Stockwinners Market Radar for July 19, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:43 EDT Bed Bath & Beyond director buys 11K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Bed Bath & Beyond director Harriet Edelman disclosed purchase of 11K shares of common stock in a total transaction size of $302K, boosting her stake by about 30%.

18:48 EDT Endeavour Silver to acquire Canamex' Bruner Property in Nevada for $10M in cash - Endeavour Silver announces it has entered into a definitive agreement with Canamex Gold Corp. to acquire a 100% interest in Canamex' Bruner Property, a gold exploration, located in Nye County, Nevada approximately 180 kilometres southeast of Reno for $10M in cash. Gold was originally discovered at Bruner in 1906 and the district saw intermittent historic small-scale mining between 1906 and 1998. Recent exploration activities by previous operators included mapping, sampling, geophysical surveys and drilling, culminating in a mineral resource estimate in 2015 and a preliminary economic assessment in 2017 outlining a low capital cost, open pit, heap leach mine operation.

18:36 EDT BHP Group sees FY22 iron ore output 249-259MT, down 2% to up 2% from last year - Sees FY22 Petroleum output 99-106 MMBOE, down 4% to up 3% from last year. Sees FY22 copper output 1,590-1,760kt, down 3% to up 8% from last year.

18:04 EDT SPX Flow board rejects unsolicited proposal from Ingersoll Rand - SPX Flow (FLOW) confirmed its Board of Directors previously received and rejected an unsolicited, conditional, non-binding proposal from Ingersoll Rand Inc. (IR) to acquire all outstanding shares of SPX Flow common stock for $85.00 per share in cash. After careful evaluation with its financial and legal advisors, the SPX Flow Board of Directors unanimously rejected the proposal determining that it significantly undervalues SPX Flow and its future growth prospects and is not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. The Board is confident that the continued successful execution of its strategic plan will deliver greater value to shareholders. The SPX FLOW Board and management team are open to all avenues to deliver shareholder value and remain focused on sustained and profitable growth.

17:58 EDT Ben & Jerry's to end ice cream sales in Occupied Palestinian Territory - Ben & Jerry's, a subsidiary of Unilever, announced that it plans to end sales of its ice cream products in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, saying that doing so is "inconsistent" with the company's values. "We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region," the company said. "We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year. Although Ben & Jerry's will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement. We will share an update on this as soon as we're ready." Reference Link

17:54 EDT Trinseo acquiring Aristech Surfaces for $445M - Trinseo has entered into an agreement with SK AA, an affiliate of Falcon Private Holdings, to acquire Aristech Surfaces, a North American manufacturer and global provider of polymethyl methacrylates continuous cast and solid surface sheets, serving the wellness, architectural, transportation and industrial markets. Purchase price is $445M; implied purchase multiple is 7.0x enterprise value / 2021 estimated Adjusted EBITDA including $50M tax benefit from basis step-up and $10M annual run-rate cost synergies. The transaction is expected to be growth, margin and cash flow accretive, and is expected to generate approximately $10M in annual pretax cost synergies by 2024 and additional revenue synergies by leveraging Trinseo's footprint and customer relationships in North America, Europe and Asia. The business will become part of Trinseo's Engineered Materials segment. The transaction is expected to be funded with cash on hand and existing credit facilities. Trinseo expects its net leverage ratio to be in the low-2x range at the end of the year. Trinseo anticipates the transaction will close by year-end 2021 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

17:36 EDT Renewable Energy VP Stone sells almost $582K in company shares - Renewable Energy VP Chad Stone disclosed in a filing that he had sold 9,226 shares of company stock at an average price of $63.05 per share on July 15, for a total transaction amount of $581,699.

17:34 EDT EcoR1 Capital reports 7.6% passive stake in Odonate Therapeutics - EcoR1 Capital disclosed a 7.6% stake in Odonate Therapeutics, which represents over 2.93M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

17:18 EDT Booz Allen, CAE and others to compete for orders on $240M Army contract - Booz Allen (BAH), CAE (CAE) and others will compete for each order of the $240M firm-fixed-price contract for mission support services for the Futures and Concepts Center. Bids were solicited via the internet with 15 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 18, 2026. U.S. Army Field Directorate Office is the contracting activity.

17:02 EDT PLx Pharma's VAZALORE to launch in over 8,000 Walgreens stores in August - PLx Pharma (PLXP) announced that three stock-keeping units of VAZALORE, the first and only U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved liquid-filled aspirin capsules, will be available in over 8,000 Walgreens (WBA) stores nationwide later in August. Walgreens is a global leader in retail pharmacy. Walgreens has already inserted placeholders to reserve space on shelves for all three SKUs: VAZALORE 81 mg, 12 count; VAZALORE 81 mg, 30 count; and VAZALORE 325 mg, 30 count. "As we continue to execute on our commercial launch plans, we are delighted that Walgreens has committed to carrying all three SKUs of VAZALORE in over 8,000 of its stores throughout the country. Walgreens' focus on health and wellbeing aligns closely with our mission to bring VAZALORE to the millions of people who can benefit from our unique aspirin therapy," stated Natasha Giordano, Chief Executive Officer of PLx.

16:53 EDT Arcus Biosciences chief medical officer Bill Grossman resigns - In a regulatory 8-K filing, Arcus Biosciences (RCUS) "announced that Bill Grossman M.D., Ph.D., will transition out of his role as chief medical officer at Arcus Biosciences and into a role at Gilead Sciences (GILD) as senior vice president of oncology clinical research to oversee Gilead's clinical-stage oncology portfolio. This will include leading Gilead's efforts in the company's alliance with Arcus to co-develop and co-commercialize Arcus's portfolio of investigational cancer medicines. Kartik Krishnan, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president, clinical development at Arcus, will assume full leadership of the Arcus clinical development program and continue to work closely with Grossman at Gilead. The transition will be effective July 26, 2021."

16:40 EDT Crown Holdings CEO says 'on track for another record year in earnings' - Commenting on the quarter, Timothy Donahue, President and CEO, stated, "The company's performance during the second quarter continued to be strong, and Crown remains on track for another record year in earnings. Adjusted earnings per share and segment income increased 61% and 58%, respectively, and were largely fueled by beverage can volume growth of 20%, as each global region recorded double-digit gains. Demand recovery has been robust in regions such as Brazil, throughout Europe, Mexico, the Middle East and Southeast Asia that previously had been adversely impacted by the pandemic. Each of our businesses performed very well commercially and operationally despite certain challenges posed by supply chain disruptions. The strong results delivered by Transit Packaging were driven by continuing improvement in global manufacturing activity and the achievement of several cost reduction initiatives. So far this year, the company has repurchased $379 million of common stock, executing on our capital allocation strategy of returning cash to shareholders. The Company previously announced an agreement to sell its European Tinplate business to KPS Capital Partners. The business comprises 44 manufacturing facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa that produce food cans and ends, aerosol cans, metal closures and promotional packaging for various consumer brands. We expect that the transaction will close during the third quarter of 2021. Net proceeds from the transaction will be used for debt reduction, beverage can capital projects and continued share repurchases over time. To meet accelerating demand for beverage cans, the world's most recycled and sustainable beverage packaging, the company is implementing several capacity expansion projects globally, which include both the construction of new plants and the addition of production lines to existing facilities. By the end of 2022, we expect to have 97 billion units of annualized global beverage can capacity, an increase of 28%, or 21 billion units, from the 2019 base. During the second quarter, the first line in our new Bowling Green, Kentucky facility began commercial shipments, with the second line expected to commence production during the third quarter. Also early in the fourth quarter, the company will begin operation of a new one-line plant in Vung Tau, Vietnam as well as additional production lines in Olympia, Washington and Rio Verde, Brazil. Beverage cans now account for approximately 75% of the Company's income from operations."

16:36 EDT AMC Entertainment enters agreement to reopen two theaters in LA area - AMC Entertainment has reached an agreement with Caruso, a privately owned real estate company, to add under long term lease two Los Angeles area locations: The Grove Theatre, a 14-screen theatre located in Los Angeles and The Americana at Brand Theatre, an 18-screen theatre located in Glendale. AMC is expected to reopen the theatres in August. The theatres, both formerly Pacific Theatres locations, have been closed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In full calendar year 2018, The Grove Theatre was the second highest grossing movie theatre and The Americana at Brand Theatre was the fifth highest grossing movie theatre in the Los Angeles area. AMC remains in active discussions with other property owners regarding additional currently closed locations. In the coming months, AMC will significantly enhance the premium movie-going options by renovating three auditoriums and introducing three premium large format screens at each theatre. An IMAX at AMC, Dolby Cinema at AMC and PRIME at AMC all will be offered at The Grove and also all will be offered at The Americana at Brand theatres.

