Stockwinners Market Radar for June 10, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:24 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings rise from 1,043.16MT to 1,044.61MT - This is the highest level of holdings since May 25th.

18:34 EDT Chewy CEO: Really pleased with Autoship, not seeing any challenges - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Sumit Singh said Chewy is not seeing pet adoption slowing down. "We believe pet adoptions are up year over year," he added. 69.4% of volume went thru Autoship in Q1, according to Singh. "Customer experience is built into the DNA of the company. Our intention is to make healthcare available and affordable to every pet owner," he said.

18:22 EDT PerkinElmer CEO: China accounts for 25% of our revenue - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Prahlad Singh said PerkinElmer continues to see resilience in testing. 75% of the company's revenue comes from consumables, software and services, he added. China remains an important market for the company, accounting for approximately 25% of its revenues, he said.

17:47 EDT Granite awarded $12M CMAR Runway rehabilitation project in California - Granite has been awarded a contract by the County of San Luis Obispo for the construction phase of the Runway 11-29 Rehabilitation Project at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport in central California. Granite had previously received a contract for the construction manager at risk portion - CMAR - of the project in 2020 and provided preconstruction design assistance. The approximately $12M contract award is anticipated to be included in Granite's Q2 backlog. Construction is expected to begin in July and is expected to be completed by October.

17:29 EDT PLBY Group to partner with Skillz on mobile gaming platform offering - The company states: "PLBY Group (PLBY)announces the launch of a four-week series of Playboy-branded gaming experiences starting Fri, June 11th and hosted on Skillz (SKLZ). Playboy's Summer of Play tournaments will be run in Skillz-powered games including Pool Payday, Solitaire Cube, and 21 Blitz, which are all available in the app store for iOS and on games.skillz.com for Android."

17:21 EDT Callaway Golf to replace GrubHub in the S&P 400 at open on 6/15 - Callaway Golf Co. (ELY) will replace GrubHub (GRUB) in the S&P MidCap 400. Just Eat Takeaway.com (TKAYY) is acquiring GrubHub in a deal expected to be completed on or about that date pending final conditions.

17:11 EDT Precigen Phase 1b/2a Study of AG019 ActoBiotics meets primary endpoints - Precigen ActoBio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Precigen, announced positive topline results for the ongoing Phase 1b/2a clinical study investigating AG019 ActoBiotics for the treatment of recent-onset type 1 diabetes, or T1D. Results from the primary analysis were presented at the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies, FOCIS, 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. The Phase 1b open-label portion of the study evaluates the safety and tolerability of AG019 as a monotherapy in adult and adolescent patients. The primary endpoint for assessing safety and tolerability is treatment-emerging adverse events, TEAEs, reported up to 6 months post treatment initiation. The Phase 2a double-blind portion of the study investigates the safety and tolerability of AG019, in combination with an investigational anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, teplizumab. The primary endpoint of both the Phase 1b AG019 monotherapy and the Phase 2a AG019 combination therapy was met. AG019 was well tolerated and safe when administered to adults and adolescents either as monotherapy or in combination with teplizumab. No serious adverse events were reported and no AG019 treatment discontinuation occurred due to TEAEs. No severe TEAEs were reported in patients treated with AG019 monotherapy. In addition, pharmacokinetic analyses demonstrated localized intestinal delivery of AG019 and no systemic exposure of hPINS, hIL-10 and of AG019 bacteria in the blood of the patients, confirming the safety profile of AG019. "We are encouraged by the Phase 1b/2a primary analysis results and the implications for the potential of AG019 as an easy-to-take oral monotherapy or combination therapy with teplizumab," said Pieter Rottiers, PhD, CEO of Precigen ActoBio.

17:06 EDT BetMGM expands sports betting app to Washington D.C. through Nationals pact - BetMGM announced the expansion of its sports betting app into Washington, D.C. in partnership with the Washington Nationals, making BetMGM the only mobile sports betting app available at Nationals Park. The news is part of BetMGM's multi-year, exclusive partnership with the Washington Nationals, which also includes a retail BetMGM Sportsbook connected to Nationals Park, scheduled to open later this year. While the app can be accessed throughout the District, due to local restrictions, to successfully place mobile wagers, users will need to be within a two-block radius of Nationals Park.

17:05 EDT Redwood Trust raises quarterly dividend 13% to 18c from 16c per share - The second quarter dividend is payable on June 30 to stockholders of record on June 23.

17:03 EDT Bryn Mawr Bank, WSFS Financial merger approved by stockholders - WSFS Financial's (WSFS) and Bryn Mawr Bank's (BMTC) respective stockholders approved the previously announced merger of BMTC into WSFS at a special meeting of stockholders for each company. The parties expect to close the merger in Q4. The projected system conversion and Bank rebranding is scheduled to occur in January 2022.

17:01 EDT Mayville Engineering finalizes plans to open new facility in Hazel Park, MI - Mayville Engineering Company announced it has finalized an agreement to open a new manufacturing facility in Hazel Park, Michigan to align production capacity with a new strategic customer relationship. "We are pleased to have finalized our plans for a new facility that significantly expands our manufacturing capacity in Michigan," explained Bob Kamphuis, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This facility will include state of the art technology and equipment, which will allow us to efficiently produce the highest quality components for our new customer starting early next year." The company signed a ten-year lease for the new facility, which includes approximately 450,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The cmpany plans to hire up to 390 employees and invest between $35M-$45M in capital in the coming year with full production planned to commence in early 2022. As part of the agreement, the company also received a $2.5M incentive package from the State of Michigan. In addition to the new facility, MEC maintains five other Michigan based facilities with over 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space in the cities of Byron Center, Vanderbilt and Wayland.

16:42 EDT Expeditors director sells 23K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Expeditors disclosed that its President of Global Products Daniel Wall sold 23K shares of common stock on June 9th in a total transaction size of $2.83M, reducing his stake by about 41%.

16:36 EDT VG Acquisition's shareholders approve merger with 23andMe - VG Acquisition's shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement with 23andMe at VGAC's extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. More than 87% of the votes cast at the Special Meeting were in favor of the approval of the merger agreement. The consummation of the business combination with 23andMe is expected to occur on June 16, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Upon the closing, VGAC will change its name to 23andMe Holding - New 23andMe -, and New 23andMe Class A common stock and New 23andMe warrants will be listed on Nasdaq. Trading is expected to begin on Nasdaq on June 17 under the new ticker symbol "ME" for the New 23andMe Class A common stock and "MEUSW" for the New 23andMe warrants. 23andMe, headquartered in Sunnyvale, is a consumer genetics and research company founded in 2006.

16:34 EDT LiveRamp head of products Anneka Gupta to depart - LiveRamp announced that Anneka Gupta, president and head of products and platforms, will leave LiveRamp to pursue another senior leadership opportunity within the technology sector, effective July 1. The company intends to elevate two key executive positions within LiveRamp - Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer - to assume Gupta's role and responsibilities. Mohsin Hussain will continue to serve as LiveRamp's Chief Technology Officer. In addition, the company has initiated a search to identify its next Chief Product Officer.

16:32 EDT American Airlines to invest in Vertical Aerospace - American Airlines announced it will invest in Vertical Aerospace, a UK-headquartered engineering and aeronautical business developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. With the investment, American is demonstrating its focus on emerging technologies to reduce carbon emissions and investing in innovative ways that could improve the customer journey, it said. As part of its investment in Vertical, American has agreed to pre-order, subject to certain future agreed upon milestones and other terms, up to 250 aircraft, representing a potential pre-order commitment of $1B, and an option to order an additional 100 aircraft. The airline also expects to make a $25M investment in Vertical through a private investment in public equity transaction. Vertical is developing the VA-X4, a zero-carbon aircraft that can carry four passengers and a pilot, and fly at speeds up to 200 mph over a range of over 100 miles. "Emerging technologies are critical in the race to reduce carbon emissions and we are excited to partner with Vertical to develop the next generation of electric aircraft," said Derek Kerr, Chief Financial Officer at American. "For years, American has led the industry in investing in newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft. Today's partnership is another example of that commitment, and an investment in the future of air mobility. We are excited about the prospect of what this could mean for our customers, and our company." These aircraft could potentially transport customers quickly around urban city centers and to airports. Vertical plans to conduct its first test flight of the VA-X4 later this year, with certification of the aircraft as early as 2024.

16:31 EDT Victory Capital reports total AUM $160.9B on May 31 - Up from $157.13B on April 30.

16:20 EDT Tyme completes strategic review, launches OASIS breast cancer trial - Tyme Technologies reported its conclusions from its recently conducted comprehensive strategic review. "Following my appointment as CEO of TYME, I assembled a group of independent key opinion leaders and industry experts alongside our internal team and launched a comprehensive strategic review. My goal was to take a fresh look at the key operating aspects of TYME - our pipeline composition and clinical development strategy, personnel needs, financial management and existing data. As a result of the review, we believe TYME has expanded its addressable market opportunity, offers stakeholders a more diversified clinical pipeline, added critical experience to its leadership team, is following a more data driven approach to clinical development and will continue to be fiscally vigilant," stated CEO Richie Cunningham. Tyme additionally announced a breast cancer trial with Georgetown University named OASIS. This is an investigator-initiated prospective open-label Phase 2 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of SM-88 for the treatment of metastatic hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HR+/HER2-) breast cancer after treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor. This trial is a two-stage trial, initially enrolling 30 patients, with expansion up to a total of 50 patients without standard background therapies. The primary endpoint of this trial is RECIST tumor response; collection of cell-free DNA from patients will also occur at several time-points in their treatment.

16:11 EDT Vertex falls after ending development of liver disease drug VX-864 - Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading lower after the company announced that VX-864 will not advance into late-stage development. Vertex said that in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study, VX-864 achieved statistically significant increases in mean functional alpha-1 antitrypsin levels of 2.2 to 2.3 micromolar from baseline in people with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency with the PiZZ genotype, across three dose groups of VX-864 compared to placebo. It added, however: "Although results provide proof-of-mechanism, the magnitude of treatment effect observed in this study is unlikely to translate into substantial clinical benefit. As such, Vertex will not advance VX-864 into late-stage development and instead will advance additional novel small molecule correctors with the potential for increased clinical efficacy into the clinic." Vertex shares in after-hours trading are down 11%, or $24.77, to $192.00.

16:08 EDT Vertex will not advance VX-864 into late-stage development - The results of the VX-864 study demonstrated proof-of-mechanism with a rapid, consistent and clear effect on functional and antigenic AAT levels and a safety profile consistent with no mechanism-related toxicity. The data collected are anticipated to enable optimization of Vertex's small molecule corrector approach in AATD and the rapid progression of a portfolio of new molecules with the potential for greater clinical efficacy into the clinic in 2022. In addition, the learnings from the VX-864 study are expected to enable efficiencies in clinical trial design, enrollment and execution for future assets.

16:06 EDT Turtle Beach forms new partnership with Wizards Disctrict Gaming - Turtle Beach announced a new partnership with the reigning NBA 2K League champions, Wizards District Gaming. With this agreement, WDG's teams and players will be using Turtle Beach's flagship Elite Pro 2 performance gaming headset as they compete. "Wizards District Gaming is a clear powerhouse in the competitive NBA 2K League, and we are honored to be partnering with a team as talented as they are," said Ryan Dell, SVP of Global Marketing at Turtle Beach. "We craft our gear to a level of precision and performance so that champions remain champions, and we look forward to WDG continuing to win more games in our Elite Pro 2 headsets."

