Stockwinners Market Radar for March 23, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:35 EDT Arthur J. Gallagher acquires R&R Benefits/Risk Management - Arthur J. Gallagher earlier today announced the acquisition of R&R Benefits/Risk Management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. R&R Benefits, based in South Bend, Indiana, is an independent insurance agency offering employee benefit program solutions, as well as property/casualty risk placements, in the traditional and alternative risk financing market.

18:30 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings fall from 1,051.78MT to 1,045.36MT - This is the lowest level of holdings since April 23, 2020.

17:59 EDT GameStop weighing whether to sell class A shares under increased ATM Program - GameStop said in a regulatory filing that, since January 2021, it has been evaluating whether to increase the size of its at-the-market offering program and whether to potentially sell shares of its Class A Common Stock under the increased ATM Program during the course of fiscal 2021, primarily to fund the acceleration of the company's future transformation initiatives and general working capital needs. The timing and amount of sales under the ATM Program would depend on, among other factors, GameStop's capital needs and alternative sources and costs of capital available to us, market perceptions about the company, and the then current trading price of its Class A Common Stock. Shares of GameStop are down over 11% in after hours trading.

17:30 EDT Intel sees 'strong' PC demand in FY21 with double-digit TAM growth - Sees FY21 gross margin 56.5%, tax rate 13%, capex $19B-$20B, and free cash flow of $10B. The company states: "For the full year, Intel expects continued strong PC demand with double-digit PC TAM percentage growth. Intel client CPU supply is also expected to be up double-digits year-over-year. However, PC revenue will be tempered by the industry-wide shortage of critical third-party components, such as substrates, which the company is working with its supply chain partners to mitigate. Intel's full-year business outlook also reflects entity list uncertainty." CEO Pat Gelsinger states: "2021 is a transitional year as we accelerate Intel's trajectory, invest in our future and improve our execution. We're working aggressively with our supply chain partners and leveraging our unique manufacturing capabilities to solve for industry-wide component shortages and outperform this guide. Given the incredible demand for computing, the strength of our IDM 2.0 strategy and the technology investments we're making, I'm certain Intel's best days are in front of us."

17:27 EDT NTN Buzztime plans to effect one for two reverse stock split - NTN Buzztime announced that it plans to effect a one for two reverse stock split of its outstanding shares of common stock immediately prior to the closing of the merger with Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics LLC, which is anticipated to occur on March 25. The shares of common stock of the resulting company is expected to commence trading on March 26 on the NYSE American under the trading symbol "BTX".

17:16 EDT Twitter welcomes Reshuffle team amid API improvements - "Twitter supports millions of developers through our API, but it's the developer community that brings incredible value and innovation to our platform. As we're building our new and improved Twitter API, we're committed to making the developer experience even better - creating faster and easier ways for developers to get started and grow with us. To accelerate these efforts, we are excited to welcome the Reshuffle team to Twitter. Reshuffle built an integration platform that lets developers easily build workflows and connect systems using any API. Their experienced team will join our Developer Platform team, where they'll focus on key areas across product, engineering and developer relations, further advancing our work building the new Twitter API to better support our diverse and innovative developer ecosystem. wrote Bruce Falck and Sonya Penn on the Twitter Developer Blog. Reference Link

17:11 EDT Lockheed Martin awarded $3.69B Missile Defense Agency contract - Lockheed Martin was awarded one of two competitive cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-plus-incentive-fee contracts. The total value of this contract is $3,693,205,221 if funded through the full base period. The initial program funding limitation for both contracts combined is $1,600,000,000 through fiscal 2022.

17:04 EDT Intel to invest $20B in two new Arizona chip factories - Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger outlined the company's path forward to manufacture, design and deliver leadership products and create long-term value for stakeholders. During the company's global "Intel Unleashed: Engineering the Future" webcast, Gelsinger shared his vision for "IDM 2.0," a major evolution of Intel's integrated device manufacturing, IDM, model. Gelsinger announced significant manufacturing expansion plans, starting with an estimated $20B investment to build two new factories, or "fabs, in Arizona. He also announced Intel's plans to become a major provider of foundry capacity in the U.S. and Europe to serve customers globally. Intel's newest factory, Fab 42, became fully operational in 2020 on the company's Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona. Fab 42 produces microprocessors using the company's 10nm manufacturing processes. In March 2021, Intel announced a $20 billion investment to build out two new factories (or "on the Ocotillo campus. The company expects to begin planning and construction activities this year. "We are setting a course for a new era of innovation and product leadership at Intel," said Gelsinger. "Intel is the only company with the depth and breadth of software, silicon and platforms, packaging, and process with at-scale manufacturing customers can depend on for their next-generation innovations. IDM 2.0 is an elegant strategy that only Intel can deliver - and it's a winning formula. We will use it to design the best products and manufacture them in the best way possible for every category we compete in."

16:44 EDT Marvell gets China regulatory approval for Inphi acquisition - Marvell Technology (MRVL) announced that the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People's Republic of China has approved the company's previously announced proposed acquisition of Inphi (IPHI). The transaction is currently expected to close in April 2021, pending approval by Inphi's and our stockholders, as well as satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

16:40 EDT GameStop names Jenna Owens COO - During the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, the Company added three new members - Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen and Jim Grube - to its Board of Directors (the "Board"). The Board subsequently formed a Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee (the "Committee") to identify initiatives that can further accelerate the Company's transformation. The Committee is comprised of Mr. Attal, Mr. Cohen, and Kurt Wolf, with Mr. Cohen serving as Chairperson. Since the Committee's formation in late January 2020, the Company has appointed a Chief Technology Officer and several other executives with experience in E-Commerce, customer care and technology. In March 2021, the Company appointed Jenna Owens as its Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Owens has spent the majority of the past decade in executive roles at Amazon and Google.The Company is continuing to actively pursue senior talent with E-Commerce, retail and technology experience in order to transform the business over the long-term. In the near-term, the Company is continuing to position its brick-and-mortar footprint and digital assets to capitalize on the emerging console cycle and additional gaming opportunities.

16:37 EDT Prothena drops 5% to $20.71 after announcing common stock offering

16:31 EDT Altria Group Chairman Thomas Farrell II to retire from board - Thomas Farrell II, a director of Altria Group since 2008 and independent Chairman of Altria's Board of Directors, notified Altria of his decision to retire from service on the Board following the completion of his current term. Consequently, Farrell will not stand for re-election to the Board at Altria's 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is presently anticipated to be held on May 20. The Board will evaluate Board leadership succession and intends to appoint a new Chairman at its organizational meeting following the 2021 Annual Meeting.

16:29 EDT Amazon names new AWS CEO Adam Selipsky - In an email from Andy Jassy to AWS employees: Amazon announced that the new CEO of AWS will be Adam Selipsky An email from Andy Jassy to AWS employees: "I want to share that Adam Selipsky will be the next CEO of AWS. Adam is not a new face to AWS. Back in 2005, Adam was one of the first VPs we hired in AWS, and ran AWS's Sales, Marketing, and Support for 11 years (as well as some other areas like our AWS Platform services for a spell). Adam then became the CEO of Tableau in 2016, and ran Tableau for the last 4.5 years. Tableau experienced significant success during Adam's time as CEO-the value of the company quadrupled in just a few years, Tableau transitioned through a fundamental business model change from perpetual licenses to subscription licensing, and the company was eventually acquired by Salesforce in 2019 in one of the largest software acquisitions in history. Following the acquisition, Adam remained the CEO of Tableau and was a member of Salesforce's Executive Leadership Team.Adam brings strong judgment, customer obsession, team building, demand generation, and CEO experience to an already very strong AWS leadership team. And, having been in such a senior role at AWS for 11 years, he knows our culture and business well. With a $51B revenue run rate that's growing 28% YoY (these were the Q4 2020 numbers we last publicly shared), it's easy to forget that AWS is still in the very early stages of what's possible. Less than 5% of the global IT spend is in the cloud at this point. That's going to substantially change in the coming years. We have a lot more to invent for customers, and we have a very strong leadership team and group of builders to go make it happen. Am excited for what lies ahead. Andy P.S. Adam will return to AWS on May 17. We will spend the subsequent several weeks transitioning together before making the change sometime in Q3" Reference Link

16:27 EDT GameStop continuing to suspend guidance amid pandemic - During 2021, the Company will focus on its transformation while also capitalizing on the emerging console cycle and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company is continuing to suspend guidance at this time. Further, as a result of prolonged pandemic related store closures which began in March 2020, which will impact the calculation of comparable store sales this year, the Company does not currently intend to report this metric in fiscal 2021. The Company believes total net sales is the more appropriate metric to evaluate the performance of the business at this time. As the Company continues to reposition during 2021, it will continue to evaluate the metrics that it believes will most effectively inform investors of the Company's performance, development and outlook. "We are off to a strong start in 2021 as February comparable store sales increased 23%, led by continued strength in global hardware sales. As we look ahead, we are excited by the opportunities that are in front of us as we begin prioritizing long-term digital and E-Commerce initiatives while continuing to execute on our core business during this emerging console cycle. Our emphasis in 2021 will be on improving our E-Commerce and customer experience, increasing our speed of delivery, providing superior customer service and expanding our catalogue," Sherman concluded.

16:17 EDT BRP Group to acquire Only Medicare Solutions - BRP Group announced that BRP Medicare Insurance III, an indirect subsidiary of BRP Group operating as Guided Medicare Solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all assets of Tim Altman, an Issaquah, Washington-based independent insurance agency that offers information, support and access to Medicare products for its clients. The Partnership, BRP Group's nomenclature for a strategic acquisition, is expected to close April 1, subject to certain closing conditions. Only Medicare Solutions generated annual revenues of approximately $1.0M and has a presence in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California markets. Following this Partnership, Only Medicare Solutions will be rebranded under the company's Guided banner over a transition period.

16:12 EDT Kaman Composites awarded contract by Boeing over MH-47 program - Kaman Composites, a division of Kaman Corporation (KAMN), announced that it has been awarded a contract by Boeing (BA) to manufacture the refueling boom assembly for the MH-47 program. The MH-47 is an inflight refuelable version of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The boom assemblies will support MH-47 new-build production, as well as MH-47 Block II ReNew modifications. "Kaman has a long-standing partnership with Boeing and we are pleased to continue that relationship with this new MH-47 Refueling Boom program," said Shawn Hawks, General Manager, Kaman Composites Wichita. "Bringing the boom assembly work to Wichita is exciting for the community and our experienced workforce." As part of the integration of this program, Kaman Composites Wichita will expand its facility to accommodate the increased production scale that the assemblies will require. These improvements are currently underway in preparation for the start of the program in the second half of 2021.