16:33 EDT Yamana Gold announces 'positive development decision' on Wasamac project - Yamana Gold "announces the results of several studies on the Company's wholly-owned Wasamac project in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue Region of Quebec, Canada, intended to corroborate diligence reviews conducted by the Company on its purchase of the Wasamac project in early 2021 and update a historical feasibility study. These studies form the new feasibility level studies of the Company and the baseline technical and financial aspects of the Wasamac project that now underpin the decision to advance the project to production. Results from all studies are consistent with the Company's conclusions in its diligence reviews relating to the purchase of Wasamac and, in some cases, are better than the conclusions from those reviews. While a prior feasibility study was recently completed on Wasamac, in 2018, the Company relied on its own diligence reviews relating to the purchase of the project, using the prior feasibility study as a reference only and applying its own standards and approaches as a complete update of the prior study. These studies now form Yamana's feasibility level work relating to the project."

16:31 EDT Integra LifeSciences announces 'positive' clinical outcomes for PriMatrix - The company states: "Integra LifeSciences announced positive clinical outcomes for PriMatrix Dermal Repair Scaffold for the management of hard to heal diabetic foot ulcers. This study is one of the largest DFU randomized controlled trials ever completed with more than 100 patients per treatment group and demonstrated that in most cases, one application of PriMatrix plus standard of care healed 60% of DFUs in 12 weeks versus 35% of DFUs that healed in 12 weeks with SOC for the per protocol analysis."

16:30 EDT Ardelyx trading resumes

16:26 EDT MDU Resources units starts construction on ND Natural Gas pipeline - The company states: "WBI Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of MDU Resources, began construction this week on the North Bakken Expansion project in northwestern North Dakota. This natural gas pipeline expansion will have capacity to transport 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Bakken Formation. WBI Energy received a notice to proceed on July 8 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, allowing construction to commence."

16:22 EDT PPG drops 6% to $155 after FY21 EPS guidance misses estimates

16:20 EDT Sirius XM adds $2B to stock repurchase program - SiriusXM announced that its board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 1.4641c per share of common stock, payable in cash on August 30 to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 6. In addition, SiriusXM announced that its board has approved an additional $2B of common stock repurchases, taking the company's total authorization to $18B since the inception of the program in 2013.

16:19 EDT IBM rises nearly 4% to $143 after reporting Q2 results

16:18 EDT Matterport names Brandt Kucharski CAO - Matterport, Inc., a spatial data company which has entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination with Gores Holdings VI (GHVI), announced the appointment of Brandt Kucharski as Chief Accounting Officer. Kucharski will spearhead Matterport's external financial reporting, technical accounting, tax and corporate internal controls functions. He will also serve as the Principal Accounting Officer under SEC guidelines when Matterport lists as a public company. Kucharski specializes in IPO preparation and joins Matterport from food delivery giant Grubhub (GRUB), where he was Chief Accounting Officer for more than a decade.

16:11 EDT Rapid7 acquires threat intelligence firm IntSights Cyber Intelligence for $335M - Rapid7 announced it has acquired IntSights Cyber Intelligence. Under the terms of the agreement, Rapid7 will pay approximately $335M in cash and stock to acquire IntSights, subject to adjustments. With digital transformation, the attack surface has increased exponentially making it an imperative for security teams to have early, contextualized threat detection across their internal and external environments. Yet most security teams are under-resourced and overburdened, inundated with a deluge of data from their own environment and struggling to identify what needs immediate action. With the acquisition of IntSights, Rapid7 will combine its community-infused threat intelligence and deep understanding of customer environments with IntSights' external threat intelligence capabilities. This combination is intended to provide customers with a unified view into threats, attack surface monitoring, relevant insights, and proactive threat mitigation for organizations of any size or level of security maturity. This acquisition also enhances Rapid7's industry-leading cloud-native extended detection and response (XDR) offering, InsightIDR, by enabling high-quality, high-fidelity alerts to ensure efficient security operations, earlier threat detection, and accelerated response times.

16:09 EDT Talend tender offer by Thomas Bravo receives all required regulatory approvals - Talend and Thoma Bravo announced the receipt of all required regulatory approvals and clearances, including authorization by the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, for Thoma Bravo's tender offer for Talend. The regulatory approval process also included the expiration of the waiting period under HSR, and receipt of other customary transactional regulatory approvals. Thoma Bravo has commenced a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares and ADSs of Talend for $66.00 per ordinary share and ADS in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes. The tender offer is being made pursuant to the memorandum of understanding between Talend and Thoma Bravo dated March 10. The tender offer is scheduled to expire on July 28, unless extended or terminated and is expected to close in Q3. Talend will hold a general meeting of shareholders on July 26 to vote on transactions that would result in the company structurally, but not operationally, redomiciling in the Netherlands. The company expects to complete the redomiciling and related transactions in Q4.

16:08 EDT ICF International awarded $9M in contracts by U.S. Virgin Islands - The Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Labor recently awarded ICF a new $9M contract to implement a new workforce development program to train local workers to support the territory's recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria. The contract has a term of two years. The Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funded program, entitled Skills for Today, will train low-to-moderate income individuals in occupations that will support recovery efforts and help spur economic development on the islands. ICF will serve as the program's project manager, providing strategic planning, stakeholder and performance management and other services. The company will also provide access to workforce development training programs for jobseekers in entry-level construction fields, as well as incumbent worker training and registered apprenticeships in high-demand sectors such as hospitality, health care, IT and marine services.

16:07 EDT Talkspace names Jennifer Fulk CFO - Talkspace (TALK) announced the appointment of Jennifer Fulk as Chief Financial Officer, effective July 26, 2021. Jennifer joins Talkspace from Eli Lilly (LLY), where she held a variety of senior roles in finance, strategy and investor relations. Mark Hirschhorn, current Chief Financial Officer for Talkspace, will continue to serve as President and Chief Operating Officer.

16:06 EDT Chubb announces $5B one-time share repurchase program - Chubb announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a new one-time incremental share repurchase program of up to $5B through June 30, 2022. The company's existing share repurchase authorization of $2.5B has $65M remaining, which would be used prior to the share repurchase program announced today.

15:52 EDT Carnival announces plans for added ship restarts in September and October - Carnival Cruise Line announced that three more ships will resume guest operations in September, and another four in October - bringing the total number of ships to 15 - as the line's "successful restart of operations continues to ramp up." The company said: "Based on the success of its initial resumption of service and the guest response to the onboard experience and health and safety protocols that have been implemented, Carnival will continue to operate all its ships as vaccinated cruises through at least October." The three ships for September are Carnival Glory from New Orleans, starting Sept. 5, Carnival Pride from Baltimore, starting Sept. 12, and Carnival Dream from Galveston, starting Sept. 19. Turning to October, the four additional ships to restart will be Carnival Conquest from Miami, effective Oct. 8, Carnival Freedom from Miami, effective Oct. 9, Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral, effective Oct. 11, and Carnival Sensation from Mobile, effective Oct. 21. Related to this announcement, Carnival is notifying guests and travel agents of an extension in its pause of operations through Sept. 5 for Carnival Pride from Baltimore, Sept. 11 for Carnival Dream from Galveston, Oct. 4 for Carnival Conquest from Miami and Oct. 16 for Carnival Sensation from Mobile. Cruises on Carnival Sunshine from Charleston, Carnival Ecstasy from Jacksonville and Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral will be cancelled through Oct. 31. In addition, a three-day cruise on Carnival Miracle from Long Beach on Sept. 24 is being cancelled, and then Carnival Miracle will begin sailing from Long Beach on Sept. 27. "We are very excited about our restart and greatly appreciate the support of our guests, travel agents and port and destination partners. By the end of July, we will have five ships in our restart plan, including the introduction of service on Mardi Gras, and we are seeing a great combination of strong demand and strong guest satisfaction scores tied to the positive guest experience on board," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

