Stockwinners Market Radar for June 28, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:26 EDT Canadian Pacific says Amtrak files STB to oppose CN's use of voting trust - Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) announced that Amtrak, operator of intercity passenger rail service across the United States, has submitted comments urging the Surface Transportation Board to reject Canadian National's (CNI) use of a voting trust in its proposed combination with Kansas City Southern (KSU). In its filing made today, Amtrak said CN's proposed divestiture of the Baton Rouge to New Orleans line "creates a major new impediment to giving the 2.2 million residents along the New Orleans-to-Baton Rouge corridor the Amtrak service they deserve and have long needed." Amtrak also said, "CN's 'divestiture' proposal is the equivalent of a homeowner selling their house but reserving the right to continue to live in it."

20:14 EDT Titan International added to Russell 3000 Index - Titan International announced that it has been added as a member of the broad-market Russell 3000 Index, effective after the US market opened today, as part of the 2021 Russell indexes reconstitution. "We are pleased with the addition to the Russell 3000 Index," stated Paul Reitz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Titan. "Inclusion in this index further highlights the progress we have made during the past twelve months and should assist in continuing to expand our reach and support greater awareness of Titan within the investment community."

18:50 EDT Etsy CEO: Combination with Elo7 is a perfect marriage - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Josh Silverman said e-commerce in Brazil is really poised for growth. The Elo7 business is modeled after Etsy, he added. Silverman thinks the opportunity for Brazil's e-commerce sector to grow is huge. He noted that resale is currently the biggest opportunity in e-commerce and Depop is uniquely suited to that trend. The company is driven by GenZ which comprises 90% of its customers, he said.

18:34 EDT Goldman Sachs plans to increase dividend to $2.00 from $1.25 per share - On June 24, the Federal Reserve notified the firm of the Stress Capital Buffer for The Goldman Sachs Group of 6.4%, resulting in a Standardized Common Equity Tier 1 ratio requirement of 13.4%, which will become effective on October 1. The net decrease in the SCB of 20 basis points is the result of an improvement of 40 basis points in peak to trough CET1, attributed to the firm's efforts to reduce the stress capital intensity of its businesses, offset by 20 basis points associated with the planned increase in the common stock dividend from $1.25 to $2.00 per share. "We are encouraged by the progress in reducing the capital intensity of our business as reflected in the recent stress test results," said Chairman and CEO David Solomon. "The planned increase in our dividend demonstrates our confidence in the increasing durability of our franchise revenues and is consistent with our capital management framework of prioritizing investment in our client franchise and returning excess capital to shareholders."

18:01 EDT Amazon Meeting Center designated as official cooling center in Seattle - With temperatures expected to surpass Seattle's record high on Monday and reach 107 degrees, the City of Seattle has designated the Amazon Meeting Center as an official cooling center with a capacity of 1,000 individuals. Amazon's Meeting Center, located at 2031 7th Avenue, will be open on Monday, June 28 from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. as a cooling center. Reference Link

17:47 EDT PNC Financial to recommend 9% dividend hike, $2.9B share repurchase plan - The PNC Financial Services Group last week received the results of the Federal Reserve's 2021 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review. The results included the Federal Reserve's estimate of PNC's minimum capital ratios for the period from the first quarter of 2021, through the first quarter of 2023, under the Supervisory Severely Adverse Scenario. Based on its strong results, PNC's Stress Capital Buffer for the four-quarter period beginning Oct. 1, 2021, applicable to PNC inclusive of the BBVA USA acquisition, is 2.5%, which is the regulatory floor and the minimum SCB amount. PNC's Common Equity Tier 1 ratio significantly exceeds the regulatory minimum plus our SCB, reflecting our strong capital levels. PNC plans to recommend to its board of directors an increase in the quarterly cash dividend on common stock of 10c per share, or 9%, to $1.25 per share in the third quarter, consistent with the capital plan approved by its board. PNC's board of directors is expected to consider this recommendation at its next scheduled meeting on July 1. In addition, PNC plans to reinstate its share repurchase programs with repurchases of up to $2.9B for the four-quarter period beginning in the third quarter. PNC's common share repurchases may be executed in privately negotiated transactions or through the open market, including under Rule 10b5-1 plans. The timing and amount of executed repurchases will be based on market conditions and other factors, including the integration of BBVA USA. Common share repurchases will be made under the 100M share repurchase program approved by PNC's board of directors in April 2019.

17:37 EDT Wells Fargo to raise quarterly dividend to 20c per share from 10c - Wells Fargo announced that it has completed the 2021 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review stress test process. The company expects its stress capital buffer to be 3.1%, which represents a percentage amount of incremental capital the company must hold above its minimum regulatory capital requirements. The Federal Reserve Board has indicated that it will publish the company's final SCB by August 31, 2021. The company expects to increase its third quarter 2021 common stock dividend to 20c per share from 10c per share, subject to approval by the company's Board of Directors at its regularly scheduled meeting in July. Additionally, the company's capital plan includes common share repurchases of approximately $18B for the four-quarter period beginning third quarter 2021 through second quarter 2022. The company will continue to prudently manage capital levels based on its internal capital adequacy framework. "We are pleased that this year's CCAR stress test confirmed the significant strength of our capital position. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we have built our financial strength while providing significant support to our employees, customers, and communities, as well as continuing to remediate our legacy issues. We will continue to do so as we return a significant amount of capital to our shareholders," said CEO Charlie Scharf. "The expected increase in our dividend is a priority, and our plan contemplates it will continue to increase as we grow earnings capacity, subject to future stress test results. We will also regularly evaluate market conditions, remaining pandemic related risks, and other risk factors, which may result in adjustments to the timing or amount of our expected capital actions."

17:21 EDT Boeing awarded $128.84M Air Force contract - Boeing has been awarded a $128.84M firm-fixed-price contract for the F-15 Mission Training Center, or MTC, simulation services to support the Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces and Air Force in Europe locations. The contractor will provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, transportation, tools, materials, supervision and other items to perform all MTC services. These services will provide simulation capability to train F-15 pilots and system operators in high-fidelity training devices. Work is expected to be completed Dec. 31. FY21 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $13.18M are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle is the contracting activity.

17:13 EDT U.S. Bancorp receives SCB of 2.5%, recommends Q3 dividend increase - U.S. Bancorp commented on the results of the Federal Reserve's 2021 Dodd-Frank Act stress test. Based on its 2021 stress test results, the company will be subject to a stress capital buffer requirement, or SCB, of 2.5% for the period beginning October 1 and ending on September 30, 2022. The SCB, when added to the Basel III Common Equity Tier 1, or CET1, minimum of 4.5%, requires the company to maintain a CET1 ratio above 7% through this period. The company's CET1 ratio was 9.9% as of March 31 under CECL transition rules. The Federal Reserve also announced that the capital restrictions instituted in Q3 of 2020 in response to the economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic will expire on June 30. As a result, the company will recommend that its board of directors approve a 9.5% increase to its Q3 dividend payable in October. The company expects to recommend a Q3 dividend of 46c per common share, equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.84 per common share. U.S. Bancorp's existing share repurchase program announced in December 2020 remains in effect.

17:05 EDT Teleflex completes portion of respiratory business to Medline Industries - Teleflex announced it has completed the previously announced divestiture of a significant portion of its Respiratory business to Medline Industries or $286M in cash, reduced by $12M in working capital not transferring to Medline. The divested Teleflex respiratory product lines include Hudson RCI products for oxygen and aerosol therapy, active humidification, non-invasive ventilation, and incentive spirometers, all of which generated $139 million in revenue in 2020. In 2021, the divested respiratory product lines were expected to contribute net revenue approximately flat with the $139M in 2020. Based on the date of closing, the company estimates a revenue headwind of $28-$32M and adjusted earnings per share dilution of 10c-15c in 2021 or approximately 1% of 2021 adjusted earnings per share, net of a manufacturing services agreement that Teleflex has entered into with Medline as of the initial closing of the sale transaction. Teleflex intends to use the proceeds from the divestiture to pay down debt, augmenting its financial flexibility to support its growth strategy.

16:57 EDT Global mobile app spending rose 24% y/y in 1H21, says Sensor Tower - Global consumer spending in mobile apps reached $64.9B across Apple's (AAPL) App Store and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Play in the first half of 2021, according to preliminary Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates and projections through June 30. This was 24.8% more than the $52B generated by both stores in the same period in 2020. Although spending continued to climb to new heights, the year-over-year growth experienced by mobile markets so far this year trailed that experienced in 2020, the firm said. In the first half of last year, the pandemic boosted consumer spending by 28.4% Y/Y when compared to approximately $40.5B in the first half of 2019. Apple's App Store is projected to generate $41.5B in consumer spending globally from in-app purchases, subscriptions, and premium apps and games in the first half of 2021. This is about 1.8 times the revenue generated by Google Play, which saw an estimated $23.4B in the same period. However, Google's marketplace is projected to experience more Y/Y growth than Apple's. In the first half of 2021, the App Store has grown 22.1% from about $34B in the H1 2020, a little more than 7 percentage points lower than the 29.3% growth experienced during 1H20 due to accelerated spending during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reference Link

16:47 EDT Truist Financial announces planned quarterly dividend raise of 7% to 48c - Truist Financial announced a planned 7% increase in the regular quarterly common dividend from 45c per share to 48c per share, following the completion of the 2021 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review process. This increase would take effect in the third quarter. Truist's dividends are subject to approval by its board of directors, and the third quarter dividend will be considered by the Truist board at its upcoming meeting. Truist also announced that the Federal Reserve Board reduced the preliminary stress capital buffer to which Truist will be subject from 2.7% to 2.5%. The new preliminary SCB is in effect from Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022, and reflects Truist's prudent risk management and sound financial performance under stressful conditions.

16:44 EDT Four Corners Property Trust acquires Stanton Optical property for $2.1M - Four Corners Property Trust is pleased to announce the acquisition of a Stanton Optical property for $2.1M. The property is located in a highly trafficked retail corridor in Wisconsin and is occupied under a triple net lease to the brand's corporate entity with approximately seven years of term remaining. The transaction was priced at a 6.5% going-in cash capitalization rate, exclusive of transaction costs.

16:39 EDT JPMorgan to raise quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share from 90c - JPMorgan Chase announced that it has completed the Federal Reserve's 2021 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review stress test process. The Firm's indicative Stress Capital Buffer requirement is 3.2% and the Firm's minimum Standardized Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio is 11.2%. The Federal Reserve Board will provide the Firm with its final SCB requirement by August 31, 2021, and that requirement will become effective on October 1, 2021 and will remain in effect until September 30, 2022. JPMorgan Chase's Board of Directors intends to increase the quarterly common stock dividend to $1.00 per share, up from the current 90c per share, for the third quarter of 2021. The Firm's quarterly common stock dividends are subject to approval by the Board of Directors at the customary times that those dividends are declared. The Firm continues to be authorized to repurchase common shares under its existing common share repurchase program previously approved by the Board of Directors.

16:35 EDT State Street raises quarterly dividend 10% to 57c per share - State Street announced its preliminary stress capital buffer requirement of 2.5%, effective October 1, 2021, and the intention to increase its quarterly common stock dividend by 10% to 57c per share in the third quarter, subject to consideration and approval by its Board of Directors. State Street's calculated SCB under this year's supervisory stress test was well below the 2.5% minimum, preliminarily resulting in an SCB at that floor. The firm's capital position remains strong and the Company intends to continue share repurchases in upcoming quarters, subject to approval by its Board of Directors, which will be discussed further on our second quarter earnings call. "We are pleased with our solid performance under the 2021 annual stress test, which is another testament to the resiliency and capital stability of our business model. The strength of our balance sheet and capital levels enable us to operate effectively and with resilience, while also positioning us to continue to return capital to our shareholders," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ron O'Hanley. State Street's Board of Directors will consider the common stock dividend at a regularly scheduled board meeting in the third quarter of 2021. State Street's third quarter 2021 common stock and other stock dividends, including the declaration, timing and amount, remain subject to consideration and approval by State Street's Board of Directors at the relevant times.

16:34 EDT Catalyst Pharmaceuticals comments on Health Canada reissuance of Ruzurgi NOC - Catalyst Pharmaceuticals commented on the recent decision by Health Canada to re-issue a notice of compliance, or NOC, for Ruzurgi, once again allowing the product to be marketed in Canada for patients with Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome. or LEMS. Health Canada's original NOC for Ruzurgi for marketing in Canada was quashed in a recent decision of the Federal Court of Canada, which sent the matter back to Health Canada to re-determine its decision to grant marketing authority to Ruzurgi despite Firdapse's data protection rights under Canadian law. Patrick McEnany, Catalyst's chairman and CEO commented: "We are obviously disappointed with Health Canada's decision to re-issue an NOC for Ruzurgi(R). Our effort to get Firdapse(R) approved in Canada commenced three years ago, at a time when there was no approved therapy in Canada to treat LEMS patients. Our interest was to assure that all adult LEMS patients had access to a Health Canada approved therapy, despite recognizing that our market opportunity in Canada was always expected to be small." Catalyst and its Canadian sublicensee, KYE Pharmaceuticals, are currently evaluating their further litigation options to challenge Health Canada's most recent decision, since such decision means that the data protection that Catalyst and KYE are entitled to under Canadian law has not been recognized by Health Canada.

16:32 EDT Morgan Stanley to double quarterly dividend to 70c per share - Morgan Stanley announced that it will double its quarterly common stock dividend to 70c per share from the current 35c per share, beginning with the common dividend expected to be declared by the Firm's Board of Directors in the third quarter of 2021. In addition, the Firm announced a new increased repurchase authorization of outstanding common stock of up to $12B through June 30, 2022. James P. Gorman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley, said, "The Board of Directors has approved a 100 percent increase in our dividend and an increase of our share repurchase program to $12 billion. Morgan Stanley has accumulated significant excess capital over the past several years and now has one of the largest capital buffers in the industry. The action taken by the Board reflects a decision to reset our capital base consistent with the needs we have for our transformed business model. In particular, Wealth Management and Investment Management provide stable and durable earnings that support a significantly higher payout ratio. Going forward we remain amply capitalized to drive further growth." On June 24, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released its CCAR 2021 results, as a result of which Morgan Stanley will be subject to a Stress Capital Buffer of 5.7 percent from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. Together with other features of the regulatory capital framework, this SCB results in an aggregate U.S. Basel III Standardized Approach Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 13.2 percent. The Firm's U.S. Basel III Standardized Approach CET1 ratio was 16.7 percent as of March 31, 2021.

