Stockwinners Market Radar for July 15, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:01 EDT EMA validates, accepts Hutchmed's MAA for surufatinib - Hutchmed announced that the European Medicines Agency has validated and accepted its marketing authorization application for surufatinib for the treatment of pancreatic and extra-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The EMA's validation confirms that the submission is sufficiently complete and that it is ready to commence the formal review process. The submission follows scientific advice from the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, from which it was concluded that the two positive Phase III studies of surufatinib in patients with pancreatic and extra-pancreatic NET in China, along with existing data from surufatinib in U.S. extra-pancreatic and pancreatic NET patients, could form the basis to support a MAA. The submission follows the acceptance of a new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as announced on July 1, 2021.

19:01 EDT FibroGen drops 31% to $17 after FDA panel recommends not approving roxadustat

18:55 EDT FibroGen trading resumes

18:29 EDT FibroGen says FDA panel recommends not approving roxadustat - FibroGen announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted to recommend not approving roxadustat, an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease in adult patients. The Committee based its recommendation on data from a global Phase 3 program encompassing more than 8,000 patients. While the FDA is not required to follow the Committee's vote, the agency considers the Committee's non-binding recommendations when making its decision. "While we are disappointed with today's outcome," said Enrique Conterno, Chief Executive Officer, FibroGen, "we believe the scientific evidence supports roxadustat approval in the U.S. and will work with the FDA as it completes its review of the New Drug Application for roxadustat." Roxadustat is approved in China, Japan, Chile, and South Korea for the treatment of anemia of CKD in both non-dialysis-dependent and dialysis-dependent adult patients and has received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, the European Medicines Agency's committee responsible for human medicines. Roxadustat, an oral small molecule hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, is the first HIF-PH inhibitor accepted by the FDA for review for the treatment of anemia of CKD. Roxadustat has the potential to transform treatment for anemia of CKD.

18:04 EDT Molson Coors reinstates regular quarterly dividend of 34c per share - Molson Coors Beverage Company announced the company will reinstate its practice of paying regular quarterly dividends, that it has paid off in full the $1B 2.1% senior notes due on July 15, 2021 and again reaffirmed its full year 2021 guidance. "Just over 18 months into our revitalization plan, we continue to execute and advance towards our long-term goal of sustainable topline growth," said Molson Coors President and CEO Gavin Hattersley. "Because of the work done through our revitalization plan, today we can reaffirm our full year guidance with confidence, while at the same time reinstating a dividend to enhance shareholder value and repaying $1 billion in bonds to continue deleveraging." After thorough benchmarking and analysis, the Molson Coors Board of Directors has made the decision to reinstate a dividend which they believe is sustainable and gives room for future increases as business performance improves. The Board declared a regular quarterly dividend on its Class A and Class B common shares of 34c per share, payable September 17, 2021, to shareholders of record on August 30, 2021. The quarterly dividend is payable to holders of Class A and Class B common stock of Molson Coors Beverage Company. In addition, Molson Coors Canada Inc., declared a quarterly dividend of approximately CDN$0.42 per share, payable September 17, 2021, to its Class A and Class B exchangeable shareholders of record on August 30, 2021. The dividends declared in respect of the Class A and Class B exchangeable shares are eligible dividends for Canadian tax purposes. The Board previously suspended its regularly quarterly dividend payment on May 21, 2020 because of the uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic.

17:55 EDT Pathfinder Acquisition Corporation (Class A Stock) trading resumes

17:24 EDT Moderna jumps 8% to $280.56 after inclusion in S&P 500

17:18 EDT Moderna to replace Alexion in S&P 500 at open on 7/21 - AstraZeneca (AZN) is acquiring Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) in a deal expected to be completed soon pending final closing conditions.

17:10 EDT Turquoise Hill Q2 copper production for Oyu Tolgoi down 19% from Q1 - Turquoise Hill Resources announced Q2 production for Oyu Tolgoi and provided an update on the Oyu Tolgoi mine. Q2 highlights included that open pit mining activities were impacted by personnel shortages due to COVID-19 restrictions. This resulted in an increase of lower-grade stockpile material being processed during the quarter. Copper production of 36,735 tonnes, in-line with Q2 2020 and a decrease of 19% vs Q1; and Gold production of 113,054 ounces, an increase of 263% vs Q2 2020 and a decrease of 22% vs Q1 2021 Q2 mill throughput was impacted by reduced personnel numbers due to COVID-19 in addition to planned maintenance activities. Consequently, Q2 2021 mill throughput of 9.4M tons 2% lower than Q2 2020 and 4% lower than Q1. Access to higher copper and gold grades from Phase 4B is expected to continue through the remainder of the year.

17:05 EDT Cheniere Energy signs long-term gas supply agreement with Tourmaline Oil - Cheniere Energy's subsidiary, Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage III, has entered into a long-term gas supply agreement with Tourmaline Oil Marketing, a subsidiary of Tourmaline Oil, the largest natural gas producer in Canada. Under the GSA, Tourmaline has agreed to sell 140,000 MMBtu per day of natural gas to Corpus Christi Stage III for a term of 15 years beginning in early 2023. The LNG associated with this gas supply, approximately 0.85 million tons per annum, will be marketed by Cheniere. Cheniere will pay Tourmaline an LNG-linked price for its gas, based on the Platts Japan Korea Marker, after deductions for fixed LNG shipping costs and a fixed liquefaction fee. Tourmaline Oil is acting as guarantor of the GSA on behalf of Tourmaline. This Integrated Production Marketing (IPM) transaction is expected to support the development of the Corpus Christi Stage III project. The Corpus Christi Stage III project is being developed to include up to seven midscale liquefaction trains with a total expected nominal production capacity of approximately 10 mtpa. It has received all necessary regulatory approvals.

17:03 EDT Petrofac signs contract for Halliburton DecisionSpace 365 - Halliburton (HAL) announced it signed a contract with Petrofac (POFCY) to adopt Digital Well Program, a DecisionSpace 365 cloud application to automate drilling, completions, and engineering processes. "The three-year contract will enable Petrofac to incorporate artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science to optimize its well engineering service offering," Halliburton said.

16:59 EDT Indus Realty Trust to acquire Lakeland, Florida building for $17.8M - Indus Realty Trust announced that it recently entered into an agreement to acquire, for a purchase price of $17.8M, a fully-leased, approximately 139,500 square foot industrial/logistics building in Lakeland, Florida, located along the I-4 corridor connecting the cities of Tampa and Orlando. Under the terms of the agreement, Indus expects to close on the Lakeland acquisition during Q3.

16:53 EDT DexCom receives FDA clearance for Dexcom Partner Web APIs - DexCom announced FDA clearance of the Dexcom Partner Web APIs, enabling invited third-party developers to integrate real-time CGM data into their digital health apps and devices.

16:43 EDT Vivint Smart Home partners with Freedom Forever for smart energy offering - Vivint Smart Home has entered into a strategic partnership with Freedom Forever, a residential solar system installers. Freedom Forever customers will have a Vivint smart home system professionally installed as the first step in the solar installation process, and Vivint customers will have an immediate opportunity to add clean energy production to their homes through Freedom Forever. Vivint is currently developing an integration that will allow the Vivint system to tell the homeowner through its panel interface and app how much energy the panels are producing and how much energy the home is consuming.

16:35 EDT Q2 global smart phone shipments up 12%, Samsung leads, Canalys says - Technology and smartphone researcher Canalys said in a research report that in Q2 2021, global smartphone shipments increased 12%, "as vaccines rolled out around the world, and the new normal for economies and citizens started to take shape. Samsung was the leading vendor with a 19% share of smartphones shipped. Xiaomi took second place for the first time ever, with a 17% share. Apple was third, with 14%, while Vivo and Oppo maintained strong growth momentum to complete the top five. "Xiaomi is growing its overseas business rapidly," said Canalys Research Manager Ben Stanton. "For example, its shipments increased more than 300% in Latin America, 150% Africa and 50% in Western Europe. And as it grows, it evolves. It is now transforming its business model from challenger to incumbent, with initiatives such as channel partner consolidation and more careful management of older stock in the open market. It is still largely skewed toward the mass market, however, and compared with Samsung and Apple, its average selling price is around 40% and 75% cheaper respectively. So a major priority for Xiaomi this year is to grow sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra. But it will be a tough battle, with Oppo and Vivo sharing the same objective, and both willing to spend big on above-the-line marketing to build their brands in a way that Xiaomi is not. All vendors are fighting hard to secure component supply amid global shortages, but Xiaomi already has its sights set on the next prize: displacing Samsung to become the world's largest vendor." Reference Link

16:34 EDT Pyxis Tankers takes delivery of medium range product tanker - Pyxis Tankers announced that it took delivery of the Pyxis Karteria, a medium range product tanker of 46,652 dwt built in 2013 at Hyundai Mipo shipyard in South Korea, pursuant to the previously announced transaction of April 29. The purchase was funded by a combination of cash and a $13.5M bank loan that matures in seven years and is secured by the vessel. It is anticipated that the tanker will be chartered in the spot market over the short term.

16:20 EDT MGP appoints Amel Pasagic as Chief Information Officer - MGP Ingredients has appointed Amel Pasagic to the newly-created position of Chief Information Officer. Pasagic recently joined MGP as VP, IT in connection with MGP's acquisition of Luxco and its affiliated companies, a branded beverage alcohol company. Prior to the acquisition, Pasagic served in a variety of IT leadership roles while at Luxco for 10 years. Before joining Luxco, Pasagic served in a variety of consulting roles across multiple business lines within healthcare, manufacturing and financial services while working for Alliance Systems and Programming.

16:18 EDT Decarbonization Plus stockholders approve combination with Hyzon Motors - Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation (DCRB) announced that its stockholders voted to approve the previously announced business combination with Hyzon Motors (HYZN), and all other proposals presented at the company's special meeting of stockholders held on July 15. Approximately 95% of the votes cast on the business combination proposal at the special meeting were in favor of approving the business combination. Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the other customary closing conditions, the business combination is expected to close on July 16, and DCRB will change its name from "Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation" to "Hyzon Motors Inc." Hyzon Motors' Class A common stock and Hyzon Motors' warrants are expected to commence trading on The Nasdaq under the symbols "HYZN" and "HYZNW", respectively, on July 19.

16:11 EDT Alcoa still expects 'strong' 2021 based on continued economic recovery - Alcoa continues to expect a strong 2021 based on the continued economic recovery and increased demand for aluminum in all end markets. The Company's Aluminum segment is forecasting double digit growth on year-over-year sales of value-add products. The Company's 2021 shipment outlook for all segments is expected to improve: Bauxite by 0.1 million dry metric tons to between 50.0 and 51.0 million dry metric tons; Alumina by 0.1 million metric tons to between 14.1 to 14.2 million metric tons; and Aluminum by 0.2 million metric tons to between 2.9 and 3.0 million metric tons. In the third quarter of 2021, Alcoa anticipates another strong quarter based on continuing forecasts for economic recovery and solid global demand across key end-use sectors. The Company also anticipates continuing inflationary pressure on raw materials and energy. Based on current alumina and aluminum market conditions, the Company expects third quarter tax expense to exceed $100 million, which may vary with market conditions and jurisdictional profitability. The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, and its magnitude and duration continue to be unknown. The Company continues to take appropriate measures to protect its employees and business from the risks of the pandemic by following all appropriate health-based protocols. Uncertainty around the pandemic's impact on the Company's business, financial condition, operating results, and cash flows could cause actual results to differ from this outlook.