16:06 EDT Alaska Communications signs distribution partner agreement with OneWeb - Alaska Communications has signed a Distribution Partner Agreement with OneWeb, the global communications network powered from space, to expand the company's connectivity solutions across Alaska. Through the agreement, Alaska Communications will sell OneWeb's low Earth orbit satellite service to its customers and use OneWeb's infrastructure for critical middle mile connections. "We're pleased to work with OneWeb to offer LEO services in Alaska," said Bill Bishop, president and CEO of Alaska Communications. "We see this as a milestone moment in our ability to offer low-latency, high-speed service across Alaska, particularly in rural areas."

16:03 EDT Vertex says primary endpoint achieved in Phase 2 study of VX-864 - Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study, VX-864 achieved rapid, consistent and statistically significant increases in mean functional alpha-1 antitrypsin levels of 2.2 to 2.3 micromolar from baseline in people with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency with the PiZZ genotype, across three dose groups of VX-864 compared to placebo. VX-864 was generally well tolerated in the Phase 2 study. These data provide clear evidence that an oral small molecule corrector designed to promote the proper folding of the mutant Z-AAT protein can increase plasma levels of fAAT in patients with AATD. Although results provide proof-of-mechanism, the magnitude of treatment effect observed in this study is unlikely to translate into substantial clinical benefit. As such, Vertex will not advance VX-864 into late-stage development and instead will advance additional novel small molecule correctors with the potential for increased clinical efficacy into the clinic. "This is the first time that dosing of a small molecule corrector of the Z-AAT protein resulted in significant elevations in both functional and antigenic levels of AAT in people with AATD. We are encouraged by the clear separation of AAT levels in the VX-864 treated groups versus placebo and the favorable safety profile," said Carmen Bozic, M.D., Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs, and Chief Medical Officer at Vertex. "Based on these findings, we remain committed to developing transformative treatments for AATD and are working with urgency to translate the learnings from this study to optimize the next set of small molecule correctors so that we can fully realize the potential that this class of molecules may hold for people living with this disease."

15:48 EDT S&P raises AMC bond rating with Positive outlook after capital raises - S&P Global Ratings raised its rating on AMC Entertainment to 'CCC+' from 'CCC-' with a Positive outlook. AMC raised nearly $818M in gross equity proceeds last week and has raised roughly $1.83B in total equity so far this year, S&P points out. The "incremental liquidity combined with improved debt-trading levels make it less likely that AMC will pursue a subpar debt exchange or other forms of debt restructuring in the near future," the rating agency added. If AMC uses the majority of the proceeds for debt reduction and refinances the "expensive" debt raised during the pandemic, it will materially reduce its interest burden, cash burn, and leverage, says S&P. This, "coupled with our expectation that theater attendance will likely significantly improve in the second half of 2021, provides a path to a sustainable capital structure," it added.

15:42 EDT Lixiang Education Holding Company Ltd (ADS) trading resumes

15:30 EDT Neovasc trading resumes

15:12 EDT Neovasc to reduce headcount by over 40%, pause all activity on Tiara TF program - Neovasc announced that the company has implemented "a series of strategic initiatives focused on enhancing current shareholder value, minimizing dilution, extending its cash runway well into 2024, focusing investments on near term value drivers, and more deeply reviewing the company's core business activities." The company said it is in "the final stages of developing the protocols and considering important decisions regarding awarding contracts to key outside suppliers" for the Neovasc Reducer. An Investigational Device Exemption, or "IDE," supplement will subsequently be filed with FDA, likely during the summer months and the company continues to work towards a first patient enrollment near the end of 2021. The study will be an approximately 380-patient, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, sham-controlled trial, designed to test whether Reducer therapy improves exercise tolerance testing time, along with other secondary endpoints, in patients suffering from refractory angina despite medical treatment. Additionally, the company "has made the difficult decision to pause all activities related to the Tiara TF transfemoral mitral valve replacement program. Given the additional time and substantial investment required to develop the Tiara TF program to approval and the related research and development, clinical, regulatory and manufacturing costs, the company believes focusing its efforts on core Reducer and Tiara TA activities is warranted," Neovasc said. These strategic actions will result in the company reducing the size of its workforce through targeted headcount reductions and related project expenses. The company will reduce its headcount by over 40% and pause all activity on the Tiara TF program. As a result of the changes, the company now expects to book estimated total pre-tax GAAP charges of approximately $700,000 due to fixed asset write-offs and certain other exit charges. "The vast majority of these charges will be recorded during the second quarter of 2021. The decision is expected to be accretive to earnings, saving over $20M in expenses over the next two and a half years, even before we were to initiate an expensive and lengthy Tiara TF FDA Pre-Market Approval clinical study. We believe the changes will extend our cash runway from approximately 18 months to well over three years," Neovasc said.

14:57 EDT Neovasc trading halted, news pending

14:21 EDT MoSys says Stellar Packet Classification IP can be loaded onto Intel SmartNICs - MoSys (MOSY) said via Twitter that its Stellar Packet Classification IP can be loaded onto Intel's (INTC) SmartNICs."MoSys Stellar Packet Classification IP can be loaded onto Intel's SmartNICs to accelerate the industry's most demanding routing and security functions. Intel SmartNICs: https://buff.ly/2OSxOmf, MoSys: https://buff.ly/3jiVdGS and: https://buff.ly/3c2YY2p #SmartNICs #FPGA #Intel," the tweet reads. Reference Link

14:08 EDT Take-Two announces 'Borderlands' spinoff 'Wonderlands,' out in early 2022 - At the Summer Games Fest Kickoff livestream, Take-Two (TTWO) unveiled "Tiny Tina's Wonderlands," a new game that takes place in the "Borderlands" franchise. The fantasy-based shooter will launch in early 2022 on PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, PC, Xbox One (MSFT), and Xbox Series X/S.

13:39 EDT MoneyGram says order discharges Government's criminal case against company - In a regulatory filing, MoneyGram stated: "On June 4, 2021, MoneyGram International, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section participated in a telephonic status conference with the United States Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania regarding the Government's Unopposed Motion to Dismiss the criminal Information against the company, which had originally been filed against the company on November 9, 2012 pursuant to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement between the Government and the company. The term of the DPA ended on May 10, 2021 and the Government then filed the Unopposed Motion to Dismiss on May 17, 2021. On June 9, 2021, pursuant to the US Judge's request, the Government filed an Amended Unopposed Motion to Dismiss that provided additional details about the company's satisfaction of its obligations under the DPA and enhancements to the company's compliance program. On June 10, 2021, the US Judge signed an Order dismissing the criminal Information with prejudice, which effectively discharged the Government's criminal case against the company and officially ended the matter."

13:30 EDT S&P Global Ratings upgrades Amazon to 'AA' from 'AA-' - S&P Global Ratings raised its issuer credit rating on Amazon to "AA" from "AA-". At the same time, S&P raised its issue-level ratings on the company's unsecured notes to "AA" from "AA-". S&P said: "Continued strong growth from the cloud business and solid retail sales expansion will offset ongoing investments in shipping and fulfillment, leading to sustained higher margin and profitability. Amazon posted escalated sales gains in fiscal 2020 partly because of a surge in its retail sales propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers shifted purchases online in more categories and in higher volumes. The trend continued into the first quarter of 2021 with online store sales accelerating 44% and third-party sales 64%. While we anticipate some online sales, especially apparel and footwear, could revert to brick-and-mortar players in 2021, we believe the ongoing shift online will continue to power Amazon's healthy long-term growth trajectory. Moreover, Amazon's industry-leading and highly profitable cloud business Amazon Web Services, AWS, continues to expand rapidly as the pandemic accelerated companies' transition to cloud-based services from on-premise operations. In fiscal 2020, its AWS segment expanded 30%, representing about 12% of total revenue and nearly 60% of total operating income. We expect the cloud computing market to expand and the few large players, including AWS, will continue to rapidly grow given their leading market positions."

13:10 EDT Forward Pharma trading halted, volatility trading pause

12:47 EDT Leaf Group announces shareholder approval of merger agreement with Graham Holdings - Leaf Group (LEAF) announced that, at a special meeting of shareholders held on June 10, 2021, its shareholders approved the Merger Agreement entered into by Leaf Group and Graham Holdings Company (GHC), under which Graham Holdings will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Leaf Group for $8.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $323M. Holders of approximately 59.14% of all outstanding common shares of Leaf Group as of the close of business on May 3, 2021, the record date for the Special Meeting, voted to adopt the Merger Agreement. The proposed transaction remains subject to the receipt and satisfaction of certain closing conditions. The company anticipates that the proposed transaction will be completed on June 14, 2021.

12:20 EDT Electronic Arts down 2% after report of cyberattack - Shares of Electronic Arts are down $2.50, or 2%, to $143.32 after Vice's Motherboard reported that cyberattackers have stolen "a wealth" of video game source code and related internal tools after breaching the company's systems.

12:08 EDT Microsoft aims to release one new first-party game on Game Pass every quarter - Microsoft said that its goal is to release at least one new first-party game into its Xbox Game Pass service every quarter. "Role playing games, shooters, strategy titles, adventure games, and more are all being built by our first party teams to ensure that there is a steady stream of compelling exclusive content to explore," Microsoft said. "Our independent developer program ID@Xbox has earned developers over $2B dollars since the program's inception, with over 2000 titles launched and many more on the way. This model is now being used for ID@Azure, allowing independent devs to build cloud-based experiences. These programs bring new voices from diverse backgrounds into the world of game development." Reference Link

12:05 EDT Microsoft says Xbox Game Pass members play 40% more games - In a blog post, Microsoft (MSFT) said that members of its Xbox Game Pass subscription service play 30% more genres and play 40% more games. And more than 90% of members said they played a game that they would not have tried without Game Pass. On average across the Game Pass library, partners see engagement go up by more than 8x when they enter Game Pass, Microsoft said. Whether it's purchasing games inside or outside of what's available in the library, or purchasing additional content for the games they like, members spend 50% more than non-members. "Since we started our partnership with EA Play (EA) in Game Pass Ultimate, our players have been engaging with EA's subscription service in a significant way," the company said. "Compared to before the integration, EA Play has seen record usage on Microsoft platforms, driving hours played on these platforms up by more than 200%. As a result, EA's incredible portfolio of games has reached and gained millions of new fans on the Xbox platform. The new Square Enix (SQNXF) game Outriders is in Game Pass and was also the #1 selling digital game on Xbox during its launch week and a top 10 selling digital game on Xbox in the month of April. Game Pass helped introduce millions of players to the game. During launch week, MLB: The Show 21 (SONY) was the biggest sports game of the past year on Xbox and the second biggest sports game of all time on Xbox. Game Pass added millions of new fans and grew Major League Baseball's player base significantly. MLB: The Show 21 was also the #1 selling paid game on Xbox for the month of April." Reference Link

12:00 EDT GameStop falls -15.4% - GameStop is down -15.4%, or -$46.51 to $256.05.

12:00 EDT Washington Prime falls -23.2% - Washington Prime is down -23.2%, or -$1.56 to $5.17.

12:00 EDT Xinyuan Real Estate rises 22.2% - Xinyuan Real Estate is up 22.2%, or 57c to $3.14.

11:57 EDT Hertz plan confirmed by court, says on target for June 30 Chapter 11 exit - Hertz Global announced that the Bankruptcy Court confirmed the company's plan of reorganization. The plan unimpairs all classes of creditors who are legally deemed to have accepted it and was approved by more than 97% of voting shareholders. The court's approval "clears the way for Hertz to emerge from Chapter 11 by the end of June 2021," the company stated. As a result of its restructuring efforts, Hertz will emerge from Chapter 11 with a "substantially stronger balance sheet and greater financial flexibility than it had prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic," the company said. Hertz's plan will eliminate over $5B of debt, including all of Hertz Europe's corporate debt, and will provide more than $2.2B of global liquidity to the reorganized company. Hertz also will emerge with a new $2.8B exit credit facility consisting of at least $1.3B of term loans and a revolving loan facility, and an approximately $7B of asset-backed vehicle financing facility, each on favorable terms. The plan provides for the payment in cash in full to all creditors and for existing shareholders to receive more than $1B of value, the company added.