16:09 EDT Adobe CFO Murphy to retire in 2021 - Adobe announced that executive vice president and CFO John Murphy intends to retire in 2021 to spend more time with family and friends and focus on philanthropy. Murphy will stay on as needed to ensure an orderly transition as the company identifies a successor. Adobe will be conducting a search and evaluating internal and external candidates. "John has made significant contributions to Adobe for which I'm deeply grateful and I wish him well as he pursues his passion for philanthropy," said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO, Adobe.

16:08 EDT Fathom completed approximately 7,500 real estate transactions in Q4, up 50% y/y - Fathom completed approximately 7,500 real estate transactions for the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 50% from the same period last year. Fathom's real estate agent network grew 37% to 5,471 agents at December 31, 2020, up from 4,006 compared with the year prior. "Our fourth quarter and full-year results reflect the power of our unique model and Fathom's ability to attract real estate agents by providing them with greater income potential along with the technology and tools they require to grow their businesses even further, which, in turn, drives our growth. Moreover, I'm extremely proud that our retention of higher producing agents, or agents closing more than 10 transactions per year, improved significantly from 10% of the overall attrition in 2019 to only 2.5% of the overall attrition in 2020," said Fathom CEO Joshua Harley. "Since going public, we have substantially increased revenue, continued the expansion of our agent network, improved agent retention, entered new geographic markets and completed strategic acquisitions that further solidify our market position.

16:07 EDT At Home Group not providing guidance - The company states: "Given the unprecedented and continued uncertainty related to COVID-19, the company is not providing formal guidance at this time... As we look forward, we have never been more confident in our ability to capture the large opportunity ahead. We are in the early innings of many exciting initiatives, and we remain focused on delivering strong and consistent results. We are prioritizing our efforts in three key areas: new customer retention and growth, optimizing our inventory position, and the enhanced execution of our At Home 2.0 strategy. With the resumption of new store openings, we have reignited a key growth engine on our long-term journey to 600+ stores. We believe the tailwinds of strong home sales, nesting and de-urbanization are likely to continue over the foreseeable future, and we are excited to be a key player taking share in a large and growing industry."

15:16 EDT Disney confirms 'Cruella' and 'Black Widow' to debut in theaters and on Disney+ - Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution (DIS) announced new release details for a number of titles on Walt Disney Studios' upcoming slate of films. The announcement updates rollout details for the forthcoming Disney live-action "Cruella," Marvel Studios' "Black Widow," and Disney and Pixar's "Luca," and also includes revised premiere dates for several other titles. "Following the successful release of 'Raya and The Last Dragon,' the highly anticipated live-action film 'Cruella' and Marvel Studios' long-awaited 'Black Widow' will launch simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access in most Disney+ markets on Friday, May 28 and on Friday, July 9, respectively. Similar to the launch of Disney and Pixar's Academy Award-nominated 'Soul' that delighted Disney+ subscribers during the holidays, Disney and Pixar's 'Luca' will stream directly in homes worldwide exclusively on Disney+ beginning Friday, June 18, as a special offering to kick-off the summer season. In international markets where Disney+ is not yet available, the film will be released theatrically, with premiere dates to be announced," the company stated. Theatrical release dates also shifted for several additional upcoming films, Disney noted. Other publicly traded companies in the film studio space include AT&T (T), Comcast (CMCSA), Disney (DIS), Lionsgate (LGF.A), Sony (SNE) and ViacomCBS (VIAC). Publicly traded companies in the movie exhibition space include AMC Entertainment (AMC), Cinemark (CNK), Cineworld Group (CNNWF), Imax (IMAX), Marcus (MCS) and National CineMedia (NCMI). Reference Link

14:40 EDT Novo Nordisk reports full results of STEP 4 trial were presented at ENDO meeting - New results from the STEP phase 3a clinical trial program demonstrated weight loss with investigational treatment of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg versus placebo, Novo Nordisk reported. In the STEP 4 trial, study participants who reached the maintenance dose of semaglutide 2.4 mg during a 20-week run-in period were randomized to either continue treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg or switch to placebo for 48 weeks. The full results of the STEP 4 trial were presented today at the virtual Endocrine Society, or ENDO, 2021 Annual Meeting and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Following the 20-week run-in period, people who continued treatment with semaglutide 2.4 mg for an additional 48 weeks continued to lose weight with a statistically significant additional mean weight loss of 7.9%. The estimated treatment difference for the treatment policy estimand was -14.8%. People who stayed on semaglutide 2.4 mg throughout the entire 68-week trial achieved a total weight loss of 17.4%. Both treatment groups followed a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity program throughout the study.

14:25 EDT Facebook to host F8 Refresh event on June 2 - Facebook said in a blog post that it is introducing a new format for its F8 event, known as F8 Refresh. " Our virtual stage will be open to developers across the world and live streamed on our Facebook for Developers page on June 2nd," the company said. "We'll feature the latest product tools to help you build across our family of apps, as well as technical deep-dive sessions, demos, and panels - all with the goal of enabling your growth." Reference Link

14:04 EDT MetLife names Robin Gordon as Chief Data and Analytics Officer - MetLife announced that Robin Gordon will join the company as Chief Data and Analytics Officer, effective March 29. Gordon will manage MetLife's enterprise data priorities across data strategy, data services and operations, engineering, data innovation and governance. She will report to Bill Pappas, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technology and Operations. Gordon joins MetLife in this new role from Blackstone, where she served as the chief information officer for seven companies within its real estate portfolio. There, she led the technology and data organization to deliver business insights resulting in better property management, deal decisioning and portfolio optimization.

12:26 EDT Discovery Communications trading resumes

12:21 EDT Discovery Communications trading halted, volatility trading pause

12:12 EDT Berry Global, AutoNation mentioned as value plays by Eminence's Sandler - Eminence Capital founder Ricky Sandler mentioned Berry Global (BERY) and AutoNation (AN) as among his favored value plays while being interviewed on CNBC.

12:00 EDT QuantumScape falls -12.2% - QuantumScape is down -12.2%, or -$7.83 to $56.46.

12:00 EDT Navios Maritime falls -16.5% - Navios Maritime is down -16.5%, or -$2.28 to $11.50.

12:00 EDT HC2 Holdings rises 7.1% - HC2 Holdings is up 7.1%, or 29c to $4.39.

11:02 EDT CNH Industrial acquires minority stake in Augmenta, terms not disclosed - CNH Industrial announced that it has completed its acquisition of a minority stake in Augmenta, an agricultural technology company, focused on automating farming operations using computer vision and artificial intelligence 'on the edge', whereby data is processed in real time, directly by the system. This acquisition will see CNH Industrial become Augmenta's strategic partner in crop sensing and machinery automation, and also foresees future joint research and development collaboration. This partnership is further evidence of CNH Industrial's ongoing commitment to investing in advanced agricultural technologies to strengthen its entire product range, thereby offering its customers rapid and easy access to breakthrough agricultural innovations, which enhance both farming productivity and bring sustainability benefits. Furthermore, it reinforces the product portfolio of AGXTEND, the Company's accelerator for tech startups. Augmenta, headquartered in Paris, France, and with offices in the United States, has its research and development campus in Athens, Greece. The company is exclusively focused on developing precision farming solutions based on computer vision and artificial intelligence. To date, the Company's products are in 16 countries throughout North and South America, Europe and Australia. Augmenta's technology will be available globally through the AGXTEND portfolio.

10:49 EDT Cadence Design, GLOBALFOUNDRIES collaborate for DFM signoff - GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Cadence Design Systems announced a collaboration to facilitate design for manufacturing signoff with machine learning prediction capabilities. As part of the collaboration, the Cadence Litho Physical Analyzer, a DFM pattern analysis tool integrated with GF-developed ML models, has been qualified for GF's 12LP and 12LP+ solutions. The ML-enhanced Cadence Litho Physical Analyzer, optimized for GF's 12LP and 12LP+ solutions, provides customers with in-design automated DFM hotspot detection and fixing capabilities to speed implementation and time to market. The ML-based enhancement delivers up to 33% greater detection efficiency versus traditional pattern-matching checks with less than 10% runtime impact.

10:31 EDT First Citizens, Sagent announce five-year partnership extension - Sagent announced a five-year partnership extension with North Carolina-headquartered First Citizens Bank. The extension marks two decades of collaboration on Sagent's consumer-first, enterprise-grade loan servicing platform.

10:03 EDT Astadia acquires Anubex, terms not disclosed - The company said, "In today's environment, many organizations have a "Cloud First" strategy for deploying business applications. Since most of the important business applications reside on mainframes, moving these applications and databases to any Cloud platform requires expert skills and technology. The combination of Astadia's Replatforming solutions, plus the Anubex Refactoring capabilities, offers a complete mainframe migration RoadMap. Astadia now offers all solution sets required to migrate from any IBM Z Series, or Unisys ClearPath platform, to the Cloud platform of their choosing. The acquisition of Anubex by Astadia allows the Anubex R&D team to continue to focus on extending their portfolio of products to automate refactoring and testing of legacy systems. The development of these products started well over 20 years ago, and today includes legacy technologies such as Assembler, COBOL, IDMS and Natural ADABAS that can be migrated to, among others, Java or C# in combination with all the leading SQL-databases - with the resulting applications ready for deployment in the Cloud. These solutions using a Cloud-based "Migration Factory" model will be available to Astadia partners and clients worldwide. "

10:00 EDT Express falls -3.7% - Express is down -3.7%, or -17c to $4.47.

10:00 EDT Caleres rises -2.0% - Caleres is up -2.0%, or -41c to $20.60.

10:00 EDT Jianpu Technology rises 5.3% - Jianpu Technology is up 5.3%, or 18c to $3.58.

09:47 EDT Cloopen falls -1.9% - Cloopen is down -1.9%, or -38c to $19.43.

09:47 EDT RLX Technology falls 4.2% - RLX Technology is down 4.2%, or 43c to $10.58.

09:47 EDT Kuke Music rises 8.2% - Kuke Music is up 8.2%, or 70c to $9.25.

09:35 EDT Dolphin Entertainment shares surge after company announces NFT division - Dolphin Entertainment announced earlier that it has formed a new division which will be dedicated to designing, producing, releasing and promoting NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, for itself and its clients within the film, television, music, gaming, epicurean, and technology industries. "NFTs, whether as digital art in their own right, or as collectibles, or simply as promotional items, have entered the realm of pop culture and entertainment, which is where Dolphin lives. We believe Dolphin's best-in-class entertainment marketing companies are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the expanded promotional capabilities that NFTs represent, as well as to maximize their potential revenue streams. We expect several upcoming projects and partnerships that will combine our creative and marketing expertise to bring exciting offerings to the NFT marketplace," said Bill O'Dowd, CEO of Dolphin Entertainment. In early trading, Dolphin shares have jumped $6.48, or 119%, to $11.93.