16:09 EDT Oil-Dri Corporation of America to raise cat litter prices in Q1 - Oil-Dri Corporation of America announced that it is notifying customers of plans to raise prices of its cat litter products during the first quarter of fiscal year 2022. These pricing actions will apply to branded and private label cat litter products sold within the United States and Canada. Over the past year, the company has incurred significant increases in freight, packaging, materials, natural gas, and non-fuel manufacturing costs. Many key components used to mine, manufacture and ship its products continue to escalate. Oil-Dri has made considerable efforts to mitigate the impact of these cost pressures, but the company must implement these pricing actions in order to maintain the high quality of its products and service levels. Oil-Dri sales representatives will communicate specific details of the price increase to their customers directly.

16:07 EDT NewHold Investment Corp. shareholders approve combination with Evolv Technology - NewHold Investment Corp., publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced that its shareholders have approved all proposals related to the previously announced business combination with Evolv Technologies, Inc. at its Extraordinary General Meeting held today, Thursday, July 15, 2021. Approximately 89% of the votes cast at the meeting on the Business Combination proposal, representing approximately 69% of NewHold's outstanding shares, voted to approve the combination with Evolv. NewHold shareholders also voted overwhelmingly to approve the other proposals at the Special Meeting. The formal results of the vote will be included on a Form 8-K to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

16:06 EDT Lionsgate enters strategic alliance with Spyglass Media Group - Lionsgate has acquired the vast majority of the Spyglass Media Group feature film library of approximately 200 titles and formed a strategic content partnership with leading content creator Spyglass, the two companies announced. The agreement gives Lionsgate a 20% investment stake in the company whose major assets include the latest installment of the Scream blockbuster horror franchise to be released January 14, 2022, the hit movie The Upside, the iconic fashion competition series Project Runway, and the revival of the Hellraiser franchise, currently in pre-production. The agreement also includes a multiyear first-look television deal between Lionsgate Television and Spyglass. The library titles acquired by Lionsgate encompass a broad range of critically-acclaimed commercial blockbusters including Fruitvale Station, The King's Speech, Scream 4, Scary Movie 5, Spy Kids 4, Paddington, Silver Linings Playbook, Lee Daniel's The Butler and, adding to the Company's large and growing portfolio of Quentin Tarantino titles, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds and The Hateful Eight. Gary Barber will continue to lead Spyglass as its Chairman and CEO and Spyglass' senior leadership team will remain in their current roles.

16:03 EDT Calyxt names Michael Carr as CEO - Calyxt (CLXT) announced the appointment of Michael Carr as President and CEO, effective July 27. Carr will also serve as a member of Calyxt's Board of Directors. Carr was most recently the Vice President of M&A, Strategy, and Innovation at Darling Ingredients (DAR). Prior to joining Darling Ingredients, Carr was a Partner at BAC Investments, an established consulting, advisory, and investment firm.

15:48 EDT DOJ says DaVita and former CEO indicted on labor market collusion charges - A federal grand jury in Denver returned a two-count indictment charging DaVita Inc. and its former CEO, Kent Thiry, for conspiring with competing employers not to solicit certain employees. The indictment alleges that DaVita and Thiry both participated in two separate conspiracies to suppress competition for the services of certain employees, announced the DOJ. These charges are the result of the Antitrust Division's ongoing investigation into employee allocation agreements in the health care industry. DaVita's co-conspirator Surgical Care Affiliates LLC and its related entity were charged in January, and that case is pending in the Northern District of Texas. Reference Link

15:22 EDT CAE to invest C$1B in innovation over next five years - CAE has announced that it will be investing C$1 billion over the next five years in innovation. The investment will fund Project Resilience, a transformation project to develop the technologies of tomorrow, including digitally immersive solutions using data ecosystems and artificial intelligence in civil aviation, defence & security and healthcare. "The project will also allow CAE to position itself as a leader in end-to-end technology, operational support and training solutions for Advanced Air Mobility, as well as develop green light aircraft technologies," the company said. "In partnership with the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec, the project will allow CAE to play a key role in making air travel safer, defence forces mission ready, and helping medical personnel save lives." The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec will provide a combined investment of C$340 million over the next five years. Through the project, CAE will invest in the development of electric aircraft technologies and solutions, including retrofitting its large fleet of light trainer aircraft to reduce its carbon footprint. CAE announced on Sept 28, 2020 that it became the first Canadian aerospace company to reach carbon neutrality.

15:03 EDT Qumu announces Andi Mann has joined as CTO - Qumu announced that Andi Mann has joined Qumu as chief technology officer CTO. Mann will lead Qumu's technology team as the company continues to deepen and enhance its enterprise video portfolio, including expanding its advanced video analytics capabilities and ensuring best-in-class cloud security.

14:06 EDT Tesla CEO says 'always some chance that Cybertruck will flop' - In a reply to another Twitter user, Tesla CEO Elon Musk writes: "To be frank, there is always some chance that Cybertruck will flop, because it is so unlike anything else. I don't care. I love it so much even if others don't. Other trucks look like copies of the same thing, but Cybertruck looks like it was made by aliens from the future." Reference Link

13:56 EDT eTransEnergy named by GM as a preferred provider for fleet electrification - eTransEnergy, a Duke Energy (DUK) company, was named by GM (GM) as a preferred provider to help GM fleet and BrightDrop customers transition to electric vehicles through the GM Ultium Charge 360 service. Duke Energy introduced eTransEnergy in February 2021 as a wholly owned subsidiary created to offer energy transportation services to logistics, services, and last-mile delivery companies, as well as school districts and transit agencies.

13:41 EDT Lockheed Martin opens Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource Center - Lockheed Martin opened its Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource Center today. The STAR Center features business and digital transformation innovations that will expand manufacturing, assembly and testing capacity for NASA's Orion spacecraft program and ultimately, future space exploration. Lockheed Martin currently assembles the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I and II Moon missions at the nearby Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The addition of the STAR Center provides much-needed space for the new production phase of Orion, allowing future Orion spacecraft - starting with the Artemis III mission - to be built faster. Lockheed Martin acquired the building that formerly housed the Astronaut Training Experience attraction and spent 18 months and nearly $20M renovating and modernizing the 55,000 square-foot space into a digitally-transformed factory of the future.

13:34 EDT Merck reports 'positive' event-free survival data from Phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 study - Merck announced "positive" event-free survival, or EFS, data from the pivotal neoadjuvant/adjuvant Phase 3 study KEYNOTE-522. The trial investigated neoadjuvant KEYTRUDA, Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, plus chemotherapy followed by adjuvant KEYTRUDA as monotherapy compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by adjuvant placebo in patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC. "This is the first time an anti-PD-1/L1 therapy has demonstrated a statistically significant EFS result as combined neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy for these patients," said the company, which noted that the results are being presented today during a European Society for Medical Oncology Virtual Plenary. After a median follow-up of 39 months, the KEYTRUDA regimen reduced the risk of EFS events by 37% versus the chemotherapy-placebo regimen - a statistically significant and clinically meaningful EFS result. EFS was defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of either disease progression that precluded definitive surgery, a local/distant recurrence, a second primary cancer, or death from any cause. As previously announced, KEYNOTE-522 met the dual primary endpoint of pathological complete response at the first interim analysis. The trial is continuing to allow for additional follow-up of overall survival, a key secondary endpoint. At this fourth interim analysis, although these data have not crossed the boundary for statistical significance, there was a 28% reduction in the risk of death with the KEYTRUDA regimen versus the chemotherapy-placebo regimen. The safety profile of the KEYTRUDA regimen was consistent with the known profiles of each regimen, and no new safety concerns were identified. "These highly anticipated event-free survival results in this TNBC population build upon earlier findings from the KEYNOTE-522 trial and further support the potential use of KEYTRUDA in these patients. KEYNOTE-522 is the first large randomized Phase 3 study to report a statistically significant and clinically meaningful EFS result among patients with stage II and stage III TNBC. We have submitted these data to the FDA and are working closely with the agency on its review of our application," said Dr. Vicki Goodman, vice president, clinical research, Merck Research Laboratories.

13:23 EDT Coupa Software down 9% as analyst day meeting continues - Shares of Coupa Software, which started its virtual analyst day meeting at 12 pm ET, are down 23.29, or 9%, to $227.68 in afternoon trading.

13:02 EDT EVgo named as preferred provider by General Motors for EV fleets - EVgo (EVGO) announced that General Motors Company (GM) has named it a preferred provider for the company's Ultium Charge 360 fleet service. With the announcement, EVgo will deploy comprehensive new charging and infrastructure solutions specifically for GM fleet and BrightDrop customers; in addition, these customers can receive program discounts at EVgo's nationwide network of more than 800 public fast charging locations. Through the GM Ultium Charge 360 service, EVgo will offer GM fleet and BrightDrop customers turnkey fleet solutions tailored to meet their unique and diverse needs, from fleet transition planning to equipment provisioning, infrastructure deployment, dedicated depots, integrated software solutions and ongoing operations and maintenance.

12:47 EDT EA won't show any 'Star Wars' games at EA Play Live on July 22 - Electronic Arts said that it won't be showing any new "Star Wars" video games at its EA Play Live event on July 22. The company tweeted: "We won't be showing any new Star Wars games at EA Play Live on July 22nd...but all of us look forward to celebrating with you next year when we share our vision for the Galaxy far, far away!" Reference Link

12:26 EDT Ipsen, IRLAB enter licensing pact over mesdopetam rights - Ipsen and IRLAB announced the signing of a licensing agreement, providing Ipsen exclusive worldwide development and commercial rights to mesdopetam, a novel dopamine D3-receptor antagonist. Mesdopetam is being assessed in Phase IIb clinical trials as a potential treatment option for people living with Parkinson's disease experiencing levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Under the terms of the agreement, IRLAB will be eligible to receive up to $363M, including an upfront cash payment of $28M and up to $335M in development, regulatory and commercial milestones. IRLAB is also eligible to receive tiered low double-digit royalties on worldwide net sales of mesdopetam. The transaction does not impact Ipsen's financial guidance for 2021.

12:13 EDT Okta names John Zissimos chief digital officer - Okta (OKTA) named John Zissimos its first Chief Digital Officer. Zissimos will report to Kendall Collins, Chief Marketing Officer, and will be responsible for the holistic creative, campaign, digital, and brand strategy for the company. Zissimos most recently served as Vice President of Creative, Brand, Media, and Customer Programs at Google (GOOG) and led the team responsible for marketing the Google Cloud Platform globally.

12:06 EDT GP Strategies trading resumes

12:00 EDT Ambrx Biopharma falls -13.6% - Ambrx Biopharma is down -13.6%, or -$3.00 to $19.00.

12:00 EDT Retail Value rises 10.0% - Retail Value is up 10.0%, or $2.21 to $24.21.

12:00 EDT American Realty Investors rises 35.3% - American Realty Investors is up 35.3%, or $4.14 to $15.86.