16:27 EDT Asbury Automotive announces resignation of CFO Patrick Guido - Asbury Automotive Group announced that Patrick Guido provided notice of his decision to resign from the position of Senior Vice President & CFO of the company effective June 24 for personal reasons. The company also announced that William Stax, Vice President, Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer of the company, was appointed as interim Principal Financial Officer effective June 25 while the company conducts a search for a new CFO.

16:24 EDT USD Partners enters Terminal Services Agreement with USD Clean Fuels - USD Partners announced that the Partnership has entered into a Terminal Services Agreement with USD Clean Fuels, a newly-formed subsidiary of US Development Group. The Terminal Services Agreement provides for the inbound shipment of renewable diesel on rail and the outbound shipment of the product on tank trucks to local consumers. The agreement has an initial term of five years with a target commencement date of December 1, 2021, and is supported by a minimum throughput commitment to USDCF from an investment-grade rated, refining customer as well as a performance guaranty from USDG. "We are excited to announce this very accretive opportunity at the Partnership. This opportunity is incremental to our existing ethanol business at West Colton and is projected to generate additional Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $2.0 million per year at the Partnership over the five-year term," said Adam Altsuler, the Partnership's Chief Financial Officer. "Total capital associated with the opportunity is approximately $1.8 million, which we intend to fund from cash flows from operations." USDCF is a newly-created entity formed by USDG, the Partnership's sponsor, to focus on providing production and logistics solutions to the growing market for clean energy transportation fuels.

16:21 EDT Jefferies Financial Group raises annual dividend 25% to $1.00 per share - The Jefferies Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend equal to 25c per Jefferies common share, a 25% increase on the prior dividend rate, payable on August 27 to record holders of Jefferies common shares on August 16.

16:17 EDT Falcon Minerals names Bryan Gunderson as CEO, Matthew Ockwood as CFO - Falcon Minerals announces the appointment of Bryan Gunderson as President and CEO and the departure of Daniel Herz, former President and CEO. Gunderson's appointment and Herz's departure are both effective immediately. Gunderson has also been appointed to the Board of Directors to fill the vacancy created by Herz's resignation. Falcon's Board of Directors has also hired Matthew Ockwood to serve as CFO. Ockwood joins Falcon as an experienced oil and gas investor, most recently serving as a Managing Director and member of the investment committee for Chambers Energy Capital.

16:13 EDT Chiasma submits MAA for MYCAPSSA to European Medicines Agency - Chiasma announced that it has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Medicines Agency seeking approval of MYCAPSSA as a maintenance therapy for adults with acromegaly.

16:08 EDT Quanterix names Michael Doyle CFO - Quanterix Corporation announced that it has named Michael Doyle to the position of Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, effective July 12, 2021. Doyle replaces Shawn Stetson, who has served as the Company's Interim Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. "Mike is a strong financial executive with deep experience serving as a public company CFO, and in light of our company's continued growth and opportunity to transform healthcare through our non-invasive early detection technology, we welcome his business acumen as we scale and strengthen our executive team with top talent," said Kevin Hrusovsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Quanterix and Founder of Powering Precision Health Foundation. "Mike's track record for driving organic and inorganic growth coupled with his strong experience scaling businesses processes and financial organizations is a rare find and should serve us well as we scale our research and diagnostic opportunity."

16:07 EDT MasterCraft Boat announces up to $50M share repurchase program - MasterCraft Boat announced that its board of directors has authorized a new share repurchase program under which the company may repurchase up to $50M of its outstanding shares of common stock during the three-year period ending June 24, 2024. MasterCraft also announced that it has successfully closed on a new $160M credit facility, consisting of a $60M term loan and a $100M revolving credit facility, of which $33.7M is drawn on the revolver as of the date of this filing. This new credit facility, which replaced the company's previously existing senior secured credit facility, is scheduled to mature on June 28, 2026.

16:06 EDT Beauty Health joins Russell 3000, 2000 Indexes - The Beauty Health Company announced that it has joined the broad-market Russell 3000 and the Russell 2000 Indexes, effective today, Monday, June 28, 2021 at market open, based on the final index membership lists, which are available on the FTSE Russell website. Annual Russell indexes reconstitution captures the 4,000 largest US stocks as of May 7th, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the US all-cap Russell 3000 Index, which remains in place for one year, automatically includes the Company in the large-cap Russell 1000 Index or the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

16:05 EDT FTC Solar receives $22M in sale of Dimension Energy stake - FTC Solar announced that it has received a net payout of approximately $22M in connection with the sale of its minority investment position in Dimension Energy, with the potential to receive an additional payout of up to approximately $14M through an earn-out structure. FTC Solar made an investment of $4M in Dimension, a community solar developer based in Atlanta, in 2018. Since the time of that investment, and prior to the sale, FTC Solar has received dividends of approximately $2.1M. With the sale of its original stake, which closed on June 24, FTC Solar has received an additional net payout of approximately $22M, with the potential to receive an additional payout of up to approximately $14M through December 2024, based on Dimension achieving certain performance milestones.

15:30 EDT Xbox Cloud Gaming now open to Game Pass Ultimate members with Windows 10 PCs - Microsoft said that, starting Monday, Xbox Cloud Gaming is available to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members with Windows 10 PCs and Apple phones and tablets, via browser, across 22 countries. Members can go to xbox.com/play on Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or Safari on their PC or mobile device to start playing hundreds of games from the Xbox Game Pass library. "We're also making significant improvements to the overall experience: Xbox Cloud Gaming is now powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware," the company said. "We've been upgrading Microsoft datacenters around the globe with the fastest, most powerful Xbox hardware to give you faster load times, improved frame rates, and an experience of a new generation of gaming. To ensure the lowest latency, highest quality experience across the broadest set of devices, we will be streaming at 1080p and up to 60fps. Going forward we'll continue to innovate and add more features to enhance your cloud gaming experience." Reference Link

15:03 EDT Court grants Facebook motion to dismiss FTC complaint, but not case - In a ruling issued by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge James Boasberg, the judge wrote: "For the foregoing reasons, the Court will grant Facebook's Motion to Dismiss, but it will dismiss without prejudice only the Complaint, not the case. The Court will also grant leave to amend and order Plaintiff to file any amended Complaint within thirty days. A contemporaneous Order so stating shall issue this day." The ruling relates to "federal and state regulators" contending in two separate actions before this Court that Facebook is violating antitrust laws. "The company, they allege, has long had a monopoly in the market for what they call 'Personal Social Networking Services.' And it has allegedly maintained that monopoly, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, through two different kinds of actions... Both suits seek equitable relief from this conduct, including forced 'divestiture or reconstruction of businesses' as well as orders not to undertake similar conduct in the future," the ruling stated. Reference Link

14:47 EDT Partner 'examining the implications' of MOC shutdown of 2G and 3G networks - Partner Communications reports, following that stated in sections 4B.8-"Our Network" and 4B.12e-x "Hearings and Examinations" of the company's annual report for 2020 regarding the hearing published by the Ministry of Communications, or MOC, for the shutdown of 2G and 3G networks, or "the Old Technologies," by year end 2025, that on June 27, 2021, the decision of the MOC was received which determines, among other things the termination of Old Technology services on December 31, 2025, or on an earlier date, at the company's request, subject to certain conditions; a ban on the import of cellular devices that support the Old Technologies as of January 1, 2022; prohibition of connecting an existing subscriber or a new customer with equipment operating on the Old Technologies, except for security forces equipment, as of January 1, 2023; and setting the frequency allotments that were allocated at the time for the Old Technologies in the 900, 1800 and 2100 Mhz bands for usage that will also be allowed with more advanced technologies, until December 31, 2030. "The company is examining the implications of the Ministry of Communications' decisions," Partner Communication announced.

13:53 EDT Amazon Music Unlimited customers get up to six months of Disney+ access - Amazon Music and Disney+ are offering new and existing Amazon Music Unlimited customers Disney+, Amazon (AMZN) stated in a post to its site. "Starting today, Amazon Music Unlimited customers in the U.S. and Canada will have access to some of the best new shows and films streaming on Disney+. New Amazon Music Unlimited customers in the U.S. and Canada are eligible for 6 months of Disney+ on us while existing Amazon Music Unlimited customers in those territories will receive 3 months of Disney+ on us," the company announced. Reference Link

13:01 EDT Bed Bath & Beyond to begin paid parental leave, other benefits this July - Bed Bath & Beyond announced that three new paid benefit programs will be implemented on July 1, including parental leave, short-term disability, and an associate relief fund, building upon the People pillar of Bed Bath & Beyond's recently unveiled Environmental, Social and Governance strategy. The company will convert Associate-paid voluntary short-term disability program to a company-paid program, providing for 100% of pay for up to 8 weeks and 60% of pay thereafter up to 26 weeks. This program will also be offered to all U.S. benefits-eligible full-time Associates. The company also announced that it will close stores on Thanksgiving Day. "Our purpose is to make it easy to feel at home, and that begins right here with our Associates and making investments that elevate our people-powered culture," said Lynda Markoe, EVP and Chief People and Culture Officer at Bed Bath & Beyond. "We're thrilled to implement these new Company-paid programs to support the well-being of our Associates and their loved ones. As we look ahead to Thanksgiving and a return to a 'new-normal,' we want our Associates to be home, happier and be able to welcome friends and family into their homes." Bed Bath & Beyond, buybuy BABY and Harmon Face Values stores in Canada will close on October 11 in observance of Thanksgiving in Canada, while stores in the U.S. will close on November 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

12:11 EDT Lifeway Foods announces share repurchase program up to 250,000 shares - Lifeway Foods announced that Lifeway's Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program of up to 250,000 shares. Under such a program, Lifeway Foods may repurchase up to 250,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock through the open market within a period of two years from the effective date of the program. The Company will use its available cash resources generated through operations to fund the stock repurchase program.

12:04 EDT Alcon appoints Ian Bell as president, global business & innovation - Alcon announced changes to its Executive Committee of Alcon. Changes take effect September 1, 2021. Ian Bell, currently President, International, and a member of the ECA, is named President, Global Business & Innovation. Michael Onuscheck, current President, Global Business & Innovation, and a member of the ECA, will be stepping down from his roles at the Company. Raj Narayanan, Senior Vice President, Operational Strategy and Chief Transformation Officer, and a member of the ECA, will succeed Ian Bell as President, International. Sue-Jean Lin, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, will be appointed as Senior Vice President, Chief Information & Transformation Officer and will add oversight of Alcon's Transformation program to her remit. She will also become a member of the ECA. The ECA will remain with seven committee members and effective September 1, will be comprised of the following members: David Endicott, Laurent Attias, Ian Bell, Sergio Duplan, Sue-Jean Lin, Raj Narayanan, and Tim Stonesifer.

12:01 EDT Barnes & Noble Education announces ten-year partnership with Notre Dame - Barnes & Noble Education announced it has entered into a ten-year partnership with the University of Notre Dame under which Barnes & Noble College will manage all course materials, retail, and online operations for the University's campus retail stores. "BNC, through its strategic alliance with online and offline licensed sports merchandise leaders Fanatics and Lids, will deliver an exceptional retail experience to the Notre Dame community with a reimagined consumer-centric platform to elevate engagement with students, faculty, alumni, family, friends and fans," the company stated.

12:00 EDT Full Truck Alliance falls -10.0% - Full Truck Alliance is down -10.0%, or -$1.98 to $17.75.

12:00 EDT Daqo New Energy rises 13.5% - Daqo New Energy is up 13.5%, or $7.91 to $66.57.

12:00 EDT New Senior Investment rises 28.8% - New Senior Investment is up 28.8%, or $1.99 to $8.90.

11:26 EDT MAXIMUS trading resumes

11:02 EDT SWEPCO issues requests for proposals for purchase of wind, solar - Southwestern Electric Power, or SWEPCO, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, issued three Requests for Proposals for renewable and short-term generating capacity to supply the needs of its customers. The RFPs solicit bids for the purchase of wind resources of up to 3,000 megawatts; solar resources up to 300 MW and short-term accredited deliverable capacity up to 250 MW. Proposals are due by Aug. 12, 2021.

10:54 EDT SCAT Airlines signs up for Sabre's passenger reservations system - SCAT Airlines and Sabre announced a new strategic partnership, building on Sabre's other achievements in the central Asian region. Under the new agreement, SCAT Airlines will migrate to Sabre's passenger reservations system, SabreSonic. It will also leverage Sabre's industry-first Commercial Platform to create a differentiated brand experience for travelers while also helping the airline to maximize revenue. By delivering real-time, customer-centric offers to the airline's customers, Sabre's technology will help SCAT achieve its ambitious plans to lead the recovery and future growth of travel in Kazakhstan.

10:50 EDT MAXIMUS trading halted, news pending

10:20 EDT BaFin grants first permission to conduct crypto custody business to Coinbase - BaFin, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, has granted permission on June 28 to Coinbase Germany GmbH to conduct a crypto custody business, according to a translation of a German-language notice posted by the financial regulatory authority for Germany. "Coinbase Germany GmbH is therefore the owner of the first license issued by BaFin for the crypto custody business that was newly introduced as a financial service. Since this is a novel business model, shortly after the law implementing the amendment to the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive came into force, BaFin put together an interdisciplinary, cross-divisional and cross-departmental team to deal with the complex issues relating to crypto custody business," the translated notice states. Reference Link

10:02 EDT BAE Systems ramps F-35 electronic warfare system production - BAE Systems announced it (BAESY) is providing Lockheed Martin (LMT) with additional electronic warfare systems, retrofit kits, and spares for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. "The contract builds on BAE Systems' on-time delivery of more than 800 state-of-the-art AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare/countermeasure systems to date, providing F-35 jets with critical situational awareness and survivability capabilities... This Lot 16 award comes as BAE Systems delivers Lot 14 systems and executes material orders for Lot 15. The company is currently producing 18 shipsets a month as it ramps production to more than 20 shipsets a month in 2022 to match F-35 aircraft Low Rate Initial Production," the company stated.