15:23 EDT Disney, ESPN announce Monday Night Football production with Manning brothers - ESPN and Disney have reached a partnership with Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company that will result in a Monday Night Football MegaCast production, featuring both Peyton and Eli Manning. Peyton and Eli will headline the new additional viewing option starting with the 2021 NFL Season through the 2023 season, a total of 30 games over three seasons. Each Peyton and Eli-fronted MegaCast will be distributed on ESPN2, with potential for additional distribution on other Disney properties including ESPN+. Produced by ESPN, in conjunction with Omaha Productions, the MegaCast option will originate from a remote location. The companies said, "Fans will be treated to a mix of in-the-moment analysis, big picture NFL dialogue, knee-jerk reaction, historical perspective, and more. Peyton and Eli will be joined each week by a to-be-determined host. Iconic and current athletes, as well as celebrities, are expected to appear throughout the season. Fans will never miss any of the action, as a multi-box viewing experience will ensure the game is always visible." Reference Link

14:29 EDT Pfizer recalling lots of Chantix tablets, FDA says - Pfizer is voluntarily recalling two lots of Chantix 0.5mg tablets, two lots of Chantix 1 mg tablets, and eight lots of a Chantix kit of 0.5mg/1 mg tablets to the patient level due to the presence of a nitrosamine, N-nitroso-varenicline, above the Pfizer established acceptable daily intake level, the FDA said in a statement. Long-term ingestion of N-nitroso-varenicline may be associated with a theoretical potential increased cancer risk in humans, but there is no immediate risk to patients taking this medication, the agency said. Reference Link

14:23 EDT Quidel not commenting on report claiming OraSure rejected takeover approach - Contacted by The Fly after Street Insider said it was told by a source that OraSure (OSUR) rejected a recent takeover approach made by Quidel (QDEL), a spokesperson for the latter said the company does "not respond to rumors regarding M&A." In afternoon trading, shares of Quidel have gained almost 8% to $134.60, while OraSure's stock has advanced more than 4% to $10.52.

13:36 EDT NextPlay Technologies appoints Nithinan Boonyawattanapisut as co-CEO - NextPlay Technologies (NXTP) reported the appointment of Nithinan (Jessie) Boonyawattanapisut as the company's co-CEO. Boonyawattanapisut founded and has served as the CEO of HotPlay Enterprise Limited and its subsidiaries prior to the completion of the Monaker and HotPlay merger on June 30, 2021.

13:08 EDT Teledyne awarded $39.2M U.S. Navy contract - Teledyne Technologies announced hat its subsidiary, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., was awarded an indefinite-quantity/indefinite-delivery contract with a maximum base value of $27.4M from the U.S. Navy for the Littoral Battlespace Sensing-Glider program. The contract, awarded under full and open competition, includes a single five-year ordering period and five one-year option periods. The option periods, if exercised, have a ceiling value of $39.2M. Teledyne Slocum gliders are long-endurance, buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicles that provide a highly persistent means to sample and characterize the ocean water column properties. They can do this at spatial and temporal resolutions not possible using other vessels or tactical units alone. The AUVs host a range of oceanographic sensors to support antisubmarine warfare, mine countermeasures and Naval Special Warfare mission areas. Teledyne Brown Engineering and sister company, Teledyne Webb Research, will perform the design, development, fabrication, production, test, and support of the LBS-G systems. Under a previous contract awarded in 2009, Teledyne delivered 203 gliders to the U.S. Navy.

12:27 EDT Schneider to build new innovation center in Wisconsin - Schneider announced plans to build 'The Grove', Schneider's innovation center, on the company's main campus in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. The over 20,000 square-foot building will house the newest collaboration and visualization technologies allowing Schneider associates to leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and user experience technologies and drive forward new business processes to transform the company. The Grove will be located on land south of Schneider's existing headquarters building in Ashwaubenon. Construction begins this fall, with the facility opening in late 2022.

12:00 EDT Universal Compression falls -11.3% - Universal Compression is down -11.3%, or -$8.61 to $67.31.

12:00 EDT MV Oil Trust falls -13.9% - MV Oil Trust is down -13.9%, or -$1.10 to $6.82.

12:00 EDT Scor ADR rises 11.2% - Scor ADR is up 11.2%, or $2.07 to $20.51.

11:58 EDT Aldeyra's methotrexate receives Orphan designation from FDA - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Aldeyra Therapeutics' methotrexate Orphan designation for the treatment of primary viteoretinal lymphoma. The treatment has not been approved by the FDA for an Orphan Indication. Reference Link

11:16 EDT Vistra to close Zimmer Power Plant by mid-2022 - Vistra announced it will close the Zimmer Power Plant in Moscow, Ohio, by mid-2022. The company had previously announced the plant would retire no later than 2027 based on environmental regulations. The early retirement decision comes after the plant failed to secure any capacity revenues in the latest auction held in May by the grid operator, PJM. May's PJM capacity auction for 2022-23 cleared much lower than expected - nearly 50% lower than the 2021-22 auction in the zone where Zimmer is located. Due to this lower clearing price, Zimmer was unable to sell any generating capacity in the auction. In addition, indications suggest future PJM capacity auctions have the potential to experience low clearing price results, as well, resulting in a multimillion-dollar loss in expected future capacity revenues compared to previous years. Vistra plans to retire the site on May 31, 2022. As it is doing at its plant sites across the country, the company will evaluate the Zimmer site for potential investments in renewables or grid-scale battery storage, utilizing existing infrastructure.

11:04 EDT BioMarin announces presentation of on-year results from GENEr8-1 study - BioMarin Pharmaceutical announced new data for valoctocogene roxaparvovec, an investigational gene therapy for the treatment of adults with severe hemophilia A, in its positive pivotal study, GENEr8-1, during an oral presentation at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2021 Virtual Congress. The pivotal study demonstrated superiority to Factor VIII prophylaxis in key clinical efficacy endpoints. With 134 participants, this is the largest global Phase 3 study to date for gene therapy in hemophilia. All participants in the study received a single dose of valoctocogene roxaparvovec and completed a year or more of follow-up. Top-line one-year results from this study were previously communicated in January 2021. New data presented at ISTH include more details on annualized bleeding ratein all study participants and annualized Factor VIII utilization rate, in terms of international units per kilogram per year of replacement Factor VIII. Over 90 percent of all participants in the GENEr8-1 study had an annualized bleed rate of zero or a lower bleed rate than baseline after week 4 after treatment with valoctocogene roxaparvovec. New data presented at ISTH also include information on Factor VIII utilization after treatment with valoctocogene roxaparvovec. Mean annualized Factor VIII utilization rate, among a pre-specified group of prior participants in a non-interventional baseline observational study decreased from baseline on Factor VIII prophylaxis by 99% from 3961.2 to 56.9 IU/kg/year after week 4 after treatment with valoctocogene roxaparvovec. As previously shared in January 2021, data from the pre-specified rollover population in the GENEr8-1 study with a mean follow-up of 71.6 weeks demonstrated that in the pre-specified primary analysis for ABR, calculated through each subject's last assessment, a single dose of valoctocogene roxaparvovec significantly reduced mean ABR by 84% from a prospectively collected 4.8 at baseline to 0.8 bleeding episodes per year. In addition, the mean annualized Factor VIII infusion rate was reduced by 99% from 135.9 to 2.0 infusions per year. Study participants also experienced a clinically meaningful increase in endogenous Factor VIII expression. At the end of the first year post-infusion with valoctocogene roxaparvovec, participants in the modified intent-to-treat population had a significant increase in mean endogenous Factor VIII expression level from an imputed baseline of 1 IU/dL to 42.9 IU/dL as measured by the chromogenic substrate assay, supporting the marked clinical benefits observed with abrogation of bleeding episodes and Factor VIII utilization and infusion rates. In a subset of the mITT population that had been dosed at least two years prior to the data cut date, Factor VIII expression declined from a mean of 42.2 IU/dL at the end of year one to 24.4 IU/dL at the end of year two with continued hemostatic efficacy. Overall, in the Phase 3 study, valoctocogene roxaparvovec has been well tolerated by the 134 participants who received a single 6e13 vg/kg dose. No participants withdrew due to adverse events. No participants developed inhibitors to Factor VIII, or experienced thromboembolic events. One participant was lost to follow-up. Infusion reactions were defined as any AEs occurring within 48 hours post-infusion. The most common infusion reactions were nausea, fatigue, and headache. Systemic hypersensitivity during or following infusion was mitigated by slowing or pausing infusion and treating with supportive medications, as indicated. All four participants with an interruption due to infusion-related symptoms were able to complete their infusion. Twenty-two participants experienced a total of 43 serious adverse events, and all SAEs resolved. Common, steroid-related side effects can occur with temporary use of corticosteroid to manage ALT elevation. ALT elevation was the most common AE. Overall, 79% of participants received corticosteroids per protocol as treatment for ALT elevation. The average duration of corticosteroid treatment was 33 weeks. Overall, 72% of participants who used any corticosteroids reported AEs attributed to their use, most commonly acne, insomnia, cushingoid changes, and weight increased. Three participants reported SAEs attributed to corticosteroids. Other immunosuppressants were used by 29% of participants for ALT elevation due to contraindication, side effects, or poor or no response to corticosteroid treatment. No Grade 4 ALT elevations occurred, and no participants met Hy's law criteria for drug-induced liver injury.