11:04 EDT J&J Covid vaccine approved for extended 4.5 months shelf life - Johnson & Johnson confirms the Food and Drug Administration has authorized an extension of the shelf life for its single-shot Covid-19 vaccine from three months to 4.5 months. The decision is based on data from ongoing stability assessment studies, which have demonstrated that the vaccine is stable at 4.5 months when refrigerated at temperatures of 36 - 46 degrees Fahrenheit, J&J noted. "We continue to work with the U.S. government and health authorities to support the use of our vaccine, which plays an important role in combatting the pandemic, including among those who wish to be fully vaccinated with one shot," the company said in a statement.

10:35 EDT Carnival's Holland America cancels remainder of summer 2021 European sailings - While Holland America Line continues to work with governments and port authorities in correlation with the phased resumption of cruising, it is canceling the remainder of the summer 2021 European sailings aboard two ships, Nieuw Statendam and Volendam, the division of Carnival announced. "Guests currently booked on canceled Nieuw Statendam and Volendam departures automatically will be moved to a 2021 cruise on Eurodam in the Mediterranean, beginning with the Aug. 15 cruise through the Oct. 30 transatlantic crossing, and receive a $100 Onboard Spending Credit per person... Any guest on a canceled voyage also can request a full refund of all monies paid to Holland America Line," the company said. In addition, after an expected on-schedule delivery from the Fincantieri shipyard July 30, Rotterdam will remain in non-guest operations until its Sept. 26 cruise from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Plans for Rotterdam's naming ceremony are being finalized, the company said.

10:10 EDT Wrap's BolaWrap used on subject in crisis in Virginia - Wrap Technologies released new bodycam footage of a successful BolaWrap Remote Restraint deployment in New Kent, Virginia. On April 29, 2021, New Kent County Sheriff's Office in Virginia responded to a subject experiencing a mental health crisis. Along with officers and paramedics, the family spent more than two hours attempting to resolve the situation. Officers were informed that the subject would probably become physically aggressive if touched. Wrap said: "In the video, the subject's girlfriend can be heard pleading with the subject to comply. She told officers that the subject had been diagnosed with either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and that he was not taking any medications and was hallucinating. Officers explained to her their plan to use the BolaWrap to help get the subject into the ambulance. An officer deployed the BolaWrap, sufficiently restraining and distracting the subject, enabling officers to safely transport him to a hospital. The situation was resolved without causing injury to anyone or requiring the use of force." "Protecting our officers and our community is our top priority, and we are pleased with how the BolaWrap was able to help our officers safely get someone in crisis the help they needed while preventing the situation from escalating," said Lieutenant Joey McLaughlin of New Kent County Sheriff's Office.

10:03 EDT BofA expands digital B2C payment offerings with Pay to Card - Bank of America is adding a new payment solution to its suite of business-to-consumer payment capabilities. Named Pay to Card, the solution supports corporates' growing need to pay consumers quickly and digitally by depositing funds directly into an individual's or small business' bank account, the company said in a statement. Pay to Card leverages the details of a bank card associated with an account to process the transaction, it added. "As the payments industry continues to evolve, we are constantly investing and bringing to market new solutions and services that can help clients become more efficient and relevant to a broadening set of stakeholders." said David Kretz, head of Global Payments in Global Transaction Services at Bank of America. "As the latest addition to our suite of digital B2C payment options, Pay to Card offers enhanced speed, flexibility and convenience."

10:02 EDT Embraer confirms Eve has started negotiations with Zanite Acquisition - Embraer (ERJ) in accordance with CVM Instruction No. 358, of January 3, 2002, in view of the report published by Bloomberg.com under the title "Embraer's Eve in $2 Billion Merger Talks with Zanite SPAC," informs its shareholders and the market that Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions has started negotiations related to a possible business combination with Zanite Acquisition Corp. (ZNTE). The negotiations with Zanite are ongoing. The Company cannot predict if Eve will reach a definitive agreement or what will be the terms thereof. The Company will keep the market informed of subsequent material developments in the context of such negotiations, to the extent imposed by applicable laws and stock exchange regulations.

10:00 EDT REV Group falls -8.5% - REV Group is down -8.5%, or -$1.66 to $17.75.

10:00 EDT Embraer rises 14.4% - Embraer is up 14.4%, or $1.96 to $15.59.

10:00 EDT Signet Jewelers rises 16.8% - Signet Jewelers is up 16.8%, or $10.24 to $71.28.

09:47 EDT Hims & Hers falls -6.2% - Hims & Hers is down -6.2%, or -83c to $12.62.

09:47 EDT GameStop falls -9.3% - GameStop is down -9.3%, or -$28.00 to $274.56.

09:47 EDT Oxford Industries rises 14.1% - Oxford Industries is up 14.1%, or $13.83 to $111.93.

09:34 EDT EQT partners with Cheniere Energy, others to advance GHG emissions monitoring - EQT Corporation (EQT) announced that it has joined a project being led by Cheniere Energy (LNG) and includes several other upstream operators and leading academic institutions, with the purpose of advancing quantification, monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions performance at natural gas production sites. The project is intended to improve the overall understanding of upstream GHG emissions and further the deployment of advanced monitoring technologies and protocols. "As part of this collaborative R&D initiative, multiple ground-based, aerial, and satellite monitoring technologies will be utilized to establish baseline emissions levels, monitor sites for carbon dioxide emissions and both fugitive and vented methane emissions, verify emissions performance and identify opportunities to reduce emissions. Independent technical experts will verify the emissions data," the company said. EQT's participation in the project will cover 9 wells located in southwestern Pennsylvania. EQT will also deploy continuous detection technologies as part of this project.

09:32 EDT Lucid Diagnostics completes CE Mark certification for EsoGuard Test - PAVmed announced that its major subsidiary, Lucid Diagnostics, has completed European IVDD CE Mark certification of its EsoGuard Esophageal DNA Test. Lucid and its EU authorized representative completed the EC declaration of conformity procedure, including the associated technical documentation, ensuring and declaring that EsoGuard meets the essential requirements of Europe's In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive 98/79/EC. EsoGuard may now be marketed in CE Mark European countries, which include the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and, until July 1, 2023, the United Kingdom.

09:22 EDT Ecolab launches virtual visit offering for life sciences industry - Ecolab announced a new virtual visit offering for the life sciences industry to proactively help address cleaning and disinfection challenges. Using mixed-reality tools, Ecolab can bring experts on-site virtually to quickly and safely review, diagnose and solve issues from anywhere, at any time, helping customers navigate the barriers to on-site service and training during the pandemic. Life Science's team members can virtually connect to remote Ecolab scientists, engineers and cross-functional teams located anywhere in the world using a Microsoft HoloLens 2 device and running Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist. The remote experts can provide technical support and documentation in augmented reality to help the on-site team member wearing the HoloLens 2 device see solutions to deliver resolution faster and more efficiently.

09:18 EDT Telus Health introduces Telus Health MyCare - TELUS Health introduced TELUS Health MyCare following the recent acquisition of Babylon Health Canada. Previously known as Babylon by TELUS Health, TELUS Health MyCare is an important evolution of virtual care for Canadians offering a robust suite of health and wellbeing services and new and improved features. More Canadians are accessing preventative tools to guide changes in lifestyle for improved overall health, TELUS Health MyCare provides increased access to high-quality primary care with locally-licensed physicians in numerous languages, but also supports access to mental health counsellors and dietitians.

09:17 EDT Costco to feature Dogness International pet products in new stores - Costco (COST) will feature Dogness International (DOGZ) in its new Little Rock, AR and Moore, OK stores, with a larger scale rollout planned for October to prepare for the 2021 holiday season. The new stores, opening next month, will feature Dogness smart pet products including its Smart Treat Dispenser, Smart Water Fountain Plus and Smart Cam iPet Robot.

09:16 EDT Amazon, HanesBrands file joint lawsuits against infringers of Champion trademark - Amazon together with HanesBrands, Inc. and HBI Branded Apparel Enterprises, jointly filed 13 lawsuits against 17 defendants for selling silicone protective earbud case covers that illegally bear HanesBrands' registered Champion trademarks. The defendants attempted to offer the infringing products in Amazon's store, violating Amazon's policies, infringing on HanesBrands' registered Champion trademarks, and breaking the law. The lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. They allege that the defendants used HanesBrands' registered Champion trademarks without authorization to deceive customers about the authenticity and origin of the products and to create a false affiliation with HanesBrands. Amazon closed the defendants' selling accounts. "The vast majority of Amazon customers shop with the confidence knowing they will receive an authentic product," said Dharmesh Mehta, vice president of Customer Trust and Partner Support at Amazon. "In the rare instances when bad actors attempt to take advantage of customers and companies like HanesBrands, our team is relentless about tracking down and holding them accountable."

09:13 EDT Diana Shipping announces time charter contract for m/v Boston - Diana Shipping announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with C Transport Maritime, Bermuda, for one of its Capesize dry bulk vessels, the m/v Boston. The gross charter rate is $25,500 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum April 15, 2022 up to maximum June 15, 2022. The charter is expected to commence on June 15, 2021. The m/v Boston is currently chartered, as previously announced, to Oldendorff Carriers, Lubeck, Germany, at a gross charter rate of $15,300 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties. The employment of "Boston" is anticipated to generate approximately $7.65M of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter. Upon completion of the previously announced sale of one Panamax dry bulk vessel, the m/v Naias, Diana Shipping Inc.'s fleet will consist of 36 dry bulk vessels. As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the company's fleet, including the m/v Naias, is approximately 4.7M dwt with a weighted average age of 10.31 years.

09:09 EDT Euronet's Ria Money Transfer launch instant payments in Brazil - Ria Money Transfer, subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, announced the launch of instant payments in Brazil via the country's new PIX real time payments network. Ria will participate in the PIX network through its partnership with Banco Rendimento and can now facilitate local BRL transfers and payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and holidays. "The simplicity of this new digital infrastructure makes it easier and faster for customers across the country to receive funds instantly at affordable rates and further advances Ria's Brazilian service portfolio," the company said.

09:08 EDT Seanergy Marine reports delivery of two Capesize vessels - Seanergy Maritime reported the delivery of two previously-announced Capesize vessel acquisitions. The first vessel is a 181,709 dwt Capesize bulk carrier, built in 2010 by Imabari Shipbuilding in Japan, which was renamed M/V Patriotship, and the second is a 176,925 dwt Capesize bulk carrier, built in 2006 by Namura Shipbuilding in Japan, which was renamed M/V Tradership. Seanergy fixed the M/V Patriotship proactively at $31,000 per day for a period employment of 12 to 18 months with a major European cargo operator. Additionally, the M/V Tradership has been fixed for a period employment of 11 to 15 months with a major South Korean industrial company at an index-linked rate based on the Baltic Capesize Index. Both time charters are expected to commence promptly, upon finalization of the customary handover process. Moreover, the company is in advanced discussions with a leading Asian financial institution to finance part of the acquisition price of the M/V Patriotship through a sale and leaseback structure at competitive terms. Stamatis Tsantanis, the company's Chairman & CEO, stated: "I am pleased to announce the timely delivery of our fourteenth and fifteenth Capesize vessels and the immediate commencement of their respective period employments. We are also excited to initiate business relationships with two additional reputable charterers. Including these deliveries, 87% of our operating fleet is employed under advantageous medium to long-term charters."