11:50 EDT GP Strategies to be acquired by Learning Technologies for $20.85 per share - GP Strategies Corporation (GPX) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Learning Technologies Group (LTTHF) for $20.85 per GP Strategies share in cash, in a transaction valued at approximately $394M. This transaction represents a premium of 40% over the volume weighted average closing price of GP Strategies shares over the past 180 days, 30% over the volume weighted average closing price over the past 60 days and 32% over the closing price on July 14, 2021, the last trading day prior to this announcement. GP Strategies' Board of Directors has unanimously approved the transaction. The company said, "Together, Learning Technologies Group and GP Strategies will create one of the world's largest workforce transformation companies providing solutions to help organizations and their employees operate more effectively by delivering innovative and superior training, consulting, and business improvement services that are customized to meet its clients' needs. This transaction will also provide GP Strategies access to a larger client base, broader product and services offerings, and a larger global footprint, unlocking substantial value and growth opportunities driven by greater scale, diversity and balance across all products, services, and geographies." The transaction is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to GP Strategies shareholder approval, regulatory clearances, and other customary closing conditions. Upon closing of the transaction, GP Strategies will become a division of Learning Technologies Group and its shares will no longer be listed on the NYSE. The Company expects to continue to go to market with the GP Strategies brand and portfolio of offerings. Sagard Capital Partners Management, GP Strategies' largest shareholder, supports the transaction and has entered into a voting and support agreement to vote its shares in favor of the transaction, subject to customary terms and conditions.

11:37 EDT GP Strategies trading halted, news pending

11:20 EDT Capcom delays launch of 'Resident Evil' multiplayer game to 2022 - Capcom (CCOEY) announced that the launch of multiplayer shooter "Resident Evil Re:Verse" is being moved from July 2021 to 2022. The game will launch on PC, Xbox One (MSFT), and PlayStation 4 (SONY). Reference Link

10:13 EDT PPG raises dividend to 59c from 54c per share - The board of directors of PPG approved a 5-cents-per-share increase in the company's dividend, declaring a regular quarterly dividend of 59c per share. The increase is payable Sept. 10 to shareholders of record Aug. 10. PPG's prior quarterly dividend was 54c per share. The December dividend remains subject to approval from PPG's board of directors in October.

10:04 EDT Alterity Therapeutics announces publication of data on ATH434 - Alterity Therapeutics announced that Movement Disorders, the official journal of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, has published results from a study demonstrating that ATH434 reduces alpha-synuclein related neurodegeneration in a widely accepted murine model of Multiple System Atrophy. The study was performed at the Laboratory for Translational Neurodegeneration Research, Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria, a leading laboratory of animal research in MSA, under the direction of Professor Nadia Stefanova. The preclinical study showed that treatment with ATH434 was neuroprotective and improved motor function, independently confirming and extending previous findings from another academic laboratory, both in the same MSA model as well as animal models of Parkinson's Disease. In preserving neurons, ATH434 reduced both the aggregated form of alpha-synuclein and the so-called toxic oligomeric form, which is thought to underlie the spreading of disease to other neurons. At the same time, ATH434 significantly reduced brain iron in areas of pathology, consistent with its mechanism of action. Beyond these observations, the study also revealed for the first time that ATH434 preserved neurons in a region of the brain, called the striatum, that is known to be affected in patients with MSA. Importantly, ATH434 improved performance on diverse motor tests, including a beneficial effect on the "challenging beam" task, which is used to assess balance. This latter finding is especially relevant to patients with MSA, where impaired balance is a major source of disability.

10:00 EDT Glaukos falls -5.9% - Glaukos is down -5.9%, or -$3.44 to $54.38.

10:00 EDT Teleflex falls -8.9% - Teleflex is down -8.9%, or -$37.25 to $380.00.

10:00 EDT Nine Energy Service rises 9.6% - Nine Energy Service is up 9.6%, or 27c to $3.09.

09:47 EDT Brookfield Infrastructure falls -5.2% - Brookfield Infrastructure is down -5.2%, or -$3.99 to $72.41.

09:47 EDT Progressive falls -6.4% - Progressive is down -6.4%, or -$6.27 to $91.18.

09:47 EDT Casper Sleep rises 8.5% - Casper Sleep is up 8.5%, or 60c to $7.70.

09:40 EDT Aurora to go public via merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Y - Aurora has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Reinvent Technology Partners Y (RTPY), a special purpose acquisition company with the sponsor team that takes a "venture capital at scale" approach to investing. Upon closing of the proposed transaction, the combined company will be named Aurora Innovation, Inc. and be publicly traded, with its common stock expected to be listed on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol AUR. Investors and Aurora partners have committed $1B in a PIPE and the proposed transaction represents an equity value of $11 billion for Aurora. Investors in the PIPE include Baillie Gifford, funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., PRIMECAP Management Company, Reinvent Capital, XN, Fidelity Management and Research LLC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Index Ventures, and Sequoia Capital, as well as strategic investments from Uber, PACCAR, and Volvo Group. Aurora expects to launch first in trucking, a $700 billion market with attractive unit economics, in late 2023. Leveraging the self-driving capabilities matured in trucking, Aurora is expecting to rapidly expand into adjacent verticals including last-mile delivery and ride-hailing. Reinvent believes in structuring its transactions to ensure long-term alignment with the companies in which it invests. Consistent with this approach, Reinvent and Aurora have agreed to a lock-up on founder shares held by Reinvent's sponsor and its directors for up to four years. Certain major stockholders, key executives and board members of Aurora have agreed to a similar lock-up on their shares and priced-based vesting for Reinvent sponsor shares. The proposed transaction has been unanimously approved by the transaction committee of Reinvent and the board of directors of Aurora. Reinvent formed the transaction committee, consisting of all of the members of its board of directors other than Karen Francis, to evaluate and make any decision on behalf of the full board of directors with respect to a proposed transaction with Aurora. Ms. Francis, who is also a director of TuSimple, is not a member of the transaction committee, was not permitted to attend any sessions of the transaction committee, and has recused herself from discussions of Reinvent's board of directors about the proposed transaction and voting as a director on matters related to the proposed transaction. Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn Co-Founder, a non-voting observer on Reinvent's board of directors and a member of Aurora's board of directors, is not a member of the transaction committee, was not permitted to attend any sessions of the transaction committee, and has recused himself from discussions and decisions of Reinvent's board about the proposed transaction. Mr. Hoffman also recused himself from discussions of Aurora's board of directors and management about the proposed transaction and from voting on matters related to the proposed transaction. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the approval of shareholders of Reinvent and the stockholders of Aurora. Following the closing of the proposed transaction, Aurora expects that Mr. Hoffman will remain a member of its board of directors. The pro forma implied market capitalization of the combined company is $13 billion, at the $10.00 per share PIPE subscription price and assuming no public shareholders of Reinvent exercise their redemption rights. The combined company is expected to have approximately $2.5 billion in cash at closing, including up to approximately $977.5 million of cash held in Reinvent's trust account from its initial public offering which closed on March 18, 2021, assuming no public shareholders of Reinvent exercise their redemption rights. The proposed transaction is also supported by $1 billion PIPE at $10 per share. Investors include funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global, PRIMECAP Management Company and XN, Baillie Gifford, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Reinvent Capital, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Uber, PACCAR, and Volvo Group. Existing Aurora stockholders are expected to own approximately 84 percent of the pro forma combined company following the close of the proposed transaction.

09:32 EDT BetMGM announces partnership with the Pittsburgh Pirates - BetMGM and The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a new partnership that will include BetMGM branding throughout PNC Park, fan-focused promotions, social media content and more. Under the partnership, BetMGM content will be integrated across the Pirates' digital and social platforms. Additionally, BetMGM signage will be prominently featured at PNC Park, including the left field wall and behind home plate.

09:26 EDT Ameresco gets commercial operations of landfill gas to renewable NatGas plant - Ameresco (AMRC)) announced that it achieved commercial operations at its landfill gas to renewable natural gas plant at Republic Services' (RSG) McCarty Road Landfill in Houston, Texas. This facility has a gross nameplate in excess of 1.1M Dekatherms per year and is capable of processing 4,500 scfm of raw landfill gas. Cleantech integrator, Ameresco, announced its achievement of commercial operations at its landfill gas to renewable natural gas plant at Republic Services' McCarty Road Landfill in Houston,. After breaking ground on the project in the second quarter of 2020, the Ameresco team successfully navigated the construction challenges and equipment delays associated with a global pandemic and an active hurricane season to reach mechanical completion in early December 2020, and commercial operations in May. The landfill gas to renewable natural gas project creates clean energy resources for the regional economy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions within the environment, while contributing directly to Republic Services' long-term sustainability goal to beneficially reuse 50% more landfill gas by 2030.

09:20 EDT Tyler Technologies extends contract for digital government services with Oregon - Tyler Technologies announced that the state of Oregon has signed a multi-year contract extension for Tyler's digital government and payments services. The four-year agreement extends the existing 10-year relationship between Oregon's E-Government Program and Tyler's new subsidiary, NIC.

09:19 EDT Boston Beer, Beam Suntory announce long-term, strategic partnership - Beam Suntory and The Boston Beer Company have formed a long-term, strategic partnership to extend select iconic brands into some of the fastest-growing beverage alcohol segments. Through this partnership, Beam Suntory and Boston Beer initially plan to launch products that bring the Sauza tequila brand further into ready-to-drink beverages, and Truly Hard Seltzer into bottled spirits. The first new products resulting from this partnership will be available across consumer retail channels in the United States by mid-2022, with plans to expand across more key brands in the future.

09:18 EDT Chicken Soup for the Soul acquires Crackle international trademarks - Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) announced the acquisition of Crackle international trademarks from CPE Holdings, a subsidiart of Sony Pictures (SONY), in over 50 countries covering Australia, Asia, Europe, and South America. The terms of the acquisition were not announced.

09:14 EDT CRAVE Meals becomes Official Meal Partner of the Toronto Ultra - OverActive Media announced that Crave Meals, a Kraft Heinz Canada brand, is the new Official Meal Partner of the Toronto Ultra, Canada's Call of Duty team. The new partnership agreement will see CRAVE score the only in-game jersey asset on the Toronto Ultra uniforms during the end-of-season Call of Duty League Champs competition.

09:11 EDT Professional Diversity Network updates Nasdaq's notice of equity deficiency - Professional Diversity Network updates its progress on Nasdaq's notice of equity deficiency. As previously disclosed, on May 21, 2021, the company received a letter from Nasdaq notifying the company that it is not in compliance with the minimum stockholders' equity requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550b1 requires listed companies to maintain stockholders' equity of at least $2.5M. In the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2021, the company reported stockholders' equity of $964,288, which is below the minimum stockholders' equity required for continued listing. On July 9, 2021, the company closed the registered direct offering, pursuant to which certain institutional accredited investors purchased 1,470,588 shares of the company's common stock, par value 1c per share, at a per share price equal to $1.70 for gross proceeds of $2,499,999.60, pursuant to its Registration Statement on Form S-3. As a result of the Transaction, the stockholders' equity of the Company as of July 9, 2021 is approximately $2.9M. The company therefore believes that as of the date hereof the company has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550b.