10:00 EDT Nevro falls -6.5% - Nevro is down -6.5%, or -$11.61 to $166.98.

10:00 EDT JinkoSolar rises 8.4% - JinkoSolar is up 8.4%, or $3.63 to $46.63.

10:00 EDT New Senior Investment rises 26.8% - New Senior Investment is up 26.8%, or $1.85 to $8.76.

09:50 EDT Reconnaissance Energy Africa calls short seller's report 'biased' - Reconnaissance Energy Africa said the company is providing "the real facts in response to falsehoods and distortions from a recent short seller's report. The short seller report published on June 24, 2021 which falsely claims that no petroleum exists in the Kavango Basin completely ignores prominent geoscientists with decades of international experience, who have all verified that ReconAfrica's data clearly confirms a working petroleum system. The short seller has no geological expertise itself, has not seen any data whatsoever, and its financial bias is clear: it admits that it has shorted the stock of ReconAfrica. ...The portion of the short seller's report that addresses the topics described above is riddled with inaccuracies. It displays an ignorance of the geology of Southern Africa in general and Namibia in particular. The results of the 6-2 and 6-1 stratigraphic test wells are misrepresented by the short seller, suggesting there is 'no oil', when in fact results from both wells were much more successful than anticipated, and firmly prove the presence of a working petroleum system. It overstates seismic acquisition costs by over 500%. It has misrepresented the relinquishment provisions of the Petroleum Agreement. Incredibly, it suggests that ReconAfrica is nearly bankrupt, when in fact ReconAfrica has over CDN $63,000,000 of cash reserves, access to additional funds through capital markets and joint venture optionality to pursue its operations. The short seller either lacks the knowledge and experience to assess these matters, or is intentionally distorting the publicly disclosed facts, or both. The short seller report is littered with falsehoods on a variety of other topics. For the most part these are repetitions from earlier publications that ReconAfrica has previously addressed and debunked. We reemphasize what has been stated previously: ReconAfrica directors and officers have consistently been net buyers of ReconAfrica stock. In the past 12 months, according to SEDI.ca, current officers and directors of ReconAfrica have purchased 985,289 shares for a cost of CDN $793,428 and have only sold 112,206 shares for gross proceeds of CDN $744,661, retaining 4,383,289 shares with a current market value of over CDN $48 million. Companies operating any sort of "pump and dump" scheme would surely have sold significantly more shares than the officers and directors of ReconAfrica where the Company's stock has risen 1326% in the past 12 months. Clearly, directors and officers of ReconAfrica are committed to the long term viability and success of the Company. Despite the actions of short sellers and their enablers, ReconAfrica and our joint venture partner NAMCOR, will proceed with our plans to explore for this potentially major energy source for Namibia and Botswana in the Kavango area, in an environmentally and socially respectful manner and for the benefit of all."

09:47 EDT Full Truck Alliance falls -5.7% - Full Truck Alliance is down -5.7%, or -$1.13 to $18.60.

09:47 EDT Nevro falls -7.1% - Nevro is down -7.1%, or -$12.61 to $165.98.

09:47 EDT Beachbody Company rises 10.7% - Beachbody Company is up 10.7%, or $1.28 to $13.28.

09:35 EDT AstraZeneca says Vaxzevria induced immunity for at least year following one dose - AstraZeneca announced that a sub-analysis from the Oxford-led COV001 and COV002 trials with Vaxzevria induced strong immune responses following either a prolonged second dose interval of up to 45 weeks or following a third boosting dose. The results, published by the University of Oxford on the pre-print server of The Lancet, demonstrated that antibody levels remain elevated from baseline for at least one year following a single dose. An extended interval between the first and second dose of Vaxzevria of up to 45 weeks, resulted in up to an 18 fold increase in antibody response, measured 28 days after the second dose. With a 45 week dosing interval between the first and second dose, antibody titres were four times higher than with a 12 week interval, demonstrating that a longer dosing interval is not detrimental but can derive stronger immunity. In addition, a third dose of Vaxzevria given at least 6 months after a second dose, boosted antibody levels six fold and maintained T cell response. A third dose also resulted in higher neutralising activity against the Alpha (B.1.1.7, 'Kent'), Beta (B.1.351, 'South African') and Delta (B.1.617.2, 'Indian') variants. Both the late second dose and the third dose of Vaxzevria were less reactogenic than the first dose. Professor Sir Andrew J Pollard, chief investigator and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, said: "This should come as reassuring news to countries with lower supplies of the vaccine, who may be concerned about delays in providing second doses to their populations. There is an excellent response to a second dose, even after a 10 month delay from the first."

09:32 EDT Vertex in national reimbursement agreement in France for KAFTRIO - Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced a national reimbursement agreement with the French Health Authorities for the cystic fibrosis medicines KAFTRIOivacaftor /tezacaftor/elexacaftor in a combination regimen with ivacaftor and SYMKEVI tezacaftor/ivacaftor in combination with ivacaftor. Both medicines will be available for all eligible patients once the agreement has been published in the French Official Journal. "Today's announcement represents a major milestone for CF patients in France. Through this national reimbursement agreement, eligible patients 12 years and older now have access to KAFTRIO and SYMKEVI. For those living with CF, we are delighted to have reached this agreement so quickly and that the French Health Authorities have recognized the value of both medicines," said Ludovic Fenaux, Senior Vice President, Vertex International. The reimbursement agreement enables broad access to KAFTRIO for people with CF ages 12 years and older with one F508del mutation and one minimal function mutation. The triple combination therapy will also be reimbursed for patients who are homozygous for the F508del mutation in the CFTR gene, representing a new therapeutic option for treating physicians. In November 2020, the Transparency Commission of the French National Authority for Health granted KAFTRIO an ASMR 2 rating, which indicates "a significant improvement in medical service rendered." Of the 250 first-time listing medicines issued in 2019 by the TC, only two received such a rating. Under the terms of the new reimbursement agreement, SYMKEVI will be reimbursed for people with CF ages 12 years and older with one F508del mutation and one of the mutations resulting in residual activity of the CFTR protein as listed in the Summary of Product Characteristics. It will also be funded for patients who are homozygous for the F508del mutation in the CFTR gene.

09:29 EDT SuperCom awarded $3.6M project in Finland - SuperCom was awarded a $3.6M project with the national government of Finland to deploy its PureSecurity Electronic Monitoring Suite. Through its innovative and proven technology and services, SuperCom's aims to help Finland improve public safety efficacy as well as reduce prison overcrowding and lower recidivism. The nationwide project is set to cover all electronic monitoring offender programs within the country and expected to include at least 1,000 enrollees simultaneously for a duration of 4 years, with potential for extensions. The project will include the following PureSecurity offerings: Prison inmate monitoring, GPS tracking of offenders, RF monitoring for house arrest, and officer and offender mobile solutions. This deployment is planned to integrate traditional EM with inmate monitoring in a seamless way, providing continuous tracking of offenders while they are in prison and as they are away from the facilities during short-term releases.

09:27 EDT Meridian Bioscience resubmits EUA apllication for Revogene assay - Meridian Bioscience announced that it has re-submitted its application for Emergency Use Authorization to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the company's SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostic test on the Revogene platform. On February 22, 2021, Meridian voluntarily withdrew its EUA application in order to conduct additional studies based on guidance from the FDA. Meridian completed the additional studies and re-submitted its EUA application on Friday, June 25, 2021.

09:24 EDT AMC reports more than 2M U.S. guests in 'post-reopening record weekend' - AMC Theatres announced that audiences "came roaring back to AMC movie theatres in post-reopening record numbers this weekend" and it credits the opening of "F9: THE FAST SAGA," as well as other movies also currently playing at its theatres, to AMC seeing its "busiest weekend attendance numbers in more than a year." AMC said: "Some 2 million people watched movies at AMC's United States theatre locations between Thursday, June 24 and Sunday, June 27. These are the biggest numbers recorded by AMC in the U.S. since closing its theaters in March of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 'F9: THE FAST SAGA' opened to an estimated $70 million for its opening weekend in the United States, shattering the previous post-reopening record. In fact, the $70 million is the biggest opening weekend for any movie in the U.S. since late in 2019. As the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States, it's no surprise that AMC enjoyed its busiest weekend in more than a year. Six of the top 10 busiest theatres in the U.S. across the whole movie theatre industry were AMCs. They were led by the AMC Burbank complex and Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood, which also were the top two movie theatre locations in the entire country. More than 500,000 additional people visited AMC's international theatres in Europe and the Middle East, also a post-reopening record, bringing the total global attendance at AMC's theatres at home and abroad this past weekend to an encouraging 2.5 million." Adam Aron, CEO & President of AMC Theatres, added, The combination of widespread vaccination and the release once again of blockbuster movies is proving to be the magic formula for the return of moviegoing. We could not be more excited about this post-reopening record weekend, and the coming slate of what look to be more blockbuster movies being released this summer and beyond."

09:20 EDT ISS, Glass Lewis recommend MYM shareholders vote for IM Cannabis acquistion - MYM Nutraceuticals (MYMMF) announced that both Glass, Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services have each issued positive reviews of the proposed acquisition of MYM by IM Cannabis Corp. (IMCC) announced on April 1, 2021. Both Glass Lewis and ISS recommend that MYM shareholders vote in favour of the resolution to be voted on at the special meeting of shareholders to be held on July 5, 2021. A total of 66 & 2/3rds of all common shares voted are required to approve the Transaction as well as a majority of the minority vote in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. To date, including those who have entered into support agreements, over 90% of overall committed and tallied common shares are being voted in favour of the Transaction. The votes attached to the common shares owned by Michael Wiener, CEO, Laird Choi, VP, Human Resources and Corporate Services and Robert Wolf, Independent Director will be excluded for purposes of the Transaction approval required by MI 61-101.

09:17 EDT Chicken Soup for the Soul to launch services on FreeCast's SelectTV - Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment announced the agreement to launch Crackle Spotlight, Crackle Classics, Popcornflix, and Truli linear channels on FreeCast's SelectTV service. Crackle Plus will also make VOD content from its Crackle and Popcornflix libraries available on SelectTV.

09:15 EDT Silver Bull closes private placement for proceeds of C$500,000 - Silver Bull Resources is pleased to announce the completion a of a private placement of 500,000 shares of common stock of the Company at a price of C$1.00 per Share for gross proceeds of C$500,000. No placement agent or finder's fees were paid in connection with the Private Placement, and the net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used by Silver Bull for general working capital purposes. The Company also announces that Olympia Trust Company has replaced Equiniti Trust Company and TSX Trust Company as the registrar and transfer agent of the Company. Shareholders need not take action in respect of the change in transfer agent.

09:11 EDT Ventas to acquire New Senior in $2.3B all equity transaction - Ventas (VTR) and New Senior Investment Group (SNR) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Ventas will acquire New Senior in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $2.3B, including $1.5B of New Senior debt. New Senior has a high-quality, geographically diversified portfolio of 103 private pay senior living communities, including 102 independent living communities, totaling 12,404 units and located across 36 states in the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, New Senior shareholders will receive 0.1561 shares of newly issued Ventas stock per share of New Senior common stock. Based on the closing price of Ventas common stock on June 25, 2021, this represents approximately $9.10 per New Senior share, a 31% equity premium based on New Senior's 30-day trading average, and a 10% premium on New Senior's total enterprise value. The Transaction valuation is expected to represent approximately a 6% capitalization rate on expected New Senior 2022 Net Operating Income and is expected to be approximately $0.09 to $0.11 accretive to Ventas's normalized funds from operations per share on a full year basis. "Building on the strong momentum we are experiencing in our business, we are delighted to announce this strategic and accretive acquisition with New Senior that expands Ventas's position in senior housing at an important inflection point in the cycle as the senior housing industry rebounds," said Debra A. Cafaro, Ventas Chairman and CEO.

09:10 EDT The Oncology Institute to go public in DFP Healthcare Acquisitions combination - DFP Healthcare Acquisitions Corp (DFPH), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of Deerfield Management, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination with The Oncology Institute, or TOI. Following the business combination, DFP expects to be renamed The Oncology Institute and will remain listed on the Nasdaq stock market under new ticker symbol (TOI). The transaction values the combined company at a pro forma enterprise value of approximately $842M and implies a multiple of 2.4x estimated 2022 revenue. The current equity holders of The Oncology Institute will be entitled to receive an additional earn out payment of up to 12.5M shares of The Oncology Institute common stock. In addition to the approximately $230M held in the DFP Trust Account, healthcare investors have committed to purchase $275M of shares of common stock of the company at $10.00 per share through a private placement in public entity, or PIPE. Assuming no redemptions of DFP public shares, the current equity holders of The Oncology Institute will collectively own 48%, Deerfield will own approximately 14%, other DFP stockholders will own 33%, and DFP's sponsor will own 5% respectively of the approximately 106M issued and outstanding shares of common stock of The Oncology Institute immediately following the closing. DFP estimates that, assuming no redemptions of DFP shares, the company will have an initial market capitalization of approximately $1.06B, with approximately $225M of cash on the balance sheet and a growth trajectory. The Oncology Institute expects to use this capital to accelerate its de novo and acquisition-driven growth initiatives. The business combination, which has been approved by the board of directors of DFP and The Oncology Institute, is expected to close in Q3 or Q4 of 2021, subject to customary conditions, including the approval by DFP stockholders.

09:08 EDT Verizon Visa Card implements new travel, gift card rewards - The companies said, "Verizon (VZ) Visa (V) Card, issued by Synchrony (SYF), is the only credit card that lets customers earn Verizon Dollars, which can be redeemed for Verizon's best phones, 5G tech and even used to lower their monthly wireless bill. Now, those rewards get even better: card holders can redeem their rewards on even more of what they love, outside of Verizon- like gift cards from favorite brands, hotels, flights and car rentals. With travel starting to open back up, that summer trip couldn't come at a better time. Verizon Visa Card holders also get two free days of TravelPass annually and are never charged foreign transaction fees when spending abroad. So, when it's time to go places, the TravelPass allows card holders to use domestic talk, text and data in more than 185 countries-on us. The perfect rewards for that long-awaited summer vacation!"