09:07 EDT Envela expands electronics-trade-In capabilities with acquisition - Envela announced that its subsidiary CEX Holdings, has purchased the assets of CExchange a leader in electronics-trade-in services for retailers. Envela believes this acquisition will bring promising synergies of cost reductions and efficiencies, and contribute to revenue and earnings accretion to shareholders. It also advances the Company's ongoing strategy to expand its presence in the environmentally friendly recommerce sector.

09:06 EDT Venus Acquisition and WiMi Hologram Cloud subsidiary sign merger agreement - Venus Acquisition (VENA) and VIYI Algorithm, a Cayman Islands exempted company operating in China and controlled by WiMi Hologram Cloud (WIMI), have entered into a definitive merger agreement. A newly created merger subsidiary of Venus will be merged with and into VIYI Algo with VIYI Algo being the surviving entity and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Venus. Upon closing of the transaction, Venus will change its name to MicroAlgo. The merger is structured as s stock for stock transaction and is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization. The terms of the merger provide for a valuation of VIYI Algo and its subsidiaries and businesses of $400M. Based upon a per share value of $10.10 per share, the VIYI Algo stockholders will receive approximately 39,600,000 ordinary shares of Venus which will represent approximately 85% of the combined outstanding shares following the closing, assuming no redemptions by the Venus stockholders and assuming conversion of the Venus outstanding rights into 485,000 ordinary shares. The post-closing Board of Directors will consist of 5 members, four of whom will be nominated by VIYI Algo. In order to continue to satisfy Nasdaq Stock Market listing standards, at least 3 of the members will be independent. As condition to closing, Venus has entered into a definitive and binding backstop and subscription agreement with Ever Abundant Investments Limited who has committed to backstop up to $10M of redemption of ordinary shares by Venus stockholders or to purchase new shares from Venus at closing of the merger. VIYI Algo is dedicated to the development and application of bespoke central processing algorithms. The boards of directors for both Venus and VIYI Algo have approved the proposed merger, which is expected to be completed by the end of Q3, subject to, among other things, the approval by Venus' shareholders of the merger, the proposed change of name, an increase in the authorized share capital of Venus and satisfaction of the other conditions.

09:05 EDT Navios Maritime Partners announces delivery of three vessels - Navios Maritime Partners announced that it has taken delivery of the following three drybulk vessels: Navios Amitie - a 2021-built, Kamsarmax vessel with 82,002 dwt, was delivered into Navios Partners' fleet on May 28. The vessel is chartered out at a rate of 110% of average Baltic Panamax Index until May 2024. Based on BPI 82 weighted time charter average as of June 10, 2021, the vessel would earn approximately $31,720 per day. Navios Star - a 2021-built Kamsarmax vessel with 82,037 dwt, was delivered into Navios Partners' fleet on June 10. The vessel is chartered out at a rate of 110% of average Baltic Panamax Index until June 2024. Based on BPI 82 weighted time charter average as of June 10, 2021, the vessel would earn approximately $31,720 per day. Navios Koyo - a 2011-built Capesize vessel with 181,415 dwt, was delivered into Navios Partners' fleet on June 4. The vessel was acquired for $28.5M. The vessel is currently trading on the spot market. Based on BCI 5TC weighted time charter average as of June 10, 2021, the vessel would earn approximately $24,039 per day. NMM's fleet consists of 89 vessels, of which 51 are dry bulk vessels and 38 are containerships. The fleet has total capacity of 8.2 million dwt.

09:05 EDT Zealand Pharma increases share capital as result of employee warrants exercise - Zealand Pharma has increased its share capital by a nominal amount of DKK 89,996 divided into 89,996 new shares with a nominal value of DKK 1 each. The increase is a consequence of the exercise of warrants granted under several of Zealand Pharma's employee warrant programs. Employee warrant programs are part of Zealand Pharma's incentive scheme, and each warrant gives the owner the right to subscribe for one new Zealand Pharma-share at a pre specified price, the exercise price, in specific predefined time periods before expiration.The exercise price was DKK 135.30 per share for 4,395 of the new shares and DKK 100.80 per share for 85,601 of the new shares. The total proceeds to Zealand Pharma from the capital increase amount to DKK 9,223,224.30. The new shares give rights to dividend and other rights from the time of the warrant holder's exercise notice. Each new share carries one vote at Zealand Pharma's general meetings. Zealand Pharma has only one class of shares. The new shares will be listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen after registration of the capital increase with the Danish Business Authority. Following registration of the new shares, the share capital of Zealand Pharma will be nominal DKK 43,541,838 divided into 43,541,838 shares with a nominal value of DKK 1 each.

09:04 EDT Nokia, AT&T announce first commercial equipment call using C-Band spectrum - Nokia (NOK) and AT&T (T) announced that they have completed the first call on AT&T's network utilizing C-Band spectrum, which was awarded just three months ago. The call was made using a 5G smartphone form factor mobile test device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System using the Nokia AirScale baseband and 5G massive MIMO 64T64R C-Band radio. C-Band spectrum provides a good balance of both coverage and capacity and will further enhance AT&T's ambitions of expanding 5G coverage and performance across the nation. AT&T has announced plans to cover 200 million people with C-Band by the end of 2023. The milestone was achieved early May in Detroit, Michigan by engineers from both AT&T and Nokia, who jointly worked quickly to demonstrate the potential of the newly available n77 spectrum. The test utilized one of Nokia's new mMIMO antennas that is designed to operate in the n77 C-Band in conjunction with the latest Nokia 5G software. The joint team will continue to test performance ahead of commercial network deployment, which is anticipated to begin later this year.

09:04 EDT Avita Medical's RECELL System approved by FDA for treating pediatric patients - AVITA Medical announced that the Food and Drug Administration has approved expanded use of the RECELL System in combination with meshed autografting for the treatment of all sizes of acute full-thickness thermal burn wounds for both pediatric and adult patients. Specifically, RECELL is now indicated to treat full-thickness thermal burns in patients 1-month of age and older. In addition, the indication now includes treatment for full-thickness thermal burns that extend beyond 50% total body surface area. The revised indication for the RECELL System is based on clinical data from the RECELL Compassionate Use and Continued Access studies. As Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority's, or BARDA, mandate includes building preparedness by expanding the indications of medical countermeasures for vulnerable populations, such as pediatrics, an independent contract option dedicated to this goal was exercised between BARDA and AVITA Medical in support of a pediatric burn clinical trial. For full-thickness burns, the initial PMA study of RECELL treatment was limited to patients with burn wounds up to 50% TBSA injuries, which was also reflected in the initial FDA-approved RECELL indication. The updated indication no longer constrains treatment of full-thickness injuries based on an upper limit of 50% TBSA. The median number of autograft procedures for patients with extensive burns treated with RECELL under Compassionate Use was two, versus a matching cohort of patients in the National Burn Registry for which the median number of autograft treatments was five.

09:02 EDT Ocean Biomedical files registration statement for proposed IPO - Ocean Biomedica announced that it has publicly filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. Ocean intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "OCEA." The size of the proposed offering and price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. It is expected that the net proceeds from Ocean's initial public offering will be used to fund the clinical development and preclinical development of Ocean's assets, and for business development activities, working capital and other general corporate purposes.

08:53 EDT Clover Health enters preferred provider relationship with Upward Health - Upward Health announced a new preferred provider relationship with Clover Health to serve patients with medical, behavioral, and social challenges through Clover's in-home primary care program, Clover Home Care. The effort was launched shortly after Clover was identified as a participant in CMS' new direct contracting initiative, which is designed to improve healthcare quality and contain costs for beneficiaries with Original Medicare. As Clover scales Clover Home Care through direct contracting, the company has contracted with Upward Health to provide integrated home-based medical and behavioral care for aligned beneficiaries with needs in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas.

08:46 EDT Safe-T signs partner agreement with ELCA for the resale of ZTNA solution - Safe-T Group announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Safe-T Data A.R Ltd., has partnered with ELCA Informatique to expand its global presence with the resale of Safe-T's products and solutions in the Swiss market. Through this strategic partnership, ELCA will offer Safe-T's solutions to its enterprise customers in various sectors, such as financial services, defense, energy, healthcare and other industries. Safe-T's ZoneZero family of ZTNA solutions will be offered as an on-premises deployment or as a cloud service, to protect the enterprise customers' critical and sensitive data.

08:45 EDT MicroVision to be added to Russell 2000 Index - MicroVision announced that it is set to join the Russell 2000 Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on June 28, according to a preliminary list of additions posted June 4.

08:42 EDT Verizon Business launches On Site 5G - Verizon Business announced the launch of On Site 5G, Verizon's first commercially available, private 5G network solution in the U.S. On Site 5G networks are custom-designed and managed by Verizon, allowing large enterprise and public sector customers to bring Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband capabilities to indoor or outdoor facilities, regardless of whether the premises is within a public 5G Ultra Wideband coverage area. "On Site 5G opens the commercial floodgates for the promises of 5G Ultra Wideband, allowing large enterprises and public sector organizations to custom tailor a 5G experience for any premises that demands it," said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, Chief Revenue Officer of Verizon Business. "It's the bespoke business service for what we do better than anyone else: build 5G networks that enable even the most advanced wireless, MEC, and IoT capabilities for customers on the cutting edge."

08:40 EDT Skye Bioscience adds Miguel Gonzalez-Andrades to clinical advisory board - Skye Bioscience has expanded its Clinical Advisory Board with the appointment of ophthalmology expert and innovator, Miguel Gonzalez-Andrades, MD, PhD. Miguel Gonzalez-Andrades is a clinician-scientist currently working as an ophthalmologist in the Ophthalmology Unit at Reina Sofia University Hospital, and as assistant professor and research scientist at Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba-University of Cordoba. Additionally, he serves since 2019 as an adjunct scientist at the Schepens Eye Research Institute and Mass Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School. Currently, he is the Chair of the Young Section of the European Society of Ophthalmology.

08:38 EDT Vystar Corp says Rotmans Furniture to reopen June 14 - Rotmans Furniture has completed Phase 1 of its renovation and will reopen for business on Wednesday, June 14, with savings for all customers as it continues its renovation in select areas. Rotmans closed on June 1 to begin renovation of its 200,000+ sq. ft. facility. Phase 1 of the remodel included a complete redesign of the interior entrance way, a renovation of one bedding area, elimination of flooring products, and a reorganization of the showroom floor to reduce it from 175,000 sq. ft. to 85,000 sq. ft. The space formerly used for the showroom will be repurposed as warehouse space, with added benefits to be announced in the future. Additional updating, painting and trimming of various showroom spaces and exterior will continue through the summer. Rotmans is planning a Grand Reopening Event in the fall after all renovation phases are complete. Rotmans is resuming taking custom orders that were temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 crisis when most factories were shut down.

08:36 EDT ProPhase Labs forms genomics, global healthcare subisidiaries - ProPhase Labs announced the formation of two wholly-owned subsidiaries, ProPhase Precision Medicine, Inc., which will focus on genomics testing technologies, and ProPhase Global Healthcare, Inc., which was recently formed to seek to expand the Company's SARS-CoV-2 testing into other countries and to pursue additional healthcare-related initiatives. ProPhase Precision Medicine will seek to acquire existing businesses and technology, or otherwise gain access to technologies utilized to conduct whole-genome sequencing. WGS is a comprehensive method for analyzing entire genomes, including the genes and chromosomes in DNA. The data obtained from genomic testing can help to identify inherited disorders, predict disease risk, identify expected drug response, and characterize genetic mutations, including those that drive cancer progression. The costs associated with whole genome sequencing have dropped dramatically in recent years, leading to new services that can provide more detailed testing, better diagnoses, and an ability to predict the viability of therapeutic treatments.