09:11 EDT KFC Espana launches mobile payments with Nuvei, Judopay - Nuvei Corporation (NUVCF) and Judopay have announced that they will enable mobile payments for customers in KFC restaurants (YUM) throughout Spain. As the world economy continues to move online, KFC is shifting its strategy to focus more on optimizing its customers' digital experience. The partnership with Nuvei and Judopay will allow KFC Espana to provide seamless mobile payments for its customers throughout its almost 150 branches in Spain. Nuvei will provide acquiring services for KFC Espana with its extensive network of acquirers throughout Europe and ability to easily onboard franchisees. To adapt to the franchise model of KFC Espana, Nuvei created bespoke documentation, pricing and sub-account management

09:09 EDT Bassett Furniture board increases quarterly dividend 12% to 14c per share - Bassett Furniture Industries announced that its board of directors has increased the quarterly dividend by 12% by declaring a dividend of 14c per share of outstanding common stock payable on August 27, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 13, 2021. In addition, the board of directors has increased the company's existing share repurchase authorization by approximately $16M back to the original limit of $20M. Bassett Furniture Industries also announced that wholesale orders for the fiscal month of June 2021 increased by 25% over June 2020 and 39% over June 2019 and that wholesale shipments increased 55% over June 2020 and 21% over June 2019.

09:08 EDT Enstar Group announces two transactions with Hillhouse - Enstar Group announced that it has entered into an agreement to repurchase an aggregate of 3,749,400 ordinary shares of Enstar held by funds managed by Hillhouse Capital Management for a price of $234.52 per share, totaling $879.3 million in aggregate, a discount to book value. The shares represent the Hillhouse funds' entire interest in Enstar, which constitutes 16.9% of total ordinary shares and 9.4% of voting ordinary shares. The transaction is expected to close on or about July 21, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. On the same day, Enstar's wholly owned subsidiary agreed to purchase a Hillhouse affiliate's entire 27.7% interest in Enhanzed Reinsurance for an estimated purchase price of $228.7 million. The purchase price is based on 90% of Enhanzed Re's estimated total shareholders' equity as of June 30, 2021 and is subject to adjustment to reflect the finalization of the Enhanzed Re balance sheet as of such date. After the purchase of the Enhanzed Re shares from the Hillhouse affiliate, Enstar's equity interest in the Bermuda-based reinsurer will increase from 47.4% to 75.1%, with joint venture partner, Allianz SE, continuing to own the remaining 24.9%. Closing of this transaction is subject to satisfaction of customary conditions, including approval by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and is expected to occur by the fourth quarter of 2021. Enstar intends to fund the purchases under both the agreements using cash on hand and liquidity available under its revolving credit facility. Enstar's previously announced share buyback program has been terminated. The Hillhouse funds originally acquired Enstar shares in 2016 from Goldman Sachs, acquiring additional shares in an exchange transaction with Enstar in 2018.

09:07 EDT Vera Bradley announces a new collaboration with Disney - Vera Bradley (VRA) announced its collaboration with Disney (DIS) and the debut of "The Disney Collection by Vera Bradley," available for the first time in all Vera Bradley Full Line Stores, in select Vera Bradley Factory locations and online. The Disney Collection by Vera Bradley features hand-drawn details of Disney's "Sensational Six" favorite friends-Disney Mickey Mouse, Disney Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto-as they parade through bright blooms and iconic paisleys. This is the first Disney-inspired Vera Bradley pattern to feature all six characters together.

09:05 EDT Ceragon Networks awarded over $35M in follow-on orders from India in Q2 - Ceragon Networks has received follow-on orders from multiple Tier 1 mobile operators in India, totaling over $35M in Q2 alone. Ceragon will be empowering these operators to further expand their digital footprint in India, maintain their market leadership, as well as prepare for the 5G rollout expected in 2022.

09:04 EDT Genasys announces follow-on Integrated Mass Notification System installations - Genasys announced follow-on Integrated Mass Notification System installations at George Mason University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The Company also announced a multi-year GEM software services renewal contract from Lambton College. the second oldest publicly funded college in Ontario, Canada.

09:03 EDT WynnBET announces multi-year sponsorship with Detroit Lions - WynnBET announced on Thursday its first partnership with an NFL team through a multi-year sponsorship with the Detroit Lions. As part of the agreement, the Lions will designate WynnBET as an official sportsbook and gaming partner of the team and house the "WynnBET Sports Bar at Ford Field." The WynnBET Sports Bar at Ford Field, set to open this season for fans 21+, will be WynnBET branded and located near section 222. Lions fans visiting the space will have access to brand ambassadors, live betting lines, and food and drinks as part of the overall WynnBET onsite experience. As part of the agreement, WynnBET will have access to significant digital and traditional media assets. Specifically, WynnBET will have visibility on the Lions' mobile app, social media accounts, preseason TV broadcast, regular-season pregame TV programming and in-game radio broadcasts. WynnBET will be the presenting sponsor of a 'Free To Play' game on the Lions' mobile app. Prizes through the FTP game include trips to Wynn Las Vegas, Lions season-and single-game tickets, Lions shop credit and free bets within the WynnBET app. In addition to in-stadium signage and hospitality opportunities, WynnBET will have a large presence outside of Ford Field on football gamedays, giving fans opportunities to win fun prizes during Lions Pride Plaza pre-game festivities.

08:58 EDT NextPlay Technologies appoints Mark Vange as CTO - NextPlay Technologies reported the appointment of Mark Vange as the company's chief technology officer. Vange has been acting in the same capacity at both HotPlay Thailand and Hot Now Company Limited since March 2020 and June 2020, respectively.

08:52 EDT Morgan Stanley: $1.3B a 'reasonable' exit rate for NII to inform 2H21 - Expects NII to build from this level and anticipates loans to grow more in line with 2020 levels.

08:49 EDT Omniq receives order to deploy Q Shield at Port of Ashdod in Israel - OMNIQ announced it has received an order to deploy its Q Shield, AI-based machine vision solution at Port of Ashdod in Israel. Port of Ashdod is the largest Seaport in Israel with Annual Cargo Tonnage of more than 20 million Tons.

08:48 EDT Morgan Stanley expects NNA to be 'lumpy,' should be looked at on FY basis

08:48 EDT Abercrombie & Fitch's Gilly Hicks introduces new product lines, new experiences - Gilly Hicks, a brand in the Abercrombie & Fitch portfolio, announced steps in its growth strategy, including an expanded product assortment, a new store prototype and digital experience, and a reimagined brand purpose. Gilly Hicks is introducing underwear, loungewear and activewear in patterns and colors that match everyone's styles, regardless of gender identity, the company said. Additionally, Gilly Hicks is introducing its new Future Stretch fabric, which is designed to accommodate a variety of body types. In addition to the expanded assortment, Gilly Hicks is introducing a new standalone store concept. The new Gilly Hicks store, which is located at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio, is the only current standalone location. Opportunities for additional standalone stores will be evaluated in the future. Select Gilly Hicks side-by-side within Hollister locations have been refreshed to provide the same brand experience as the standalone store. Gilly Hicks carveout locations in Hollister stores are expected to be enhanced soon.

08:46 EDT AFC Gamma provides Evermore with $15.5M senior secured credit facility - AFC Gamma announced that it, along with an affiliate, has provided a credit facility of $15.5 million to The Evermore Cannabis Company, a vertically integrated Maryland operator. The credit facility is designed to provide Evermore with additional capital for the expansion of its cultivation and manufacturing facility in Baltimore, Maryland and to consolidate and streamline its ownership structure. AFC will hold $10.075 million of the credit facility and $5.425 million was syndicated to an affiliate, which consists of a first-lien term loan. AFC Management, LLC served as Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent for the transaction. Greenvision acted as Evermore's Financial Advisor.

08:44 EDT Phunware Smart Hospitality Solution licensed by leading luxury resort - Phunware announced it will license its Smart Hospitality Solution to one of the largest international luxury resorts in the world. "Every luxury resort is strategizing how to get guests back on property post pandemic and many are thinking about how to use mobile solutions like ours to not only address their potential safety issues, but also to tech-enable their guest experiences," said Alan Knitowski, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Phunware. "We're extremely excited to license our enterprise software and infrastructure to one of the largest resorts in the world so that visitors can enjoy industry-leading experiences that leverage their mobile devices in order to make their on-site brand interactions more engaging and contextual." This customer can now access mobile solutions to better engage their guests and staff, while simultaneously optimizing their operational and staff efficiencies, lowering their costs and boosting their revenues.

08:42 EDT Midwest Energy Emissions adds multi-year supply business with current licensee - Midwest Energy Emissions announced that the company has secured new multi-year supply business with a coal-fired power plant located in the Midwest, which power plant is part of the fleet of a large utility based in the Southwest region of the U.S. This incremental supply business was gained after testing was completed at the above-mentioned power plant. "We are pleased that this major utility, who entered into a license agreement last year, has elected to augment its business as a direct supply customer with additional supply business for another plant in its fleet after completing requisite testing at this plant," stated Richard MacPherson, Chief Executive Officer of ME2C Environmental. "As we gain recognition for the value of our patented technologies, we look forward to broadening the reach of our core business in mercury emissions capture across the U.S. coal-fired fleet... As we move through the next several months, we expect to continue to grow our supply business with our licensees," concluded MacPherson.

08:40 EDT Aeglea BioTherapeutics appoints Jim Kastenmayer as General Counsel - Aeglea BioTherapeutics appointed Jim Kastenmayer as general counsel. Kastenmayer joins Aeglea from Viela Bio. Prior to Viela Bio, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca including global legal director.

08:39 EDT BK Technologies receives BKR 5000 order from Florida State Parks - BK Technologies announced that it has received an order from Florida State Parks for its new BKR 5000 portable communications technology.

08:39 EDT E-Home Household Service acquires Danyan Situ Fengyi farm for senior care - E-Home Household Service's affiliated variable interest entity, Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area E Home Service, entered into a farm transfer agreement with Ms. Ling Chen, pursuant to which E-Home Pingtan or a designated third party will acquire 100% of all tangible and intangible assets of Danyang Situ Fengyi Farm in cash from Chen.

08:38 EDT Kopin in development pact for color LED microdisplays with Japanese company - Kopin announced it has signed a multiyear agreement with a leading Japanese electronics Company that develops and produces advanced consumer products, to develop superbright 2K x 2K full-color Light Emitting Diode microdisplays on silicon. Under the agreement, Kopin will develop and supply its proprietary backplane silicon wafers and its new partner will develop bonding and color conversion processes. The companies expect to demonstrate 1"-diagonal full-color 2K x 2K LED microdisplays within 24 months. This development program, like Kopin's previously announced program with Jade Bird Display to develop superbright monochrome LED microdisplays with up to 4 million nits, is customer funded. LED microdisplays have the potential for superhigh brightness, low power consumption, high contrast and wide viewing angle, which are ideal features for many applications including see-through augmented reality and mixed reality applications. However, the LED microdisplay is still in an early stage of development and requires significant new process developments including bonding of LED arrays to Si backplane and color conversion of blue emission to red or green. Kopin was a pioneer in LED microdisplays on Si technology with some of the early patents on the technology.