10:50 EDT Freeline Therapeutics Holdings Plc (ADS) trading resumes

10:29 EDT Verde offers to acquire Landmark Infrastructure for $13.50 per unit - Verde Investments, which owns an 8.75% stake in Landmark Infrastructure Partners (LMRK), disclosed that on July 16, it delivered a letter to Landmark's board that includes a proposal to acquire, through one or a series of all-cash transactions, substantially all of the assets of the company. If the Proposal is consummated, holders of Landmark's common units would receive $13.50 per common unit in cash. In the letter, Verde requests, among other things, that representatives of the company's Conflicts Committee and/or the board "immediately enter into discussions." Verde will seek to discuss the proposal and the other topics in the letter with the Conflicts Committee and/or the board and will "urge the Issuer to take the actions detailed in the Letter, any or all of which the Reporting Person may participate and potentially engage in, as a purchaser, an investor or otherwise."

10:00 EDT GasLog Partners falls -10.7% - GasLog Partners is down -10.7%, or -53c to $4.41.

10:00 EDT L.S. Starrett Co falls -14.9% - L.S. Starrett Co is down -14.9%, or -$1.24 to $7.10.

10:00 EDT Ambrx Biopharma rises 8.4% - Ambrx Biopharma is up 8.4%, or $1.64 to $21.20.

09:47 EDT MV Oil Trust falls -9.3% - MV Oil Trust is down -9.3%, or -74c to $7.18.

09:47 EDT USD Partners falls -12.8% - USD Partners is down -12.8%, or -92c to $6.28.

09:47 EDT Ranger Energy rises 7.3% - Ranger Energy is up 7.3%, or 58c to $8.54.

09:45 EDT XPeng announces P5 pricing, says China presales seeing 'enthusiastic response' - XPeng announced on July 17 the presale price range of RMB160,000 - 230,000, post subsidies, for its P5 smart sedan at the 2021 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Auto Show. "XPeng's latest achievement in intelligent mobility, the P5 will be made available for the Chinese market in six versions - 460G, 460E, 550G, 550E, 550P and 600P. Commencing on July 17, the P5's presale has already received enthusiastic responses from consumers in China, with LiDAR-equipped versions comprising the majority of orders so far. The P5 will officially launch in China in the third quarter of 2021 with deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of 2021," the company said.

09:35 EDT Freeline Therapeutics Holdings Plc (ADS) trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:32 EDT Guardant Health makes $26M investment in AI startup Lunit - Lunit announced a strategic investment of $26M from Guardant Health. The deal, which includes the investment made by Guardant Health and also a groundbreaking collaboration between a liquid biopsy company and a medical AI startup, is intended to help reshape and innovate the precision oncology landscape. Lunit has closed its Series C Tranche B funding round with the investment from Guardant Health. Lunit is expected to file for an initial public offering on the Korean Stock Exchange later this year.

09:28 EDT Alset EHome appoints Tung Moe Chan as co-CEO - Alset EHome announced its board of directors appointed Tung Moe Chan as the company's co-CEO, effective immediately. Since 2015, Chan has held various positions with several of the company's subsidiaries and affiliated entities and currently holds a key position as a director and co-CEO of the company's Singapore Exchange-listed subsidiary, Alset International. He also currently serves as co-CEO and director of the company's subsidiary, LiquidValue Development.

09:23 EDT Rennova Health completes reverse stock split - Rennova Health announced that effective at 5:00 pm, Eastern Time, on July 16, 2021, the Company effected a 1 for 1,000 reverse stock split of its outstanding common stock. The Company's common stock will open for trading on Monday, July 19, 2021 on a post-split basis under the temporary trading symbol "RNVAD". The trading symbol will revert to "RNVA" after 20 business days. As a result of the reverse stock split, every 1,000 shares of the Company's common stock issued and outstanding on the Effective Time were consolidated into one issued and outstanding share, except to the extent that the reverse stock split resulted in any of the Company's stockholders owning a fractional share, which fractional share will be in that case paid in cash. In connection with the reverse stock split, there was no change in the nominal par value per share of $0.0001. Trading of the Company's common stock will continue on a split-adjusted basis under a new CUSIP number. Based on the number of shares outstanding on July 16, the reverse stock split reduced the number of shares of the Company's common stock outstanding from approximately 10 billion pre-reverse split shares to approximately 10 million post-reverse split.

09:14 EDT Luminar acquires lidar chip partner OptoGration amid Iris scale into OEMs - Luminar Technologies announced it is acquiring its exclusive InGaAs chip design partner and manufacturer, OptoGration "bringing specialized core IP and securing supply chain as Luminar scales Iris into series production with its OEM customers. The acquisition secures a key part of Luminar's supply chain and enables deeper integration with its existing chip design subsidiary Black Forest Engineering which Luminar acquired in 2017. Luminar is combining the latest technology from Optogration and BFE to power its new fifth-generation lidar chip in Iris as the company prepares for series production of its product and technology. For the past five years, Luminar has been closely collaborating with OptoGration, developing, iterating, and perfecting the specialized InGaAs photodetector technology that is required for 1550nm lidar. OptoGration has capacity to produce approximately one million InGaAs chips with Luminar's design each year at their specialized fabrication facility in Wilmington, Mass, with the opportunity to expand to up to ten million units per year capacity. "Acquiring OptoGration is the culmination of a deep, half-decade long technology partnership that has dramatically advanced the proprietary lidar chips that power the industry-leading performance of our newest Iris sensor," said Jason Eichenholz, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Luminar. "The OptoGration team is unique in their ability to deliver photodetectors with the performance and quality that achieve our increasingly demanding requirements. Chip-level innovation and integration has been key to unlocking our performance and driving the substantial cost reductions we've achieved."

09:12 EDT EnWave signs commercial license agreement with Colombian dairy company - EnWave Corporation announced that it has signed a Commercial License Agreement with a leading Colombian dairy company for the production of shelf-stable dairy snacks in Colombia. The Colombian Dairy Company has also purchased a 10kW Radiant Energy Vacuum machine to initiate commercial production of all-natural cheese snacks. The License grants the Colombian Dairy Company the exclusive right to produce crunchy, shelf-stable cheese snacks in Colombia pursuant to meeting certain minimum royalty and machine purchase order requirements. These new products will complement the Colombian Dairy Company's broad, existing portfolio of established dairy brands that are currently being sold throughout South America. The Colombian Dairy Company intends to develop and commercialize nutritious, REV dried dairy snacks for the Colombian grocery market and has longer term ambitions to expand distribution into Ecuador and Venezuela, among other South American markets.