08:34 EDT Novan announces preclinical data in SB019 COVID-19 program - Novan announced preclinical results with berdazimer sodium in a SARS-CoV-2 transmission model in golden Syrian hamsters. In light of these promising results, the Company is exploring opportunities to develop an anti-viral therapy against COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, both internally and potentially through strategic partnerships for this program. To further evaluate the potential of its NITRICIL platform technology as an intranasal treatment option for COVID-19, the Company initiated preclinical in vivo studies evaluating the efficacy of berdazimer sodium to reduce viral burden in infected animals and to deter viral transmission to uninfected animals. The work was conducted at the Institute for Antiviral Research at Utah State University. Results from two separate studies independently demonstrated the ability of berdazimer sodium to prevent progression of infection into the lungs after transmission, significantly limiting severity of disease in this model. The intranasal treatment was well-tolerated during the preclinical in vivo studies, and no treatment-related adverse events were observed. SARS-CoV-2 infected animals were co-housed with healthy animals to induce infection via animal-to-animal transmission. The effect of a repeat, once daily intranasal treatment regimen with berdazimer sodium at various doses was assessed versus placebo controls. The endpoints included nasal and lung tissue viral count, in addition to body weight changes, an indicator of disease severity. The Company observed a dose-dependent, statistically significant reduction (Pless than0.0001) in the amount of virus in the lungs of animals treated with berdazimer sodium concentrations as low as 2 mg/mL compared to placebo-treated controls. The effect was observed after co-habitation with infected hamsters who were also treated with berdazimer sodium. The average amount of virus in the lungs was reduced by greater than 4 logs with more than half of the animals having no detectable virus in lung tissue at all. Catalent continues to support Novan's CMC efforts and development of an intranasal formulation, SB019, for use in the Company's COVID-19 program. Preclinical tolerability and toxicology studies were conducted at a third-party research organization to inform product development at Catalent. The initial studies support the established safety profile of berdazimer sodium and suggest favorable tolerability when administered intranasally after repeat dosing. Further, preclinical dose-range finding studies are being conducted to inform potential human clinical trial design and dosing regimen. Based on the scientific literature, the Company's previously reported in vitro results and the in vivo results announced today, Novan believes that nitric oxide may inhibit viral replication by disrupting protein function critical for viral replication and infection through generation of reactive intermediates. The Company plans to submit a request to the FDA to determine an appropriate path to bring a new potential treatment option to patients, as quickly as possible. The Company is evaluating its strategy to submit an IND for the purposes of advancing its SB019 product candidate, subject to regulatory guidance, successful completion of IND-enabling toxicology studies and obtaining additional financing or strategic partnering.

08:33 EDT Masco enters $350M accelerated share repurchase agreement - Masco announced it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase, or ASR, agreement with Royal Bank of Canada to repurchase $350M of Masco's common stock. This agreement is part of Masco's existing share repurchase authorization under which $2B of authority was announced on February 9. Under the ASR agreement, Masco will receive initial delivery of approximately 5.1M shares on June 10, representing approximately 85% of the number of shares of common stock initially underlying the ASR agreement, based on the closing price of Masco's common stock of $58.41 on June 9. The final number of shares to be repurchased will be based on Masco's volume-weighted average price during the term of the transaction, less a discount, and is expected to be completed no later than July 29.

08:32 EDT Veru enrolls first patient in phase 2 clinical trial of VERU-100 - Veru announced that it has enrolled the first patient in its Phase 2 clinical trial of VERU-100, a novel, proprietary gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist decapeptide, three-month subcutaneous depot injection formulation, for the treatment of hormone sensitive advanced prostate cancer. The Phase 2 clinical trial is an open label, multicenter, dose finding study evaluating the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous injected doses of VERU-100 in 35 men with hormone sensitive advanced prostate cancer. The primary efficacy endpoint is percent of men that reach castrate levels of total testosterone by Day 28 and maintain castrate testosterone levels beyond 90 days. The secondary endpoint is the percent of men that reach less than 20 ng/dL of total testosterone levels by Day 28 that are maintained at less than 20 ng/dL through Day 91.

08:31 EDT Magellan Midstream sells 26 refined petroleum terminals for $435M - Magellan Midstream announced an agreement to sell its independent terminals network comprised of 26 refined petroleum products terminals with approximately 6 million barrels of storage located primarily in the southeastern U.S. to Buckeye Partners for $435M. The sale is expected to close upon the receipt of required regulatory approvals. Magellan intends to use the proceeds from this transaction consistent with its stated capital allocation priorities.

08:29 EDT Canacol Energy announces 2020 sustainability report - Canacol Energy is pleased to provide the following information concerning its ESG Strategy & 2020 Sustainability Report. Charle Gamba, President and CEO of the Corporation, commented: "In a constantly changing world we believe in the critical role of natural gas in energy transition, and we fully support the global plans to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Specifically, in Colombia, we are committed to contribute to the country's goal of 51% emissions reduction by 2030. As leaders in the production of the cleanest-burning hydrocarbon, we are committed to supplying the increasing energy demand while reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality, and developing conditions for the growth and development of Colombia's economy and it's people. Canacol's objective is to provide cleaner energy to millions of people through the exploration, production, and supply of conventional natural gas. Its primary objective is to generate value for all its stakeholders in a sustainable, collaborative, co-responsible, respectful, and transparent way. Thanks to the transition to natural gas, the Corporation now has a more environmentally friendly value proposition that contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions in Colombia and a more efficient use of resources. Canacol also continues to support its neighbouring communities in essential social projects such as access to water and utility gas, productive projects, construction and improvement of public and community infrastructure, technical and university scholarships, among others. Canacol is committed to further developing its six-year ESG strategy that has four priorities: A cleaner energy future: deliver natural gas under the highest environmental and operational efficiency standards. A safe and committed team: maintain best-in-class health and safety practices and promote a diverse and inclusive culture. A transparent and ethical business: adopt the best practices, encourage respect for human rights, and ensure ethics and integrity in everything Canacol does A society guided by sustainable development: promote and maintain close and transparent relationships that guarantee Canacol's nearby communities' growth and quality of life.

08:28 EDT NFI Group unveils Enviro500EV CHARGE double deck bus - NFI Group unveiled its first zero-emission, three-axle double deck bus. The Enviro500EV CHARGE is the North American all-electric version of the double deck bus, and is produced by NFI subsidiary Alexander Dennis Limited. Like all NFI double deck buses for North America, the 45-foot Enviro500EV CHARGE offers an amazing passenger experience with panoramic views, low-floor entry, reclined seating, overhead reading lights and air vents, USB ports, and Wi-Fi and multimedia capability-but its main feature is its high passenger capacity, with up to 82 seats, including 53 on the upper deck. It also features several industry firsts, including full independent front suspension for a smoother and more comfortable ride, and an integrated electric drive system tailored to the requirements of North American transit agencies. A well-lit staircase with conveniently positioned handrails, wide entrance and wide exit doors, a 1-in-6 mobility ramp, unobstructed isles with sculpted handrails, mobility devices, and fully flat floor through to the rear seating ensure outstanding accessibility. The Enviro500 EV CHARGE is Buy America-compliant, and Altoona testing is scheduled to start later this year.

08:25 EDT BriaCell announces $12.88M in proceeds from warrant exercises - BriaCell Therapeutics announced that it has received $12.88 million in proceeds from investors exercising 2,425,300 common share purchase warrants at an exercise price of $5.3125 per common share. The Warrants were issued as part of the units sold in the Company's public offering that closed on February 26, 2021. The Company expects to use the net proceeds of the Warrant exercises to further advance its clinical and research and development pipeline and for general corporate purposes.

08:23 EDT Better Choice Company announces application to the NYSE American - Better Choice Company announced that it has submitted an application to the NYSE American exchange.

08:20 EDT Former STB commissioner William Clyburn says CN voting trust should be approved - CN (CNI) and Kansas City Southern (KSU) announced that the Hon. William Clyburn, Jr., a former Commissioner and Vice-Chairman of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board has written an op-ed, which was published by Railway Age. "In the op-ed, Clyburn states he believes the CN voting trust addresses "unlawful control" and the "public interest" under the new rules, and that as such, the voting trust should be approved. The op-ed said in part, "Having been one of the three Surface Transportation Board Members who voted on the 2001 Major Merger Rules, it seems clear to me that the CN voting trust satisfies the new rules requirements addressing "unlawful control" and the "public interest" when deciding to approve or reject a voting trust. As such, it should be approved so that the Board and the public may move forward to consider the merits of the proposed transaction...The proposed CN/KCS trust should be approved. It incorporates the same elements that have already been approved for the now moot CP/KCS voting trust and proposes to use the same trustee. In approving the CP/KCS trust, the Board has already determined that the trust structure does not cause unlawful, premature control. The Board should reach the same conclusion with respect to the CN/KCS trust. Similarly, in the CP/KCS decision, the STB found that KCS will be financially fit while in trust, and the STB reached the same conclusion with respect to CP's financial fitness. Based upon the recent motion from CN regarding their proposed voting trust, it seems clear that CN is one of the most financially-sound railroads, and that it can more than cover any debt it must take on to acquire KCS. CN has agreed to forgo share repurchases until its debt ratio returns to pre-deal levels. CN, like CP, should be found financially fit. Likewise, in approving the CP/KCS trust, the STB inherently found that there was no concern about divestiture of KCS in the event that the STB did not approve the transaction. Such a finding becomes even more poignant with respect to the CN/KCS trust because CP has been clear that it remains interested in acquiring KCS. On May 21, 2021, CP issued a press release stating that "[w]ere KCS presented with the question of how to proceed following a decision by the Board not to approve CN's proposed use of a voting trust, CP anticipates being available to engage with KCS to enter into another agreement to acquire KCS." And it has again said so in its recent motion for a declaratory order filed at the STB...Based upon my first-hand knowledge of the internal conversations within the Board from when I voted on the 2001 new merger rules, it is my opinion that the CN voting trust more than clears the two tests we established for such trusts in 2001 and should be considered on a level playing field with CP's approved trust. The CN trust should be approved so that the Board and the public may move forward to consider the merits of the transaction."

08:17 EDT Terra Tech Corp to acquire SilverStreak Solutions, terms not disclosed - Terra Tech announced that the Company has executed an agreement to acquire SilverStreak Solutions. The closing of the transaction contemplated by the agreement is subject to certain closing conditions as set forth in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SilverStreak has a strong market position in the direct-to-consumer cannabis delivery space in the greater Sacramento area, with twenty-two company owned vehicles and approximately 42,000 monthly customers in the approximate 100-mile radius in which they operate. SilverStreak was one of the first DTC companies in the Sacramento area and their experience, operational efficiency and company-owned assets make it one of the most successful DTC firms in the area. SilverStreak's CEO, Sterling Harlan, is expected to consult with the Company for a period of six months after the close, which is expected to occur in approximately 90 to 120 days, during which he will work on transitioning SilverStreak's operation and incorporate smoothly into Terra Tech's operation.