08:37 EDT GreenBox to spin-off of stablecoin platform, plans special dividend series - GreenBox POS announced its intent to implement a Special Dividend Series to be issued in two parts to GreenBox Common Stockholders in connection with the planned spin-off of the Company's subsidiary that controls the Company's recently launched stablecoin platform. The Company currently anticipates it will announce the record date for the spin-off prior to the end of the year. GreenBox common stock shareholders of record at the close of business on August 16, 2021 will be entitled to receive a right to 0.35 of a share of common stock in the Coin Platform for every 1.00 share of GreenBox common stock owned, payable on the spin-off completion date. To qualify to receive the First Dividend, the GBOX shares will need to be held for a specified period of time after the first record date. The second record date, to be announced at a future date will be the date specific fundamental milestones are achieved by the Coin Platform. These milestones will be announced at least one month prior to the second record date. GreenBox shareholders of record on the second record date will receive a right to 0.20 of a share of common stock in the Coin Platform for every 1.00 share of GreenBox common stock owned, payable on the spin-off completion date. To qualify to receive the Second Dividend, the GBOX shares will need to be held for a specified period of time after the second record date. Each share will only be entitled to either the First Dividend or the Second Dividend. No GreenBox shareholder will receive a right to 0.55 of a share of common stock in the Coin Platform. It is anticipated that the second record date will be in the fourth quarter of 2021. Shareholder tracking methodology will be outlined in a subsequent press release and appropriate SEC filings. The Coin Platform has not yet filed a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to register its shares of common stock to be issued pursuant to the First and Second Dividends and pursuant to the spin-off.

08:37 EDT Ballard Power receives fuel cell module order to power German train - Ballard Power has received a purchase order for two of its 200 kW fuel cell modules from Siemens Mobility to power a 2-car Mireo Plus H passenger train through a trial operation in Bavaria, Germany. As per Ballard's announcement in November 2017, the 200kW fuel cell module has been developed and tested under a multi-year Development Agreement with Siemens, in order to provide primary propulsion power for the Mireo Plus H light rail train. Ballard plans to deliver the modules ordered by Siemens for the trial operation in Bavaria in 2022. The 2-car Mireo Plus H train is to be tested on the Augsburg- Fussen route, among others, in 2023. The Mireo Plus H will be presented to the public in the spring of 2022, with test runs in Bavaria planned for 2023 before it officially enters passenger service in 2024.

08:35 EDT ViacomCBS and Charter announce comprehensive multi-year distribution pact - ViacomCBS (VIAC, VIACA) and Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) announced comprehensive, multi-year distribution agreements for the continued carriage of ViacomCBS' leading portfolio of broadcast, entertainment, news and sports networks, in addition to licensing ViacomCBS' suite of streaming services, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, BET+ and Noggin, for future distribution to Spectrum customers. "We are pleased to have reached a new deal to deliver ViacomCBS' expansive portfolio of popular brands and premium programming for Spectrum audiences to enjoy, plus greater choice in how they consume our content," said Ray Hopkins, President, U.S. Network Distribution, ViacomCBS. "Charter is a valued partner, and we look forward to deepening our long-standing relationship." Added Tom Montemagno, Executive Vice President of Programming Acquisition for Charter: "These comprehensive agreements with ViacomCBS recognize the fast-changing pace of the subscription video business and provide us the flexibilities to adapt for the benefit of our customers while also furthering our strategic interests in the advanced advertising realm and aggregated video store concept with the addition of the streaming apps." ViacomCBS and Charter also will expand their existing collaboration around addressable media and advanced advertising. Others terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

08:34 EDT Jones Soda announces planned strategic entry into cannabis sector - Jones Soda (JSDA) announced that it has issued to SOL Global Investments Corp. (SOLCF) a US$2,000,000 unsecured convertible debenture and has entered into a non-binding term sheet dated July 14, 2021 with Pinestar Gold, a Canadian Reporting Issuer, and SOL. Jones intends to use the proceeds of the Convertible Debenture and transactions outlined in the Term Sheet exclusively for transaction costs and the expansion of Jones' business to the production and sale of cannabis-containing beverages, edibles and related products. Jones intends to operate its planned cannabis operations through one or more subsdiaries that are separate from its craft beverage business. "We believe that Cannabis-infused beverages and edibles are a perfect fit for the iconic personality of the Jones brand, and that the proposed transactions will lay the groundwork for a strategic transformation of the Company to an additional business line that we feel builds on our current business model," said Mark Murray, President and CEO of Jones. "We are also confident that SOL, along with certain large shareholders of Pinestar will provide Jones with the knowledge, expertise and resources necessary to help us deliver on our growth plans within the cannabis sector," added Mr. Murray. The proposed transactions outlined in the Term Sheet are subject to, amongst other conditions, due diligence by the parties, the negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement, approval of any applicable regulators, including any applicable securities exchanges, and approval by both the shareholders of Pinestar and the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Under the terms of the Term Sheet, Jones intends to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Pinestar and warrants exercisable into common shares of Pinestar in exchange for an aggregate of 4,000,000 shares of Jones common stock and 1,674,808 warrants exercisable into Jones Shares as part of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act and in reliance on applicable exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements under Canadian and United States securities laws. The Term Sheet also provides that Pinestar intends to complete an offering of subscription receipts that is expected to be subscribed for by SOL and certain significant shareholders of Pinestar, one of whom is Marc Lustig, a well-known and respected Canadian entrepreneur, capital markets executive and investor, or their respective contacts and partners, for minimum aggregate gross proceeds of US$8,000,000, at a price per Subscription Receipt equal to US$0.50. The Subscription Receipts are intended to automatically convert into units of Pinestar on a one-for-one basis if certain conditions relating to the Plan of Arrangement are met, with each Pinestar Unit expected to consist of one common share of Pinestar Share and one new share purchase warrant of Pinestar, which are then expected to be immediately exchanged for, or adjusted into, Jones Units as part of the Plan of Arrangement in accordance with a 1:1 exchange ratio.

08:33 EDT Vir Biotechnology initiates Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating VIR-2218, VIR-3434 - Vir Biotechnology announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase 2 MARCH trial evaluating VIR-2218 together with VIR-3434 for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection - a combination designed to achieve a functional cure.VIR-2218 is an investigational small interfering ribonucleic acid designed to inhibit the production of all HBV proteins, which may be acting as immune tolerogens. The multi-center, open-label Phase 2 trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of the combination of VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 in approximately 90 adult patients with chronic HBV infection receiving nucleotside reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy. Both VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 will be administered via subcutaneous injection at varying dose levels over the course of the trial for a treatment period ranging from four to 20 weeks, and a follow-up period of up to 116 weeks, depending on the dosing cohort. The primary endpoints of the trial are the proportion of patients with treatment-emergent adverse events and serious adverse events; grading of post-treatment clinical laboratory parameters; and the proportion of patients achieving a functional cure.

08:31 EDT Allstate announces estimates catastrophe losses for June of $195M - Allstate announced estimated catastrophe losses for the month of June of $195M or $154M, after-tax. Catastrophe losses for Q2 totaled $752M, after-tax. Catastrophe losses in June comprised 11 events at an estimated cost of $178M plus unfavorable prior period reserve estimates. Three large wind, hail and rain events, primarily impacting the Midwest, accounted for approximately 70% of June estimated catastrophe losses.

08:22 EDT FDA accepts NLS Pharmaceutics' Quilience IND application to treat narcolepsy - NLS Pharmaceutics announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has accepted its Investigational New Drug application for Quilience, the Company's lead drug candidate, for the treatment of narcolepsy. The open IND enables NLS to initiate its Phase 2a clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of Quilience in patients diagnosed with narcolepsy. The proposed multi-center study, to be conducted in both the U.S. and Europe, is expected to enroll 60 patients and commence in August . The primary endpoint is the change from baseline in excessive daytime sleepiness as measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and a key secondary endpoint is the change from baseline in mean weekly number of cataplexy attacks in the anticipated subset of patients with cataplexy. "We are pleased to now have an open IND so that we can initiate our clinical program with Quilience our novel formulation of mazindol ER, for the treatment of narcolepsy," said Alex Zwyer, Chief Executive Officer of NLS. "We remain on track to commence our prospective Phase 2a clinical trial for Quilience next month as we focus on bringing this treatment option to patients suffering from narcolepsy as soon as possible."

08:15 EDT Rubius Therapeutics announces publication of RTX-240 preclinical data - Rubius Therapeutics announced the publication of preclinical data in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, for its lead clinical oncology program, RTX-240, for the treatment of adults with advanced solid tumors and relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The paper entitled "Anti-Tumor Effects of RTX-240: an Engineered Red Blood Cell Expressing 4-1BB Ligand and Interleukin-15" highlights preclinical findings, which demonstrate that RTX-240 activates and expands CD8+ T cells and NK cells in vitro and in vivo generating potent anti-tumor activity in both a colorectal and melanoma model. "These preclinical data supported advancing RTX-240 into the clinic, where the initial clinical results have shown that RTX-240 has the ability to activate and expand a patient's own immune system to fight cancer, leading to clinical responses in certain patients with advanced solid tumors," said Christina Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of Rubius Therapeutics. "We are continuing to enroll patients in our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RTX-240 in three Phase 1 arms: a monotherapy dose escalation arm in adults with relapsed/refractory or locally advanced solid tumors, a monotherapy dose escalation arm in adults with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, and a combination therapy dose escalation arm with pembrolizumab in adults with relapsed/refractory or locally advanced solid tumors."

08:10 EDT Axsome says FDA rescinding Breakthrough Therapy Designation for AXS-12 - In a previous regulatory filing on July 13, Axsome Therapeutics announced that it has been notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration that the FDA is rescinding the company's Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its AXS-12 product candidate for the treatment of cataplexy in narcolepsy, due to the FDA approving an additional drug product for the treatment of cataplexy in narcolepsy subsequent to granting AXS-12 Breakthrough Therapy Designation. "The company does not currently anticipate any changes to the development plans or associated timelines for AXS-12 as a result of this change," it stated.

08:09 EDT Advaxis announces initiation of Phase1 clinical trial of ADXS-504 - Advaxis announced the initiation of its Phase 1 clinical study evaluating ADXS-504 in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. The study, being conducted at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, is the first clinical evaluation of ADXS-504, Advaxis' off-the-shelf neoantigen immunotherapy drug candidate for early prostate cancer. The Phase 1 open-label dose escalation study will evaluate the safety and tolerability of two dose levels of ADXS-504 monotherapy, administered via infusion every four weeks for six total doses in 9-18 patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. The study will also evaluate preliminary clinical and immune responses following treatment with ADXS-504 monotherapy.

08:08 EDT ADT Inc. announces $1B notes offering - ADT announced that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, The ADT Security Corporation, is proposing to issue and sell $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of first-priority senior secured notes due 2029 in an offering that will be exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Upon the satisfactory consummation of the Offering, ADTSC intends to deliver a Notice of Redemption to holders of its 3.500% Senior Notes due 2022, which will provide for the redemption in full by ADTSC of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 2022 Notes. ADTSC expects to use the proceeds from the Offering, along with cash on hand, to complete the Redemption and pay related fees and expenses in connection with the transactions.

08:06 EDT Celsion appoints Dan Barouch, Luke Handke to Vaccine Advisory Board - Celsion Corporation announced the addition of Dan H. Barouch, M.D., Ph.D and Luke D. Handke, Ph.D. to its Vaccine Advisory Board. They join Britt A. Glaunsinger, Ph.D. and Xinzhen Yang, M.D., Ph.D. on the VAB, which was formed in February 2021. Barouch is the principal investigator at the Barouch Laboratory, Director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Handke is currently a Senior Scientist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. In addition to serving on the VAB, Dr. Handke will provide consulting services to Celsion in connection with its vaccine development program, which involves DNA-based vectors in combination with proprietary non-viral cellular delivery agents. He also will advise Celsion as it advances this program into human clinical studies.