09:06 EDT Conagra Brands accelerates transition to 100% cage-free eggs - Conagra Brands announced the company's plans to accelerate its transition to 100% cage-free eggs, converting 100% of its egg usage to cage-free by the end of fiscal year 2024, one year earlier than its original commitment to directly source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.

09:05 EDT VOXX unit enters joint venture with Sharp to acquire certain assets of Onkyo - VOXX International (VOXX) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Premium Audio Company, and Sharp (SHCAY) have successfully entered into a joint venture to acquire certain assets of the audio/video business of Onkyo Home Entertainment. This follows the Asset Purchase Agreement signed by the parties as announced on June 3. The proposed transaction was approved by Onkyo shareholders at its Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on June 25 and was previously approved by Onkyo's Board of Directors. The total purchase price for the transaction is $30.8M, plus the assumption of certain liabilities and future payment of commissions to Onkyo on certain product sales. Premium Audio Company will own approximately 75% and Sharp will own approximately 25% of the JV. Premium Audio Company will handle distribution worldwide and be responsible for all sales and marketing activities. Sharp, though its manufacturing facility in Malaysia, will be responsible for manufacturing. The acquisition will provide the JV with ownership of the brands, intellectual property, engineering, and manufacturing rights of the Onkyo and Integra brands. Further, VOXX International has entered into a new licensing agreement with Pioneer Corporation and per this licensing agreement, Premium Audio Company will market and sell the Pioneer and Pioneer Elite brands worldwide, excluding the Peoples Republic of China. Finalization of the transaction is subject to customary and regulatory closing conditions and is expected to be consummated on or before August 30.

09:03 EDT AMD showcases AMD EPYC processors, AMD Instinct accelerators - At this year's International Supercomputing 2021 digital event, AMD is showcasing momentum for its AMD EPYC processors and AMD Instinct accelerators across the High Performance Computing industry. The company also outlined updates to the ROCm open software platform and introduced the AMD Instinct Education and Research initiative. The latest Top500 list showcased the continued growth of AMD EPYC processors for HPC systems. AMD EPYC processors power nearly 5x more systems compared to the June 2020 list, and more than double the number of systems compared to November 2020. As well, AMD EPYC processors power half of the 58 new entries on the June 2021 list.

09:02 EDT Secureworks appoints Tracey Mustacchio as CMO - Secureworks announced the appointment of Tracey Mustacchio as its new Chief Marketing Officer. "As CMO, Mustacchio is leading Secureworks' global growth and marketing strategies at a pivotal time for the Company, as it combines its years of security expertise with a new security analytics and operations platform to help organizations detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats more quickly and effectively," the company said. Mustacchio reports to incoming Secureworks CEO Wendy Thomas. Prior to Secureworks, she was interim Chief Marketing Officer for Carbonite and Webroot, taking them through their successful acquisition by Opentext.

08:57 EDT Asensus Surgical says hospital in Bern, Switzerland to start Senhance surgery - Asensus Surgical announced Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland has initiated its Senhance Surgical System program. This is the second of two new agreements with two hospitals in Europe thus far in 2021, as previously announced in our May 11 news release. "Inselspital University Hospital in Bern is the largest University hospital group in Switzerland," Anthony Fernando, Asensus Surgical President and CEO, says. "We are very pleased they have started surgery with Senhance this week.'' The University department of visceral surgery - Abdominal Center Inselspital department is implementing the digital Senhance platform in their daily surgical practice and will study its clinical utility over the coming months. Asensus Surgical's technology platform, Senhance Surgical System, is the first of its kind digital laparoscopic platform that leverages augmented intelligence to provide unmatched performance and patient outcomes through machine learning. Senhance goes beyond the typical surgical robotic systems, providing surgical assurance through haptic feedback, Eye-tracking camera control, and 3D visualization, and is the first platform to offer 3 mm instruments .

08:54 EDT Digital Brands says Bailey 44 started shipping wholesale orders in May - Digital Brands said second quarter operating results are "still expected to be adversely impacted by those factors which impacted the first quarter operating results. However, the adverse impact will be lesser in the second quarter due to the Harper & Jones contribution, Bailey 44 wholesale shipments for May and June, and some inventory levels starting in late May for DSTLD." The company additionally said "Bailey 44 started shipping wholesale orders in May, which is the first time in fifteen months that Bailey 44 has shipped wholesale orders. Bailey 44 fall 2021 wholesale bookings are in-line with pre-pandemic revenue levels. DSTLD received a men's denim inventory shipment in May, with more men's denim inventory landing in July. DSTLD will receive women's denim inventory shipment in July. DSTLD will receive men's and women's tee shirt inventory shipment in July."

08:50 EDT Midwest Energy Emissions eliminates $2.6M of convertible debt - Midwest Energy Emissions announced that all holders of the Company's outstanding 2019 Convertible Promissory Notes have agreed to convert their Notes into ME2C Environmental shares. The Company indicated that between June 17 and June 23, 2021, a total of $2,550,000 outstanding principal, together with interest, has been voluntarily converted into shares of the Company's common stock. The Convertible Notes were issued in 2019 in the aggregate principal amount of $2,600,000. Previously, $50,000 of the principal was converted, leaving $2,550,000 outstanding until the conversion being announced today.

08:49 EDT BTCS appoints Andrew Lee as Chief Financial Officer - BTCS announced the appointment of Andrew Lee as Chief Financial Officer. Lee was previously an Executive/Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Kylin Management, a multibillion-dollar Tiger Cub hedge fund.

08:48 EDT SolarWindow announcers former CEO of LG Fuel Cells joins as Global Director - SolarWindow Technologies (WNDW) announced the appointment of Dr. In Jae Chung who will lead development of SolarWindow products and new technologies as Global Director, Technology & Product Innovation. Dr. Chung served as Chief Executive Officer at LG Fuel Cell Systems, and previously as Chief Technology Officer at LG Display (LPL).

08:47 EDT 3D Systems appoints David Leigh as CTO, Additive Manufacturing - 3D Systems (DDD) announced it is expanding its executive leadership team focused on innovation with the addition of a Chief Technology Officer for Additive Manufacturing. Effective today, industry veteran Dr. David Leigh joins the company in this capacity to expand and accelerate application development and product innovation including all hardware, software, and materials development for production-scale additive manufacturing solutions. With Dr. Leigh's arrival, 3D Systems' co-founder, Chuck Hull, will increase his emphasis on biotechnology as Chief Technology Officer for Regenerative Medicine, leading the development of solutions that are creating exciting new opportunities in regenerative medicine. Based upon the breakthroughs that Hull's team of researchers have now demonstrated through the company's partnership with United Therapeutics (UTHR), a broad range of human applications are emerging, ranging from tissue implants to human organs, in addition to laboratory applications that offer the potential to accelerate the development of new drug therapies. Mr. Hull will also continue to support Government programs with the company's next-generation large-scale metal 3D printing platform. Leigh has more than 30 years of experience in the additive manufacturing industry. Prior to joining 3D Systems, he served as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operations Officer for EOS, an additive manufacturing equipment vendor.

08:45 EDT Inotiv services to include medical device pathology, hires Jackson as Director - Inotiv announced the expansion of the company's pathology services to include medical device pathology. Nicolette Jackson, DVM, MS, DACVP, has joined the company as Director, Medical Device Pathology, to lead this effort. "I am pleased to announce that we are now able to provide broader and more comprehensive in-house services to our medical device clients," said Dr. Don Maul, the Company's Senior Vice President, Surgical Models. "We believe Dr. Jackson's experience and expertise will enable us to significantly reduce our dependence on outside contractors for medical device pathology."

08:44 EDT Antares Pharma partner Idorsia initiates Phase 3 study of selatogrel - Antares Pharma (ATRS) announced that its partner Idorsia (IDRSF) initiated its Phase 3 registration study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of self-administered subcutaneous selatogrel, Idorsia's P2Y12 receptor antagonist, in suspected acute myocardial infarction utilizing Antares' Quickshot auto-injector. Idorsia is initiating an international, multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, Phase 3 study to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of 16 mg selatogrel when self-administered upon occurrence of symptoms suggestive of an acute myocardial infarction. The primary efficacy endpoint is the occurrence of death from any cause, or non-fatal AMI after any study treatment self-administration. The study will enroll approximately 14,000 patients who are at high risk of recurrent AMI, at approximately 250 sites in approximately 30 countries. A Special Protocol Assessment has been agreed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Idorsia's selatogrel. This indicates the FDA is in agreement with the adequacy and acceptability of specific critical elements of overall protocol design for a study intended to support a future marketing application. In December 2020, the FDA designated Idorsia's investigation of selatogrel for the treatment of a suspected AMI in adult patients with a history of AMI as a "fast-track" development program. This designation is intended to promote communication and collaboration between the FDA and pharmaceutical companies for drugs that treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. Idorsia selected Antares' Quickshot autoinjector for the development of selatogrel due to the robustness, reliability, ease-of-use and emergency-ready capabilities of our technology. Idorsia has confirmed the usability of the Quickshot autoinjector in the clinical development program through human factor validation studies. Antares entered into a global development agreement with Idorsia in November 2019. Under the terms of the agreement, Antares will provide clinical supply to Idorsia during clinical development in addition to fully packaged product upon FDA or foreign regulatory approval. Idorsia is responsible for the clinical development and regulatory approvals of the combination product. Idorsia will be responsible for global commercialization of the product, pending regulatory approvals, and Antares will be entitled to receive royalties on net sales of the commercial product.

08:42 EDT ShockWave Medical announce safety, efficacy reports on Intravascular Lithotripsy - Shockwave Medical announced that the safety, efficacy and mechanism of benefit of IVL for the treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease has been further elucidated with the publication of three separate manuscripts in the June 28, 2021 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions, comprising a pooled analysis of four studies involving coronary IVL, a randomized clinical trial involving peripheral IVL and a Mechanism of Action paper. The patient-level pooled analysis of the four prospective Disrupt CAD studies analyzed the clinical outcomes of coronary IVL in severely calcified, stenotic de novo coronary arteries prior to stenting. The analysis reports the largest cohort of patients treated with coronary IVL to date. The key findings include: Coronary IVL safely facilitated successful stent implantation and achieved high procedural success in one of the most severely calcified vessel cohorts reported for any PCI trial to date; Primary safety and effectiveness endpoints were achieved in almost all patients; Coronary IVL showed low rates of major adverse cardiovascular events and very low rates of severe angiographic complications in complex target lesions; Coronary IVL was consistently effective in achieving high acute gain and low residual stenosis. Disrupt PAD III is the largest-ever randomized controlled trial assessing the treatment of calcified lower extremity arterial lesions. Below are the key findings: Peripheral IVL was superior to PTA in the primary endpoint, procedural success, at 30-days; Vessel preparation was safely performed with IVL using a significantly lower maximum balloon inflation pressure relative to PTA and a lower rate of provisional or so-called bail-out stenting; There was no distal embolization or perforation in the IVL group; Final residual stenosis following the definitive therapy, DCB and/or stent placement, was similar between the two groups, although the PTA group required more stents. The IVL Mechanism of Action state-of-the-art review presents principles of lithotripsy therapy including the IVL system, procedure, energy distribution, and specific mechanisms for calcium modification. Key findings include: IVL fractures both superficial and deep calcium and minimizes the risk of vascular complications or thermal injury; In the treatment of severely calcified lesions, IVL offers several advantages compared to balloon-based and athero-ablative technologies; and IVL has very high levels of safety and effectiveness across multiple clinical studies involving severely calcified coronary and peripheral artery disease.

08:40 EDT Ballantyne Strong portfolio company Firefly Systems acquires Curb Taxi Media - Ballantyne Strong announced that portfolio company Firefly Systems has acquired Curb Taxi Media, a mobility media company in the U.S. Acquisition terms were not disclosed. Ballantyne Strong holds a $13M preferred investment in Firefly, which is privately held. Based on an announcement distributed by Firefly, the acquisition will provide Firefly with access to over ten thousand top-of-car screens to significantly scale Firefly's disruptive technology and network. The acquisition will establish a leadership position in the U.S. for Firefly through a presence in 11 cities, including the major media markets of New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami. As cities reopen and out-of-home advertising returns, the Company believes that the synergy between Curb Taxi Media and Firefly will enable advertisers to capitalize on new growth opportunities through an expanded portfolio of mobility solutions available under the same umbrella and reach new markets through best-in-class taxi media solutions.

08:38 EDT Alto Ingredients joins Russell 2000, 3000 Indexes - Alto Ingredients has been added as a member of the small-cap Russell 2000 Index and broad-market Russell 3000 Index. These additions will be effective after the U.S. market opens on June 28th, as part of the 2021 Russell indexes reconstitution. The stock will be automatically added to the appropriate growth and value indexes.

08:37 EDT NFI Group announces first order of Enviro400EV electric double deck buses - NFI Group announced that the BYD UK and Alexander Dennis Limited electric vehicle partnership, the UK's leading electric bus producer, has supplied four zero-emission BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck buses to Lothian Buses in Edinburgh. These buses have been funded as a flagship project of SP Energy Networks' GBP 20m Green Economy Fund.

08:36 EDT FG Financial unit FGRe announces reinsurance contract with insurtech company - FG Financial announced that the Company's reinsurance subsidiary, FG Reinsurance has entered into a reinsurance contract with a leading Insurtech company. This is FGRe's second contract since FG Global launched the reinsurance subsidiary in June 2020. The contract is with a leader in the Insurtech space that provides automotive insurance utilizing driver monitoring to predictively segment and price drivers, and is underwritten by a contracted team of reinsurance underwriters and priced by a FCAS accredited actuary, with maximum exposure being limited by a loss cap. Tom Heise, CEO of FGRe, stated, "We are pleased to execute our second contract since the launch of FGRe. Other reinsurers on this risk include some of the largest and highest rated carriers in the industry. Due to the unique structuring of this contract, our modeled returns are expected to meet or exceed internal target rates." Larry Swets, CEO of FG Financial Group, stated, "This contract reflects our strategy of patiently deploying capital in compelling, and frequently unique asymmetrical risk reward opportunities. This is a particularly attractive contract given its structure and the other established carriers involved."