08:16 EDT Proofpoint announces expiration of 'Go-Shop' period - Proofpoint announced the expiration of the 45-day "go-shop" period under the terms of the previously announced definitive agreement, pursuant to which Thoma Bravo will acquire Proofpoint in an all-cash transaction that values Proofpoint at approximately $12.3B. The "go-shop" period expired on June 9, 2021. Pursuant to the merger agreement, Proofpoint's board of directors actively solicited alternative acquisition proposals from potentially interested third parties; however, during the "go-shop" period Proofpoint did not receive any alternative acquisition proposals from any third party. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Proofpoint shareholders and receipt of regulatory approvals. Upon closing of the transaction, Proofpoint's common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

08:14 EDT Alignment Healthcare expands Medicare Advantage Health Plan to Arizona - Alignment Healthcare (ALHC) announced the expansion of its health plans into Arizona in 2022, reaching nearly 1M Medicare-eligible seniors in the region. This expansion will extend the company's "senior-first" model to Arizona's significant senior population. Pending regulatory approval, HMO and PPO options from Alignment Health Plan will be available for Medicare's annual enrollment period beginning Oct. 15, 2021.

08:13 EDT Cerence, Sirius XM enter agreement to enhance voice powered experience - Cerence (CRNC) and Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) announced that they are teaming up to bring Cerence's conversational AI technology together with SiriusXM as part of a packaged offering for automakers. "Together, the two companies will enhance and enrich the driver experience by offering natural, conversational access to SiriusXM, the popular audio entertainment service in the car that offers hundreds of channels of curated, ad-free music, plus sports, news, entertainment, comedy and more. This collaboration between Cerence and SiriusXM will bring better voice technology to more drivers across more OEMs... Drivers using SiriusXM with 360L can use their voice to access all of SiriusXM's live channels plus a library of recorded content, including a wide selection of podcasts, exclusive interviews and unique shows," the company said.

08:12 EDT Occidental Petroleum to sell Permian Basin acreage for $508M - Occidental announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell non-strategic acreage in the Permian Basin to an affiliate of Colgate Energy Partners III, LLC, for $508M, subject to closing adjustments to reflect an April 1, 2021 effective date. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, includes approximately 25,000 net acres in the Southern Delaware Basin in Texas with current production of approximately 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from about 360 active wells. Proceeds from the sale will be applied toward debt reduction. "We continue to advance our divestiture and deleveraging goals while delivering value for our shareholders," said President and CEO Vicki Hollub. "This transaction brings our post-Colombia divestiture total to over $1.3B of the planned $2B to $3B, and since August 2019 we have divested more than $9B of assets."

08:10 EDT 10x Genomics now shipping new Visium Spatial Gene Expression for FFPE assay - 10x Genomics announced it is shipping its new Visium Spatial Gene Expression for FFPE assay. "The offering gives researchers access to the whole transcriptome across their entire tissue, enabling true unbiased discovery in FFPE samples for the first time," the company said. "FFPE processing can cause significant damage to nucleic acids, such as RNA, making it challenging to perform transcriptomic analyses. To address this, 10x Genomics developed groundbreaking new chemistry for Visium to be applied to FFPE tissues with similarly high sensitivity and the same spatial resolution as fresh frozen samples. The result is a product that combines the benefits of histological techniques with the massive throughput and discovery power of next generation sequencing, advancing discoveries in clinical research," the company added. Researchers at institutions including the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Europe's Wellcome Sanger Institute are already evaluating Visium for FFPE for their research in immuno-oncology and developmental neuroscience.

08:07 EDT Protara Therapeutics appoints Jane Huang to board of directors - Protara Therapeutics (TARA) announced the appointment of Jane Huang, M.D. to its board of directors. Dr. Huang currently serves as Chief Medical Officer, Hematology at BeiGene (BGNE).

08:06 EDT SAIC wins $126M task order to support U.S. Army - The Department of Defense Information Analysis Center awarded Science Applications International a $126M single-award task order to provide research and development for modeling and simulation enhancements in support of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center in Warren, Michigan. Under the five-year task order, SAIC will provide research and development in a broad range of modeling, simulation, and software-intensive areas, including ground combat systems modeling and simulations, software-in-the-loop systems integration laboratories, and lab-based performance assessments of life cycle systems architectures.

08:06 EDT NetSol Technologies to join Russell Microcap Index - NETSOL Technologies is set to join the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the U.S. market opens on June 28, according to a preliminary list of additions posted on June 4.

08:04 EDT Kratos provides ballistic, airborne targets for Formidable Shield 21 campaign - Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced that its Space & Missile Defense Systems Business Unit, a part of Kratos' Defense & Rocket Support Services Division supported the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet, NATO's Naval Striking and Support Forces and the Maritime Theater Missile Defense Forum in the successful execution of Exercise At-Sea Demonstration/Formidable Shield 2021 at the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Hebrides Range in Scotland. The Exercise included two Kratos medium range ballistic missile targets presented at the same time as the Kratos MQM-178 Firejet aerial target drones, from Kratos' Unmanned Systems Division. The multi-national exercise featured 16 ships, several aircraft and approximately 3,300 personnel from 10 countries. Kratos has supported the biennial Formidable Shield Exercise since its inception in 2017, providing NATO forces the opportunity to improve interoperability in the integrated air and missile defense environment. This year's exercise included ships from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, participating in a range of live-fire and simulated missile engagements against aerial and ballistic missile targets. Kratos, along with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division's White Sands Detachment, provided and launched two advanced ballistic missile targets for the exercise featuring Kratos' Oriole Rocket System. The ballistic missile targets met all test objectives and were engaged by Standard Missile-3 interceptors on May 26 and May 30, 2021 off the USS Paul Ignatius. Data gathered during Exercise Formidable Shield 2021 will be used to refine the design and capabilities of subscale BMD targets for future exercises. These two launches surpassed the prior record held by Kratos and NSWC PHD WSD for the highest launch within the United Kingdom.

08:03 EDT Equillium presents data on CD6 on T Cells with Itolizumab - Equillium announced a poster presented yesterday at the CYTO Virtual Interactive Meeting, highlighting a novel assay to measure target engagement and modulation of CD6 as a pharmacodynamic marker for effect on T cells following treatment with itolizumab. This assay was designed and validated to be both sensitive and selective in the quantification of CD6 receptor engagement, occupancy and modulation to help determine an optimal therapeutic dose in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. "As we advance itolizumab in the clinic and further characterize its potency, having a validated, sensitive and selective assay to quantify the engagement, occupancy and modulation of CD6 helps to further optimize dosing for patients," said Stephen Connelly, chief scientific officer of Equillium. "The data presented at CYTO showed that in whole blood samples of healthy volunteers treated in vitro with itolizumab, receptor occupancy in fresh whole blood as high as 96% on CD4 T cells was achieved, providing efficient CD6 coverage and inhibition, a key mechanism needed in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases where the immune system is overactive. We look forward to the additional data being generated for itolizumab in our ongoing clinical trials in patients with acute graft versus host disease, lupus and lupus nephritis and uncontrolled asthma."

08:02 EDT Moderna requests EUA from FDA for its COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents - Moderna announced that it has requested an emergency use authorization, or EUA, for its COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents with the FDA.

07:50 EDT Lexagene Holdings announces MiQLab System detects slow growing bacterium - LexaGene Holdings announced it has successfully utilized the MiQLab System to detect the presence of a slow growing bacterium, responsible for millions of dollars of damages to biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGene's CEO and Founder stated, "Last fall, a global biopharmaceutical manufacturer contacted LexaGene and purchased a MiQLab System as they wanted to improve their already stringent quality assurance program centered around their bioreactor work. This manufacturer continues to regularly use the MiQLab System. As a result of discussions with this customer, LexaGene is working to expand the number of targets included in its bioreactor contamination panel and we expect our efforts supporting this customer and the industry in general will drive additional sales this summer. The biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector is rapidly growing and continues to ramp up to meet global demand for vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and therapeutic proteins. The MiQLab System, using its fully automated sample preparation and PCR technology, can screen a sample taken from a bioreactor for multiple contaminants that could negatively affect a manufacturing line. In comparison to standard lab-based testing methods, the MiQLab System can return reliable results in a fraction of the time."

07:47 EDT Progenity announces $40M private placement - Progenity has entered into a definitive securities purchase agreement with two leading healthcare-focused investment funds for the sale of units consisting of shares of common stock and warrants to purchase common stock, as described below, in a private placement expected to result in gross proceeds to Progenity of approximately $40M, before deducting placement agent commissions and other offering expenses. Pursuant to the terms of the securities purchase agreement, at the closing of the private placement, Progenity will issue units representing an aggregate of 16,194,332 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 16,194,332 shares of common stock. The aggregate purchase price of each unit, which consists of one share of common stock plus a warrant to purchase one share of common stock, is $2.47. The warrants will have a per share exercise price of $2.84 and may be exercised at any time on or after the closing date and through the fifth anniversary of the closing date. The price per unit was based in part upon the average of the last five closing prices of the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market. If exercised for cash, the warrants would result in additional gross proceeds to Progenity of up to approximately $46M. The private placement is expected to close on June 14, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Additional details regarding the private placement will be included in a Form 8-K to be filed by Progenity with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Progenity intends to use the net proceeds to support its operations, to invest in its molecular testing research and development program, to invest in research and development with respect to its precision medicine platform, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

07:45 EDT Aleafia Health's Divvy launches large format dried flower portfolio - Aleafia Health announced the continued expansion of its dried flower portfolio with the launch of four new large format offerings under its everyday cannabis brand Divvy. The new products strengthen the existing Divvy portfolio following a launch in Ontario's adult-use market. The new large format offerings include 14 gram pouches and 10 gram pre-milled flower for added consumer convenience. The 14-gram pouches feature Divvy's signature THC strain Sour Kush, and the newly launched sativa-leaning cultivar Flo. Flo's high-potency and unique terpene profile makes it a highly sought after cultivar not yet available in the legal Canadian cannabis market. It is the first new strain brought to market as part of the Company's extensive new genetic research and development program. The 10-gram pre-milled offering includes two initial SKUs featuring either select indica or sativa-dominant cultivars. The new SKUs will be first available in Alberta, with expected roll-out to additional provinces.

07:40 EDT FuelCell aims for annualized production rate of 45MW by year-end - "We have increased our annualized production rate from 17 MWs at the end of fiscal 2020 to 32 MWs as of April 30, 2021, with an objective of reaching an annualized production rate of 45 MW by the end of this fiscal year, and have invested in our generation assets to improve operating output," said CEO Jason Few.

07:37 EDT Corcept Therapeutics appoints Joshua Murry to board of directors - Corcept Therapeutics announced that Joshua Murray has joined the company's board of directors. Murray is currently Senior Vice President, Finance, Strategy and Investor Relations at Orca Bio, a privately held biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies in blood, immune, and genetic diseases.

07:36 EDT Gain Therapeutics announces issuance of two new PCT patents - Gain Therapeutics announced the publication of two PCT patents. PCT/IB2020/061158 and PCT/IB2020/0611156 are directed at compounds targeting misfolded beta-glucocerebrosidase and galactosylceramidase respectively, addressing central nervous system and demyelinating disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's. "This is a pivotal milestone for Gain Therapeutics as these two patents highlight the association between the approach to treating rare diseases, such as Gaucher Disease and Krabbe Disease, and the approach to treating more widely prevalent and growing disease states like Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis," said Eric Richman, Chief Executive Officer of Gain. "The two issued patents reflect our focus and commitment to developing first in class therapies for these CNS and lysosomal storage diseases, and we are excited to strengthen our intellectual property and advance our potential to treat patients with these devastating diseases."

