatility in our business over the next few quarters, we remain confident in our financial strength, differentiated capabilities, underlying business momentum, and proven ability to execute. WNS will continue to focus on ensuring the health and safety of our global employees, securely servicing the needs of our clients, and investing for the expanding BPM opportunity."
|
SPI | Hot Stocks06:08 EDT SPI Energy subsidiary partners with Tongjia on electric pickup trucks - SPI Energy announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, EdisonFuture, has entered into a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Shaanxi Tongjia Automobile, a manufacturer of all-electric logistic vehicles in China. Under the terms of the agreement, EdisonFuture and Tongjia will cooperate in the customized design, development, production, and sales of a new generation of smart electric pickup trucks and electric logistics vehicles. Tongjia will supply parts and support to EdisonFuture's assembly facility in Fresno, California, where EdisonFuture will complete assembly of the vehicles, including the addition of software and other parts produced locally. EdisonFuture will also be the exclusive North American distributor of all-electric "last-mile" delivery box trucks and pickup trucks currently produced by Tongjia.
|
NK | Hot Stocks06:08 EDT NantKwest affiliate ImmunityBio gets FDA approval for hAd5-COVID-19 trial - ImmunityBio announced it has received authorization from the U.S. FDA to begin a Phase I clinical trial of hAd5-COVID-19, the company's novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate that targets both the inner nucleocapsid, engineered to activate T cells, and outer spike (S) protein, engineered to activate antibodies against the coronavirus. These dual constructs of SARS-CoV-2 offer the potential for the hAd5 vaccine to provide recipients with durable, long-term cell-mediated immunity with potent antibody stimulation against both the S and N proteins. The company anticipates launching a Phase I trial at Irvine, Calif. based Hoag Hospital this month with adult subjects up to age 55. Under the terms of a definitive agreement announced on August 24, ImmunityBio and its affiliate, NantKwest, agreed to share equally the costs of development, manufacturing, marketing and commercialization of the products each is developing related to COVID-19, including the hAd5 vaccine candidate. Should a product be commercialized successfully, the companies have agreed to a 60-40 percentage split of net profits, with the larger share going to the company that developed the product. The agreement also details the structure of shared governance of the joint collaboration.
|
BC | Hot Stocks06:05 EDT Brunswick appoints Michael Adams as Chief Information Officer - Brunswick has named Michael Adams VP - Chief Information Officer effective immediately. Adams succeeds Danielle Brown, who is leaving Brunswick to pursue other opportunities. Adams joined Brunswick in 2017 as Chief IT Architect. Prior to joining Brunswick, Adams spent 15 years at DuPont in various IT leadership roles in Global Infrastructure and Data Transformation.
|
NFE | Hot Stocks06:03 EDT New Fortress Energy signs MOU with Philippine National Oil Company - New Fortress Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Philippine National Oil Company, or PNOC, to advance the development of infrastructure to supply power and natural gas into the Philippine market. Under the MOU, PNOC and NFE will work together to identify potential opportunities to accelerate the development of LNG and power infrastructure in the country, leveraging future investments to build a new and durable LNG value chain in the Philippines. State-run PNOC was already in the process of competitive selection for a partner for a LNG Terminal Project when it was shelved in December 2018 in light of increased private sector interest to undertake, on its own, the entire project. The MOU is non-binding on the parties, and actual terms of any future definitive agreement may differ from the terms of the MOU.
|
JG | Hot Stocks05:34 EDT Aurora Mobile to receive support funding of RMB17.24M from Shenzhen DRC - Aurora Mobile announced that its development and commercialization project relating to a deep learning and big data-powered system will receive special support funding of RMB17.24M from the Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, or Shenzhen DRC, representing the highest allocation among all recipients. On October 10, Shenzhen DRC released the list of the first batch of projects in strategic emerging industries entitled for its special support funds. A total of 123 projects have been included on the list, among which 8 will receive a special support fund of more than RMB10M. The special support fund is granted to eligible projects after a preliminary review, panel discussion and on-site verification. It covers the seven "strategic emerging industries", including next-generation information technology, new materials, advanced equipment manufacturing and biomedicine. Among the first batch of projects to receive the funding, Aurora's project aims to build a big data-based intelligent recommendation service system for e-commerce companies, mobile app developers, financial institutions and OTO platforms. The company will leverage its anonymized mobile data and proprietary modeling technologies for large-scale adaptive user profile optimization, behavior prediction, risk assessment, intelligent recommendation, to help its enterprise clients improve their marketing efficiency and generate cost savings.