09:31 EDT ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF buys 3D Systems, Unity Software shares - ARK Investment Management announced in its actively managed ETFs daily trade information that on March 22 the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) bought 141,254 shares of 3D Systems (DDD) and 187,300 shares of Unity Software (U).

09:28 EDT CleanSpark provides sales update after acquisition of Solar Watt Solutions - CleanSpark announced that it has executed more than 50 new contracts under its residential initiative in less than one month following its acquisition of Solar Watt Solutions. These additional CleanSpark and Solar Watt contracts for residential microgrids and battery energy storage solutions executed since February 24th have a face value exceeding $1.7M. New CleanSpark Subsidiary Reporting Record Revenues Since Acquisition.A substantial percentage of the new contracts are related to California's Self Generation Incentive Program, which provides a rebate to homeowners in fire-prone areas to add energy storage backup systems. These rebate programs offset a significant portion of the purchase price of battery energy storage systems to provide critical power to homes in the event of a utility grid disruption. CleanSpark and Solar Watt are currently running co-branded marketing campaigns to educate homeowners on the availability of these incentives for home microgrids and battery backup systems.

09:18 EDT Draganfly secures $1M flight services contract - Draganfly announced that it has signed a $1M services deal to deploy EagleEye AI flight services with Windfall Geotek . Windfall Geotek flies mining prospect with magnetometers. The data is placed into EagleEye along with other data and provides recommended targets for mining companies to drill. This was traditionally done by fixed-wing aircraft flying mag surveys. Draganfly flies smaller patterns and uses EagleEye's AI software to get better results and provide better potential targets using the AI data. The mining focus will be on battery metals nickel, zing, lithium, and cobalt.

09:16 EDT Boxlight announces acquisition of Interactive Concepts for approximately $3.3M - Boxlight Corporation announced it has acquired Interactive Concepts, a company engaged in distributed AV and IT solutions to the Belgium market, for a total consideration of approximately $3.3M in cash, common stock and deferred consideration. Boxlight President, Mark Starkey comments, "The acquisition of Interactive Concepts represents an exciting opportunity to expand the footprint of the Clevertouch brand and further extend our distribution network across Western Europe where we're trading tremendously well. We have seen a 25% year-on-year revenue growth across Benelux, a region that accounts for nearly 6% of the European population. Karel Callens will join Boxlight under the Clevertouch and Sahara Presentation Systems Europe brand and will continue to drive sales in Belgium and Luxembourg, cementing and building on the phenomenal growth we've seen over the last several years."

09:14 EDT Quanta's Medolife Rx announces pre-clinical results on Escozine - Medolife Rx, which is a majority owned subsidiary of Quanta, announced clinical trial results conducted on its lead drug candidate Escozine where the drug eradicated in vitro bladder and ovarian cancer cell lines when administered for 24 hours. The study was conducted at one of the most prestigious academic research facilities in the United States. The goal of the study was to assess the viability of human bladder and ovarian cancer cells treated with Escozine, the Company's polarized drug candidate derived from a small molecular peptide found in scorpions. It examined the effects of both polarized and non-polarized versions of the drug on the viability of cell walls, finding that only the polarized version had a significant effect on eliminating the cell lines in all three cancers. This highlights not only the potential of Escozine as a treatment for cancer, but the increased efficacy and bioavailability of the drug through the polarization methodology unique to Medolife Rx. Cell lines are commonly used in in vitro model systems in many drug discovery research programs. They retain most of the genetic properties of the cancer of origin and provide researchers with an indefinite source of biological material for experimental purposes. This study was especially significant in that Escozine eradicated the cell lines completely, furthering the hypothesis that the drug could eliminate cancer cells in humans completely as well. The Company is conducting concurrent clinical studies on Escozine around the world in countries such as the Dominican Republic and the United States. It is seeking product registration in the Dominican Republic for treatment of COVID-19, where it recently announced positive efficacy and safety results on over 500 patients. Additionally, it has filed data on Escozine with the US Food and Drug Administration as a Pre-Investigational New Drug as a COVID-19 therapeutic and is hoping to receive a response in short order. Medolife utilizes a patented polarization technology in all of its clinical drug candidates and nutraceutical consumer products that increase the potency of single molecules and complex compounds.

09:10 EDT Castor Maritime takes delivery of the M/T Wonder Sirius - Castor Maritime announces that, on March 22 it took delivery of the M/T Wonder Sirius, the 2005 Korean-built Aframax LR2 tanker it had agreed to acquire as previously announced on February 11. The M/T Wonder Sirius is currently employed under a time charter contract with minimum duration of about one year at a minimum gross daily hire of $15,000. The M/T Wonder Sirius acquisition was financed in its entirety with cash on hand. Petros Panagiotidis, Chief Executive Officer of Castor, commented: "We are pleased to announce the successful delivery of the M/T Wonder Sirius, the second of our two Aframax LR2 tankers. These timely acquisitions into the tanker sector diversify our revenue sources while the attached charters provide us with cashflow security throughout 2021. Our two tankers are projected to generate in aggregate, assuming no off-hire days, approximately $10 million of gross revenues for the minimum scheduled period of the charters, or approximately

09:09 EDT Alcoa to supply sustainable, low carbon aluminum wheels for Audi's e-tron GT - Alcoa Corporation (AA) announced that it is supplying sustainable aluminum for the wheels on the Audi (AUDVF) e-tron GT, the first vehicle to ever use metal from a revolutionary technology that eliminates all direct carbon dioxide emissions from the traditional smelting process. Alcoa is supplying aluminum to RONAL GROUP for the manufacture of the Audi e-tron GT's high-performance alloy wheels, produced with a combination of metal from the ELYSISTM zero-carbon emissions smelting technology and EcoLum, Alcoa's low-carbon aluminum brand. The wheels are weight optimized with RONAL GROUP's flowforming technology and other innovations that improve overall aerodynamics. They are produced using 100% green electricity in Landau, Germany and used exclusively for Audi's first electric sports car.

09:08 EDT CECO expands availability its Fluid Handling Solutions across Canada - CECO Environmental announced that it is expanding its availability of CECO Fluid Handling Solutions across Canada with an agreement signed with John Brooks Company. The distribution agreement with the John Brooks Company expands CECO's market access and presence locally for the CECO Dean and CECO Fybroc product lines in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

09:07 EDT Nokia, ClearWorld partner for smart city applications - Nokia today announced it has signed a reseller agreement with ClearWorld, an alternative energy systems provider, to sell ClearWorld's smart poles initially to U.S. cities and military bases as part of Nokia's smart city solutions portfolio. Deployed in locations such as parks, parking lots and roadways, the ClearWorld connected digital pole supports applications such as video analytics, Wi-Fi access points, gun shot detection, smart lighting and license plate reading.

09:05 EDT Alphatec announces Memphis distribution facility - Alphatec Holdings announced the intention to lease a 75,000 square foot facility in Memphis, Tennessee, which will house ATEC's primary distribution operations. The new facility, from which ATEC will distribute all high-volume, commercially launched products, will allow for more expedient access to the nearby distribution centers, and with extended hours of operation, will significantly enhance the flexibility and predictability of surgical support. ATEC's headquarters in Carlsbad, California will continue to serve as the hub for development and shipment of alpha release products. ATEC expects to open the new distribution facility in July 2021, and to aggressively ramp up its Memphis operations over the ensuing years.

09:04 EDT Stitch Fix appoints Sharon Chiarella as Chief Product Officer - Stitch Fix announced Sharon Chiarella is joining the company as Chief Product Officer effective on March 29. Chiarella joins Stitch Fix from Amazon, and will report to Stitch Fix President Elizabeth Spaulding. Chiarella was previously Vice President of Community Shopping at Amazon where she oversaw its Customer Reviews, Deals, Gifting, Wish List, and other customer experience-driven innovations. During her 13-year career at Amazon, Chiarella spearheaded some of the company's most innovative customer experience features, from customer videos and Q&A to one-tap star ratings and Social Shopping Experiences like chat within Prime Video watch parties. At Stitch Fix, Chiarella will lead the Product & Experience organization which includes the product, design and technical teams.

09:04 EDT MasterCard expands partnership with Nuvei - Mastercard (MA) and Nuvei Corporation (NUVCF) announced that Mastercard Send will be integrated into Nuvei's payment technology platform through its wholly owned subsidiary. The move strengthens the relationship between the two parties and provides a powerful new tool to Nuvei clients.

09:03 EDT Cohu announces partial debt repayment - Cohu announced that it has prepaid $100M of its term loan B facility. As a result of this prepayment, Cohu has reduced the outstanding principal of its TLB to approximately $206M. The debt repayment was funded with a portion of the approximately $233M gross proceeds from the sale of common stock completed on March 12, 2021. "Deleveraging is a priority for us, and we are pleased to have executed a meaningful pay down of the debt facility," said Cohu President and CEO Luis Muller. "Moving forward, capital allocation will continue to be focused on debt reduction and opportunities for expansion of our served markets and technology portfolio."

09:02 EDT Intevac announces new $7M development program - Intevac announced that it has received a $1.8M development contract award from the Joint Directed Energy Transition Office in Albuquerque New Mexico, representing the funding for year one of a projected three-year, $7M development effort. In this program, Intevac Photonics will develop a Gated SWIR Sensor for High Energy Laser 2D Fine Tracking and Adaptive Optics system applications, building on the company's experience in its fielded LIVAR camera technology and legacy Fine Tracking / Adaptive Optics sensor technology first used on the Airborne Laser program.

08:55 EDT Oramed confirms screening of first patients in ORA-D-013-2 study - Oramed Pharmaceuticals announced it has screened the first patients in its ORA-D-013-2 study, the second of two concurrent Phase 3 studies of its oral insulin capsule, ORMD-0801, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, or T2D. The studies are taking place under FDA approved protocols to treat T2D patients who have inadequate glycemic control over a period of 6 to 12 months. The double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multi-center randomized studies will recruit a total of 1,125 patients to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ORMD-0801. Efficacy data for the studies will become available after all patients have completed the first 6-month treatment period.