07:34 EDT WPD Pharmaceuticals invited to join international research consortium - WPD Pharmaceuticals announced that it has been invited to be a member of an international consortium of leading industry experts researching the potential of AGuIX nanoparticles in maximizing radiotherapy efficiency. The consortium will also explore two of WPD's compounds specifically, WP1066 and WP1122, to restore GBM cells' sensitivity to radiotherapy. The consortium is coordinated by Dr. Muriel Barberi-Heyob from CRAN, University de Lorraine, France, and has been successfully funded by EuroNanoMed III "European Innovative Research & Technological Development Projects in Nanomedicine" project - "RXnanoBRAIN Nanoparticles to optimize the effects of radiotherapy of brain tumors: Multi-scale modeling and experimental validation". Along with WPD Pharmaceuticals' Dr. Beata Pajak, the consortium includes Oslo University Hospital represented by Dr. Kristian Berg, NH TherAguix company represented by Dr. Sandrine Dufort, and Jagiellonian University in Krakow represented by Dr. Martyna Elas. Over the three year project timeline, the consortium aims to plan and adapt the X-ray doses given to the patient to maximize radiotherapy efficiency on these high-grade tumors while preserving the adjacent healthy tissue. This project will base its work on pre-clinical experiments at different biological scales and algorithms' development. An evaluation will then be carried out of the therapeutic potential of an innovative nanoparticle which results from the discovery of NH TherAGuIX and is currently in clinical development. Researchers will study the complementarity and effectiveness of the energy of radiotherapy and nanoparticles within tumor tissue. Gaining an in-depth understanding of the effects on the immune response to control and comprehensively enhance the potential of the effects of this treatment also represents a crucial innovative step for the project.

07:32 EDT Soligenix's HyBRyte in CTCL receives pediatric plan waiver from the EMA - Soligenix Receives Pediatric Investigational Plan Waiver for HyBryte(TM) in CTCL from the European Medicines Agency Soligenix has received a Pediatric Investigation Plan waiver from the European Medicines Agency for HyBryte, which has recently concluded a Phase 3, pivotal clinical study for the treatment of early stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. As part of the regulatory process for the registration of new medicines with the EMA, pharmaceutical companies are required to provide a PIP outlining the company's strategy for investigation of the new medicinal products in the pediatric population. In some instances, a waiver negating the need for a PIP for certain conditions may be granted by the EMA when development of a medicine for use in children is not feasible or appropriate, as is the case for HyBryte in CTCL which is extremely rare in children.

07:28 EDT Medley Management up 88% in pre-market as top trending ticker on StockTwits - Shares of Medley Management are up another 88% at $11.00 in pre-market trading following yesterday's 9% rally. The stock is a top-trending ticker on StockTwits in terms of message volume this morning.

07:22 EDT Arch Biopartners director Adrian Haigh steps down from board - Arch Biopartners announced that after seven years, Mr. Adrian Haigh has stepped down from the Board of Directors of the Company to pursue new opportunities.

07:20 EDT Bitfarms says mined over 11,300 bitcoin since founding in 2017 - Bitfarms provides a Bitcoin production update. The company said, "Since Bitfarms' founding in 2017, Bitfarms has mined over 11,300 Bitcoin with 100% renewable hydropower in North America. Based on public information of other publicly traded cryptocurrency mining companies, Bitfarms estimates that it has mined the largest amount of Bitcoin with renewable energy, which is a testament to its long-standing operational history and early focus on ESG. Since starting its Bitcoin Inventory Pilot Program in early January this year, Bitfarms has been adding almost all newly mined Bitcoins to its balance sheet. In 2021, through the close of business on June 9, Bitfarms has added 1,114 mined Bitcoin to treasury. This Bitcoin is currently worth over $41 million based on a Bitcoin price of $37,000. Notably, recent developments in China restricting Bitcoin mining in certain provinces have been beneficial to Bitfarms. As the hashrate of Chinese miners falls, Bitfarms has earned higher transaction fees and increased its share of the total Bitcoin network hashrate. As a result, Bitfarms has been earning more Bitcoin for the same amount of computational power and operational cost."

07:17 EDT Versus Systems launching Shopify App to add ecommerce rewards - Versus Systems (VS) announced the beta launch of their proprietary rewards platform, now accessible via a Shopify (SHOP) app that "empowers businesses running Shopify to promote their products, drive trial and conversion, and grow awareness and sales through prizing and rewards," the company said. "Versus' prize-based advertising app allows Shopify partners to connect their stores to the Versus ad platform, where they can then serve their products, coupons, offers, and product samples to audiences inside a wide variety of apps, games, and shows," the company added. Versus' platform works with a number of games, apps, streams, and live events, including the apps of multiple sports teams.

07:15 EDT Brookfield Infrastructure files application with ASC challenging Inter Pipeline - Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP), together with its institutional partners has filed an application with the Alberta Securities Commission challenging the defensive tactics inappropriately employed by Inter Pipeline Ltd. (IPPLF) and the special committee of its board of directors. The company said, "Our application seeks, on behalf of all IPL shareholders, the elimination of the $350 million termination fee, agreed to by IPL and its board of directors, which threatens to enrich Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PBA) at the expense of IPL's existing shareholders. This Break Fee was agreed in the face of a clearly superior proposal submitted by Brookfield Infrastructure to IPL's special committee on May 31, 2021. The superiority of the Enhanced Brookfield Proposal, combined with the questionable basis for agreeing to the Break Fee, are two of the many reasons why the Break Fee should not be allowed to stand. If successful in eliminating or otherwise reducing the Break Fee, Brookfield Infrastructure will further increase our offer to IPL shareholders by an equivalent amount. The Enhanced Brookfield Proposal offers IPL shareholders a choice between $19.50 in cash and 0.225 of a class A exchangeable subordinate voting share of Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation. As we have previously stated, we believe IPL's board of directors erred in not recognizing the Enhanced Brookfield Proposal to be a superior proposal to all of IPL's other available alternatives. The Enhanced Brookfield Proposal was: Higher than the $19.45 announced value of the transaction entered into with Pembina, Clearly subject to significantly less conditionality, Highly actionable as evidenced by Brookfield Infrastructure's immediate amendment of its offer to IPL shareholders, and Clearly superior in composition, with a significant cash component versus the all-share Pembina alternative. In its application, Brookfield Infrastructure is seeking either an order restraining the payment of the Break Fee, or a cease trade order, in each case in respect of the proposed acquisition of IPL by Pembina pursuant to an arrangement agreement announced by IPL and Pembina on June 1, 2021. Brookfield Infrastructure is also seeking an order from the ASC cease trading the two shareholders' rights plans currently maintained by IPL, one of which was adopted as a tactical response to Brookfield Infrastructure's offer to IPL shareholders on February 22, 2021. "

07:10 EDT Orgenesis announces use of Tissue Genesis Icellator in hospital - Orgenesis announces that enrollment has commenced for a clinical trial using the Tissue Genesis Icellator at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, NY. The phase 2, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which is supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation and an OREF Clinical Research Grant in Cellular Therapy in Honor of James Urbaniak, MD, will evaluate safety and efficacy of autologous stromal and vascular fraction cell that are injected after surgical rotator cuff repair. The Tissue Genesis Icellator will be utilized for the cell recovery process. Fifty-six patients are to be enrolled in total; as of today, nine patients have been enrolled. Scott Rodeo, MD, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and Co-Chief Emeritus of the Sports Medicine Institute at HSS, is the principal investigator. Orgenesis acquired the Tissue Genesis Icellator technology in October 2020 to supplement its offering of POCare technology systems. The Icellator is an automated, functionally closed system for recovery of SVF from autologous adipose tissue. It is designed for use at the point of care.

07:09 EDT XPO Logistics completes squeeze-out process for XPO Logistics Europe - XPO Logistics has completed the previously announced buy-out offer and squeeze-out for the remaining 3% of XPO Logistics Europe, SA shares that it did not already own. The French Autorite des marches financiers set the effective date of the squeeze-out as June 4, 2021. The former minority shareholders of XPO Logistics Europe have and will receive, as part of the buy-out offer and the subsequent squeeze-out, a payment of EUR 315 per share, resulting in a total cash consideration of approximately EUR108 million. The transaction was supported by the Supervisory Board of XPO Logistics Europe and approved by the French Autorite des marches financiers. Trading of XPO Logistics Europe shares on Euronext Paris was discontinued on May 27, 2021.

07:08 EDT BeyondSpring announces final data from PROTECTIVE-1 phase 3 on plinabulin - BeyondSpring announced presentation of data from the PROTECTIVE-1 Phase 3 clinical study of plinabulin for prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, or CIN, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting being held on June 4 - 8, 2021. The poster titled "Head-to-Head Comparison of Single Agent Plinabulin versus Pegfilgrastim for the Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia in the Phase 3 Trial PROTECTIVE-1," is on the PROTECTIVE-1 Phase 3 data comparing plinabulin versus pegfilgrastim. Data further supports plinabulin's fast onset of action and CIN prevention benefit in week 1 following chemotherapy with results including clinically meaningful endpoints for reduction of febrile neutropenia, hospitalization and bone pain. Primary endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority of single agent plinabulin versus single agent pegfilgrastim was met: DSN cycle 1, non-inferiority margin of 0.65 day criterion between plinabulin and pegfilgrastim was met. Significant improvement in bone pain and platelet count: Less bone pain and less thrombocytopenia compared to pegfilgrastim. The company has submitted New Drug Applications for plinabulin in combination with pegfilgrastim for the prevention of CIN, in both the U.S. and China. The U.S. FDA accepted the NDA with Priority Review and assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act action date of November 30, 2021.

07:06 EDT Casi Pharmaceuticals doses first patient of CID-103 in Phase 1 myeloma trial - CASI Pharmaceuticals announced First-Patient-In in the Phase 1 dose escalation and expansion study of CID-103, an investigational novel anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, in patients with previously treated, relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The study is designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacology and clinical activity of CID-103. CID-103 is a fully human IgG1 anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody that recognizes a unique epitope on CD38. It was engineered to have strong activity against CD38 malignant cells and to reduce certain safety issues observed with existing treatments. Preclinical data of CID-103 demonstrates enhanced activity against a broad array of malignancies which express CD38 and demonstrates a better preclinical safety profile when compared to other CD38 mAbs.

07:06 EDT Schlumberger, Panasonic enter collaboration for battery-grade lithium production - Schlumberger (SLB) and Panasonic Energy of North America, a division of Panasonic (PCRFY), announced that they have entered into a collaboration agreement for the validation and optimization of the innovative and sustainable lithium extraction and production process to be used by Schlumberger New Energy at its Neolith Energy pilot plant in Nevada. This collaboration paves the way for improved lithium production solutions that will help meet the expected surge in demand for lithium as the electric vehicle, or EV, market takes off worldwide. Neolith Energy's approach uses a differentiated direct lithium extraction, or DLE, process to produce battery-grade lithium material while reducing the production time from over a year to weeks. Panasonic will provide their guidance to validate and optimize the lithium material for battery-grade consumption. Situated in Clayton Valley, Nevada, the pilot plant is just 200 miles from Panasonic's battery manufacturing operation, Panasonic Energy of North America, in Sparks, Nevada.

07:05 EDT Bit Digital announces strategic collaboration with Digihost - Bit Digital (BTBT) is pleased to announce that the company has entered into a strategic co-mining agreement with Digihost Technologies (HSSHF) in North America. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Digithost will provide certain premises to Bit Digital for the purpose of the operation and storage of a 20 MW Bitcoin mining system to be delivered by Bit Digital, and Digithost will also provide services to maintain the Premises for a term of two years. The collaboration between Digihost and Bit Digital is expected to generate an increase in hashrate of approximately 400 PH between the companies.

07:04 EDT ALX Oncology enters collaboration with Eli Lilly to evaluate ALX148 - ALX Oncology (ALXO) announced it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Eli Lilly (LLY) to evaluate the combination of ALX148, a next generation CD47 blocker, and CYRAMZA, Lilly's anti-VEGFR2 antibody, for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, ALX Oncology will conduct a randomized Phase 2/3 study to evaluate the efficacy of ALX148 in combination with ramucirumab, trastuzumab, and paclitaxel for the treatment of patients whose tumors have progressed following treatment with HER2-targeted therapy and chemotherapy. Lilly will supply ramucirumab for this trial. Financial details of the collaboration agreement are undisclosed. ALX Oncology owns worldwide commercial rights to ALX148.