08:36 EDT Dyadic International C1 production platform utilized in ZAPI study - Dyadic International announced findings from the Zoonotic Anticipation and Preparedness Initiative project which has been published in VACCINES, a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal. "Zoonotic diseases represent a serious global threat to human and animal health. The majority of newly evolving pathogens are zoonotic viruses. Safe and effective vaccines that can be developed rapidly following an outbreak are required to effectively combat these diseases. The efficacy, protection and safety data reported from the ZAPI study further supports the mounting library of data - demonstrating a novel approach for the C1 expression platform to be broadly applied for rapid development and manufacturing of vaccines for both human and animals". Dr. Tchelet further commented "we anticipate additional partnerships and external collaborations which will serve to further advance our commercial objectives". The successful ZAPI program focused on the following goals to enable the delivery of targeted vaccines for humans and animals, as well as therapeutic antibodies for hospital use, rapidly following a future disease outbreak by: Identifying the best protective subunit vaccines and neutralizing antibodies against potential new zoonotic diseases or strains, such as bunyaviruses or coronaviruses; Defining optimal manufacturing technologies and processes for these vaccines and antibodies to enable high-volume production capacity; Obtaining alignment with regulatory authorities and policy makers; and Securing pre-approval of new vaccine and antibody manufacturing methodologies for future emerging zoonotic viral diseases. The peer-reviewed study demonstrates the successful use of Dyadic's patented and proprietary C1-cell protein production platform to facilitate a fast, coordinated, and practical response to new infectious diseases as soon as they emerge.

08:34 EDT XpresSpa announces the re-opening of XpresSpa locations by July - XpresSpa announced that it will re-open the following four top performing XpresSpa locations by July 1 with modified hours and top selling services: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Int'l Airport Concourse A; Dallas/Fort Worth Int'l Airport Concourse A; Charlotte Douglas International Airport Concourse D; and Las Vegas McCarran Int'l Airport Concourse D. These re-openings are in addition to two XpresSpa locations in Dubai International Airport, UAE and one single franchised XpresSpa location in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport that are currently operating. Doug Satzman, CEO of XpresSpa Group, said, "We are encouraged by higher passenger flow at our nation's busiest airports due to the growing desire of people to return to travel in a safe manner. With our renewed optimism, we are reopening four top performing XpresSpas in time for a busy 4th of July travel holiday. However, during this pilot program, we will be limiting the operating hours of these four spas to the busiest times and will only be offering our highest performing services - massages, manicures and pedicures - to maximize profitability. We will then take our learnings from these locations and apply them to additional spas that we may selectively reopen later this summer."

08:33 EDT BioMarin resubmits MAA to EMA for valoctocogene roxaparvovec - BioMarin Pharmaceutical announced that the company resubmitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Medicines Agency for its investigational gene therapy, valoctocogene roxaparvovec, for adults with severe hemophilia A. In May 2021, the EMA granted the company's request for accelerated assessment. Accelerated assessment potentially reduces the time frame for the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use and Committee for Advanced Therapies to review a MAA for an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product. A CHMP opinion is anticipated in the first half of 2022.

08:32 EDT Vincerx Pharma announces inclusion in Russell 3000, Microcap Index - Vincerx Pharma announced that the Company has joined the broad-market Russell 3000 and Microcap Indexes as part of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the U.S. market opens today, Monday, June 28, 2021.

08:31 EDT QOMPLX announces partnership with COMBUS - QOMPLX is proud to announce a partnership with Australian industry leader COMBUS to offer its models on the Q:HELM marketplace. The addition of COMBUS adds further geographically diverse options to improve risk management around environmental disasters, as QOMPLX continues to broadly unify data, models and services offerings for the insurance industry. These robust COMBUS models provide insight into natural and man-made disasters across Australia, ranging from bushfires to earthquakes. COMBUS built its simulation models to examine the magnitude of large events and the frequency of smaller events, providing greater understanding in estimating and predicting risk.

08:30 EDT Super League Gaming, Trovo partner for Mobcrush integration - Super League Gaming announced the integration of Mobcrush's multicasting software solution with the interactive live streaming platform Trovo. This new collaboration enables streamers and content creators to expand their audience on a new and fast-growing destination for live gaming content across the globe Recently acquired by Super League, Mobcrush is a technology platform that empowers gamers and influencers to reach all of their fans simultaneously across the world's biggest digital video and social media channels. By integrating with Trovo and their 300,000 plus streamers, Mobcrush makes it easy for Trovo users to broadcast to additional destinations and grow their audiences across multiple platforms at the same time. Along with free multi-streaming distribution, this integration also includes Mobcrush's proprietary engagement solution Sponsored Live Breaks, which provides creators with a way to entertain their audience even while they are away from their camera.

08:30 EDT QAD Inc. trading resumes

08:27 EDT Provident Financial names Suez CEO Nadine Leslie to board of directors - Provident Financial Services (PFS) announced that Nadine Leslie has been named to the boards of directors of the company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Provident Bank. Leslie currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ (SZEVF) North America, and brings more than 25 years of experience.

08:26 EDT Kinnate Biopharma appoint Precigen CEO Helen Sabzevari to board of directors - Kinnate Biopharma announced the appointment of Helen Sabzevari, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors. Dr. Sabzevari is currently President and CEO of Precigen (PGEN). "Her career-long efforts have helped bridge the gap between cancer cell biology and immunology, bringing these disciplines together to understand how the immune system and cancer cells interact on the broader system level and form the basis for many current efforts in immuno-oncology, particularly in the field of cancer vaccines," the company said.

08:22 EDT Cabaletta Bio appoints Scott Brun to board of directors - Cabaletta Bio (CABA) announced the appointment of veteran biopharmaceutical leader, Scott Brun, M.D., to its Board of Directors. Brun has over 20 years of wide-ranging drug development and business development experience, including his time as Vice President and Head of Pharmaceutical Development at AbbVie (ABBV). Dr. Brun will become a member of the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Dr. Brun will succeed Brian Daniels, M.D., who resigned from the Board of Directors effective June 24, 2021, and subsequently joined the Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Daniels has served on Cabaletta's Board of Directors since October 2018.

08:18 EDT Alberton Acquisition regains compliance with certain Nasdaq listing requirement - Alberton Acquisition announced that on June 23, 2021, the company received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of The NASDAQ Stock Market, confirming that the company had regained compliance with Nasdaq's periodic filing requirement pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250c. As previously disclosed, the Company was notified by the Listing Qualifications Department of The NASDAQ Stock Market that it did not comply with the Periodic Filing Requirement. Based on the company's filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2021 on June 22, 2021, the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq has determined that the company regained compliance with the Periodic Filing Requirement.

08:17 EDT Enservco adjourns annual meeting of stockholders to solicit proxies - Enservco Corporation announced that on June 25, 2021, it adjourned its Annual Meeting of Stockholders with respect to its proposal to reincorporate the Company in the state of Nevada. The Annual Meeting will be reconvened on July 23, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time at the Company's headquarters. During the period of adjournment, the Company will continue to accept stockholder votes only on its proposal to reincorporate the Company in the state of Nevada. The Company intends to engage proxy solicitation firm Advantage Proxy to contact shareholders and solicit their support for Enservco's proposal to reincorporate the Company in the state of Nevada. Such reincorporation is expected to result in significant annual cost savings for the Company. Enservco's Board of Directors strongly recommends that shareholders vote in favor the reincorporation proposal. In other business at the June 25th meeting, stockholders ratified the appointment of Plante & Moran, PLLC, as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm; reelected Richard Murphy, William Jolly and Robert Herlin as directors; and approved the adjournment of the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

08:15 EDT MiMedx joins Russell 3000, 2000 Indexes - MiMedx Group confirmed that FTSE Russell will add the Company's common stock to its broad-market Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 Indexes effective after the U.S. market opens today, June 28, as part of the 2021 Russell indexes reconstitution.

08:14 EDT 180 Life Sciences files plan with Nasdaq related to delayed quarterly report - 180 Life Sciences announced that as previously disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K, filed by 180 Life Sciences Corp. with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 19, 2021, on April 16, 2021, the Company received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market stating that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) because it had not yet filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 with the Commission. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) requires listed companies to timely file all required periodic financial reports with the SEC. Also, as previously disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K, filed by the Company with the Commission on May 21, 2021, on May 19, 2021, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq stating that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) because it had not yet filed its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 with the Commission. Nasdaq provided the Company 60 days, or until June 15, 2021, to submit to Nasdaq a plan detailing how the Company intended to regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing rules regarding timely filings. The Company timely submitted such plan and on June 22, 2021, the Company received notice from Nasdaq that the Company has been granted an extension until July 31, 2021, to regain compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing rule as relates to the untimely filings. In the event the Company does not regain compliance within the extension period, Nasdaq will provide the Company written notice of the delisting of the Company's securities, at which time the Company may appeal the decision to a Hearings Panel. The Company is continuing to work with its auditors to complete the 2020 Form 10-K and Q1 2021 Form 10-Q and plans to file such reports as soon as possible in order to retain compliance.

08:13 EDT MDC Partners issues open letter to MDC Partners regarding Stagwell - Indaba Capital Management , the largest independent shareholder of MDC Partners issued the below open letter to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Penn following several unsuccessful attempts to open up a productive, private dialogue regarding the prospective merger with Stagwell Media

08:11 EDT Oric Pharmaceuticals announces FDA clearance of IND application for ORIC-533 - ORIC Pharmaceuticals announced that the Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's Investigational New Drug Application for ORIC-533 to proceed into a first-in-human clinical trial. ORIC-533 is a potent, orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of CD73, a key node in the adenosine pathway believed to play a central role in resistance to chemotherapy and immunotherapy-based treatment regimens. "The FDA clearance of our IND application for ORIC-533 is a significant milestone for ORIC as we move into the clinic with a second novel, internally discovered oncology drug candidate," said Jacob Chacko, M.D., president and CEO. "In preclinical studies, ORIC-533 has demonstrated higher potency within a high AMP environment compared to all CD73 and adenosine receptor inhibitors against which it was compared. Furthermore, in addition to the potential best-in-class properties of ORIC-533, we are excited about its differentiated clinical development plan that will explore its single agent activity in contrast to the combination studies that dominate the CD73 field today." Based on a preclinical collaboration with an academic key opinion leader that generated single agent activity in patient derived model systems in an undisclosed tumor type, the company plans to pursue a single agent clinical development plan in this indication. ORIC plans to initiate the Phase 1 clinical trial with ORIC-533 in the second half of 2021 to evaluate safety, PK and preliminary efficacy in cancer patients. This is the first of three planned IND/CTA filings for 2021, with the IND filing for ORIC-944 and CTA filing for ORIC-114 expected in the second half of the year.

08:10 EDT Quisitive Technology executes LOI with The Bancorp for LedgerPay - Quisitive Technology Solutions (QUISF) announced that it has successfully executed its previously announced letter of intent with The Bancorp Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bancorp, Inc. (TBBK) to act as a sponsor for direct payment processing for Visa, Mastercard, and other major credit and debit card brands.

08:09 EDT Catalyst Biosciences receives FDA Fast Track Designation for subcutaneous MarzAA - Catalyst Biosciences announced the Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track Designation for Marzeptacog alfa, MarzAA, the company's subcutaneously administered next-generation engineered coagulation Factor VIIa for the treatment of episodic bleeding in subjects with Factor VII deficiency. Catalyst is currently enrolling patients with FVII deficiency in a Phase 1/2 open-label study. This trial is being conducted in parallel with the ongoing Phase 3 registration trial evaluating MarzAA for the treatment of episodic bleeds in patients with Hemophilia A or B with inhibitors. "Receiving a second Fast Track designation is another important milestone in our MarzAA development program. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the FDA to bring a safe and effective treatment to patients with Factor VII deficiency, Hemophilia A or B with inhibitors, Glanzmann Thrombasthenia and other severe bleeding disorders." said Nassim Usman, Ph.D., president and CEO of Catalyst. "MarzAA is the only subcutaneously administered bypassing agent under development for the episodic treatment of bleeding events and has the potential to significantly improve the lives of patients with several inherited or acquired bleeding disorders." FDA granted Fast Track Designation for MarzAA for the SQ treatment and control of episodic bleeding in subjects with Hemophilia A or B with inhibitors in December 2020.