09:11 EDT Anghami launches six new telco partnerships across Middle East, North Africa - Anghami announced the launch of six new mobile partnerships and offers across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria in the first half of 2021, bringing Anghami Plus to more and more people, and further, strengthening the platform's position as the leading music streaming service in the region. Anghami has joined forces with Virgin Mobile in UAE and KSA to offer their customers a unique music experience. Targeting the vibrant Saudi youth segment, Anghami Plus will be offered for free with select Zain Shabab postpaid plans. Orange and Xiaomi launched a major campaign starting May 31, 2021 offering four months of Anghami Plus for free with any purchase of the Redmi 9T smartphone packed with Orange's Edawa5 bundle. Building on a seven-year-long partnership between Anghami and Maroc Telecom, Anghami has teamed to offer three months of Anghami Plus for free to any new postpaid customer choosing a plan of 99DH and above. In the effort to bring Anghami Plus to more users across the region, Anghami announced launching a new partnership with Djezzy, the leading mobile operator in Algeria. Anghami recently announced it expects to become a publicly traded company via a merger with Vistas Media Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company.

09:09 EDT L3Harris Technologies developing future NATO surveillance concepts globally - L3Harris Technologies is developing surveillance concepts for NATO to replace the organization's aging Airborne Warning and Control System fleet by 2035. The team is developing "system of systems" options for surveillance and control capabilities for NATO's Alliance Future Surveillance and Control, AFSC, program. Led by L3Harris Technologies, the team unifies the expertise across the international stage sharing a vision of a data-centric, platform-agnostic approach. International team members will be announced at a future date. "L3Harris has the skill and experience to address AFSC program complexities across all domains - air, land, sea, space and cyber," said Charles R. "CR" Davis, Vice President International, L3Harris. "The team has approached the Risk Reduction Feasibility Study phase with an open mind towards the platforms and digital architectures that will best achieve NATO's objectives. It is critical to give NATO and the member nations as much flexibility as possible in developing an advanced technology, highly adaptive, cost-effective AFSC concept shaped to meet evolving hybrid challenges." The international team will analyze the risks and feasibility of candidate components within its systems of systems to enhance the NATO Alliance's military advantage to 2035 and beyond. The L3Harris team harnesses the strengths of multiple global defense companies to offer engineering innovation, battle-winning capability experience, and a shared vision to increase the effectiveness of future NATO military operations.

09:06 EDT Comtech awarded $3.2M contract for satellite systems for Brazil military support - Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, its Government Solutions segment was awarded a $3.2M follow-on contract from the Brazilian military to supply additional satellite equipment and services for its Air Traffic Control network. "We are pleased that this customer continues to deploy our advanced satellite communication solutions to support their critical infrastructure," said Fred Kornberg, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Brazilian military on this and future opportunities."

09:04 EDT Kandi Technologies to acquire Jiangxi Province Huiyi for $7.7M - Kandi Technologies announced the expansion of its battery cell business with the acquisition of a cell producer in Jiangxi Province, China. The company to be acquired, Jiangxi Province Huiyi New Energy, produces approximately 90M 18650 lithium-ion rechargeable cells annually. Hu Xiaoming, chairman and CEO of Kandi commented, "With the rapid growth of new forms of electric propulsion mobility, the battery industry is literally in its infancy. Whether it is classic pure-EV automobiles, recreational products like hoverboards, or the air transportation of the future, eVTOLS, the need for powerful, safe, and reliable battery storage will grow exponentially over the coming decades. Kandi already has significant expertise in electric propulsion, so this acquisition is the first step to take our expertise and market presence to the next level. Jiangxi Huiyi is already a high volume, profitable producer. Under Kandi's ownership, we intend to grow volume and market share by leveraging their technology to address many emerging applications." On July 13, 202, Kandi's wholly owned subsidiary Zhejiang Kandi Technologies Group signed a Share Transfer Agreement and a Supplementary Agreement with the shareholders of Jiangxi Huiyi to purchase all its equity shares. Pursuant to the terms of the Share Transfer Agreement, Zhejiang Kandi Technologies will acquire all the equity interests of Jiangxi Huiyi with a purchase price of approximately $7.7M in cash. Zhejiang Kandi Technologies is obligated to pay half of the price no later than five business days after the Signing Date, with the remaining half paid upon consummation of the transaction. Pursuant to the Supplementary Agreement, the company may issue up to 858,770 shares of registered stock each year for the next three years to the shareholders of Jiangxi Huiyi, conditioned on the fulfillment of the condition that Jiangxi Huiyi achieve no less than approximately $2.3M net income over the course of each of the following three years.

09:04 EDT Blackstone funds to acquire majority stake in Simplilearn, terms not disclosed - Blackstone announced that private equity funds managed by Blackstone have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd., an online learning 'bootcamp' based in India offering digital skills training and courses to working professionals all over the world.

09:02 EDT Nektar appoints Dimitry Nuyten as Chief Medical Officer - Nektar has appointed Dimitry Nuyten as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Nuyten will also serve as a member of the Company's Executive Committee. Prior to joining Nektar, he held several oncology development leadership roles at Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer. Nuyten most recently served as CMO at Aduro Biotech and as Consultant to Chinook Therapeutics. Brian Kotzin, who has served as the company's interim CMO since January, will continue in his prior role as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Head of Immunology.

09:01 EDT Enservco urges stockholders to vote for proposal to reincorporate in Nevada - Enservco Corporation reminds investors that the Annual Meeting of Stockholders will reconvene on July 23, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time and urges stockholders to vote in favor of the proposal to reincorporate the company in Nevada. The reincorporation proposal must be approved by a majority of the total shares outstanding. If you do not vote, your non-vote will have the same effect as a vote against the reincorporation proposal. Enservco adjourned its Annual Meeting of Stockholders on June 25, 2021, with respect to its proposal to reincorporate the Company in the state of Nevada. During the period of adjournment, the Company continues to solicit votes in favor of the reincorporation proposal. "Management and the Board believe reincorporation is in the best interests of all stockholders and we are encouraging our investors to vote their shares in favor of the proposal no matter how many shares they own," said Marjorie Hargrave, President and CFO.

08:47 EDT Vontier to acquire DRB Systems for $965M in cash - Vontier announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DRB Systems, a provider of point of sale, workflow software, and control solutions to the car wash industry, from affiliates of New Mountain Capital for approximately $965M in cash. The acquisition will be subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and will be financed with available cash and proceeds from borrowings under Vontier's credit facilities. Vontier anticipates that the acquisition will close in Q3. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, DRB was founded in 1984 and employs more than 500 people across North America. The company's portfolio of trusted brands includes DRB Tunnel Solutions, DRB In-Bay Solutions, Suds Creative, eGenuity, Washify, InvoMax, Auto Data and Sage Microsystems. DRB is owned by New Mountain Capital, a New York-based investment firm. Vontier expects DRB to generate approximately $170M of revenue in 2021 with mid-20% operating margins and is expected to have a high-single digit long-term growth rate. The purchase price for the acquisition is approximately $965M and includes an approximate $130M deferred tax asset, which we expect to be able to utilize over the next 15 years.

08:43 EDT BrightSpire Capital sells portfolio of development, non-accrual investments - BrightSpire Capital( BRSP) formerly known as Colony Credit Real Estate (CLNC), a publicly traded commercial real estate CRE credit REITs announced it has reached an agreement to sell a majority of its historical development and/or non-accrual assets to managed vehicles of Fortress Investment Group , a leading, diversified global investment manager, for gross proceeds of $223M . The proceeds are substantially in line with the Company's aggregate GAAP and undepreciated book value of the underlying assets as of March 31. The Co-Invest Portfolio Sale advances key objectives of the Company, including: Exits Several Historical Development and/or Non-Accrual Assets Co-Invest Portfolio Sale includes the four co-investments subject to the Company's "5-Investment Preferred Financing", which includes both a residual hotel loan equity participation interest in Austin, Texas each as described in further detail in the Company's n10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31.

08:39 EDT Aridis, AstraZeneca announce license agreement for suvratoxumab - Aridis Pharmaceuticals (ARDS) announced that it has entered into an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN) to in-license the late stage monoclonal antibody candidate, suvratoxumab. The highlights of the agreement are: Phase 3-ready candidate. Suvratoxumab monoclonal antibody for prevention of pneumonia has been licensed from AstraZeneca. Suvratoxumab extends Aridis' pneumonia franchise by complementing the existing AR-301 Phase 3 pneumonia treatment program. Lancet ID publication. Phase 2 data involving n=196 patients recently published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed safety and a statistically significant (47%) relative reduction of pneumonia in S. aureus colonized, mechanically ventilated patients less than 65 years old, with corresponding reduction in the number of days needed in the ICU and hospital. Up to EUR 25M funding. EU Commission's Innovative Medicines Initiatives funding for suvratoxumab Phase 3 clinical trial. AstraZeneca's equity stake in Aridis. AstraZeneca becomes a shareholder of Aridis through the issuance of common stock and has right of first negotiation for future licensing of suvratoxumab.