08:48 EDT GameStop announces resignation of Chief Customer Officer - In a regulatory filing, GameStop disclosed that on March 21, the company and Frank Hamlin, the company's Chief Customer Officer, entered into a transition and separation agreement that provides for Mr. Hamlin's resignation from employment with the company following a transition period ending March 31, 2021. "Following such resignation and subject to his execution of a release, Mr. Hamlin will become entitled to the payments, rights and benefits associated with a 'Good Reason' resignation under his employment agreement with the company," the filing stated. During his remaining period of employment, Mr. Hamlin will continue to serve as the company's Chief Customer Officer or, if the company requests, as a senior adviser, to "enable an orderly transfer of his duties to his successor," the filing added.

08:43 EDT Green Plains completes sale of Ord, Nebraska plant - Green Plains (GPRE) announced that its subsidiary, Green Plains Ord has completed the previously announced sale of its ethanol plant located in Ord, Nebraska, to GreenAmerica Biofuels Ord for $64M, plus working capital. In conjunction with this transaction, Green Plains Partners (GPP) also announced it has completed the sale of the storage assets and the assignment of certain rail transportation assets associated with Green Plains Ord.

08:43 EDT Galecto to host expert perspective panel on treatment for IPF - Galecto announced it will host an expert perspectives panel on the evolving treatment landscape for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and the potential for GB0139 on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 2pm Eastern Time. The webinar will feature a presentation by Key Opinion Leader Toby Maher, MD, University of Southern California, who will discuss the current treatment landscape and unmet medical need in treating patients with IPF, as well as the clinical meaning of the exciting biomarker data on GB0139 recently published in the European Respiratory Journal, which showed marked impact on several IPF biomarkers. GB0139 is Galecto's inhalable, once-daily treatment for IPF, the most advanced treatment in development for IPF, in phase 2b trial with results expected in 2022. Galecto Chief Executive Officer Hans Schambye will also give an update on GB0139 following the phase 2b trial modification and be available for questions with Bertil Lindmark, Galecto's Chief Medical Officer, Tariq Sethi, Galecto Co-founder and Professor Emeritus, King's College London, and Dr. Maher following the formal presentations.

08:41 EDT OrthoPediatrics announces milestone of 500 scoliosis correction cases worldwide - OrthoPediatrics announced that it has surpassed two significant procedure milestones for its ApiFix technology - an exciting alternative for the treatment of progressive adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Over 500 ApiFix procedures have now been performed treating young AIS patients at centers in the USA, Canada, Europe, Israel, and Asia with long-term clinical follow-up now exceeding nine years. "These are significant milestones for this revolutionary technology and the patients it has benefited all over the world," said David Bailey, President of OrthoPediatrics. "OrthoPediatrics remains committed to providing innovative and game-changing solutions to pediatric caregivers, therapists and surgeons that better enable them to treat their patients. The ApiFix procedure offers select AIS patients a less invasive, motion-preserving option for achieving curve correction - without the permanence of fusion. The ApiFix system's novel approach to correcting spinal deformity is a welcome medical advancement that has the ability to disrupt the continuum of care for scoliosis treatment in certain pediatric patients. Its elegant design and biomechanical considerations combined with the simplistic posterior approach is unmatched. "Our continued review of the extensive clinical experience with the ApiFix system and our ongoing collection of new data continue to underscore ApiFix's positive and encouraging results realized in patients with progressive spinal deformity," commented Daphna Zaroor Regev, PhD, Director of Clinical Affairs at ApiFix Ltd. "We are committed to establishing a new standard of care for spinal deformity treatment and generating peer-reviewed clinical evidence to support its use." The Company has recruited 20 leading clinical centers in the United States to enter data related to the use of the ApiFix system into a post-approval study registry hosted by the Pediatric Spine Study Group. The registry will continue to monitor the safety and probable benefit of the procedure for the treatment of progressive AIS. A typical ApiFix surgical procedure is completed in less than two hours with minimal blood loss and requires a hospital stay of only one or two days. Patient recovery is relatively pain-free and is measured in days, not months, with children able to return to school in just several weeks. The ApiFix MID-C System has FDA and CE Mark approvals.

08:40 EDT GreenBox POS launches new corporate website - GreenBox POS announced the launch of its newly designed corporate website at www.greenboxpos.com. The new site features a dynamic, user friendly and modern design, improved functionality, and easy access to essential information about the Company such as latest developments and investor information.

08:37 EDT Genasys gets multi-year enterprise software services contract from automaker - Genasys announced an enterprise software services contract from a major automobile manufacturer for its operations in North America. Genasys Enterprise software services went live with the manufacturer on March 15th, replacing a competitor's system. "Under the multi-year contract, Genasys Enterprise software is facilitating the delivery of life safety and other critical event notifications to more than 15,000 employees located in Canada and 12 U.S. states," said Richard S. Danforth, Chief Executive Officer, Genasys. "Genasys Enterprise is deployed at the automaker's production facility and 23 other corporate sites." As part of the Genasys Emergency Management software suite, Genasys Enterprise delivers notifications during everyday duties and critical business events via voice calls, SMS messages, email, desktop alerts, WhatsApp, and other corporate communication channels. It also offers a user-friendly solution to message transient workers, contractors, and visitors. Genasys Enterprise integrates with active directories and HR, visitor management and building control systems, to provide full redundancy and high resilience for workforce safety. Mr. Danforth continued, "With real-time situational awareness in a single dashboard that features two-way polling, duress buttons, field check-ins, and recipient locations, Genasys Enterprise helps keep people safe and businesses working."

08:37 EDT Genesis Healthcare appoints Harry Wilson as CEO - Genesis Healthcare announced that Harry Wilson has been appointed as the Company's new CEO, replacing CEO, Robert Fish. Mr. Wilson will also join the Company's Board of Directors, replacing James McKeon. The Company also announced that David Harrington has been appointed Executive Chairman, and Mr. Fish will remain a member of the Board. Wilson's focus will be on immediately developing and executing a turnaround plan for the Company, while building a foundation for future innovation and growth as a national leader in eldercare. In early 2011 Mr. Wilson founded MAEVA Group as a platform to pursue transformational work.

08:35 EDT Cassava Sciences expects cash to support Phase 3 program of simufilam - "We have approximately $280 million in cash on our balance sheet, against expected cash use of approximately $20 to $25 million in 2021," said Eric Schoen, Chief Financial Officer. "We believe our cash levels support a pivotal Phase 3 clinical program of simufilam in Alzheimer's disease."

08:34 EDT Primoris announces solar award valued over $220M - Primoris Services announced a new solar award with a total value of over $220M. The contract was secured by the Company's Energy Segment. This is the third project in which Primoris has been chosen by this customer as its Engineering, Procurement and Construction Partner. The award is for the engineering, procurement, and construction of utility-scale solar facilities in the Southwest. The scope of work includes construction of the foundations, electrical, mechanical and civil scopes of work. The $220 M combined value includes approximately $19M of work under a Limited Notice to Proceed which was announced on January 26. Work will commence in the first quarter of 2021 with completion expected in the second quarter of 2022.

08:33 EDT Hartford board unanimously rejects unsolicited proposal from Chubb - The Hartford (HIG) announced that its board of directors, after consultation with its financial and legal advisors, has unanimously rejected Chubb Limited's (CB) March 11, 2021, unsolicited proposal to acquire The Hartford and determined that entering into discussions regarding a strategic transaction would not be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. The board reaffirmed its commitment and resolve in the continued execution of The Hartford's strategic business plan. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Deutsche Bank are acting as The Hartford's financial advisors. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is acting as legal counsel to The Hartford.

08:32 EDT Hartford board unanimously rejects unsolicited proposal from Chubb

08:22 EDT electroCore announces exclusive distribution agreement with Silvert Medical - electroCore announced it has entered into an agreement with Silvert Medical whereby Silvert Medical will serve as the exclusive distributor of the gammaCore Sapphire non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator to patients suffering from primary headache disorders in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France. The initial term of the agreement is three years, and it contains customary terms and conditions, including minimum purchase commitments.

08:17 EDT Compass announces USPTO grants patents for psilocybin in depression treatment - Compass Pathways announced that it has been granted two new patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office . These patents cover oral formulations of COMPASS's synthetic psilocybin in the treatment of major depressive disorder, which includes treatment-resistant depression. US Patent No 10,954,259 was granted on 23 March 2021, with claims to COMPASS's high-purity crystalline psilocybin, pharmaceutical formulations containing crystalline psilocybin and methods of treating MDD with the crystalline psilocybin. US Patent No 10,947,257 was granted on 16 March 2021, with claims to oral dosage forms of crystalline psilocybin and methods of treating MDD with the oral dosage forms. "These patents are a critical milestone in our efforts to establish a new evidence-based option to help patients with depression in the US," said George Goldsmith, CEO and Co-founder of COMPASS Pathways. "Through these grants, the USPTO has recognised our innovations. These decisions enable us to continue to do the highest quality clinical research and bring potentially life-changing care to patients who might benefit from this therapy." COMPASS's first US patent, No 10,519,175, was granted in December 2019 and covers the use of formulations of COMPASS's high-purity crystalline psilocybin in psilocybin therapy for patients with TRD.

08:15 EDT Wireless Telecom says CommAgility 5G protocol stack selected for 5G research - Wireless Telecom Group announced that the 5G protocol stack software from its CommAgility brand, selected during the quarter ending December 31, 2020, by a large US-based university research center, is being used to successfully accelerate development of technology related to 5G small cells. The 5G protocol stack provides the performance, flexibility, and reliability required for research and testing of the latest 5G technology and system capabilities. The SmallCellSTACK-5G provided by CommAgility simplifies development and delivers a tested platform for researchers to build upon.

08:13 EDT Akero says1st patient randomized for dosing in EFX study in F2/F3 NASH patients - Akero Therapeutics announced the first patient has been randomized for dosing in its Phase 2b clinical study of Efruxifermin in the treatment of patients with F2/F3 NASH. "Randomization of the first patient in our Phase 2b HARMONY study in F2/F3 patients is yet another key milestone for Akero, which builds on our recent data in cirrhotic patients (F4) and last year's data in patients with F1-F3 fibrosis," said Kitty Yale, chief development officer of Akero. "Screening and enrollment in HARMONY are ahead of schedule and we remain on track to report topline preliminary results in the second half of 2022. We are excited about the potential benefits that EFX may offer to patients with NASH, a serious metabolic disease for which there is no FDA-approved treatment option." The Phase 2b HARMONY study is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial in biopsy-confirmed NASH patients with fibrosis stage 2 or 3. Patients will be randomized to receive once-weekly subcutaneous dosing of 28 or 50mg EFX, or placebo. The primary endpoint for the trial is fibrosis regression at 24 weeks. Patients will continue to receive EFX or placebo after 24 weeks during a long-term follow-up period to provide additional safety data.