08:05 EDT Splunk names Sendur Sellakumar Chief Cloud Officer, Claire Hockin CMO - "Splunk reinforced its commitment to helping organizations accelerate cloud success with a series of senior leadership appointments across its go-to-market and product teams," said the company. Effective immediately, Sendur Sellakumar has been named to the newly created role of senior vice president and Chief Cloud Officer; Claire Hockin has been appointed senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer; and Garth Fort has joined the company from AWS to become Splunk's senior vice president and Chief Product Officer. T

08:04 EDT BlueCity appoints Alfred Chung-Chieh Ying as Chief Strategy Officer - BlueCity appointed Alfred Chung-ChiehYing as Chief Strategy Officer, effective immediately. Prior to joining BlueCity, Ying served as CFO at Healthever Biotech and iFresh.

08:03 EDT Nikola adds 51 dealerships locations in nine states - Nikola announced a second phase in establishing a nationwide plan for its Class 8 truck sales and service coverage with the addition of five independent dealers with more than 51 locations in Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. This announcement is anticipated to bring the number of Nikola sales and service locations up to 116 across the United States as it rapidly continues to fulfill its commitment to the expansion of the distribution network.

08:02 EDT Alignment Healthcare adds Saint Mary's Health Network to 2022 network - Medicare Advantage company Alignment Healthcare announced the addition of Saint Mary's Health Network, a leading Northern Nevada-based hospital and medical group, to its provider network starting January 1, 2022, expanding access to care for Medicare-eligible beneficiaries in Nevada's Washoe County, where the company is launching Medicare Advantage plan options in 2022, pending regulatory approval.

08:02 EDT Bed Bath & Beyond, Casper Sleep announce national partnership - Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Casper Sleep (CSPR) announced a new national partnership that brings Casper's award-winning suite of sleep offerings to Bed Bath & Beyond customers through the Bed Bath & Beyond website and mobile app, and in select Bed Bath & Beyond stores. As part of the partnership, Casper will open its first, one-of-a-kind branded shop-in shop at Bed Bath & Beyond's newly designed flagship store in New York City, which is set to reopen on July 22 after undergoing a substantial renovation to modernize the shopping experience for customers. Casper will create one-of-a-kind, immersive in-store shopping experiences of its award-winning suite of sleep offerings to Bed Bath & Beyond customers, including the Casper Cooling Collection - a new line of innovative cooling products developed with the brand's most technologically-advanced solutions to minimize nighttime overheating and help sleepers love their tomorrow. In addition to the flagship store located at 620 6th Avenue in New York City, Bed Bath & Beyond's store in the city's Tribeca neighborhood and in Bridgewater, NJ, allow customers to experience Casper in-person. Casper products will become available at additional Bed Bath & Beyond locations across the U.S. in the coming months. In addition to in-store purchasing, Casper products are eligible for Buy Online & Pickup in Store or home delivery, making it easy for Bed Bath & Beyond customers to get their items home.

07:58 EDT Recruiter.com appoints Xuan Smith as CTO - Recruiter.com announced the appointment of Xuan Smith as CTO. Xuan's experience includes over a decade of technology leadership roles. As recruiting and hiring shift towards leveraging artificial intelligence and big data, Xuan will position and scale Recruiter.com's platform and infrastructure to meet the market opportunity. Ashley Saddul, the former CTO and founder, will continue on as chief web officer.

07:45 EDT Hamilton Thorne acquires IVFTECH, K4 Technology in cash, stock deal - Hamilton Thorne announced that it has completed the acquisition of IVFTECH ApS and its affiliated reseller arm, K4 Technology ApS. IVFtech, based in Birkerod, Denmark is a leading manufacturer of laminar flow workstations, high-capacity incubators, and related products for the ART and laboratory markets worldwide and, through its affiliate K4, provides product sales and services in the Nordic Region. The Transaction results in the expansion of Hamilton Thorne's product offerings and provides the Company with profitable operations in the well-established Nordic ART market. For the year ended June 30, 2021, IVFtech and K4 had consolidated revenues of approximately US$7.0 million and Adjusted EBITDA of approximately US$1.2 million. Key Benefits of the Transaction: Addition of a profitable portfolio of premium workstations, incubators, and related products and services; Products and operations are highly complementary to Hamilton Thorne's existing product and service offerings, enhancing its ability to offer complete solutions; Provides a direct sales and support platform for the entire Hamilton Thorne portfolio of products in the Nordic region; Expected to be immediately accretive to revenue and EBITDA; Minimally-dilutive transaction financed through its cash on hand, line of credit facility, and share consideration to the seller. Pursuant to the Transaction, Hamilton Thorne indirectly acquired 100% of capital stock of IVFtech and K4 based on a combined Enterprise Value of approximately $8 million. On closing, Hamilton Thorne paid consideration of approximately US$6.4million in cash and the issuance of an aggregate of 983,612 common shares of Hamilton Thorne stock at a deemed issuance price of C$2.021 per share with a deemed aggregate value of approximately US$1.6 million. The Seller Shares will be subject to a 3-year escrow pending final calculation of any closing adjustments and to satisfy any possible indemnity claims. The cash component of this transaction was financed with the Company's cash on hand and the drawdown of US$5 million from its acquisition line of credit facility with its existing senior lender, Middlesex Savings Bank. The line of credit converts post-closing to a secured term loan of US$5.0 million which bears interest at a rate of approximately 3.6% per annum, amortizes over the life of the loan, and matures five years from the conversion date. The Seller Shares issued under the Transaction will be subject to a four month hold period from the closing date under applicable Canadian securities laws. The Transaction is subject to receipt of final acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange in accordance with its policies.

07:42 EDT Cinedigm unable to file Annual Report on Form 10-K at this time - Last night, Cinedigm announced it is unable to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended March 31, 2021 at this time. "The company experienced unanticipated delays in preparing the Form 10-K due to office closures, remote work requirements and affected personnel related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and delays relating to compiling information related to recent acquisitions. The company intends to file the Form 10-K as soon as possible. Accordingly, the company's final financial results are not yet complete or available for disclosure," it said. Gary Loffredo, Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and President, Cinedigm and Cinema Equipment Business, said, "We are fully committed to fixing our timeliness issue, and we are appreciative of our investor's patience in receiving the 10-K filing. We are confident that our preliminary numbers reflect our very strong results and are extraordinarily pleased about the state of our business. We are 100% debt-free and are growing our streaming business rapidly."

07:41 EDT Ocugen announces initiation of rolling submission to Health Canada for covaxin - Ocugen announced that it had initiated a rolling submission to Health Canada for covaxin, the company's candidate vaccine against COVID-19, which it is co-developing with Bharat Biotech International for the U.S. and Canadian markets. This follows the release by Bharat Biotech of Phase 3 clinical trial results, which demonstrated efficacy and safety in nearly 25,800 adults. The rolling submission process was recommended and accepted under the Minister of Health's Interim Order Respecting the Importation, Sale and Advertising of Drugs for Use in Relation to COVID-19 and transitioned to a New Drug Submission for COVID-19. Ocugen initiated the rolling submission through its affiliate, Vaccigen. Health Canada will make a decision upon review of the evidence submitted that supports its safety, efficacy and quality.

07:41 EDT Probe Metals files NI 43-101 technical report on Val-d'Or East Project - Probe Metals is pleased to announce the filing of a technical report for its Val-d'Or East project entitled, "NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Val-d'Or East Project, Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Quebec, Canada". The Report dated July 14th , prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 is available for review on both SEDAR and the Company's website. The Resource Estimate, which is the subject of the NI 43-101 Report, forms the basis of the Project's upcoming Preliminary Economic Assessment. Upon further review of underground resource shapes the PEA and Resource consultants, Ausenco Engineering Canada and GoldMinds Geoservices, have identified additional gold resources that could potentially be extracted in a mining scenario. As a result, the Estimated Resource in the underground resource shapes has increased by 131,700 ounces and the total resource now stands at 1,800,900 ounces of gold in the Measured & Indicated category and 2,309,600 ounces of gold in the inferred category. Yves Dessureault, Probe's COO, states, "We are very pleased with the progress of both the Updated Resource Estimate and the upcoming PEA. Our holistic approach to project design and open communication between our consultants has resulted in an increase of the gold resources, and potentially minable ounces, and an overall improvement of the project. We are making very good progress on the PEA and are looking forward to its release in Q3."

07:39 EDT BurgerFi appoints Vivian Lopez-Blanco to board of directors - BurgerFi has appointed Vivian Lopez-Blanco to its board of directors, effective July 14, 2021. Lopez-Blanco's appointment follows the sudden passing of board member Steven Berrard announced on June 10, 2021. Lopez-Blanco has also been named as the chair of the audit committee and will be serving on the compensation committee and nominating governance committee. Lopez-Blanco is an experienced board member and seasoned finance executive with expertise in organizational transformations and driving profitable growth. Currently, she serves as a board member of Jumptuit Health. The appointment of Lopez-Blanco to BurgerFi's board of directors has satisfied the Nasdaq continued listing requirement discussed in the 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 25, 2021.

07:37 EDT Newmont says board approves advancing the Ahafo North Project - Newmont announced that its Board of Directors has approved advancing the Ahafo North Project into the execution phase. The project exceeds the Company's required internal rate of return, adding profitable production from the best unmined gold deposit in West Africa. "I am pleased to announce the approval of full funding for the Ahafo North Project, expanding our existing footprint in Ghana and adding more than three million ounces of gold production over an initial 13-year mine life," said Newmont President and CEO, Tom Palmer. "The development of this prolific ore body will leverage our proven operating model and will be supported by our existing world-class Ahafo South operation. The project will be developed and operated in a sustainable and responsible manner to create value for all our stakeholders." Located approximately 30 kilometers north of Newmont's existing Ahafo South operations, the Ahafo North Project will include four open pit mines and the construction of a stand-alone mill. Production from the mine will average approximately 275,000 to 325,000 gold ounces with all-in sustaining costs1 of $600 to $700 per ounce for the first five years. Projected capital costs are estimated to be between $750 to $850 million with construction expected to be complete in the second half of 2023. At current gold prices, the project is expected to deliver more than a 30 percent internal rate of return. The project will create approximately 1,800 jobs at the peak of construction with more than 550 permanent roles created once the mine is operational. Newmont will work to create lasting value for host communities through local sourcing and hiring. A key aspect of the Ahafo North project's workforce planning will be a target to achieve gender parity in the workforce when operations begin.

07:36 EDT Enovix awarded contract to show lithium-ion battery technology to U.S. Army - Enovix announced a contract award with General Technical Services under DOTC-17-01-INIT1218 Advanced Power Systems Technologies with the Department of Defense to demonstrate safe and efficient advanced lithium-ion battery technology to the U.S. Army. This contract was awarded in conjunction with Inventus Power. The application for the Enovix batteries is the WarFighter centralized power source, used to power worn and carried equipment within the soldier ensemble. Enovix believes that the total U.S. wearable military battery market is approximately $350M annually based on currently established military programs.