08:36 EDT Creative Learning announces Bricks 4 Kidz expansion into India - Creative Learning Corporation, the parent company of the STEAM-based educational franchise Bricks 4 Kidz, announces the brand's expansion into India. Bricks 4 Kidz has signed a master franchise agreement with FranGlobal to expand its market presence in India. FranGlobal will be opening new franchise opportunities with plans to expand by more than 50 locations and growing the brand's presence and influence in the region.

08:35 EDT GreenBox to acquire Transact Europe for EUR30M - GreenBox POS announced it has entered into a binding MOU to purchase Transact Europe Holdings OOD. Transact Europe Holdings OOD is the single entity shareholder of Transact Europe EAD. Transact Europe EAD is an EU regulated electronic money institution headquartered in Sofia Bulgaria. TEU is a Principal Level Member of Visa, a Worldwide Member of MasterCard, and a Principal Member of China UnionPay. In addition, TEU is part of the direct SEPA program. With a global footprint, proprietary payment gateway and technology platforms, TEU offers a comprehensive portfolio of services, and decades of industry experience. TEU provides complete payment solutions by offering acquiring, issuing of prepaid cards and agent banking, serving hundreds of clients with a projected EBITDA for 2021 in excess of $5M Under the terms of the agreement, the purchase price for the transaction is EUR 30M in cash with the majority of management equity earnout compensation based on processing volume commitments and hurdles of $100M, $250M, $500M and $1B of new business volume per month. Included in the acquisition is over 6M Euro in reserves with the card schemes. TEU has successfully passported its licenses into all countries in the European Economic Area which will allow GreenBox to onboard any customer within the EEA region. With this acquisition, GreenBox will have the following capabilities as a result of TEU's licensing: Principal Member of Visa and MasterCard for Acquiring; Principal Member of Visa and MasterCard for Issuing; Principal Member of China Union Pay for Acquiring; Full Electronic Money Institution license; A direct member of SEPA; Able to issue and offer EUR IBANs; Passport of licenses to all EEA Countries; Waiver to continue boarding UK clients in 202; Software included to run licenses and clients; Proprietary PCI Level 1 Payment Gateway. Upon completion, the European acquisition would reduce the impact of certain issuing and acquiring challenges faced by GreenBox during its growth in the U.S. market. The acquisition will allow GreenBox to expand its offerings, including merchant accounts, payment accounts, FX services and a host of other services to prospective European clients. It will also provide GreenBox the opportunity to offer its domestic clients expansion into Europe, greatly enhancing value for its existing and prospective U.S. based clients. Furthermore, Transact Europe holds a waiver from the UKFCA under Brexit to continue business in the UK for the remainder of 2021 until the needed requirements, which are expected to be released in October, are defined. GreenBox intends to achieve the required UK licensing in order to continue onboarding and servicing customers in the UK. The acquisition is pending regulatory approval from the Bulgarian National Bank, where TEU's licenses are held, after which GreenBox can begin consolidation efforts and onboarding of new clients. GreenBox has already secured the services of seasoned European based industry specialists to spearhead the European expansion to optimize all facets of the combined group.

08:32 EDT Abercrombie & Fitch appoints Samir Desai as Chief Digital, Technology Officer - Abercrombie & Fitch announced the appointment of Samir Desai as its Chief Digital and Technology Officer. "In this newly created role, Desai will be responsible for leading the company's digital transformation strategy, including developing strategic initiatives through data and analytics, optimizing customer and user experience, and further evolving the company's portfolio of brands into digital experiences that are unique to each of their diverse audiences," the company said. Desai joins Abercrombie & Fitch Co. from Equinox, a luxury fitness company that operates several lifestyle brands. At Equinox, Desai most recently served as Chief Technology Officer. In his new position, Desai will be a member of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s Executive Steering Committee and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Fran Horowitz.

08:25 EDT Catalyst announces issuance of Method of Use patent for Firdapse - Catalyst Pharmaceuticals announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a new U.S. patent to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals for Firdapse Tablets 10mg, U.S. Patent No. 11,060,128, Methods of Administering 3,4-diaminopyridine. Amifampridine is extensively metabolized by N-Acetyl Transferase, type 2 and the rate of this metabolism can be quite variable in patients. The patent is directed to the use of suitable doses of amifampridine to treat patients suffering with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, that are slow metabolizers of amifampridine. Any drug product containing amifampridine with a label for the treatment of LEMS, that states the patented dosing regimens and doses in the Dosing and Administration section of a product label could possibly infringe this patent.

08:21 EDT BIMI International Medical appoints Amy Xue as CFO - BIMI International Medical (BIMI) announced the appointment of Amy Xue as the Company's new CFO, effective July 15, 2021. Xue is a CPA and ACCA certified accountant and experienced senior finance executive. Prior to her appointment as BIMI's Chief Financial Officer, she served as CFO at iFresh (IFMK) between March 2020 and June 2021.

08:20 EDT Marathon Digital announces ISS support for all agenda items at upcoming meeting - Marathon Digital Holdings announced the independent proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has expressed its support for all upcoming agenda items at Marathon's 2021 Annual Meeting of shareholders, which will be held on Friday, August 6, 2021. In addition to the support expressed by ISS, the board of directors of the Company unanimously recommends a vote "FOR" approval of all proposals. Marathon's 2021 Annual Meeting is to be held at the Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109 - Montrachet 2 Conference Room - on August 6, 2021, beginning at 8:00 a.m. local time. Marathon shareholders of record at the close of business on June 14, 2021 are entitled to notice of and to vote at the 2021 Annual Meeting and any postponements or adjournments thereof.

08:19 EDT Sientra appoints Irina Erenburg, Nori Ebersole to board of directors - Sientra (SIEN) announced the appointment of Dr. Irina Erenburg and Nori Ebersole to its Board of Directors effective July 16, 2021. Irina Erenburg is Founder, President & CEO of Blossom Innovations, LLC, a groundbreaking med tech innovator dedicated to the discovery and development of breakthroughs in Medical Aesthetics and Dermatology. Nori Ebersole has served as the Chief People Officer at Prometheus Biosciences (RXDX) Inc. since April 2021.

08:17 EDT Akoya Biosciences announces publication of the MITRE study - Akoya Biosciences announced that the Phenoptics mIF solution was used in a multi-site study to demonstrate and validate an automated end-to-end workflow that characterizes PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint signaling in tumor tissue samples. The paper titled, "Multi-institutional TSA-amplified Multiplexed Immunofluorescence Reproducibility Evaluation," was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer in July 2021. The MITRE results are an important step toward standardizing an automated mIF-based spatial biology workflow that provides the level of performance needed to support clinical trials and that can be applied to clinical testing in the future. Top immuno-oncology and pathology experts from five institutions collaborated with Akoya to conduct the MITRE study, including Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Immunotherapy utilizes the patient's immune system to fight cancer and has delivered durable benefit to some subsets of patients with advanced disease, representing a significant step forward in the quest to conquer cancer. However, a majority of the patients still do not respond to treatment. There is a pressing need for accurate, predictive biomarkers to differentiate responders from non-responders. Recent studies have demonstrated that spatial biomarkers are able to predict immunotherapy response with greater accuracy than current methods. Spatial biology, a rapidly emerging field of science, allows researchers to map the interactions of tumor and immune cells across an entire tumor tissue section, without destroying the spatial context of the tissue, enabling a more accurate assessment of tumor-immune biology. With the MITRE study, the authors sought to develop and validate a spatial biology workflow that is transferable among sites and delivers site-independent and reliable quantitative data for immunotherapy research.

08:16 EDT Aerovate Therapeutics appoints Allison Dorval to board of directors - Aerovate Therapeutics (AVTE) announced the appointment of Allison Dorval, chief financial officer of Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (VYGR), as a member of Aerovate's Board of Directors.