08:08 EDT Dare Bioscience announces Phase 1 results for DARE-HRT1 - Dare Bioscience announced topline results from its Phase 1 clinical trial of DARE-HRT1. DARE-HRT1 is a novel IVR designed to deliver bio-identical 17beta-estradiol and bio-identical progesterone continuously over a 28-day period as part of a hormone therapy regimen to treat the vasomotor symptoms and genitourinary syndrome associated with menopause. The topline data from the study support DARE-HRT1's potential to be the first FDA-approved product to offer vaginal delivery of combination bio-identical estradiol and bio-identical progesterone hormone therapy in a convenient monthly format to treat both VMS as well as vaginal symptoms of menopause. The North American Menopause Society's guidance on hormone therapy includes that dosing estrogen and progestogen in combination may offer important benefits to women and NAMS observed that non-oral routes of administration may offer advantages over orally administered therapies. The IVR technology used in DARE-HRT1 was developed by Dr. Robert Langer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. William Crowley from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Unlike other vaginal ring technologies, Dare's IVR drug delivery technology is designed to release more than one active ingredient via a solid ethylene vinyl acetate polymer matrix without the need for a membrane or reservoir to contain the active drug or to control the release, allowing for sustained drug delivery. The randomized, open-label, three-arm, parallel group Phase 1 study was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of DARE-HRT1 in approximately 30 healthy, post-menopausal women with intact uteri. The primary objective of the study was to describe the PK parameters of two different dose combinations over 28 days. Secondary objectives of the study were to assess the safety and tolerability of DARE-HRT1 and to compare the systemic exposure of estradiol, estrone, and progesterone of DARE-HRT1 over 28 days against a daily combination of FDA-approved oral estrogen and oral progesterone products evaluated in the Phase 1 study. The study was conducted by the company's wholly owned subsidiary in Australia. Data from the study demonstrate that DARE-HRT1 successfully delivered estradiol and the progesterone over the 28-day evaluation period. The baseline-corrected steady state release of estradiol and progesterone from both the lower and higher dose versions of DARE-HRT1 evaluated in the study demonstrated steady state release levels over 28 days/ The levels of estradiol released from both the lower and higher dose formulation of DARE-HRT1 evaluated in the study achieved or exceeded the levels that were targeted for hormone therapy. Target levels of estradiol for hormone treatment for either the VMS or vaginal symptoms of menopause were established by reviewing PK levels published for FDA-approved products for both the treatment of VMS as well as the genitourinary symptoms of menopause. Based on the estradiol PK data in the DARE-HRT1 Phase 1 study, the results support the potential of DARE-HRT1 as an effective hormone therapy for both VMS and vaginal symptoms associated with menopause. The levels of progesterone released from both versions of DARE-HRT1 evaluated in the study met the objectives of releasing progesterone. Progesterone is used in hormone therapy to reduce the impact of estrogen on nontarget sites, such as the endometrium, to prevent estrogen-induced endometrial hyperplasia. In addition, the study treatment was well tolerated with the most common adverse events consistent with other vaginal products. There was only one early discontinuation due to an adverse event, which was found to be unrelated to study treatment or participation, and no serious adverse events were reported. The proportion of participants reporting adverse events was similar across all dose groups, the two DARE-HRT1 groups as well as the group receiving a daily combination of FDA-approved oral estrogen and oral progesterone products, with 89% of adverse events mild in severity and all other adverse events rated as moderate. DARE-HRT1 had a high level of acceptability in the study, with over 80% of subjects on the lower and higher dose versions of DARE-HRT1 reporting the IVR as comfortable or very comfortable. Additionally, over 80% of subjects in each IVR dose group stated they were either somewhat or very likely to use the IVR for a women's health condition or disease if needed. Dare plans to submit data from the Phase 1 clinical study of DARE-HRT1 for publication in a peer-reviewed publication. Following clinical development, Dare intends to leverage the existing safety and efficacy data on the active ingredients in DARE-HRT1, estradiol and progesterone, to utilize the FDA's 505(b)(2) pathway to obtain marketing approval of DARE-HRT1 in the U.S.

08:07 EDT PAE awarded position on $950M Air Force IDIQ to support foreign military sales - PAE has been selected by the U.S. Air Force as one of 22 contractors on an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract vehicle to support foreign military sales transactions. The Engineering Assessment, Procurement, Integration and Contractor Logistics Support contract is valued at up to $950M over 13 years. PAE will compete for task orders to provide services that include engineering assessments, hardware procurement, integration of aircraft and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors and contractor logistics support for foreign military fleets of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. The 13-year contract includes a 10-year ordering period followed by an additional three-year period of performance. Work on the contract will be performed at awardee facilities and Foreign Military Sales locations.

08:07 EDT Teva and Bioeq in commercial pact for biosimilars - Teva Pharmaceutical and Bioeq AG announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership for the exclusive commercialization of Bioeq's FYB201, a biosimilar candidate to Lucentis, ranibizumab, in Europe, Canada, Israel and New Zealand. This strategic partnership combines Teva's long-standing commercial presence, extensive distribution network and wide-reaching sales and marketing activities across Europe and international markets with Bioeq's capabilities in the development of biosimilar drugs for highly regulated countries with stringent quality standards. Bioeq has in-licensed the exclusive global commercialization rights to FYB201 from the German biosimilar developer Formycon AG. "Unlocking the value of biologics with biosimilars is an important new frontier in drug development that offers patients safe and effective treatment options through more affordable alternatives to branded biological products that have lost their exclusivity rights," says Sven Dethlefs, PhD, Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Portfolio and International Markets Commercial. "This collaboration expands Teva's biosimilar portfolio and again demonstrates the company's firm commitment to creating greater access to quality medications to help improve the lives of more patients." ...According to the terms of the agreement, Bioeq will be responsible for the development, registration and supply of the biosimilar, while Teva will be responsible for commercializing the product. Teva and Bioeq will share revenue from the commercialization of the biosimilar. All other financial terms and product details remain confidential.

08:06 EDT Hoth Therapeutics says BioLexa 'well tolerated' in Phase 1b trial - Hoth Therapeutics announced the safety results in Cohort 1 of its first in human clinical trial of the proprietary BioLexa platform to treat atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema. BioLexa has been administered twice per day for 14 days to the first ten subjects within Cohort 1; The interim safety review indicates that BioLexa was well tolerated with no serious adverse events and no drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events observed. "Today's announcement represents a significant milestone for Hoth," stated Robb Knie, CEO of Hoth Therapeutics. "We are very pleased by the Cohort 1 results and are proceeding as planned with submission and enrollment for Cohort 2 with atopic dermatitis patients later this year."

08:05 EDT Qad Inc. to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $87.50 per share - Qad Inc. (QADA) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo, a private equity investment firm, in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of approximately $2B. Under the terms of the agreement, QAD shareholders will receive $87.50 per share of Class A Common Stock or Class B common stock in cash. Upon completion of the transaction, Qad will become a private company. Anton Chilton will continue to lead QAD as CEO, and the company will maintain its headquarters in Santa Barbara, California. The QAD board of directors formed a special committee composed entirely of independent directors to conduct a process and negotiate the transaction with the assistance of independent financial and legal advisors. Following the special committee's unanimous recommendation, members of the QAD board other than Lopker, who recused herself, unanimously approved the merger agreement with Thoma Bravo, and recommend that Qad shareholders adopt and approve the merger agreement and the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in Q4, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the approval of owners of the majority of QAD shares not held by Lopker, her affiliates and other directors and officers of the company. Following closing of the transaction, Lopker intends to retain a significant ownership interest in the company and will continue to serve on the Qad board.

08:04 EDT Kate Cronin to join Moderna as Chief Brand Officer on July 12 - Moderna (MRNA) announced that Kate Cronin will join Moderna as Chief Brand Officer effective Monday, July 12. She will serve on Moderna's Executive Committee and report to Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel. "I am thrilled to welcome Kate to Moderna as our Chief Brand Officer and to the Executive Committee. Kate has an impressive track record of strategic planning and execution while using creativity and a digital-first mindset to create integrated, best-in-class campaigns for global commercial biopharmaceutical companies," said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "Kate is joining the team during a time of rapid growth as we continue to scale up. I look forward to partnering with her to amplify Moderna's story and the promise of mRNA science for patients." Ms. Cronin joins Moderna from Ogilvy Health, part of WPP (WPP), where she served as Global CEO. In this role, she led the full spectrum of Ogilvy Health's core capabilities including public relations and influence, brand strategy, advertising, medical education, market access, and patient and consumer engagement. Additionally, Ms. Cronin grew Ogilvy's business in the health and wellness arena, encompassing a broad portfolio including pharmaceuticals, consumer health, insurance, hospitals, health technology and medical devices. Ms. Cronin led integrated campaigns involving social, digital, brand and public relations for Ogilvy's largest, long-term health clients including BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck and Pfizer.

08:03 EDT Esperion appoints JoAnne Micale Foody as CMO - ESPERION (ESPR) announced the appointment of JoAnne Micale Foody, MD, FACC, FAHA as Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. She will serve as a member of the executive team and report to Sheldon Koenig, President and CEO. Foody joins ESPERION after six years with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), where she served in roles of increasing responsibility within the company's Janssen Pharmaceutical Company division.

07:59 EDT Inovalon appoints Eron Kelly as corporate president - Inovalon (INOV) announced the appointment of Eron Kelly as its Corporate President. As Inovalon's Corporate President, Mr. Kelly will be responsible for the management, operation, and results of the Company's multiple business units, their respective growth, product offerings, value achievement, and performance, as well as related support of customer and strategic relationships, total customer experience, and industry leadership. Prior to joining Inovalon, Mr. Kelly was an executive at Amazon (AMZN) where he served as the General Manager of World-Wide Product Marketing for Amazon Web Services.

07:59 EDT Seaspan announces newbuild order for six 15,000 TEU containerships - Seaspan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp., announced that it has entered into an agreement with a major shipyard for six 15,000 TEU modern newbuild containerships with anticipated deliveries beginning late in the first quarter and extending through the end of the second quarter of 2024. The six high-quality 15,000 TEU containerships will be scrubber-fitted. Upon completion, the Vessels will enter long-term charters with a leading global liner customer.

07:55 EDT QAD Inc. trading halted, news pending

07:50 EDT Lexagene Holdings engages LaVoieHealthScience as IR, PR agency of record - LexaGene Holdings announced it has retained LaVoieHealthScience as its investor and public relations agency of record. LHS will work side-by-side with LexaGene's senior management, marketing, and financial teams to implement a comprehensive suite of IR and PR services and counsel to help the Company gain visibility among the investment community, as it charts a course toward a potential up-listing to the Nasdaq Stock Market in the United States. The Company and LHS act at arm's length and fees paid by the Company to LHS are for its services only. Neither Ms. LaVoie or LHS holds interest, directly or indirectly, in LexaGene Holdings, Inc. or its securities, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest. LexaGene will make monthly payments of $18,000 to LHS for services rendered.

07:39 EDT OpGen's Ares Genetics presents R&D pipeline updates - OpGen announced that its subsidiary Ares Genetics, which strives to become a leader in bacterial genomics and AI-powered prediction of antimicrobial resistance , presented an update on the company's R&D pipeline during two virtual seminars held on May 22 and on May 24, 2021. After having recently announced the development of a target enrichment-based, culture free genomic assay for the comprehensive surveillance of AMR pathogens, Dr. Arne Materna, CEO of Ares Genetics, now presented preliminary data of an ongoing multicenter validation of long-read nanopore sequencing of clinical isolates. With the economic burden of AMR and more importantly the associated fatalities projected to increase globally, the WHO and national public health organizations continue to emphasize the importance of improving antibiotic stewardship through use of technologies and interventions that promote the optimal use of effective antibiotics and avoid the overuse of antibiotics. Sequencing based technologies for AMR surveillance play an important role in informing the choice of appropriate first-line antibiotic treatment options. During the virtual seminars, Dr. Materna pointed out the importance of extending surveillance efforts especially into low- to mid- income countries where there is potential for becoming host to AMR outbreaks. In order to democratize genomic outbreak surveillance, new sequencing technologies are required that can meet the criteria for lower cost, lower workflow complexity and faster turnaround times to facilitate such technology adoption in these low- to mid- income countries. Ares Genetics is currently offering its expertise in isolate sequencing services and the AREScloud software for the analysis and interpretation of pathogen genome data. Ares' isolate sequencing, currently relying mostly on Illumina technology, is fully validated and highly accurate with demonstrated accuracies of 100% for pathogen identification, genotyping and multi-locus sequence typing, and 99.76% for AMR marker detection. In order to enable accurate isolate sequencing at a lower cost, faster turnaround time, and reduced complexity for laboratories, Ares Genetics is conducting a multicenter validation of the nanopore sequencing platform by Oxford Nanopore Technology in combination with AREScloud for data analysis. Preliminary results presented by Dr. Materna confirm the robust performance of pathogen genome assemblies based on ONT data, an important prerequisite for AREScloud based data interpretation and predictive AST. While error rates were consistently higher for ONT data than for the de facto standard platform Illumina, and while variability in data quality among participating laboratories could be observed, the quality of the resulting genome assemblies remained consistently high. As a consequence, the AREScloud assisted conversion of ONT data into clinically and epidemiologically relevant information proved highly accurate for participating labs, with average accuracies of consistently 100% for pathogen identification, up to 97% for AMR marker detection, and up to 100% for predictive AST. In addition to adding ONT sequencing to the Ares NGS service portfolio, Dr. Materna announced that "the company is planning to assess the performance and utility of ONT-based isolate sequencing for clinical routine use in collaboration with a major US academic hospital. In order to facilitate the workflow adoption in laboratories worldwide, results of the multicenter validation and subsequent clinical study are targeted to be published along with the validation protocols in a peer reviewed scientific journal."

07:37 EDT Commercial Vehicle Group to join Russell 2000 Index - CVG announced that as part of the annual reconstitution of the Russell stock indexes, CVG has been selected to be added to the Russell 2000 index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the U.S. market opens today, June 28, 2021.

07:36 EDT Postal Realty Trust announces inclusion in Russell 2000 Index - Postal Realty Trust announced it was added to the Russell 2000 Index and the broad-market Russell 3000 Index effective after the market opens on June 28,. "We are pleased to be included in the Russell 2000 Index, one of the most widely cited performance benchmarks for emerging companies," said Andrew Spodek, CEO of Postal Realty Trust. "This is another milestone for Postal Realty

07:35 EDT Heat Biologics joins Russell Microcap Index - Heat Biologics announced that it has been added to the Russell Microcap Index, following the annual Russell indexes reconstitution, effective after the US market opens today, June 28, 2021, according to a final list of additions posted on June 25, 2021.

07:34 EDT Palatin names Michael Raizman, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer - Palatin Technologies announced the strengthening of its senior leadership team with three key executive management appointments: Michael Raizman, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer; James Hattersley as Senior Vice President of Business Development; and, J. Don Wang, Ph.D. as Vice President of Product Development. In addition to joining Palatin, Dr. Raizman is a physician with Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and a Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, with a specialized knowledge and expertise in the field of ophthalmology, including development and clinical evaluation of candidate pharmaceutical products for ocular diseases.

07:32 EDT BOQI International Medical announces corporate name change - BIMI International Medical announced that on June 15 the shareholders of the company approved an amendment to the company's certificate of incorporation to change the Company's name from BOQI International Medical Inc. to BIMI International Medical Inc. The company's common stock traded under the new name and the same symbol "BIMI". Accordingly, the company filed a Certificate of Amendment to the Company's certificate of incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, which became effective on June 21. The bylaws of the company have also been updated with the new name.

07:32 EDT SeaWorld names Tom Iven as COO, effective June 28 - SeaWorld (SEAS) announced the appointment of Tom Iven to the position of COO, effective June 28. SeaWorld's Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment. Prior to joining the company, Iven served as Senior Vice President of Park Operations for Six Flags Entertainment (SIX). Walter Bogumil's employment as COO has been terminated effective June 27.