08:12 EDT Lineage Cell Therapeutics releases interim data on OpRegen for dry AMD - Lineage Cell Therapeutics announced new interim results from its ongoing, 24-patient Phase 1/2a clinical study of its lead product candidate, OpRegen. OpRegen is an investigational cell therapy consisting of allogeneic retinal pigment epithelium cells administered to the subretinal space for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, with geographic atrophy, or GA. Additional interim data were collected on all 24 patients enrolled in the study, including the 12 patients treated in Cohort 4, which feature less advanced disease, better baseline visual acuity, and smaller areas of GA. Overall, 9/12 of the Cohort 4 patients' treated eyes were at or above baseline visual acuity at their last assessment, based on per protocol scheduled visits ranging from 3 months to greater than 2 years post- transplant. Improvements in best corrected visual acuity, or BCVA, reached up to +19 letters on an EDTRS chart. In contrast, 9/12 of the patients' untreated eyes were below baseline entry values at the same time points. Among the newly reported data, three of the more recently treated Cohort 4 patients have exhibited marked improvements in BCVA ranging from +7 to +16 letters at their last scheduled assessments of at least 4.5 months. Two additional Cohort 4 patients remained within 2 letters of their baseline values. One patient measured 7 letters below baseline. Previously reported structural improvements in the retina and decreases in drusen density have continued with evidence of durable engraftment of OpRegen cells in some treated patients now extending to more than 5 years in the earliest treated patients. A trend towards slower GA progression in treated compared to fellow eyes also continued, although significant changes in GA growth over a 3-month period following treatment are not expected. Overall, OpRegen has been well tolerated with no unexpected adverse events or serious adverse events. As part of an ongoing effort to administer the minimally effective dose and duration of immunosuppression, reflecting the COVID pandemic and age of typical AMD patients while ensuring the survival of OpRegen cells, no immunosuppression was utilized beyond the perioperative period of up to 3 months in Cohort 4 patients. Notably, the one OpRegen patient who had received a modified immunosuppressive regimen at baseline which included no tacrolimus and only mycophenolate mofetil, does not show any signs of acute or delayed inflammation or rejection of OpRegen cells. One other patient was diagnosed with COVID shortly after treatment with OpRegen and all immunosuppression was halted and then reinstated once the patient was asymptomatic. This second patient similarly showed no signs of acute or delayed inflammation or rejection of OpRegen cells. Other than the reduced regiments described above, immunosuppressants have been discontinued as scheduled, typically within 90 days post-operatively, and no cases of acute or delayed rejection or inflammation due to OpRegen have been reported.

08:10 EDT Precigen doses first patient in phase I study of PRGN-201 - Precigen announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase I study of PRGN-2012, a first-in-class, investigational off-the-shelf, or OTS, AdenoVerse immunotherapy in adult patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, or RRP,. The FDA recently granted Orphan Drug Designation for PRGN-2012 in RRP in March. PRGN-2012 is an innovative therapeutic vaccine with optimized antigen design that uses Precigen's gorilla adenovector technology, part of Precigen's proprietary AdenoVerse platform, to elicit immune responses directed against cells infected with HPV 6 or HPV 11. Gorilla adenovectors have numerous advantages, including the ability for repeat administration, the inability to replicate in vivo, which may improve safety, and the ability to deliver large payload capacity. In preclinical models, PRGN-2012 has demonstrated strong and specific immune response against HPV 6 and HPV 11.

08:09 EDT Choom Holdings launches proprietary ecommerce platform - Choom Holdings is pleased to announce it has launched its new proprietary ecommerce platform, powered by PLATFORM. The value of Choom's newly acquired digital team and assets have come to fruition with the release of the Choom 2.0 site. The elevated retail experience customers have come to expect in-store has now come to life online, supporting one of the brands key strategic pillars of a strong omni-channel ecosystem. Some of the key attributes of the fully customized site include full mobile optimization, increased speed, best-in-class SEO, SMS notifications, in-store fulfilment, including delivery and pickup options. The new website was developed by PLATFORM digital agency. PLATFORM was acquired by Choom in September 2020 and has extensive experience in the Cannabis industry. The initial launch of the site will be superseded by a phase 2 development project that will include additional optimizations and features.

08:08 EDT Nielsen appoints Sandra Sims-Williams as Chief Diversity Officer - Nielsen announced that Sandra Sims-Williams has been appointed Chief Diversity Officer for Nielsen. She will take over from CEO David Kenny, who has held the CDO title in addition to CEO, since February 2019. Sims-Williams joined Nielsen in January 2020. She will continue to lead Nielsen's diversity, equity and inclusion team, working to develop a more inclusive culture for the company and increase diverse representation. As CDO, Sandra continues to report to Kenny and remains part of Nielsen's executive leadership team. In the past year, Nielsen has hit some major diversity, equity and inclusion milestones.

08:08 EDT Chipotle to accelerate expansion into Canada - Chipotle Mexican Grill announced it will continue its expansion into Canada with a new location in Surrey, BC that is scheduled to open on March 30. The restaurant will be Chipotle's first new Canadian location since its Markham, Ontario restaurant opened its doors in October 2018. Chipotle also has plans to unveil its first Canadian Chipotlane at a new restaurant opening in Port Coquitlam, BC this summer. Chipotlane, the brand's drive-thru digital order pickup lane, increases access and convenience by providing a speedy and seamless guest experience in under a minute. In addition to the Surrey and Port Coquitlam locations, Chipotle plans to open six additional restaurants in British Columbia and Ontario over the next 12 months. There are currently 23 Chipotle restaurants in Canada, with locations in the greater Toronto and Vancouver metro areas as well as Ottawa and London, Ontario. "Canada has cleared our stage-gate process, and we are ready to accelerate new restaurant openings," said Jack Hartung, CFO. "We will be experimenting with different location formats and restaurant designs throughout the country to gauge consumer preferences in the various markets."

08:07 EDT Cipla, Siga Technologie in pact for innovation in novel antibacterial drugs - Cipla Therapeutic and SIGA Technologies announced entering into a strategic partnership to deliver sustained innovation and access to novel antibacterial drugs, particularly against biothreats. The World Health Organization has declared that anti-microbial resistance one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity2 which puts at risk the effective prevention and treatment of a wide range of infections. According to the AMR Industry Alliance, a global AMR private sector coalition, AMR is the ability of a microorganism to stop an antimicrobial such as antibiotics, antivirals and from working against it. It is an increasingly significant threat to global public health which is present in every country around the world and infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria can cause death. "The strategic collaboration between Cipla and SIGA will provide the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services department, with solutions for its biothreat and public health needs," said Garrett Ingram, CEO of Cipla Therapeutics and added "AMR is a global priority for Cipla and our continued investment in this area along with SIGA's drug development and US experience creates a unique and strong partnership." "We are thrilled to have teamed up with Cipla to tackle the very important public health challenge of AMR," said Phil Gomez, CEO of SIGA. "Our longtime partner BARDA has recognized this as a critical issue, for not only public health, but biothreats as well. With our drug development expertise under the animal rule and government contracting expertise, and Cipla's novel antibiotic products and extensive manufacturing capabilities, we are confident that together we are ideally-suited to provide innovative solutions to BARDA and other government customers."

08:06 EDT Viracta Therapeutics, Xoma announce milestone, royalty monetization deal - Viracta Therapeutics (VIRX), and XOMA (XOMA) announced today XOMA has purchased the potential future milestones and royalties associated with existing licenses relating to two clinical-stage drug candidates that were obtained in Viracta's merger with Sunesis Pharmaceuticals in exchange for an upfront payment of $13.5M and up to $20M in a pre-commercialization, event-based milestone. The first candidate, DAY101 (pan-RAF kinase inhibitor), is being developed by Day One Biopharmaceuticals, which recently initiated a pivotal Phase 2 with DAY101 in pediatric low-grade glioma. The second candidate, vosaroxin (topoisomerase II inhibitor), is being developed by Denovo Biopharma as a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. Under the terms of the agreement, XOMA has acquired potential royalty economics related to DAY101 and up to $54M in pre-commercialization, event-based milestones and high single-digit net royalties on sales related to vosaroxin and up to $57M in regulatory and commercial milestones.

08:04 EDT GeoComply announces Blackstone Growth, Atairos as first institutional investors - GeoComply Solutions announced that it has reached a definitive agreement for minority investments led by funds managed by Blackstone Growth and from Atairos. The partnership - which represents the first commitment of institutional capital to the company - aims to support GeoComply's continued growth in its core markets and help accelerate expansion into new verticals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

08:03 EDT Entasis Therapeutics expects cash to fund requirements through end of 1Q22 - As of December 31, 2020, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $53.2 million, compared to $41.0 million as of December 31, 2019. Based on our current operating plan, we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of the first quarter of 2022.

08:03 EDT Alnylam to present full 9-month results from HELIOS-A Phase 3 study at AAN - Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said it will present full 9-month results from the HELIOS-A Phase 3 study of vutrisiran, an investigational RNAi therapeutic in development for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis, at the American Academy of Neurology Virtual Annual Meeting, being held April 17-22. The Company previously announced positive topline 9-month results from the HELIOS-A study in January. Additional data from Alnylam's ATTR amyloidosis program, including updates from the ongoing open-label extension study of ONPATTRO in patients with hATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy, will also be presented at AAN, along with data from the Phase 3 ENVISION study of GIVLAARI in patients with acute hepatic porphyria. "The depth and breadth of data that will be presented at AAN from across our RNAi product and pipeline portfolio reinforce the tremendous progress we have made with developing potentially transformative medicines for patients with rare diseases," said Akshay Vaishnaw, M.D., Ph.D., President of R&D at Alnylam. "In January we announced positive topline results from the HELIOS-A Phase 3 study of vutrisiran, the fifth of our investigational RNAi medicines to reach that significant milestone. We are excited for the upcoming presentation of the full 9-month HELIOS-A results as we believe in the potential of vutrisiran, as a low-dose, once quarterly, subcutaneously administered treatment option for patients living with a progressive, life-threatening, multi-system disease. We look forward to submitting our U.S. regulatory filing for marketing approval of vutrisiran in early 2021 as we continue to make progress towards building what we believe will be an industry-leading franchise of medicines for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis."

08:01 EDT Magnite invests in new data center facility in Singapore - Magnite announced a new, state of the art data center facility in Singapore, unifying its footprint for all media types in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. This investment is designed to support the rapid growth in digital advertising services across the region and reinforce Magnite's global leadership in CTV and omnichannel digital advertising, the company said in a statement.