07:35 EDT Chevron Products and Cummins in strategic pact on hydrogen - Chevron (CVX) through its Chevron Products division and Cummins (CMI) a global power and hydrogen technologies leader, announced a memorandum of understanding, MOU, to explore a strategic alliance to develop commercially viable business opportunities in hydrogen and other alternative energy sources. The MOU provides the framework for Chevron and Cummins to initially collaborate on four main objectives: advancing public policy that promotes hydrogen as a decarbonizing solution for transportation and industry; building market demand for commercial vehicles and industrial applications powered by hydrogen; developing infrastructure to support the use of hydrogen for industry and fuel cell vehicles; and exploring opportunities to leverage Cummins electrolyzer and fuel cell technologies at one or more of Chevron's domestic refineries. "Chevron is committed to developing and delivering affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy, and collaborating with Cummins is a positive step toward our goal of building a large-scale business in a lower-carbon area that is complementary to our current offerings," said Andy Walz, president of Chevron's Americas Fuels & Lubricants. "Hydrogen is just one lower-carbon solution we are investing in that will position our customers to reduce the carbon intensity of their businesses and everyday lives. We've also invested in developing and supplying renewable natural gas, blending renewables into our fuels, coprocessing biofeedstocks in our refineries, and abatement projects that will reduce the carbon intensity of our operations."

07:32 EDT IBI Group partners with Urban Movement Labs for mobility - IBI Group has joined Urban Movement Labs, a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Mayor of Los Angeles' Office of Economic Development and the three largest goods and people movement agencies in the City of Los Angeles - the Port, the Airports, and the Department of Transportation - to implement innovative transportation solutions that will improve the lives of citizens and visitors. Other founding partners include Lyft, Verizon, Avis Budget Group, Moceanlab, Waymo, and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. Armed with IBI Group's expertise in intelligent transportation, curbside management and smart cities, and its history in the southern California market, the firm is proud to join the partnership and bring its curbside management solution, CurbIQ, to the streets of LA. As part of the partnership, IBI Group will have the opportunity to work with other UML members to develop new proofs-of-concept, as well as leverage the firm's existing mobility solutions for collaborations and test beds in LA. An initial pilot project, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, leverages IBI's CurbIQ solution to digitize the existing curbside regulations in three key areas in LA - Hollywood, downtown, and the UML partner pilot area around the Warner Center. The goal is to inform LADOT's future regulatory and mobility decisions around street parking and curbside management to better understand and optimize the use of curb space for the sustainable and efficient movement of people and goods. CurbIQ is currently being used by cities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to support improved management and optimization of the curbside.

07:27 EDT Theratechnologies initiates search for partner for Phase 3 tesamorelin trial - The Company announced that discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency regarding its proposed trial design and protocol for its Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating tesamorelin for the treatment of NASH are complete. In addition, the Company has initiated a search for a potential partner to help launch the program. Update on Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating tesamorelin in NASH: Discussions with the FDA and the EMA on the trial design are complete. The Phase 3 clinical trial will include participants in the U.S. and Europe. The Phase 3 clinical trial will be a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled two-part study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tesamorelin in liver-biopsy confirmed patients with NAS score of at least 4 and stage 2 or 3 fibrosis. The Phase 3 clinical trial will include a futility analysis that will be performed after approximately 400 patients have completed 18 months of treatment and have received a second liver biopsy. A supplemental Biologics Licence Application is expected to be filed after approximately 1,100 patients, including approximately 75 to 100 people living with HIV, have completed 18 months of treatment and have received a second liver biopsy. The primary endpoint will be NASH resolution and no worsening of fibrosis compared to placebo after 18 months as per FDA guidelines. Following potential approval, an additional 1,800 patients are expected to be enrolled, to continue measuring clinical outcomes over a period of five years. Based on regulatory discussions, the final Phase 3 clinical trial design will result in higher costs than what the Company had previously estimated. As a result of the total cost of the Phase 3 clinical trial, the Company is now evaluating its options to best execute its late-stage development program, including seeking a potential partner. An external U.S.-based biopharma advisory firm has been retained to assist in identifying a potential partner. Partner identification and negotiations will alter the initiation of the Phase 3 clinical trial that was previously expected to begin in the third quarter of calendar year 2021.

07:21 EDT International Consolidated Uranium enters purchase agreement with Energy Fuels - International Consolidated Uranium and Energy Fuels are pleased to announce that CUR has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement with certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of Energy Fuels whereby CUR will acquire a portfolio of conventional uranium projects located in Utah and Colorado from the EF Parties. In connection with the closing of the Transaction, the companies have also agreed to enter into toll-milling and operating agreements with respect to the Projects which positions CUR as a potential near-term US Uranium producer subject to an improvement in uranium market conditions and/or CUR entering into acceptable uranium supply agreements. Transaction Highlights: New Entrant into the U.S. Uranium Sector - The acquisition and alliance is expected to establish CUR as a new player in the U.S. uranium sector. The U.S. is currently the largest generator of nuclear power in the world and, by extension, the largest consumer of uranium. At the same time, domestic production of uranium is almost non-existent due to low prices and anti-competitive practices by foreign suppliers. In late 2020, the U.S. government approved the proposed establishment of a U.S. national strategic uranium reserve. Uranium mined by CUR, at one of the acquired Projects, and processed into natural uranium concentrates at Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill located near Blanding, Utah, is expected to qualify for the proposed reserve.Unlocks the Value of Past Producing Mines, Permitted and Well-Positioned for Rapid Restart - The portfolio of Projects being acquired pursuant to the Transaction includes, among other assets, the following three permitted, past-producing mines in Utah, which are expected to be the immediate focus of CUR: Tony M Mine - Located in the Henry Mountains area of southeastern Utah, the Project is a large-scale, fully-developed and permitted underground mine that operated most recently in 2008. Daneros Mine - Located in the White Canyon District, the Project is a fully-developed and permitted underground mine that was most recently in production in 2013. Rim Mine - Located in the East Canyon portion of the Uravan Mineral Belt, the Project is a fully-developed and permitted underground mine that was most recently in production in 2009. Strategic Alliance with Energy Fuels, the Leading U.S. Uranium Producer - With the toll-milling agreement for production from the Projects to be executed on closing of the Transaction, CUR will become the only current U.S. uranium developer with guaranteed access to Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill, which is the only permitted and operating conventional uranium mill in the U.S. Further, the operating agreements will allow the Projects to continue to be managed by the experienced team at Energy Fuels, ensuring a smooth transition. Compelling Acquisition Terms and Structure - The consideration payable to Energy Fuels for the acquisition of the Projects and for securing the toll-milling and operating agreements includes US$2 million payable at closing, Cdn$6 million of deferred cash payable over time, Cdn$5 million of deferred cash payable on commencement of commercial production, and such number of CUR shares that results in Energy Fuels holding 19.9% of the outstanding CUR common shares immediately after closing. CUR will also pay Energy Fuels a management fee, along with a toll milling fee for ore produced at the Projects in the future. Board of Directors Strengthened with Addition of Mark Chalmers. On closing, it is expected that Mark Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels, will join the CUR Board of Directors. Mr. Chalmers, a mining engineer by training, is a recognized leader in the uranium sector, both in the US and globally, and will bring decades of experience in uranium project development and mining to CUR. Terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement: Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, CUR will acquire from the EF Parties 100% of the Tony M, Daneros and Rim mines in Utah, as well as the Sage Plain property and eight DOE Leases in Colorado, for the following consideration: the payment of US$2.0 million in cash, payable on closing of the Transaction; the issuance of that number of CUR shares that results in Energy Fuels holding 19.9% of the outstanding CUR common shares immediately after closing of the Transaction; the payment of Cdn$3.0 million in cash on or before the 18-month anniversary of closing of the Transaction; the payment of an additional Cdn$3.0 million in cash on or before the 36-month anniversary of closing of the Transaction; and the payment of up to Cdn$5.0 million in contingent cash payments tied to achieving commercial production at the Tony M Mine, the Daneros Mine and the Rim Mine.

07:21 EDT Scientific Games proposes to buy remaining SciPlay shares at 11% premium - As previously reported, Scientific Games (SGMS) announced that it has submitted to the Board of Directors of SciPlay Corporation (SCPL) a proposal for Scientific Games to acquire the remaining 19% equity interest in SciPlay that it does not currently own in an all-stock transaction, following which SciPlay would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games. In its letter proposing the transaction, Scientific Games said SciPlay shareholders, other than SGMS and its subsidiaries, would receive 0.250 shares of SGMS common stock for each share of SciPlay Class A common stock they own, which would imply an enterprise value of $1.9B and purchase multiple of 2021E consensus EBITDA of 10.1x and 2022E consensus EBITDA of 9.4x. "The transaction implies a premium of 11% based on the SGMS and SciPlay respective closing stock prices as of the close of business on July 14, 2021, the last trading day prior to the proposal, and a premium of 10% based on the thirty-day volume weighted average price for SciPlay Class A common stock. We believe a merger of SGMS and SciPlay will deliver significant operational, strategic and financial benefits and drive shareholder value in excess of what each company could generate on a standalone basis. Further, we believe SciPlay public shareholders will benefit from increased trading liquidity as a result of being part of a pro forma entity with a market capitalization of $7.0 billion - based on the closing share prices of SGMS and SciPlay on July 14, 2021 - and a public float that would be approximately 18x larger than SciPlay today. Through our existing collaboration with SciPlay, we believe a transaction would be seamless and we look forward to fully joining forces with SciPlay's talented leadership team and employees to continue innovating on behalf of customers and players," said Scientific Games.

07:17 EDT Wipro sees Q2 IT Services revenue $2.535B-$2.583B

07:14 EDT Oxford Biomedica appoints Michael Hayden as non-executive director - Oxford Biomedica (OXBDF) announced that Dr. Michael Hayden has been appointed to the Group's Board as a Non-Executive Director, effective today. Hayden was the President of Global R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries (TEVA) from 2012 to 2017 during which time approximately 35 new products were approved in major markets. Dr. Hayden is the co-founder of five biotechnology companies: Prilenia Therapeutics B.V., NeuroVir Therapeutics Inc., Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp and 89bio, Inc. He currently represents various private biotech companies at Board level and serves as CEO of Prilenia Therapeutics, which is a private company focussed on the neurology space. Dr. Hayden has been working with Oxford Biomedica on a consultancy basis for the past year. The Board intends to continue to strengthen and diversify the Board having initiated a search for an additional independent Non-Executive Director, targeting the selection of female and ethnically diverse candidates.

07:12 EDT GDS Holdings plans to develop hyperscale data center campus in Malaysia - GDS Holdings announced the first step in the expansion of its platform to South East Asia with plans to develop a hyperscale data center campus in Johor, Malaysia. The Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire greenfield land in the Nusajaya Tech Park, Johor, immediately adjacent to Singapore. According to the initial design, the Company intends to develop the site into a data center campus comprising a total net floor area of approximately 22,500 sqm, with 54 MW of total IT power capacity. The first phase of the development, with an IT power capacity of 18 MW, is expected to be completed in early 2024. The Nusajaya site is ideally located to meet regional demand due to its close proximity both to the fast-growing city of Johor Bahru, as well as to the established data center hub in Singapore. Given the limited supply of new data center capacity in the area, it will be highly marketable to hyperscale customers, in particular to GDS's existing Chinese customers seeking to expand their presence in Malaysia and Singapore.