07:29 EDT Nasdaq welcomed 395 IPOs, 14 exchange transfers in 1H21 - Nasdaq announced that in the first half of 2021 it welcomed 395 initial public offerings, raising a total of $103 billion, extending its leadership to 30 consecutive quarters. A total of 160 operating companies listed during the first six months of 2021, representing a 78% win rate in the U.S. market. In addition to the IPOs, 14 companies transferred their corporate listing to Nasdaq, including Honeywell. Furthermore, history was made as Nasdaq welcomed Coinbase, the largest direct listing among all exchanges with $65 billion in market cap. Through the first two quarters of 2021, Nasdaq-listed companies raised 61% of all IPO proceeds, including seven of the ten largest IPOs by proceeds raised: Bumble, Applovin, Shoals Technologies, Playtika, Qualtrics, Oatly, and TuSimple.

07:25 EDT Amryt Pharma announces publication of circular related to Chiasma acquisition - Amryt (AMYT) announced that: further to the Company's announcement on 5 May 2021 in relation to the proposed acquisition of Chiasma (CHMA), a circular containing notice of a general meeting to be held at the Company's headquarters at 45 Mespil Road, Dublin 4, Ireland at 2:00 p.m. on 28 July 2021, concerning the Transaction has been posted to the Company's shareholders; and the Company's annual report for the 12 months ended 31 December 2020, will be posted to shareholders in the coming days, along with a notice of general meeting. This meeting will be held at the Company's headquarters at 45 Mespil Road, Dublin 4, Ireland at 1:30 p.m. on 28 July 2021. Copies of the Circular and the Company's annual report for the 12 months ended 31 December 2020, and the notice for each of the General Meetings, when posted, will also be available on the Company's website. The Circular provides important information about Amryt, Chiasma and the Transaction. Completion of the Transaction is expected in the third quarter of 2021 and is subject to the receipt of approvals from the shareholders and stockholders of Amryt and Chiasma, respectively. The Transaction has been approved and recommended by the boards of directors of both Amryt and Chiasma and is endorsed and supported by voting agreements with lead security holders of both businesses - Athyrium Capital Management, LP, Highbridge Capital Management and MPM Capital. Under the terms of the Transaction, each share of Chiasma common stock issued and outstanding prior to the consummation of the Transaction will be exchanged for 0.396 Amryt American Depositary Shares, each representing the right to receive five Amryt ordinary shares. Based on the reference price of Amryt ADSs as of the time of final determination of the exchange ratio of $12.95 on Nasdaq on May 4, 2021, the last full trading day before the public announcement of the proposed transaction, the implied per share value of Chiasma common stock was approximately $5.13 per share or $339.2 million in total equity value, assuming the treasury stock method. The enterprise value as of May 4, 2021, the last full trading day before the public announcement of the proposed transaction, implied by the proposed transaction was approximately $268.9 million. The enterprise value implied by the Transaction is calculated incorporating Chiasma's publicly stated debt and debt like items and less Chiasma's cash, in each case as of the last publicly reported March 31, 2021 balance sheet date. Using the treasury stock method for share options, warrants and restricted stock units, Amryt holders prior to the close of the Transaction will own approximately 60% of the combined company post-closing and Chiasma holders prior to the close of the Transaction will own approximately 40% of the combined company post-closing, assuming Amryt's outstanding convertible debentures are not converted. Amryt expects the Transaction to accelerate and diversify Amryt's growing revenues and deliver estimated annual cost synergies of approximately $50 million. The Transaction will create a leading rare and orphan disease company with significant scale, an attractive mix of established cash-flow generating and long-term growth products and a diversified development pipeline.

07:21 EDT Zentalis expects interim results of Phase 1 trial of ZN-d5 in 1H22 - The Phase 1 monotherapy dose-escalation trial, initiated in 4Q 2020, has enrolled 14 patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma thus far in the fifth dose cohort. Additionally, no dose-limiting toxicities have been identified. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia will begin enrollment in 3Q 2021. Interim results from this Phase 1 trial are expected in 1H 2022.

07:20 EDT Zentalis reports additional data on ZN-c5 in breast cancer - The company said, "Based on the interim results from multiple ongoing trials, ZN-c5 has demonstrated the potential to support best-in-class tolerability in both monotherapy and combination settings, with strong clinical results observed. As of May 11, 2021, the following data were collected: Monotherapy Trials: In total, 56 patients with 2 median prior lines of treatment were evaluated for safety and efficacy. Across all doses from 50 mg QD to 300 mg QD, the observed CBR was 33% and the ORR was 5%. ZN-c5 generated 2 PRs at the 150 mg and 300 mg doses. Adverse events were found in less than 10% of the patients and there were no observed cases of bradycardia, visual disturbances, QTC or dizziness. Of note, treatment related diarrhea adverse event rate was 3.6%, with only grade 1 or 2 events observed. The Phase 2 monotherapy trial has been initiated and Zentalis may take multiple doses into this study. An oral dose of 50 mg QD demonstrated a CBR of 40%, with many patients in this dose cohort remaining on study drug and in the trial. Final determination of the monotherapy RP2D will occur following completion of this 50 mg QD dose cohort. Combination Dose Escalation Trials with Pfizer's CDK4/6 Palbociclib and Lilly's CDK4 and 6 Abemaciclib: Tolerability data for ZN-c5 suggests it could be best-in-class in oral SERDS, making this candidate ideal for further evaluation in combination. The two separate trials will continue to enroll patients and the Company expects to report interim results in 1H 2022 from one or more of these trials. Window of Opportunity Trial: The Window of Opportunity trial demonstrated ER degradation across all doses tested."

07:19 EDT Alcoa sells land in Maryland for $100M - Alcoa announced that it has completed a sale of land in the state of Maryland for $100M in cash. The 2,100-acre property covers more than three square miles in Frederick County, Maryland and once served as the site of the former Eastalco smelter, which permanently closed in 2010. The sale transaction, completed on June 23, was between Eastalco Aluminum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa Corporation, and a joint venture between Quantum Loophole and TPG Real Estate Partners. Since the smelter's closure, Alcoa has worked to prepare the site for redevelopment, including removing former facilities, completing all required remediation activities, and grading the site's land for new business opportunities. In Q2, Alcoa expects to record a gain of approximately $90M from this transaction. Consistent with prior transactions, Alcoa reflects gains or losses from non-core asset sales as special items.

07:17 EDT Renalytix AI announces new data on KidneyIntelX - Renalytix announces new data demonstrating KidneyIntelX can be effective at monitoring therapeutic response and improvements in kidney health over time in adults with type 2 diabetes. The data from an international study of 1,100 individuals with diabetic kidney disease in the CANagliflozin Cardiovascular Assessment Study, was presented at the American Diabetes Association 81st Scientific Sessions Virtual Meeting. These results will be further evaluated through a growing body of real-world evidence and clinical effectiveness data driven by the KidneyIntelX multi-institutional study network in over 6,000 patients. The network is assessing the ability of KidneyIntelX to appropriately risk stratify patients in early stage kidney disease; help guide the optimal medication regimen based on individualized risk assessment; and monitor therapeutic response and kidney health using repeat testing over time. KidneyIntelX is being deployed to manage DKD populations beginning at primary care level in partnership with large health care systems including the University of Utah, the Mount Sinai Health System, and Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health. The oral presentation titled, "Longitudinal Changes in KidneyIntelX and Association with Progressive Decline in Kidney Function in the CANVAS Trial," was presented at the American Diabetes Association 81st Scientific Sessions Virtual Meeting. The new analysis based on data from the CANVAS trial demonstrated that canagliflozin reduced the KidneyIntelX risk score compared with a placebo over time, and that changes in the KidneyIntelX score from baseline to one year were strongly prognostic for future risk of DKD progression, whether the changes were treatment-induced or due to natural disease progression. These data are the second output in a series of analyses of the CANVAS cohort in conjunction with Janssen Research and Development including the role of KidneyIntelX in treatment decisions and monitoring therapeutic effect. The first set of results were presented earlier this year in April at the World Congress of Nephrology which demonstrated that KidneyIntelX is effective in identifying high risk patients with DKD who are more likely to benefit from aggressive pharmaceutical management to slow progression.

07:16 EDT Applied Therapeutics added to Russell Microcap Index - Applied Therapeutics announced that the Company has joined the Russell Microcap Index. The newly reconstituted index took effect after the market close on Friday, June 25, 2021.

07:15 EDT Finch Therapeutics added to Russell 2000, Russell 3000 Indexes - Finch Therapeutics Group announced that it was added to the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 Indexes as part of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution that took effect after the market close on June 25, 2021.

07:14 EDT Compass Pathways completes COMp360 psilocybin administration for 216 patients - COMPASS Pathways announced toay that it has completed psilocybin administration to the target 216 patients in its phase IIb clinical trial of COMP360 psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression. The trial is a randomized controlled, double-blinded, dose-ranging study, investigating the safety and efficacy of psilocybin therapy and comparing a 25mg and 10mg dose of COMP360 psilocybin with a 1mg dose, administered in conjunction with psychological support from specially trained therapists. The 216th patient in the trial had their psilocybin session late last week. The number of patients included in the final analysis will be approximately 230, with all psilocybin sessions expected to be completed by 8 July. Patients are followed-up for 12 weeks after their psilocybin session. COMPASS remains on track to report data in late 2021.

07:12 EDT Precision BioSciences, SpringsWorks dose 1st patient in PBCAR269A trial - Precision BioSciences (DTIL) and SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc. (SWTX) announced that the first patient has been dosed in the combination arm of Precision's Phase 1/2a trial evaluating PBCAR269A. In the study, Precision's investigational allogeneic BCMA-targeted CAR T cell therapy will be combined with nirogacestat, SpringWorks' investigational gamma secretase inhibitor (GSI), in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. "We are pleased to begin dosing patients in the combination arm of our ongoing Phase 1/2a study evaluating PBCAR269A, our first-generation allogeneic CAR T candidate targeting BCMA in patients with R/R multiple myeloma. BCMA is a well-established therapeutic target for multiple myeloma and this arm of the study pairs PBCAR269A with SpringWorks' nirogacestat, a gamma secretase inhibitor, a combination intended to offer strong mechanistic rationale for clinical benefit," said Alan List, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Precision BioSciences. "As we look forward to sharing interim monotherapy data for PBCAR269A later this year, we are also conducting IND enabling studies to advance PBCAR269B, an immune-evading, stealth cell formulation into the clinic in 2022. We have high conviction in both our technology and BCMA as a target and we are pursuing a broad, data-driven strategy to inform our future development plans for this indication." "We are pleased to advance this combination into the clinic so we can evaluate if nirogacestat paired with PBCAR269A offers a safe and efficacious treatment option for patients with multiple myeloma," said Saqib Islam, Chief Executive Officer of SpringWorks Therapeutics. "We have made significant progress in developing nirogacestat as a cornerstone of BCMA combination therapy across modalities and look forward to generating clinical data with all of our partners."

07:11 EDT Galera Therapeutics completes enrollment of phase 3 trial of avasopasem - Galera Therapeutics announced completion of enrollment in its pivotal Phase 3 ROMAN trial of avasopasem manganese for the treatment of severe oral mucositis in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer undergoing standard-of-care radiotherapy. This achievement has triggered a $37.5M milestone payment from funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences to Galera under the amended royalty agreement. The ROMAN trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 455 patients designed to evaluate the ability of avasopasem to reduce radiation-induced SOM in patients with locally advanced HNC, receiving seven weeks of standard-of-care radiotherapy plus cisplatin. Patients were randomized to one of the two treatment groups to receive 90 mg of avasopasem or placebo by infusion on the days they receive their radiation treatment. The primary endpoint of the trial is the reduction in the incidence of SOM through the radiotherapy period. Secondary endpoints include the reduction in the severity of SOM and the number of days patients experience SOM. The FDA has granted Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy Designation to avasopasem for the reduction of SOM induced by radiotherapy, with or without systemic therapy.

07:10 EDT Clene added to Russell 2000 Index - Clene announced that it has been added as a member of the U.S. small-cap Russell 2000 Index and the all-cap Russell 3000 Index, effective after the U.S. market opens today, June 28, 2021, as part of the 2021 Russell indexes reconstitution.

07:09 EDT Tonix Pharmaceuticals added to Russell 2000, Russell 3000 Indexes - Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced that Tonix was added to the broad-market Russell 3000 index and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, effective after the U.S. market opens today, June 28, 2021, as part of the annual reconstitution of the Russell stock indexes.

07:07 EDT Rockwell Medical files pre-IND meeting request with FDA for FPC trial - Rockwell Medical announced that it has submitted a pre-IND meeting request with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in support of its proposed Phase 2 clinical trial of Ferric Pyrophosphate Citrate, designed for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and maintenance of hemoglobin in patients receiving infusion therapy in the home setting.

07:07 EDT Adamis Pharmaceuticals issues letter to stockholders regarding Tempol treatment - Adamis Pharmaceuticals issued the below letter to stockholders. The letter said, "The Board of Directors (the "Board") appreciates your continued investment in Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation ("Adamis" or the "Company"). Ahead of our Annual Meeting of Stockholders on July 16th (the "Annual Meeting"), we want to once again urge you to vote to re-elect all five members of the Board. We believe maintaining continuity in the boardroom is critical as Adamis focuses on driving pipeline progress and initiating its phase 2/3 trial for examining the effectiveness of Tempol in the treatment of COVID-19. We recognize that the road to value creation in the biotechnology industry often includes detours and hurdles. Like many other companies pursuing new drugs and treatments for complex diseases and conditions, Adamis has certainly encountered its own disappointments and setbacks in the course of working to develop, secure approvals for and commercialize our products. The Board is grateful to you for sticking with us - and we want you to know we are listening to you and learning from your feedback... Notably, we believe our role in trying to fight the pandemic is becoming even more vital now that the Delta variant is rapidly spreading across the globe. We believe our efforts related to Tempol are providing us with a unique opportunity to pursue value for society and our stockholders. The Board is focused on this opportunity. Regrettably, Jerald A. Hammann - an opportunistic holder of 1,000 shares with no biopharmaceutical expertise, no public company experience and no articulated strategy - is continuing to wage costly litigation and is attempting to run a slate of directors to take control of the Board at this year's Annual Meeting. Mr. Hammann is doing this despite the fact that the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled against his effort to enjoin the Company from sending you our proxy materials, soliciting your votes and holding our Annual Meeting as currently scheduled. We contend that Mr. Hammann's seemingly unlawful, disingenuous and disruptive efforts are a threat to Adamis and its stockholders. The Board urges stockholders to reject Mr. Hammann's campaign of attacks, distortions and mischaracterizations. Mr. Hammann has no plan or relevant operating background in the biotechnology industry. It is not the time to veer off the Company's path and risk undermining initiatives pertaining to Tempol and our other product initiatives. Once again, we thank you for your investment in Adamis. We encourage you to vote on the WHITE proxy card to elect our full five-member slate and help us sustain the Company's momentum."