|
IBM... | Hot Stocks05:30 EDT IBM builds KAZ Minerals a disaster recovery site - IBM (IBM) announced it has built a disaster recovery site using IBM Cloud infrastructure, intended to help KAZ Minerals (KZMYY) protect and maintain operations, even in case of a disaster. The company turned to IBM to develop a cloud-based disaster recovery site for its on-premises data center. The disaster recovery site was built using IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers and VMware (VMW) Site Recovery Manager with vSphere Replication. The solution is designed to automate the processes of migrating, recovering, testing, re-protecting and failing-back virtual machine workloads and achieve target service level objectives. The company said the hybrid cloud approach to combining disaster recovery site in cloud with the on-premises data center will position KAZ Minerals to efficiently restore mission critical business applications, including enterprise resource planning and analytics, in case a disaster affects the data center.
|
PHG | Hot Stocks05:25 EDT Philips, Mandaya Royal Hospital Puri announce seven-year patient care agreement - Philips and Mandaya Royal Hospital Puri announced a seven-year strategic partnership agreement integrating a range of medical technologies and solutions that will bring world-class healthcare services to Mandaya Royal's patients and staff. The agreement includes first of kind imaging and image-guided therapy technologies for the region, integrated informatics and connected monitoring solutions to support clinical care delivery. Also included in the partnership are Philips' Ambient Experience solutions, which use dynamic lighting, projection and sound to enhance the experience of patients and staff. Support for the partnership has been provided by the Netherlands' Export Credit Agency, a first for Philips in Indonesia. Opening in early 2021, Mandaya Royal Hospital Puri will have over 350 beds, six operating theatres, over 100 outpatient examination rooms, three medical centers and 14 specialist clinics, and is expected to receive over a thousand patients each day. Intended to be a national referral hospital for the entire Indonesian archipelago, the hospital will strive to deliver patient-centered care personalized to the needs of each patient, incorporating advanced health technology to improve patient outcomes. Philips will support Mandaya Royal Hospital Puri with its end-to-end approach, providing integrated solutions across the multi-year engagement to drive improvements in patient outcomes.
|
NOK | Hot Stocks05:21 EDT Nokia announces temperature detection solution for potential COVID-19 infections - Nokia announced an automated, zero-touch elevated temperature detection solution designed to help spot potential COVID-19 infections in facilities with thousands of people. The Nokia Automated Analytics Solution for Access Control fully automates the process of identifying people with elevated temperatures and confirms mask compliance, in large environments with multiple accesses. Leveraging advanced analytics, a business rules engine, centralized management, machine learning and ubiquitous connectivity, the Nokia solution dramatically reduces the cost of detection and ensures business continuity and supply chain resilience during the pandemic. Organizations can also expand the solution to support other ongoing use cases to protect employees and building assets, including predictive surveillance, machine maintenance and security threats.
|
ALPMY | Hot Stocks05:10 EDT Astellas Pharma to acquire iota Biosciences for initial payment of $127.5M - Astellas Pharma and iota Biosciences announced that Astellas, through a U.S. subsidiary, and iota have entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which Astellas will acquire iota. Astellas and iota previously entered into a research and development agreement in August 2019 to jointly conduct research and development activities associated with iota's ultrasonic-powered bioelectronic devices in a number of indications. In carrying out the activities contemplated under the R&D agreement, the companies have evaluated detailed specifications for implantable medical devices focused on multiple diseases with high unmet medical needs. Through the acquisition of iota, Astellas will acquire iota's bioelectronics technology and talent. This acquisition, which contemplates the utilization of iota's technology as a platform to advance innovation in the bioelectronics field, is expected to accelerate Astellas' Rx+ business not only by expediting the Rx+ projects previously covered under the R&D Agreement but also by allowing exploration of other applications of iota's bioelectronics technology for new target diseases and developing new technologies. Iota is a start-up company founded in 2017 by Michel Maharbiz and Jose Carmena. Iota's technology uses ultrasound both to power the devices and to enable wireless communication. Clinical trials of multiple projects including those under the R&D agreement are expected to start in the early 2020s. Under the merger agreement, Astellas will make an initial payment of approximately $127.5M to acquire all of the outstanding equity in iota not already held by Astellas. Iota's shareholders will be eligible to receive additional payments of up to a total of approximately $176.5M upon achievement of predetermined milestones by iota within certain timeframes after completion of the transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, Iota will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas. Subject to customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to occur during Q3. Astellas is also committing to spend a total of $125M over the next five years to fuel iota's expansion. Astellas is still reviewing the financial impacts of this transaction for FY21.
|