07:57 EDT Oramed screens first patient in ORA-D-013-2 study - In a regulatory 8-K filing, the company states: "On March 23, 2021, Oramed Pharmaceuticals announced that it has screened the first patient in its ORA-D-013-2 study, the second of two concurrent Phase 3 studies of its oral insulin capsule, ORMD-0801, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The studies are taking place under FDA-approved protocols to treat T2D patients who have inadequate glycemic control over a period of 6 to 12 months."

07:46 EDT Northwest Advanced Biofuels announces 'major progress' toward' $600M investment - Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels, LLC "has made major progress toward securing a strategic long-term investment into its Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, an independent investment firm specializing in North American infrastructure. The potential $600M investment from Stonepeak, arranged by Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as placement agent, may be made through SP Holdings LLC, or another fund or entity managed by Stonepeak. SP Holdings, LLC, is the sole member of the general partner of Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP. Once finalized, the investment would help finance the largest announced SAF/renewable biofuels project using cellulosic feedstock in the world."

07:38 EDT Coast Capital live on nCino Bank Operating System - nCino announced Coast Capital is now live on the nCino Bank Operating System. The functionality of the nCino Bank Operating System has allowed Coast Capital to operate more efficiently, manage risk and compliance more effectively, and optimize and accelerate the deployment of one solution throughout the organization.

07:36 EDT Just Energy begins trading on the OTC Pink Market - Just Energy Group announced that it will commence trading on the OTC Pink Market as of today's date under the ticker symbol "JENGQ".

07:34 EDT Plus Therapeutics in MSA with Piramal Pharma - Plus Therapeutics announced that it has entered into a master services agreement, MSA, with Piramal Pharma Solutions for the development, manufacture, and supply of Plus' Rhenium NanoLiposome, RNL intermediate drug product. The MSA includes the transfer of analytical methods, development of microbiological methods, process transfer and optimization, intermediate drug product manufacturing and stability studies. The transfer will be performed at PPS's drug product facility in Lexington, Kentucky. Plus anticipates that the MSA will lead to clinical and commercial supply agreements for the drug product at the appropriate stage of development. PPS's Lexington site is recognized as a North American leader in formulation development and manufacture of sterile parenteral drug products. "This agreement represents another significant milestone for Plus as we work to advance development of RNL as a novel treatment option for patients diagnosed with glioblastoma," said Marc Hedrick M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Plus Therapeutics. "The team at PPS has the knowledge, experience and expertise to support our needs, both now and in the future as we advance RNL towards regulatory approval."

07:33 EDT Mogo to acquire Moka Financial Technologies in all-stock transaction - Mogo Inc. announced it has entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Moka Financial Technologies, a Canadian saving and investing apps, in an all-stock transaction. The proposed acquisition will increase Mogo's member base by over 40% to more than 1.7 million and expand Mogo's wealth offering to include saving and investing products, the company said in a statement. In addition, the acquisition will accelerate Mogo's plan to launch a free stock trading solution for Canadians which will further solidify Mogo's position as the most comprehensive digital wallet in Canada. The two companies expect to complete a definitive agreement and close the transaction in Q2 2021. Mogo has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Moka in exchange for 5,000,000 common shares of Mogo and the assumption of net debt of approximately $3.0 million. The Acquisition is expected to be completed by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act whereby all of the issued and outstanding shares and convertible securities of Moka will be exchanged for Mogo Shares, which plan of arrangement will require court approval and the approval of the shareholders of Moka. Subject to further agreement of Mogo and Moka, the Acquisition may be structured as a business combination transaction other than a plan of arrangement. The Acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, in addition to other customary closing conditions for a transaction of this nature, and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. The issuance of Mogo Shares under the Acquisition is subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Moka's senior management, board members, and key outside shareholders, representing more than two-thirds of Moka's outstanding voting securities have entered into voting and support agreements agreeing to vote in favor of the Acquisition. All Mogo shares issued in the transaction will be subject to minimum six-month Escrow restrictions with additional escrow and vesting restrictions for certain Moka employees and shareholders.

07:31 EDT Neptune Wellness receives license amendment from Health Canada - Neptune Wellness Solutions announced that Health Canada has provided the Company with a license amendment to allow it to sell dried cannabis flower and pre-rolled cannabis in the Canadian recreational market. Neptune currently supplies the market with premium cannabis extracts, under its Mood Ring and PanHash brands, and will expand its offering to include all regulated product categories. This empowers the Company to provide a comprehensive portfolio, enhance its total addressable market and target the lucrative flower segment, which is a dominant force in the industry both in sales and revenue.

07:18 EDT Hepion Pharmaceuticals announces results from in vivo study of CRV431 - Hepion Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from an in vivo study of CRV431 in a Diet-Induced Animal Model Of Non-alcoholic fatty liver Disease. It is estimated by the National Institutes of Health, that between 3% - 12% of the U.S. adult population has NASH. There are currently at least 90 drug candidates targeting NASH in various stages of development. The majority of these drug candidates are designed to target metabolic perturbations leading to the pathogenesis of NASH and thereby seek to normalize glycemic control, lipid metabolism, and insulin resistance, to name a few. Few drug candidates directly target fibrosis, either through fibrogenesis and/or fibrolysis, despite fibrosis being a major prognostic indicator of liver-related and overall mortality. Hepion's clinical drug candidate, CRV431 administered once daily orally, seeks to target fibrosis, and the company's latest in vivo animal study further lends validity to this mechanism. "The results obtained with the DIAMOND mouse experiment confirm, once again, that CRV431 is a potent antifibrotic agent," commented Dr. Philippe Gallay, Professor of Immunology, at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. "This model of NASH was originally developed by Dr. Arun Sanyal, a global leader in the development and treatment of therapies for NASH. In this study, our laboratory established NASH by feeding animals with a fat- and sugar-enriched Western diet for 34 weeks, followed by 8 weeks treatment with oral dosing of CRV431 or two comparator drugs, obeticholic acid and elafibranor. Fibrosis was reduced, as determined using Picrosirius Red staining, by 47% with CRV431, 35% with obeticholic acid, and 37% with elafibranor, relative to vehicle controls. A 47% reduction in fibrosis with CRV431 is an incredible result, and this highlights that a relatively short course of CRV431 treatment can exert beneficial effects at an advanced stage of liver disease in a model having many similarities to human NASH."

07:16 EDT Provectus: USPTO allows patent for aka intratumoral use in solid tumor cancer - Provectus announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Officehas allowed US patent application 16/412,872, which covers the use of intralesional PV-10, an injectable formulation of Provectus' proprietary small molecule rose bengal disodium , as both a monotherapy and in combination with immune checkpoint blockade or radiotherapy for the treatment of relapsed and refractory pediatric solid tumor cancers. The allowed patent application recognizes the first intellectual property (IP) generated from the Company's sponsored research of and collaboration with Aru Narendran, MD, PhD, Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Oncology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Physiology & Pharmacology at the Cumming School of Medicine of the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

07:14 EDT Liquidia Technologies initiates actions to reduce net annual cash spending - Over the last three months, the Company has initiated actions to reduce net annual spending in 2021 by more than 40% compared to 2020 spending. Some of these measures included reducing internal staff and full-time equivalent consultants by nearly 40%, refinancing equipment leases, reducing consultant spending and concentrating on 2021 corporate priorities. The Company also refinanced its existing credit facility with a facility providing interest-only payments for 24 months, saving more than $10 million over next two years. The total reduction in planned expenses may be further strengthened by the potential positive cash contribution from the profit derived from sales of Treprostinil Injection in Liquidia PAH's partnership with Sandoz. As a result, the Company is well-positioned to drive value through key events in 2021 and 2022, beyond the projected expiration of the regulatory stay in October 2022.

07:12 EDT Ascendis presents extension data from Phase 2 PaTH Forward Trial at ENDO - Ascendis Pharma presented the safety and efficacy results of TransCon PTH after six-months of treatment in patients with hypoparathyroidism enrolled in the open-label extension period of the phase 2 PaTH Forward Trial, at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, taking place virtually from March 20-23. "The study demonstrated that a majority of subjects were able to achieve independence from conventional therapeutic supplements, while maintaining serum calcium in the normal range and having clinically meaningful improvements in urine calcium levels, bone turnover markers and bone mineral density and quality of life," said Mishaela Rubin, M.D. M.S., Associate Professor of Medicine in the Metabolic Bone Disease Unit at the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. "Importantly, we are presenting the first data on the treatment effect of TransCon PTH on the Hypoparathyroidism Patient Experience Scale. In this study, HPES scores all decreased from baseline to Week 26, indicating fewer and less impact of disease-specific symptoms. These data are promising and TransCon PTH may offer a new potential treatment option for patients with hypoparathyroidism, many of whom have their daily lives disrupted by the disorder."

07:11 EDT scPharmaceuticals expects cash to fund operations into 2023 - scPharmaceuticals ended the fourth quarter with $105.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments, compared to $72.8 million as of December 31, 2019. This change reflects net proceeds of $50.2 million and $10.4 million from the Company's 2020 public offering and at-the market offering, respectively, offset by ongoing investments associated with the advancement of and potential commercialization of FUROSCIX. The Company believes its cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments are sufficient to fund operations through potential FUROSCIX approval and launch, if approved, and into 2023.

07:10 EDT VELO3D to become public company via combination with Jaws Spitfire Acquisition - VELO3D and JAWS Spitfire Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. The transaction is anticipated to strengthen VELO3D's position as a trusted partner for companies seeking novel manufacturing solutions for complex design challenges. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2021, the combined company will operate as VELO3D, and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol "VLD." The transaction values the combined company at an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion, at the $10.00 per share PIPE subscription price and assuming no public shareholders of JAWS Spitfire exercise their redemption rights. The company will receive up to $345 million in proceeds from JAWS Spitfire's cash in trust and a $155 million private placement of common stock at a $10.00 per share value. The private placement is led by strategic and institutional investors, including Baron Capital Group and Hedosophia. Upon completion of the transaction, VELO3D is set to benefit from a flexible capital structure with approximately $470 million of cash on the company's balance sheet, net of debt and assuming no redemptions are effected. Assuming no public shareholders of JAWS Spitfire exercise their redemption rights, VELO3D's existing shareholders will own approximately 72%, JAWS Spitfire's existing shareholders and sponsor will own approximately 21% and PIPE investors will own approximately 7% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, respectively, of the combined company at closing. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors for both VELO3D and JAWS Spitfire, is subject to approval by JAWS Spitfire's shareholders and other customary closing conditions.