08:14 EDT Freshpet EVP, manufacturing & supply chain Stephen Weise to retire - Freshpet announced that Stephen Weise, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing & Supply Chain, will begin a transition to retirement, which is anticipated at the end of 2022. Mr. Weise will continue to lead incremental production capacity planning and certain other manufacturing responsibilities through the end of 2021 and then focus exclusively on incremental capacity planning during 2022 until his retirement. Mr. Weise will continue to serve on our leadership team during this time. Chris Taranto, Vice President of Supply Chain, will assume responsibility for the Company's logistics operation, and Ricardo Moreno, Vice President of Manufacturing, will maintain oversight of the manufacturing operations at its Freshpet Kitchens. Both Mr. Taranto and Mr. Moreno will report directly to Billy Cyr, Chief Executive Officer.

08:13 EDT Genetic Technologies acquires EasyDNA for $4M - Genetic Technologies has signed an agreement to acquire the direct-to-consumer eCommerce business and distribution rights associated with General Genetics Corporation and its associated brands trading as EasyDNA, from BelHealth Investment Fund, as majority owner for $4M in cash and GTG ADRs.Highlights: Strategically, this Direct-to-Consumer acquisition provides Genetic Technologies the foundation to grow its portfolio of serious disease tests across well-established websites in 40 countries In CY20, EasyDNA had total revenue of $4.63 million through online retail sales of its at-home DNA tests. EasyDNA currently sells paternity, oncology and health & wellness genomics-based laboratory tests through agreements with 12 laboratories in North America, AsiaPac and Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, GTG will acquire all of GGC and EasyDNA's websites, brand identities, laboratory testing and distribution agreements associated with their EasyDNA business for $4 million comprising of $2 million in cash on completion, $1.5 million paid in GTG ADRs and $500k in cash to be held in escrow payable to BelHealth on the first anniversary of closing following conditions precedent being satisfied. EasyDNA revenue has grown by 11% in the last two years, and GTG will target opportunities for further growth. GTG signed an agreement to acquire the brand and distribution rights for EasyDNA from BelHealth. The EasyDNA acquisition will provide GTG the platform to build its direct-to-consumer offerings and wellness division. This acquisition provides an established revenue stream with $4.63 million in unaudited revenue for CY20 and a stable outlook for future growth and the ability to leverage existing direct-to-consumer marketing avenues for future product sales. The agreement provides for the acquisition of all brands, websites and reseller agreements associated with EasyDNA. This includes over 70 websites in 40 countries and six brand identities. EasyDNA revenue contributions are strongly weighted to five countries: Australia, UK, France, Canada and the US, where it received 68% of its CY20 revenue, with the UK as the largest market contributing 20% of total revenue. EasyDNA has current agreements with 12 NATA and associated international certified laboratories. Additionally, GTG will be onboarding EasyDNA's existing team, retaining the skills and expertise of its employees based in Malta and Australia. This includes the retention of Kevin Camilleri, founder and CEO of EasyDNA, who will be heading up GTG's Direct to Consumer Division following the completion of the acquisition. Except for this, no changes will be made to the GTG board and key management personnel. Under the terms of the agreement, GTG will acquire 100% of EasyDNA's brands and assets within the General Genetics Corporation business for a purchase price comprising upfront consideration of $2 million plus $1.5 million in GTG ADRs. The number of ADRs to be issued will be calculated based on 30-day Volume Weighted Average Price of the ADRs on the NASDAQ for the 30 days prior to and including the completion date of the agreement. The issue of new ordinary shares underlying the Consideration ADRs will represent 2.3% of the issued share capital and will be issued under GTG's Listing Rule 7.1 capacity. An additional US$500k cash consideration will be held in escrow for up to 12 months and paid subject to the completion of conditions precedent1. The total cash consideration of $2.5 million will be funded from GTG's existing cash reserves. The scrip component ensures long-term alignment for GTG and will be subject to a lock-up agreement for the first six months following their issuance. The Consideration ADRs are subject to a lock-up agreement whereby BelHealth's will not be able to trade in GTG securities for six months after completion. The transaction is subject to satisfying customary closing conditions. It is anticipated that these conditions will be met on or before 31 July 2021/

08:10 EDT Lightbridge signs R&D agreement with Department of Energy's GAIN program - Lightbridge announce that it has executed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, the operating contractor of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy. The principal goal of this agreement is to advance a critical stage in the manufacturing process of Lightbridge Fuel by demonstrating a casting process using depleted uranium-zirconium material. The total project value of the CRADA is approximately $663,000, with three-quarters of this amount funded by DOE for the scope performed by PNNL. Seth Grae, President & CEO of Lightbridge, commented, "We are excited to kick off our second R&D initiative through the DOE and the GAIN program. The GAIN program continues to be a superb opportunity for Lightbridge to partner with the US government to gain access to world-class personnel and facilities. Partnering with the GAIN program enables us to save the high costs of time and capital to create these experiments ourselves while retaining our intellectual property and fast-tracking our R&D efforts."

08:08 EDT Xeris Pharmaceuticals enters Ogluo commercialization agreement with Tetris - Xeris Pharmaceuticals announced an exclusive agreement with Tetris Pharma for the commercialization of Ogluo in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland for the treatment of severe hypoglycaemia in adults, adolescents, and children aged 2 years and over with diabetes mellitus. Under the terms of the applicable agreements, Xeris will be responsible for product supply and Tetris will be responsible for the commercialization of Ogluo in the territory. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the agreements, Xeris will receive up to $71M in payments tied to the first commercial sale and other time-, launch- and sales-related milestones and collect a royalty on net sales.

08:07 EDT VYNE Therapeutics announces initiation of trial evaluating AMZEEQ - VYNE Therapeutics announced the initiation of an investigator initiated trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of AMZEEQ topical foam, 4%, as a companion treatment with oral isotretinoin in patients with moderate to severe acne. The study is designed to assess the impact of AMZEEQ and oral isotretinoin concomitant use on the cutaneous adverse reactions often seen in the first few weeks of treatment with oral isotretinoin alone. The IIT is a randomized, multicenter, evaluator-blinded, study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy over a 20-week treatment period of oral isotretinoin and AMZEEQ concomitant use compared to oral isotretinoin only in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris. Group A patients will receive 20 weeks of both oral isotretinoin and topical AMZEEQ treatment concomitantly, followed by a further 24 weeks of AMZEEQ only treatment, Group B patients will receive 20 weeks of oral isotretinoin treatment only, followed by a further 24 weeks of topical AMZEEQ only treatment. The efficacy endpoints are percent change from baseline in inflammatory and comedonal lesion counts at each visit, and IGA Treatment Success at each visit, where success is defined as an IGA score of 0 or 1, and at least a 2-grade improvement from Baseline. The safety assessments will include treatment emergent adverse events, physical examinations, urinary pregnancy tests, clinical laboratory tests, vital signs, and local skin tolerability assessments.

08:07 EDT NovaBay partners with Harrow Health subsidiary to promote Avenova - NovaBay (NBY) announced it has partnered with ImprimisRx to promote prescription Avenova. ImprimisRx, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrow Health (HROW), will provide NovaBay with national sales, marketing, and distribution support for its FDA-cleared 0.01% hypochlorous acid Avenova in 40 ml bottles. Avenova is a clinically proven antimicrobial lid and lash solution for the management of numerous chronic eye conditions.

08:05 EDT Vimeo and TikTok partner for video ads - Vimeo and TikTok, a destination for short-form mobile video, announced a new partnership that integrates Vimeo's powerful video tools with the TikTok platform. The partnership aims to give small and medium businesses the capcity for video ads enabling them to take full advantage of Vimeo's suite of video tools and the broad reach of the TikTok platform. In pre-release tests of the combined capabilities participants saw up to 50% higher clickthrough rates compared to previous campaigns on other platforms. Vimeo is joining TikTok Marketing Partners, a group of vetted experts who create, implement, and measure TikTok ad campaigns. SMBs can now use Vimeo Create, an AI-driven video production tool, to produce and publish ads directly into the TikTok Ad Manager. The companies also collaborated on developing custom video templates exclusively available in Vimeo Create, optimized for the TikTok platform.

08:04 EDT BRP Inc. ready to resume production at Juarez 2, Mexico facility - BRP announces that on July 17, there was a fire in the storage yard of the Juarez 2, Mexico facility. All employees on site were safely evacuated and there are no reported injuries. No damage was caused to the manufacturing facility, where side-by-side vehicles are produced. The company is ready to resume production and is expecting to receive clearance from authorities by mid-week. BRP stated, "The company is working with authorities and internal and external experts to determine the cause of this incident. Some SSV units that were in our storage yard were lost, representing approximately 6 days of production. While we expect this incident will delay certain SSV deliveries, dealers and customers can be assured we are putting measures in place to mitigate its impact."