07:02 EDT Oyster Point, Adaptive Phage collaborate to target ophthalmic diseases - Oyster Point Pharma announced a newly formed research collaboration with Adaptive Phage Therapeutics to leverage APT's PhageBank technology for the development of potential treatments for multiple ophthalmic diseases. APT's PhageBank technology is engineered as an ever-expanding library of bactericidal agents, called bacteriophages, to provide broad spectrum coverage. Phages, also are viruses found in the natural environment that infect and replicate specifically in bacteria. Once a bacteriophage attaches to a susceptible bacterium it causes the host cell to die, releasing new bacteriophage to infect other bacteria. APT's approach provides expanded bacterial coverage where prior, traditional, antibiotic approaches have diminished coverage or have become obsolete due to emerging antimicrobial resistance. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Oyster Point Pharma has the option and certain rights to obtain an exclusive license to develop and commercialize APT's PhageBank(TM) technology for ophthalmic diseases or disorders. Under the license terms, if such option is exercised, Oyster Point Pharma has agreed to pay APT potential development and regulatory milestones, as well as the potential for sales-related milestones and tiered royalties of net sales, if a licensed phage therapy is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. APT retains production rights to PhageBank and will supply Oyster Point Pharma product at an agreed upon cost-plus model.

07:02 EDT Sempra Energy signs MOU with NREL to advance future net-zero energy systems - Sempra Energy announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with the U.S. Department of Energy's, or DOE's, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, providing a framework for a joint effort to advance future net-zero energy systems. The MOU, which builds off nearly 10 years of ongoing collaboration, will continue current work researching and developing solutions.

07:00 EDT Signet Jewelers reinstates 18c per share quarterly cash dividend - Signet's board has elected to reinstate the dividend program on the common shares and declared a quarterly cash dividend of 18c per share for Q2, payable August 27 to shareholders of record on July 30, with an ex-dividend date of July 29.

06:55 EDT Signet Jewelers reports Q1 EPS $2.23, consensus $1.27 - Reports Q1 revenue $1.69B, consensus $1.62B. Reports Q1 SSS up 106.5% to 1Q21 and up 27.2% to 1Q20. "Our strong first quarter results demonstrate the momentum we are building as we continue Signet's transformation," said Virginia Drosos, CEO. "Thank you to all our team members for their relentless dedication to our customers and each other, and for embracing new capabilities with excellence as we drive innovation and sustainable long-term growth. We delivered strong performance across our portfolio. While the jewelry category is experiencing meaningful growth, we are outpacing market growth and gaining share consistent with our Inspiring Brilliance strategy. Specifically, we are winning in our biggest banners through consumer-inspired differentiation, as evidenced by double-digit revenue growth in both Kay and Zales versus this time two years ago. We are successfully beginning to stretch the top and bottom boundaries of the mid-market as Jared continues to grow at higher price points and in custom design, and Piercing Pagoda delivered its best quarter ever accessing more value inspired self-purchasing shoppers. Further, our Connected Commerce strategy is resonating, delivering higher conversion rates and growth both online and in-stores. And finally, we are building a more innovative and agile culture with investments in talent, digital capabilities, newness in product assortment, and modern content and marketing channels that give us distinct competitive advantages. As I look ahead, I'm confident in our people and our strategy and believe 2021 will be another transformative year for Signet."

06:45 EDT Lazard reports preliminary AUM approximately $278.6B as of May 31 - The month's AUM included market appreciation of $3.4B, foreign exchange appreciation of $1.9B and net outflows of $1.1B.

06:36 EDT Cathie Wood's ARK Investment discloses 182K shares of Coinbase bought yesterday

06:33 EDT Stem to provide smart energy storage services to Altus Power America - Stem announced that the company has entered into an agreement to provide smart energy storage services to Altus Power America, a clean electrification company that develops, owns, and operates renewable energy assets in Massachusetts and throughout the United States. A certified partner in Stem's Partner Program, Altus Power will leverage Stem's smart energy services to manage its solar storage facility and to deliver clean energy flexibility in New Marlborough, Massachusetts. Altus Power expects this behind the meter, DC-coupled 2.9 megawatt solar system project with 2 megawatt-hours of energy storage to become operational during the second quarter.

06:18 EDT MannKind and Thirona Bio partner for potential lung disease therapy - MannKind and Thirona Bio have entered into a transaction that is intended to advance the development of a novel compound with potential for multiple indications. FBM5712 is a novel small molecule inhibitor of the ALK-5 kinase being developed by Thirona as a topical product intended to prevent and/or reduce skin fibrosis. TGF-beta is also implicated in lung fibrotic diseases and ALK-5 has been validated as a potential target for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Under the agreement, the companies will evaluate the therapeutic potential of Thirona's locally acting TGF-beta inhibitor for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. MannKind will formulate FBM5712 as a dry powder formulation. If initial studies are promising, MannKind can exercise certain rights to seek a full license to the compound for clinical development and commercialization for the treatment of fibrotic pulmonary diseases. In addition to the collaboration agreement, the companies entered into a convertible promissory note purchase agreement to support Thirona's Series A financing.

06:03 EDT ChipMOS reports May revenue $84.4M, up 30.7% - Revenue for the month of May was $84.4M, an increase of 30.7% compared to May 2020 and an increase of 2.4% compared to April. This represents a new record level for the month of May, as the company continues to benefit from strong demand growth and tightened capacity, with memory assembly still fully utilized.

05:53 EDT Exxon Mobil to invest over $240M in Louisiana refinery - Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and ExxonMobil announced the company's final investment decision for more than $240M in capital improvements at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge refinery. The suite of projects will improve processing capability, increase flexibility for meeting market demand, advance overall site competitiveness and install technology for an expected 10% reduction of volatile organic compound emissions. The projects will help retain 1,300 existing jobs at the refinery, and ExxonMobil estimates the upgrades will support more than 600 construction jobs on-site over three years. The investment also will provide more than 20 full-time job opportunities for graduates of the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative, a collaborative program. Project construction is expected to begin later this year. Direct, indirect and induced jobs resulting from project construction will total 2,030 in Baton Rouge by 2023. Direct property tax revenue is projected to reach $43M over the life of the project. In addition to supporting the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative, ExxonMobil will focus on providing supplier opportunities specifically to North Baton Rouge businesses.

05:36 EDT NextNav to become public through Spartacus Acquisition merger agreement - NextNav and Spartacus Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, announced their entry into a definitive merger agreement that will result in NextNav becoming a public company. Upon closing of the business combination, the combined company will be named NextNav and its common stock and warrants will be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol (NN) and (NNW), respectively. Gross proceeds of up to $408M from the business combination are expected to be used to fuel growth in its current businesses, continue to build NextNav's next generation GPS platform, expand products one of which is already deployed in 4,400 cities, and to expand its land-based radio positioning and timing network. NextNav owns a portfolio of nationwide spectrum licenses for 2.4B MHz-PoPs of 900 MHz spectrum. Gary Parsons has served as chairman of NextNav's board for the past 10 years and will continue in that role. Peter Aquino, chairman of the board and CEO of Spartacus, will also join the NextNav board upon closing of the business combination. Aquino brings invaluable expertise having led several companies through fiber and wireless operations and network deployments, and the development of overlay technologies designed to drive new revenue streams. NextNav will continue to be led by Ganesh Pattabiraman, co-founder, CEO and president of NextNav. NextNav's underlying assets include its global intellectual property portfolio of over 100 patents and a deployed network live in over 4,400 cities that covers over 90% of all buildings taller than three stories nationwide. The transaction reflects a pro forma enterprise valuation for NextNav of approximately $900M and a pro forma market capitalization of approximately $1.2B, assuming no SPAC redemptions. All current NextNav equity holders will roll the entirety of their existing equity holdings into the combined company. The transaction is expected to provide up to approximately $408M in gross proceeds, comprised of Spartacus' approximately $203 million of cash held in trust (assuming no redemptions) and the $205 million fully committed common stock PIPE financing. The boards of both NextNav and Spartacus have unanimously approved the proposed transaction, which is expected to be completed late in Q3 or early in Q4, subject to, among other things, the approval of the business combination by Spartacus' stockholders and NextNav's equity holders, satisfaction of the conditions stated in the merger agreement and other customary closing conditions.

05:27 EDT ObsEva presents data from PROLONG study of ebopiprant at RCOG - ObsEva announced the presentation of clinical data from the PROLONG Phase 2a proof-of-concept study of ebopiprant for the treatment of spontaneous preterm labor at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or RCOG. As previously disclosed, the PROLONG data demonstrated that ebopiprant was well tolerated and showed early evidence of efficacy in pregnant women with spontaneous preterm labor and supports the advancement into a Phase 2b/3 adaptive study. Ebopiprant, when administered with atosiban infusion to women with preterm labor, reduced delivery in singleton pregnancies at 48 hours after the start of dosing by over 50% compared to atosiban alone. Overall, 12.5% of women receiving ebopiprant on top of atosiban delivered within 48 hours of starting treatment compared to 21.8% receiving atosiban plus placebo. In singleton pregnancies, 12.5% of women receiving ebopiprant plus atosiban delivered within 48 hours compared to 26.8% receiving atosiban plus placebo. This difference was observed for singletons but not for twins. The treatment effect for the overall population was more modest at seven days, however in younger gestational ages, the percentage of women who delivered within seven days was lower in women receiving ebopiprant on top of atosiban compared to women who received placebo plus atosiban. The incidence of maternal, fetal and neonatal adverse events was comparable between the treatment groups.

05:18 EDT Verona Pharma, Nuance enter $219M commercialization agreement for ensifentrine - Verona Pharma and Nuance Pharma announced that the companies have entered into an agreement granting Nuance Pharma, a Shanghai-based specialty pharmaceutical company, the rights to develop and commercialize ensifentrine in Greater China. Ensifentrine is an investigational, first-in-class, inhaled, dual inhibitor of the enzymes phosphodiesterase 3 and 4, or PDE3 and PDE4. This dual inhibition enables it to combine both bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects in one compound. Verona Pharma is currently conducting a global Phase 3 program evaluating ensifentrine for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, with sites in the US, Europe and South Korea. Under the terms of the agreement, Verona Pharma has granted Nuance Pharma the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize ensifentrine in Greater China. In return, Verona Pharma will receive an upfront payment of $25M in cash and an equity interest currently valued at $15M in Nuance Biotech, the parent company of Nuance Pharma. Verona Pharma is eligible to receive future milestone payments of up to $179M that are triggered upon achievement of certain clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones. Verona Pharma is also entitled to tiered double-digit royalties as a percentage of net sales in Greater China. Nuance Pharma will be responsible for all costs related to clinical development and commercialization in Greater China. A joint steering committee will be established to ensure ensifentrine's clinical development in the region aligns with Verona Pharma's overall global development and commercialization strategy. Nuance Pharma intends to file a Clinical Trial Application with the China FDA later this year and begin clinical studies for the treatment of COPD in Greater China thereafter.

05:10 EDT ASE Technology reports May revenue $1.51B vs. $1.2B last year - Reports May ATM revenue $949M vs. $775M last year.

04:55 EDT SelectQuote to replace Cooper Tire in the S&P 600 at open on 6/10 - SelectQuote (SLQT) will replace Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (CTB) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Thursday, June 10. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) has acquired Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in a deal that was completed on June 7.