07:06 EDT Anavex announces results of ANAVEX 2-73 in phase 2 clinical trial - Anavex Life Sciences reported that the predictive biomarker of response established with SIGMAR1 mRNA expression correlates significantly with responses in primary and secondary clinical efficacy endpoints from the proof-of-concept randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial that randomized 132 patients with Parkinson's disease dementia. Data suggests that activation of SIGMAR1 results in the restoration of complete housekeeping function within the body and is pivotal to restoring neural cell homeostasis and promoting neuroplasticity. ANAVEX 2-73 treatment resulted in significant mRNA expression increase of SIGMAR1, the gene encoding for the receptor targeted by ANAVEX 2-73, which correlated with clinical efficacy as measured by primary cognitive efficacy endpoints, CDR system Continuity of Attention and CDR system Power of Attention, and secondary Parkinson's efficacy endpoints Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale 4, MDS-UPDRS Part III and MDS-UPDRS Total. ANAVEX 2-73 high dose demonstrated statistically significant improvements compared to placebo for MDS-UPDRS Total score. From baseline to end of trial at 14 weeks, MDS-UPDRS Total score improved by -10.98 points in the ANAVEX 2-73 high dose group and worsened by 3.53 points in the placebo group, an adjusted mean difference of -14.51 points. This corresponds to a relative improvement of 18.9% over 14 weeks. This exceeds an empirically established cutoff score of -7.1 for detecting meaningful clinical change. Treatment with ANAVEX 2-73 not only slows the progression of motor and non-motor symptoms in moderately advanced patients with Parkinson's. ANAVEX 2-73 also resulted in clinically meaningful improvements as measured by the global composite score of Parkinson's disease symptom severity, MDS-UPDRS Total score on top of standard of care including dopaminergic therapy, levodopa and other anti-PD medications after 14 weeks of treatment, suggesting ANAVEX 2-73's global capability of slowing and reversing symptoms that progress in Parkinson's disease, an urgent unmet medical need. Sleep was a tracked variable both subjectively and objectively including sleep continuity or incidence of sleep disorders symptoms. ANAVE 2-73 does not impair sleep and has a positive effect on REM sleep behavior disorder. Previously reported cognitive outcome measures from this study relevant to Alzheimer's disease presented at CTAD 2020 observed statistically significant improvement of CDR system Episodic Memory of +42.22 between ANAVEX 2-73 high dose and placebo, which was dose-dependent. ANAVEX 2-73 is currently being tested in late-stage placebo-controlled ANAVEX 2-73 Phase 2b/3 clinical Alzheimer's disease study, which recently completed enrollment, and is utilizing the same dosing regimen as in the above-described completed Parkinson's disease dementia study with differentiated patient selection criteria. With this biomarker-correlating efficacy data of this proof-of-concept Phase 2 13 study in patients with Parkinson's disease dementia, data will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to seek regulatory guidance. Data from this study will be submitted later this year for presentation at a scientific medical meeting.

07:04 EDT Bio-Techne announces opening of new Ireland facility - Bio-Techne announced the opening of its new Ireland facility located in Dublin. This new facility reflects Bio-Techne's commitment to supporting the broader life sciences industry in Europe as well as expectations for continued growth and staffing needs in this geography. The Dublin facility is responsible for servicing Bio-Techne's growing number of European-based academic and biopharma customers with the company's full portfolio of life science tools and diagnostic reagents, with the new site serving as the region's primary distribution hub. The 25,000 square foot facility strengthens Bio-Techne's supply chain, positioning the company to address the growing demand for its portfolio of life science reagents and proteomic analytical tools.

07:03 EDT Golden Star Resources revises 2021 production guidance - The company stated, "As previously highlighted in the Q1 2021 financial and operating results press release, the commissioning process for the new paste fill plant returned lower than expected strength test results in the first test stope. This outcome has resulted in a delay to the commissioning process. Further test work and analysis is being carried out to ensure that the paste plant produces material at the required strength to enable safe mining operations and successful pillar extraction. This test work is ongoing and positive progress has been made, with the most recent strength results more aligned with the design parameters. These need to be confirmed, and given the long testing cycles, we now estimate that the commissioning process will be completed in Q4 2021. As a result, the secondary stopes planned for mining in 2021 have been deferred to 2022, when we expect to extract the secondary stope material as intended. The delay to the commissioning of the paste plant impacts 21% of our planned ore tonnes for 2021. This impact has been exacerbated by the lower than planned development metres, as reported in the Q1 update, primarily due to operator availability caused by COVID-19 related issues. The resolution of both issues is on track for completion in 2021. However, resequencing the mine plan for this year means that the volume of ore available will be lower than initially planned at a slightly lower grade due to the loss of the higher-grade secondary stopes. Production guidance is now reduced to 145-155 thousand ounces, and the all-in sustaining cost is now increased to $1,150-1,250 per ounce. The capital expenditure guidance range is unchanged at $45-50m. The $14M exploration budget for the year is in line with the previous guidance, albeit with an increase in the allocation of spend to the up-dip and down-dip, in-mine, drilling targets that have delivered positive results so far this year."

07:03 EDT Rezolute added to Russell Microcap Index - Rezolute has been added to the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on June 28.

07:02 EDT Six Flags offers $500-$1,000 bonuses to seasonal employees - Six Flags announced it is rewarding its team members with extra cash this summer. Seasonal team members employed as of July 1, and who work through September 6, can earn up to an additional $500-$1,000 or more.

07:01 EDT Syndax: FDA grants Fast Track Designation to SNDX-5613 - Syndax announced that the U.S. FDA has granted Fast Track Designation to SNDX-5613 for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemias harboring a mixed lineage leukemia rearranged or nucleophosmin mutation. SNDX-5613 is the company's highly selective, oral menin inhibitor.

06:46 EDT Ocwen set to join Russell 2000, Russell 3000 Indexes - Ocwen Financial announced that it is set to join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 Indexes at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective at the opening of the U.S. equity markets on Monday, June 28.

06:35 EDT MediciNova to conduct mouse study to develop MN-166 - MediciNova announced it will conduct a mouse study to investigate the efficacy of MN-166 in a murine model of chlorine-induced lung injury and lethality. After mice are exposed to chlorine gas and treated with MN-166 or control, the study will evaluate survival, clinical outcomes, body weights, lung weights, and upper respiratory tract histopathology. This mouse study and the sheep study announced recently are the result of a partnership between MediciNova and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to repurpose MN-166 as a potential medical countermeasure against chlorine gas-induced lung damage such as acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury.

06:31 EDT Ault Global Holdings to acquire up to 40% of Adtech Pharma for $3M - Ault Global Holdings announced it has entered into a securities purchase agreement to acquire up to 40% of the current equity in Adtech Pharma for $3M. Adtech is a biotech firm that has developed a novel formulation of a sole-sourced synthetic cannabinoid therapeutic targeting glaucoma. Adtech believes that there is a worldwide marketplace of over $4B in annual sales for glaucoma eye drop therapeutics.

06:16 EDT Vista Gold receives final $1M Guadalupe de los Reyes payment - Vista Gold announced receipt of the final $1M payment from Prime Mining Corp. As announced on June 15, 2020, Prime Mining was required to pay Vista $2.1M in lieu of Vista being granted certain royalties and back-in rights relating to the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold / silver project in Mexico. The first payment of $1.1M was paid in January 2021. With this $1M payment, Vista has no remaining right to be granted the royalties and back-in rights. Frederick Earnest, President and CEO of Vista, commented, "We are pleased to receive this final payment and successfully complete this agreement with Prime Mining."

06:09 EDT Kennedy Wilson enters new JV with global institutional investor - Kennedy Wilson has entered into a new joint venture with a global institutional investor to acquire and manage core-plus multifamily communities in the Western U.S. The platform was seeded with an $800M portfolio, including nine multifamily properties located in the Western U.S. that were previously wholly owned by Kennedy Wilson. As part of the transaction, Kennedy Wilson sold a 49% interest in these wholly owned assets to its partner. Kennedy Wilson will continue to have a 51% ownership stake in the new joint venture that will target approximately $700M in additional core-plus acquisition opportunities. The creation of the new platform and the sale of the ownership stake in the multifamily assets generated approximately $254M in proceeds for Kennedy Wilson, which includes $92M of proceeds from refinancing certain assets within the seed portfolio prior to the sale. The majority of these proceeds are expected to be reinvested into new wholly owned acquisitions.

06:07 EDT Synnex enters agreement with SDV Solutions - SDV Solutions announced it has entered into an agreement with Synnex. Under this agreement, Synnex will provide its resellers with SDV Solutions' third party multi-vendor, or TPM, support and hardware maintenance tailored to fit any Federal Government agency's requirements.

06:04 EDT CAE gets approval to acquire L3Harris Technologies military training business - CAE (CAE)announced that it has received all the required regulatory approvals for the previously announced acquisition of L3Harris Technologies' (LHX) military training business for $1.05B subject to customary adjustments and expects closing to be complete on July 2. The company said, "The acquisition of L3Harris' Military Training business will expand CAE's position as a platform-agnostic training and simulation company serving the global defence and security market. The L3Harris Military Training business, which includes Link Simulation & Training, Doss Aviation and AMI, will be integrated with CAE USA. This will approximately double CAE's core military training business in the United States. The Acquisition will also serve to broaden CAE's ability to provide training and operational support solutions across multi-domain operations by diversifying CAE's training and simulation leadership in the air domain, complementing land and naval training solutions, and enhancing CAE's capabilities in space and cyber."

05:37 EDT Cnooc commences production of Weizhou 11-2 oilfield phase II project - Cnooc announced that Weizhou 11-2 oilfield phase II project has commenced production. The Weizhou 11-2 oilfield phase II project is located in Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea with water depth of about 40 meters. In addition to fully utilizing the existing processing facilities of Weizhou 11-2 oilfield, the project has built one unmanned wellhead platform. A total of 13 development wells are planned, including seven production wells and six water injection wells. The project is expected to reach its peak production of approximately 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2022. Cnooc holds 100% interest in Weizhou 11-2 oilfield phase II project and acts as the operator.

05:31 EDT McAfee extends partnership with Samsung - McAfee (MCFE) announced an extension of its partnership with Samsung (SSNLF) to protect consumers' personal data against online threats. Since 2017, McAfee has provided cross-device security to Samsung PC users worldwide via consumer security by McAfee LiveSafe. With this extension, Samsung PC users will be protected by McAfee LiveSafe from the time they turn on their device.

05:28 EDT Exelixis, Ipsen announce COSMIC-312 trial meets one primary endpoint - Exelixis (EXEL) and Ipsen (IPSEY) announced that COSMIC-312, the ongoing phase 3 pivotal trial evaluating cabozantinib in combination with atezolizumab versus sorafenib in patients with previously untreated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, met one of the primary endpoints, demonstrating improvement in progression-free survival, or PFS, at the planned primary analysis. A prespecified interim analysis for the second primary endpoint of overall survival, or OS, conducted at the same time as the primary analysis for PFS, showed a trend favoring the combination of cabozantinib and atezolizumab, but did not reach statistical significance. Based on the preliminary OS data, Exelixis anticipates that the probability of reaching statistical significance at the time of the final analysis is low. The trial will continue as planned to the final analysis of OS; results are anticipated in early 2022. In the analysis of the primary endpoint of PFS in the PFS intent-to-treat population, cabozantinib in combination with atezolizumab significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 37% compared with sorafenib. Safety for the combination appeared to be consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual medicines, and no new safety signals were identified. Exelixis plans to discuss the trial results and next steps for a potential regulatory filing with the FDA.

05:22 EDT Nokia, Vodafone Turkey complete clear-channel IP interface trial - Nokia (NOK) announced it has successfully completed a trial with Vodafone (VOD) Turkey, linking Asia and Europe with the first intercontinental 1 terabit clear-channel IP interface. The network capacity is part of an ongoing modernization effort for Vodafone Turkey's IP architecture. Using Nokia's 7950 XRS routers with terabit interfaces powered by Nokia's FP4 chipset, the two companies could scale up the capacity of Vodafone Turkey's IP network in support of next generation applications and access technologies. Nokia's FP4 terabit linecard offers two 1T ports and demonstrated deployment readiness by carrying test traffic on Vodafone Turkey's network.

05:15 EDT Nvidia, Google Cloud partner to establish AI-on-5G Innovation Lab - Nvidia (NVDA) announced that it is partnering with Google Cloud (GOOGL) to establish the industry's first AI-on-5G Innovation Lab, enabling network infrastructure players and AI software partners to develop, test and adopt solutions that will help accelerate the creation of smart cities, smart factories and other advanced 5G and AI applications. The lab will provide enterprises with access to Google Cloud's Anthos platform and Nvidia accelerated computing hardware and software platforms that let them harness data and AI. The companies will begin development in the second half of the year. Nvidia announced in April it is teaming with Google Cloud, Fujitsu, Mavenir, Radisys and Wind River to develop solutions for Nvidia's AI-on-5G platform. Google Cloud is extending the Anthos application platform to the network edge, allowing telecommunications service providers and enterprises to deliver new services and applications at the 5G edge.

05:00 EDT Salvatore Ferragamo says Marco Gobbetti to join as CEO - Salvatore Ferragamo (SFRGY) announced that an agreement has been reached with Marco Gobbetti to join the company as General Manager and Chief Executive Officer. Gobbetti is the current CEO of Burberry (BURBY). Marco Gobbetti will take up the position as soon as he is released from his contractual obligations, Ferragamo said in a statement.