07:11 EDT Autolus Therapeutics appoints Edgar Braendle as Chief Development Officer - Autolus Therapeutics announced the appointment of Edgar Braendle M.D., Ph.D., as chief development officer. Braendle is joining Autolus' executive team today and will lead the company's development organization. Braendle joins Autolus from Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Oncology, where he held the position of Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Development and was responsible for leading the global oncology development programs of Sumitomo Dainippon.

07:10 EDT Energy Fuels sells Utah uranium projects to International Consolidated Uranium - Energy Fuels and International Consolidated Uranium, or CUR, have entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement whereby CUR will acquire a portfolio of conventional uranium projects located in Utah and Colorado from certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of Energy Fuels. In connection with the closing of the transaction, the companies have also agreed to enter into toll-milling and operating agreements with respect to the Projects. The acquisition and alliance is expected to establish CUR as a new player in the U.S. uranium sector. The portfolio of projects being acquired pursuant to the transaction includes, among other assets, three past-producing mines in Utah: Tony M Mine, Daneros Mine and Rim Mine. The consideration payable to Energy Fuels for the acquisition of the projects and for securing the toll-milling and operating agreements includes $2M payable at closing, C$6M of deferred cash payable over time, C$5M of deferred cash payable on commencement of commercial production, and such number of CUR shares that results in Energy Fuels holding 19.9% of the outstanding CUR common shares immediately after closing. CUR will also pay Energy Fuels a management fee, along with a toll milling fee for ore produced at the Projects in the future. It is expected that Mark Chalmers, CEO of Energy Fuels, will join the CUR Board of Directors. The Purchase Agreement includes provision for the return of the Projects to Energy Fuels in the event that CUR does not make the deferred cash payments as described above. Closing of the Transaction is subject to satisfaction of certain closing conditions including, among other things, CUR receiving approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

07:09 EDT Versus Systems announces partnership with Peach Bowl - Versus Systems announced a strategic partnership with Peach Bowl to power technology behind interactive experiences for live events and digital activations. "Versus is proud to announce our partnership to bring fan engagement and rewards to college football fans," said Matthew Pierce, CEO of Versus Systems. "We look forward to working with Peach Bowl and their partners to reward fans at college football's most exciting live events, whether they're at the venue, at home, or anywhere they're watching the game or supporting their team."

07:08 EDT Aravive achieves second development milestone from 3D Medicines - Aravive announced that it achieved a $3M development milestone payment from its licensee, 3D Medicines. This milestone is based on the Center for Drug Evaluation of the China National Medical Products Administration approval of the Investigational New Drug application submitted by 3D Medicines to participate in Aravive's international AVB-500 Phase 3 platinum resistant ovarian cancer clinical trial. Aravive's collaboration and license agreement with 3D Medicines Inc. is for the development and commercialization of AVB-500 in oncology indications in Greater China. Under the terms of the agreement, Aravive is eligible to receive up to an aggregate of $207M in development and commercial milestone payments and royalties. In addition to achieving this $3M development milestone, the company received a $6M development milestone payment in June 2021 and a $12M upfront payment in 2020, totaling $21M that has been achieved by Aravive from 3D Medicines.

07:06 EDT Brookfield urges shareholders to vote against the Alternative Transaction - The company stated, "Brookfield Infrastructure believes that the all-share Alternative Transaction is unattractive as it unreasonably forces all IPL shareholders to accept an all-share consideration based solely on the Special Committee's assessment of the future value of Pembina stock. Brookfield Infrastructure does not support the thesis espoused by the Special Committee and we feel shareholders should be given an option for a clean cash exit in order to make our own capital allocation decisions, and believe many other IPL shareholders share this view. In an effort to initiate a dialogue with IPL and Pembina to rectify this substantial flaw, on June 29, 2021 Brookfield Infrastructure sent a proposal to the Chair of IPL and the CEO of Pembina indicating a willingness to work with Pembina to enhance its bid by acquiring certain IPL assets. Brookfield Infrastructure indicated that if it acquired certain lower risk, lower return assets, Pembina could likely increase the value of its offer and together provide a substantial cash component of likely greater than 50% to IPL shareholders. Brookfield Infrastructure was promptly informed by IPL's Special Committee that it was not in the interests of IPL shareholders for IPL or Pembina to hold any discussions. In light of the potential for enhanced value and additional certainty for IPL shareholders that such dialogue could have surfaced, Brookfield Infrastructure respectfully disagrees with the Special Committee's conclusion. In any event, Brookfield Infrastructure will remain opposed to any Pembina transaction that does not contain a significant cash component and urges all IPL shareholders to vote AGAINST the Alternative Transaction and deposit their shares under the Offer."

07:04 EDT BioCryst announces designs for REDEEM-1, REDEEM-2 trials of BCX9930 - BioCryst Pharmaceuticals announced the designs for REDEEM-1 and REDEEM-2, two upcoming pivotal trials with its oral Factor D inhibitor, BCX9930, in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. REDEEM-1 is a randomized, open-label, active, comparator-controlled comparison of the efficacy and safety of BCX9930 monotherapy in approximately 81 PNH patients with an inadequate response to a C5 inhibitor. In part 1 of this trial, patients who have not had an adequate response to a C5 inhibitor will be randomized 2:1 to discontinue their C5 inhibitor and receive BCX9930 as monotherapy or to continue receiving their C5 inhibitor for 24 weeks. All patients will receive BCX9930 in part 2 to assess the long-term safety, tolerability and effectiveness of BCX9930. Patients who are randomized to C5 inhibitor therapy in part 1 will discontinue that therapy at the week 24 visit and start BCX9930 as monotherapy for part 2. REDEEM-2 is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BCX9930 as monotherapy versus placebo in approximately 57 PNH patients not currently receiving complement inhibitor therapy. In part 1 of this trial, patients will be randomized 2:1 to receive BCX9930 or placebo under double-blind conditions for 12 weeks. All patients will receive BCX9930 in part 2 to assess the long-term safety, tolerability and effectiveness of BCX9930, with patients randomized to placebo in part 1 switching to BCX9930 at the week 12 visit. The primary endpoint for both trials is the change from baseline in hemoglobin, assessed at weeks 12 to 24 in REDEEM-1 and at week 12 in REDEEM-2. Key secondary endpoints for both trials are the proportion of subjects who are transfusion-free, the number of units of packed red blood cells transfused and change from baseline in FACIT-Fatigue score. In REDEEM-2 the percent change from baseline in lactate dehydrogenase also is a key secondary endpoint. Other secondary endpoints in both trials include: percent reduction in the rate of pRBC units transfused, change from baseline in total PNH RBC clone size, ratio of total PNH RBC clone size to PNH white blood cell clone size, reticulocyte count and the proportion of subjects with Hb greater than or equal to12 g/dL. In REDEEM-1, reduction in C3 opsonization of red blood cells also is a secondary endpoint. Trial site start-up activities are now underway at sites around the world and both pivotal trials are expected to begin enrolling patients in the second half of 2021. In a dose-ranging trial of BCX9930, the company has previously reported that BCX9930 increased hemoglobin from baseline by a mean of 3.2 g/dL in C5 inadequate response patients and 3.5 g/dL in treatment-naive patients and reduced or eliminated transfusions in PNH patients. BCX9930 was safe and generally well-tolerated in the trial. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted both Fast Track status and Orphan Drug Designation to BCX9930 for PNH.

07:02 EDT Scientific Games proposes to acquire remaining shares of SciPlay it doesn't own - Scientific Games (SGMS) announced that it has submitted to the Board of Directors of SciPlay Corporation (SCPL) a proposal for Scientific Games to acquire the remaining 19% equity interest in SciPlay that it does not currently own in an all-stock transaction, following which SciPlay would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games. Scientific Games expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to the value of the Company's shares offering SciPlay shareholders a premium for their investment and the opportunity to participate in the upside potential of Scientific Games as it transforms its portfolio and executes on its strategy to drive long-term sustainable growth and significant shareholder value.

06:57 EDT Genius Sports partners with Mediapro Canada for Canadian soccer - Genius Sports entered a new strategic partnership with Mediapro Canada, an independent broadcast services, rights distribution and production company. The agreement will help grow the domestic and international addressable market for Canadian soccer, through Genius Sports' official data, streaming and marketing solutions. In 2019, Mediapro Canada sealed a 10-year partnership with Canadian Soccer Business, the enterprise that represents all commercial interests of the Canadian Premier League and Canada Soccer. Through the partnership, Mediapro Canada was tasked with promoting the sport, including the management of the global and domestic media rights to all CPL and Canadian Championship games. OneSoccer, Mediapro Canada's dedicated soccer streaming platform, will now integrate Genius Sports' live data and content into its live viewing experience. Genius Sports' data-driven marketing technology will also help to expand Mediapro Canada's domestic audience by driving OneSoccer subscriptions. Genius Sports has also been granted the exclusive worldwide rights to distribute live video streams for all CPL and Canadian Championship games. Sportsbooks can also access official data rights to Canadian soccer through Genius Sports' existing partnership with CSB.

06:51 EDT U.S. Bancorp reports Q2 net charge-off ratio 0.25% vs. 0.55% a year ago

06:49 EDT U.S. Bancorp reports Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 9.9% - Reports strong levels of liquidity.

06:47 EDT U.S. Bancorp reports Q2 net interest margin 2.53% vs. 2.62% a year ago

06:35 EDT Synlogic initiates SYNB1934 clinical trial - Synlogic announced that it has initiated the Phase 1 clinical trial of SYNB1934, an investigational Synthetic Biotic medicine for the treatment of Phenylketonuria, or PKU.

06:15 EDT Stanley Black & Decker named official partner of McLaren Formula 1 team - McLaren Racing and Stanley Black & Decker announced a multi-year partnership that will make the world's largest tools and storage company the Official Tools and Storage Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team.

05:18 EDT Walmart announces new collaboration with Justice - Walmart announced a new collaboration with the Justice brand, bringing its tween assortment just in time for back to school. With this strategic collaboration, Justice's line of designs across tween apparel, accessories and home is now available at Walmart's prices, shoppable on Walmart.com and in 2,400 Walmart stores nationwide.

05:11 EDT Ball Corp. to raise manufacturing capacity with new plants in Russia, UK - Ball Corp. is planning to significantly increase its manufacturing capacity, with new cutting-edge facilities in the UK and Russia. Each facility would produce, from 2023, billions of cans a year across a range of formats and sizes, and provide up to 200 jobs. In the UK, Ball has identified a site at the Segro Park Kettering Gateway, an established industrial development in Northamptonshire. Ball has submitted its formal application to North Northamptonshire Council and anticipates breaking ground during 2021, following a period of public consultation. The planned Kettering plant will represent Ball's third beverage can manufacturing facility in the UK, adding capacity to its established plants in Milton Keynes and Wakefield. The plant will supply cans for domestic customers in a growing range of categories. To serve the fast growing Russian market, especially in the beer and energy drinks categories, Ball is planning to build a plant in Ulyanovsk in Western Russia. Ball Beverage Packaging Naro-Fominsk has signed a cooperation agreement for its construction with the Ulyanovsk Regional Government, who in June also awarded the development 'Highly Significant Investment Project' status. The Ulynavosk plant will take the total in Russia to four, with established manufacturing facilities in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Region; Vesvolozhsk, St. Petersburg Region; and Argayash, Chelyabinsk Region.