07:08 EDT AC Immune announces 2021 execution strategy - AC Immune's execution strategy is focused on three key initiatives, which support the Company's overarching goal of enabling precision medicine for neurodegenerative diseases: The Company plans to accelerate the development of its late-stage therapies in AD in collaboration with its strategic partners, including its novel pTau vaccine with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., which continues to show great promise. AC Immune is sharpening its strategic focus on non-AD indications with high unmet need. Currently this includes its anti-Abeta vaccine in people with DS, as well as its therapeutic and diagnostic candidates targeting TDP-43 and alpha-synuclein, where the Company may focus in-house efforts on select NeuroOrphan indications while seeking potential partnerships for larger indications like LATE and Parkinson's disease. Furthermore, AC Immune's NLRP3 inflammasome-targeted programs have broad applicability both within central nervous system and non-CNS indications. The Company plans to accelerate advancement of its diagnostic candidates to late-stage development, as continued leadership in precision medicine is a key differentiator for AC Immune. These candidates include its Tau, alpha-synuclein, and TDP-43 PET tracers, which potentially enable earlier disease diagnosis, improved clinical trial outcomes and additional revenue generation for the Company.

07:07 EDT CareDx backs Vir Biotechnology's trial recruitment efforts for COMET-ICE - CareDx, announced details of their effort to raise awareness and identify potential transplant patients for participation in Vir Biotechnology's COMET-ICE study. The ongoing trial is evaluating VIR-7831, a fully human anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody, for the early treatment of COVID-19 in adults at high risk of hospitalization. CareDx's existing relationships at transplant centers in the U.S. helped raise awareness and identify potential study participants from this high-risk, immune-compromised population. On March 10, 2021, an Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended that the trial be stopped for enrollment due to evidence of profound efficacy. "We appreciated CareDx's efforts in raising awareness about this study at our center. Transplant recipients are generally on life-long immunosuppressive medications, and it is imperative to validate therapeutic strategies that could reduce the risk of severe disease-related clinical outcomes in this vulnerable population," said Dr. Jay Graham, Transplant Surgeon, Montefiore Medical Center. "CareDx is constantly looking for ways to provide value to the transplant community. We felt it was our duty to let the doctors serving transplant patients know about the clinical trial and to help facilitate access for patients," said Sham Dholakia, SVP Medical Affairs, CareDx. "Helping to provide optionality, exploring how immunoglobulin can protect immunocompromised patients, in addition to vaccines, will help further reduce the impact of COVID-19."

07:06 EDT Future FinTech subsidiary to acquire 60% of Guang Dong Hi-Card Business Service - Future FinTech Group announced that on March 22, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, Future Commercial Group signed an equity acquisition frame agreement with Guang Zhou Hi-Card Computer Network Service to acquire 60% of the shares of Guang Dong Hi-Card Business Service. The Frame Agreement is non-binding except for the 'Confidentiality and Exclusivity' and 'Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution' sections of the Frame Agreement. Hi-Card achieved net profit of RMB 4.8M or approximately $700,000 for FY19. The acquisition price for the 60% equity interest of Hi-Card is estimated to be RMB 60.0M or approximately $9.2M subject to the results of due diligence by the Company and final negotiation by the parties, with 50% of the payment to be made in cash and 50% in FTFT's common stock, the price of which will be based upon the average closing price of FTFT's common stock on the Nasdaq during the 10 trading days before the signing date of the final definitive share purchase agreement.

07:06 EDT AC Immune expects cash to fund operations through at least 1Q24 - The Company had a total cash balance of CHF 225.9 million, comprised of CHF 160.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and CHF 65 million in short-term financial assets. This compares to a total cash balance of CHF 288.6 million as of December 31, 2019. The decrease of CHF 62.7 million is principally due to continued investments in our R&D pipeline. The total shareholders' equity position decreased to CHF 215.5 million from CHF 272.4 million as of the prior year. The Company's cash balance provides enough capital resources to progress through at least Q1 2024 without potential incoming milestone payments.

07:05 EDT AC Immune expects 2021 cash burn CHF65M-CHF75M

07:04 EDT Atlas wins environmental services contract with city of Augusta, GA - Atlas Technical Consultants announced that it was awarded a contract to perform environmental compliance, testing, engineering and consulting for the City of Augusta, Georgia's Environmental Services Department. The initial phase of the contract will be three years. The contract may be renewed for two one-year terms upon mutual agreement. The scope of work includes landfill site acceptability studies, landfill design services, and landfill environmental compliance activities in the State of Georgia, to be performed in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local rules and regulations. The work will be accomplished through onsite work that will include engineering, construction management & quality assurance, environmental & testing and special services. "We are pleased to provide Atlas' expertise and long-standing experience as we partner with the City of Augusta in providing a forward-thinking approach to ensure the safety and security of the communities around the Deans Bridge MSW Landfill," said Atlas CEO L. Joe Boyer.

07:03 EDT Sierra Wireless teams working to bring internal IT systems back online

07:03 EDT Thoma Bravo confirms acquisition of Calabrio from KKR, terms not disclosed - Thoma Bravo and Calabrio announced a definitive purchase agreement whereby Thoma Bravo will acquire Calabrio from KKR. Financial details were not disclosed.

07:03 EDT Bio-Techne completes clinical validation of IVD version of EPI kit - Bio-Techne announced that Exosome Diagnostics, a Bio-Techne brand, has completed its clinical validation of an in vitro diagnostic, or IVD, version of the ExoDx Prostate test, or EPI, kit enabling self-certification as CE-IVD as of March 22. The EPI-CE test will be performed immediately in our Munich ISO 15189 accredited clinical laboratory and be made available throughout Europe through various distribution channels. Exosome Diagnostics is the world leader in developing exosomal liquid biopsy-based diagnostic assays. The EPI test is a non-invasive, urine-based genomic test that helps inform the prostate biopsy decision.

07:02 EDT Garmin expands strategic relationship with Amazon - Garmin International (GRMN) expanded its strategic relationship with Amazon (AMZN) with the integration of Alexa Custom Assistant into Garmin's in-vehicle infotainment systems. Alexa Custom Assistant is a comprehensive solution that allows automakers to access Alexa's advanced AI to create their own intelligent assistants tailored to their brand personality and customer needs. "Garmin is honored to be the first Tier 1 auto OEM supplier to integrate Alexa Custom Assistant capabilities into in-vehicle infotainment and navigation systems," said Matt Munn, Garmin Auto OEM managing director. "This collaboration allows Garmin's voice solutions team to provide leading automakers with a custom intelligent assistant using Amazon's industry-leading AI technology. Garmin has collaborated with Amazon on several projects, and we look forward to continuing our strong relationship."

06:53 EDT The Buckle names Brady Fritz as VP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary - The Buckle announced that Brady Fritz has been appointed to the position of Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary effective immediately upon approval from the Board of Directors at its March 22, 2021 meeting. Fritz was hired by the company on December 10, 2018 and has served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since that time.

06:52 EDT The Buckle raises quarterly dividend 10% to 33c from 30c per share - To be paid to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 15, with a payment date of April 29.

06:49 EDT Merck announces KEYTRUDA approved by FDA for metastatic esophageal carcinoma - Merck announced that the FDA has approved KEYTRUDA, Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic esophageal or gastroesophageal junction, or GEJ, carcinoma that is not amenable to surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation in combination with platinum- and fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. The approval is based on results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-590 trial, which demonstrated significant improvements in overall survival, or OS, progression-free survival, or PFS, and objective response rate, or ORR, for KEYTRUDA plus fluorouracil, or FU, and cisplatin versus FU and cisplatin alone, regardless of histology or PD-L1 expression status. For OS and PFS, KEYTRUDA plus FU and cisplatin reduced the risk of death by 27% and reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% versus FU and cisplatin alone. The ORR, an additional efficacy outcome measure, was 45% for patients who received KEYTRUDA plus FU and cisplatin and 29% for those who received FU and cisplatin alone.

06:36 EDT Digital Realty introduces new direct connections to Google Cloud - Digital Realty announced it has expanded secure, private access to Google Cloud's global network in five key metros. These new on-ramps will enable direct, high-speed, low-latency connections on Digital Realty's Atlanta and Los Angeles connected campuses in the U.S. as well as Vienna in Austria and Dusseldorf in Germany. Digital Realty has also added a second direct interconnect to Google Cloud in Frankfurt.

06:35 EDT Jaguar Mining strengthens COVID-19 Response Plan amid pandemic in Brazil - Jaguar Mining announced it would be strengthening its current COVID-19 Response Plan in the wake of the ongoing pandemic in Brazil. The compnay said, "Since the commencement of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic approximately one year ago, Jaguar immediately established a strong COVID-19 Response Plan to protect the health and safety of all our stakeholders including, employees and their families, all service providers, and the communities in which we operate. The actions taken by the Company continue to be aligned with and support the Health Attendance Protocols from the Brazilian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization. In March, Brazil has moved onto a 'peak' phase of the disease with deaths in the last average 7-day period to be the highest so far in the pandemic, placing the current health system across the country at grave risk due to high hospitalization rates and additional demands in all ICU wards. The rise in the pandemic has caused the state government of Minas Gerais to declare a curfew from 8:00 pm at night to 5:00 am in the morning commencing immediately until March 31, 2021. The local communities near Jaguar operations have also seen an increase in COVID-19 infections, and as a result, hospitals in our areas of influence are now reaching capacity. The local Prefeituras are currently considering measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Jaguar, along with other mining companies operating in or near the communities, continue to meet with the Prefeituras to provide support and to work with them in implementing any potential steps and viable solutions to protect the communities while keeping the economy intact. It is expected that any lockdown and/or increased protocols will be in place until the end of March and probably longer, until COVID-19 cases significantly decline. Jaguar will adhere to any changes in federal, state, and local government protocols that result from the pandemic increase. Jaguar has also revised and augmented its overall COVID-19 Response Plan. The effects of COVID-19 began impacting the company in 2020, but we have witnessed our highest levels of cases in the first quarter of 2021. Production has been and continues to be impacted at both operations. The current increase in the intensity of our COVID-19 measures, as dictated by government guidelines and the pandemic, may also limit production in the near term. We are adapting, but the increase in absenteeism and the limitations in contractor services is and will have an impact on production. Currently our team estimates that we can produce within our ounce guidance for the year, assuming conditions do not worsen, and lockdown restrictions do not become more severe or extend much past March 2021." Jaguar currently employs approximately 1,300 personnel, and over 400 third-party contractors. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the Company has tallied 185 cases with employees and 59 with contractors. The vast majority of the cases occurred in the first quarter of 2021. A further impact has been from employees quarantined awaiting test results which have then come back negative, which has impacted an additional total of 381 people. Employees and contractors are not permitted to return to work without full medical clearance. Jaguar has implemented the following new measures in addition to its current COVID-19 Response Plan to reduce the impact of infections at its operating units: A COVID-19 Monitor has been appointed to ensure that all internal pandemic guidelines are adhered to. Additional reductions in the number of third-party contractors, with all non-critical work being put on hold. Employees over the age of 60 or any employee with high-risk health conditions must work from home. Jaguar's office in Belo Horizonte is being totally closed, and all functions will be working from home. The number of site personnel in non-operating roles allowed on the sites is being limited with as much work as possible assigned to de done from home.

06:32 EDT Centrus Energy says construction of HALEU production facility 'on track' - Centrus Energy Corp. is providing an update on construction of the nation's first production facility for High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium in Piketon, Ohio. "Despite the impact of the pandemic and the extraordinary steps we have taken to protect our workforce - including limiting the number of people who can be on the construction site at any one time - we have kept construction on track and expect to begin producing HALEU by next year," said Centrus President and CEO Daniel Poneman. "We believe this first-of-a-kind facility can play a critical role in meeting both government and commercial requirements for HALEU, powering America's nuclear leadership as the world turns to a new generation of advanced reactors and advanced nuclear fuels." Under a 2019 contract with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Centrus is licensing and constructing a cascade of sixteen AC100M centrifuges - a U.S. technology - to demonstrate production of HALEU. The three year, $115M, cost-shared contract runs through mid-2022. Construction Update: Centrus submitted a license amendment request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year to modify its commercial license so that it can enrich uranium up to 20 percent U-235. The NRC has accepted the LAR for technical review and that review is under way. The facility has an existing NRC license for production up to 10 percent and, if this amendment is approved, will become the first U.S. facility licensed for the full range of LEU and HALEU production up to 20 percent U-235. This month, Centrus completed assembly of all AC100M gas centrifuges. The centrifuges will undergo final preparations prior to being installed into the production cascade. Design and engineering work on the non-centrifuge or "balance of plant" systems is near completion and system construction is well under way. Auxiliary and support systems necessary for operation of the cascade are being installed. Upon NRC license amendment approval and successful completion of the NRC's Operational Readiness Review, Centrus expects to begin HALEU production by early 2022. Centrus has completed all required HALEU Demonstration Program milestones to date and remains on track to complete the remaining milestones on time and program completion no later than June 2022. To support the construction effort, Centrus has reactivated its domestic supply chain for centrifuge components and supporting equipment needed for the demonstration, and restored its capacity to manufacture centrifuge parts in its Oak Ridge, Tennessee, manufacturing facility. To date, the program has supported more than 200 direct jobs in Ohio and Tennessee, as well as supply chain jobs in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Mexico, Massachusetts, and other states. The workforce of centrifuge operators and support staff necessary for cascade operations is in place. Subject to the availability of funding and/or offtake contracts, Centrus can build additional centrifuges and support equipment to expand production in the facility in a modular fashion to meet whatever level of production is required for commercial and/or U.S. government purposes.

06:18 EDT Pedevco announces results of two San Andres wells, sale of non-core assets - PEDEVCO announced the results of two horizontal San Andres wells drilled and completed in its Phase II development program, as well as the sale of certain non-core assets in the D-J Basin which added approximately $1.9M in cash to the Company's balance sheet. Highlights: Initiated production on the Haley Chaveroo SA Unit 301H and the Haley Chaveroo SA Unit 303H, each with an approximately 4,800-foot horizontal section in the San Andres formation; Brought Haley 301 onto production with an average thirty-day peak initial production rate of 428.6 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day; Brought Haley 303 onto production with an average thirty-day peak initial production rate of 178.4 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day; Sold approximately 230 net leasehold acres in the D-J Basin for $6,000 per net acre, adding approximately $1.38M in cash proceeds; Sold non-operated working interest in one well located on the divested acreage position for $500,000, for a total of approximately $1.9M cash added to the balance sheet,

06:13 EDT Sinopec signs long-term LNG deal of 2M tons per annum with Qatar Petroleum - China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation signed a long-term purchase and sales agreement with Qatar Petroleum on March 22 via online video conference to purchase 2 million tons of liquefied natural gas every year for a term of 10 years.

06:10 EDT Ideaya Biosciences expects cash to fund operations into 2024 - As of December 31, 2020, IDEAYA had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $283.6 million. IDEAYA supplemented its year-end cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities with an additional $43.3 million in aggregate gross proceeds received subsequent to year end from the sale and issuance of common stock under an at-the-market offering pursuant to the August 2020 Sales Agreement or the January 2021 Sales Agreement with Jefferies as sales agent. IDEAYA believes that its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our planned operations into 2024. These funds will support the company's efforts through potential achievement of multiple preclinical and clinical milestones across multiple programs

06:02 EDT IHS Markit reports Q1 cash flow from operations of $245M, free cash flow $172M - Reports Q1 adjusted EBITDA of $467M. "We are very pleased with our start to the year, with all of our segments performing at or above our expectations," said Lance Uggla, chairman and CEO at IHS Markit. "As our end markets and business continue to recover, we now expect to deliver results in the upper half of our 2021 revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EPS guidance ranges," said Jonathan Gear, CFO at IHS Markit.

05:27 EDT Nintendo, Niantic partner to create new mobile apps - In a blog post, Niantic announced a new partnership with Nintendo to jointly develop mobile titles built on Niantic's real-world AR technology. "We're honored that Nintendo has chosen Niantic to be its publisher of real-world AR applications," Niantic said, adding that "To kick off the partnership, Niantic and Nintendo are developing an app based on the Pikmin franchise. The app will include gameplay activities to encourage walking and make walking more delightful. Slated to launch later this year, this will be the first title created by our Tokyo Studio since it was established in April 2018." Reference Link

05:18 EDT Evelo Biosciences announces collaboration with Abdul Latif Jameel Health - Evelo Biosciences and Abdul Latif Jameel Health announced that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop and commercialize Evelo's lead inflammation product candidate EDP1815 in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. EDP1815 is an investigational oral medicine being developed for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Evelo recently reported Phase 1b data for EDP1815 in atopic dermatitis. The company is also conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial for EDP1815 in psoriasis, as well as two trials in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Data from Phase 1b clinical trials of EDP1815 suggests its potential to be a safe, efficacious, oral, affordable, and room-temperature stable medicine that may be useful to treat patients worldwide at all stages of inflammatory disease. Evelo and Abdul Latif Jameel Health will work to address the significant disparity in access to medical care in the fastest-growing populations and growth economies of the developing world.

05:15 EDT Lumentum announces revised proposal for Coherent - Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) confirmed that on March 22, 2021, it delivered to Coherent, Inc.'s (COHR) Board of Directors a revised proposal to acquire Coherent in a cash and stock transaction. Under the terms of the revised proposal, Coherent stockholders would receive $230.00 per share in cash and 0.6724 shares of Lumentum common stock for each Coherent share they own. Based on Lumentum's closing stock price on March 22, 2021, this equates to a consideration of $287.50 per Coherent share. To provide Coherent's Board with adequate time to evaluate the proposal, the revised proposal will remain open until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Lumentum's Board of Directors continues to recommend the transaction with Coherent to its stockholders. Lumentum intends to finance the cash portion of the transaction through a combination of cash on hand from the combined company's balance sheet, $3.25B in new debt financing from a fully committed Term Loan B and the previously announced $1B equity investment from Silver Lake. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, expired on March 3, 2021 with respect to the proposed acquisition of Coherent. The expiration of the waiting period under the HSR Act satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the pending transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2021, subject to approval by Lumentum's and Coherent's stockholders, receipt of remaining regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

05:11 EDT Insmed's Arikayce approved by Japan's MHLW for NTM lung disease - Insmed Incorporated announced that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has approved ARIKAYCE for the treatment of patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease caused by Mycobacterium avium complex who did not sufficiently respond to prior treatment with a multidrug regimen. The launch of ARIKAYCE in Japan is anticipated in mid-2021. The approval by the MHLW is based on results from the randomized, open-label, global Phase 3 CONVERT study, which demonstrated that once-daily ARIKAYCE, when combined with MDR, improved sputum culture conversion rates in patients with refractory NTM lung disease caused by MAC compared to MDR therapy alone. The most common side effects with ARIKAYCE affecting the respiratory system are dysphonia, cough, dyspnea, and hemoptysis. "Today's approval of ARIKAYCE is a significant milestone for patients with refractory MAC lung disease in Japan, who currently have no approved treatments available specifically for this serious and chronic pulmonary disease. It is also the realization of Insmed's long-term commitment to building our business in Japan, and a meaningful step in our efforts to bring ARIKAYCE to patients with refractory MAC lung disease around the world," said Will Lewis, Chair and CEO of Insmed. "We are excited by the opportunity to serve patients in Japan, where the burden of this disease is particularly high."

04:59 EDT DSMB concerned over 'outdated' data in AstraZeneca Covid trial, NIH says - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a statement: "Late Monday, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) notified NIAID, BARDA, and AstraZeneca that it was concerned by information released by AstraZeneca on initial data from its COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. The DSMB expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data. We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible. Authorization and guidelines for use of the vaccine in the United States will be determined by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after thorough review of the data by independent advisory committees." Reference Link

04:55 EDT Baker Hughes, Horisont Energi sign MOU for offshore Barents Sea project - Baker Hughes and Horisont Energi have signed a memorandum of understanding for the Polaris carbon storage project off the northern coast of Norway. Under the agreement, the two companies will explore the development and integration of technologies to minimize the carbon footprint, cost and delivery time of carbon capture, transport and storage. This agreement further reinforces Baker Hughes' and Horisont Energi's own commitments to decarbonizing the energy industry. "Baker Hughes has a broad and established portfolio of CCTS technology and proven expertise in executing some of the North Sea's most complex offshore projects," said Uwem Ukpong, executive vice president of regions, alliances and enterprise sales at Baker Hughes. "We are proud to be partnering with Horisont Energi for new energy frontiers, taking the Polaris carbon storage project from concept to reality." In addition to collaborating for the Polaris offshore carbon storage facility, Baker Hughes and Horisont Energi will also work together to develop processes and technologies across the carbon capture value chain, including: Reduction of carbon footprint in the well construction and subsea segments and high-efficiency turbomachinery technology including compressors and turbines for syngas, steam, CO2 and air.