08:04 EDT BioNTech to acquire TCR R&D platform, facility from Kite - BioNTech (BNTX) and Kite, a Gilead (GILD) company, announced the two companies have entered into a purchase agreement for BioNTech to acquire Kite's solid tumor neoantigen T cell receptor, or TCR, R&D platform and clinical manufacturing facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The acquired Gaithersburg facility will provide production capacity to support clinical trials in the United States and will complement BioNTech's existing cell therapy manufacturing facility in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. The facility will support the development of BioNTech's expanding pipeline of novel cell therapies, including cancer product candidates based on its CAR-T Cell amplifying mRNA vaccine and NEOSTIM platforms as well as the newly acquired individualized neoantigen TCR program. All Kite employees at the Gaithersburg facility will be offered employment with BioNTech prior to the date of closing. To support its growing cell therapy pipeline, BioNTech plans to further invest in the site including hiring additional personnel. Under the terms of the agreement, Kite will receive a one-time upfront payment from BioNTech to purchase Kite's individualized solid tumor neoantigen TCR discovery platform as well as the Gaithersburg R&D and clinical manufacturing facility. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kite's new manufacturing facility in Frederick, MD for commercial production of CAR T-cell therapy is not part of the purchase agreement.

08:03 EDT Quantum acquires surveillance portfolio and assets from Pivot3 for $8.9M - Quantum announced an agreement to acquire the video surveillance portfolio and assets of Pivot3, a provider of hyperconverged infrastructure - HCI - and intelligent software solutions for the security and surveillance markets. The acquisition brings a portfolio of video surveillance appliances, network video recorders and management applications along with a scale-out hyperconverged software platform, which going forward will all be offered under the Quantum VS-Series product portfolio. Transaction purchase price totals approximately $8.9M in cash and stock. The acquisition is projected to be slightly accretive to EBITDA through remainder of FY22. The new employees joining Quantum will be under direction of the Strategic Markets Business Unit, led by Ross Fujii, General Manager. Sales will be led by Curt Wittich. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and the parties expect to close by July 22.

07:51 EDT Signify Health names Pettijohn as Chief Growth Officer, Kelly to lead compliance - Signify Health announced the appointment of Sam Pettijohn as Chief Growth Officer and Erin Kelly as Chief Compliance Officer. As Chief Growth Officer, Sam Pettijohn will lead Signify Health's continued growth as the Company expands its suite of offerings and its market presence across the public and private healthcare markets. In addition, he will collaborate with the Company's client success and implementation teams to enhance the customer experience to drive sustainable, long-term growth. An advocate of organizational ethics, Erin Kelly will lead the continued development and implementation of policies and procedures that ensure compliance with regulations, policies and legal requirements. In her role as Chief Compliance Officer, Erin also will play a key role in helping enable sustainable growth by leading the Company's compliance risk management function, including driving technology initiatives and overseeing internal controls and training.

07:43 EDT California's NCTD exercises option to add 50 more NFI Xcelsior CNG buses - NFI Group announced that the North County Transit District has recently exercised options for 50 New Flyer of America Xcelsior compressed natural gas forty-foot, heavy-duty transit buses, converted from backlog. The first option conversion occurred in 2020 with 20 buses ordered, with the remaining 30 ordered in 2021. The options are part of a five-year contract with NCTD established in 2016 for up to 103 Xcelsior CNG thirty-five or forty-foot buses. The order, supported by Federal Transit Administration funds, replaces older, end-of-life vehicles with lower-emission and more efficient buses that deliver increased sustainability. With the addition of these buses, NCTD will reduce the average age of its BREEZE bus fleet from 11 to 6.3 years old by August 2021.

07:42 EDT Medexus Pharmaceuticals appoints Marcel Konrad as CFO - Medexus Pharmaceuticals (MEDXF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Marcel Konrad as CFO of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Konrad succeeds Roland Boivin, who is stepping down after nearly a decade in the role. Mr. Boivin has agreed to stay on in an advisory capacity in order to help ensure an orderly transition of responsibilities to Mr. Konrad over the next approximately three months. Mr. Konrad joins the Company from CareDx, Inc. (CDNA), a precision medicine solutions company, where he has served as Senior Vice President Finance & Accounting and Vice President, Corporate Controller since 2018, including a stint as acting Chief Financial Officer in early 2021.

07:41 EDT NFI Group signs framework agreement with Ireland's NTA - NFI Group Inc. (NFYEF) announced that the BYD UK (BYDDY) and Alexander Dennis Limited electric vehicle partnership, the UK's leading electric bus producer, has signed a framework agreement with the National Transport Authority of Ireland for the delivery of up to 200 BYD ADL Enviro200EV zero-emission battery-electric buses. The agreement has started with an initial firm order for 45 buses, with delivery commencing in 2022. The single supplier framework agreement with the NTA will run for up to five years and covers the delivery of single deck long length battery-electric buses. The BYD ADL partnership, represented by ADL as primary contractor, was selected in a comprehensive and rigorous procurement process in which the company provided the strongest offer. It is the BYD ADL partnership's first contract in Ireland, and the country's largest order for zero-emission buses ever. The first 45 buses have been firmly ordered and are expected to commence delivery in 2022 for services in Athlone and the Dublin Metropolitan Area. All will be built in ADL's factories in the United Kingdom in the proven combination of BYD electric technology and batteries with stylish bodywork and passenger-centric interior by ADL.

07:39 EDT Cytokinetics announces topline results of REDWOOD-HCM - Cytokinetics announced positive topline results from Cohorts 1 and 2 of REDWOOD-HCM, the Phase 2 clinical trial of CK-3773274, an investigational next-generation cardiac myosin inhibitor in development for the potential treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The results of REDWOOD-HCM inform dose selection and support progression of CK-274 to a planned Phase 3 registrational clinical trial which is expected to start before year end. Results from Cohorts 1 and 2 of REDWOOD-HCM demonstrated that treatment with CK-274 for 10 weeks resulted in statistically significant reductions from baseline compared to placebo in the average resting left ventricular outflow tract pressure gradient and the average post-Valsalva LVOT-G. The majority of patients treated with CK-274 achieved the target goal of treatment, defined as resting gradient less than30 mmHg and post-Valsalva gradient less than50 mmHg at Week 10 compared to placebo. Reductions in LVOT-G occurred within two weeks of initiating treatment with CK-274, were maximized within two to six weeks of the start of dose titration, and were sustained until the end of treatment at 10 weeks. The observed reductions in LVOT-G were dose dependent, with patients achieving greater reductions of LVOT-G with increasing doses of CK-274. Treatment with CK-274 in REDWOOD-HCM was generally well tolerated. The incidence of adverse events was similar between treatment arms. No serious adverse events were attributed to CK-274 and no treatment interruptions occurred on CK-274. No new cases of atrial fibrillation in patients treated with CK-274 were reported. In this dose-range finding trial, one patient experienced a transient decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction that required dose adjustment but not dose interruption. LVEF returned to baseline within two weeks after the end of treatment in both cohorts, which was consistent with the reversibility of LVEF decreases that were similarly observed in healthy participants in the Phase 1 study of CK-274. REDWOOD-HCM is a multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, dose finding clinical trial of CK-274 in patients with symptomatic obstructive HCM on background medical therapy. The primary objective of the trial is to determine the safety and tolerability of CK-274. The secondary objectives are to describe the concentration-response relationship of CK-274 on the resting and post-Valsalva left ventricular outflow tract gradient as measured by echocardiography during 10 weeks of treatment, to describe the dose response relationship of CK-274, and to evaluate the plasma concentrations of CK-274 in patients with oHCM. Seventeen investigative sites in North America and Europe screened for patients to enroll in Cohort 1 and 2 of REDWOOD-HCM. Topline results from REDWOOD-HCM include data from two sequentially conducted cohorts, Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 which randomized treatment of patients 2:1 to CK-274 or placebo. Patients received up to three escalating doses of CK-274 once daily or placebo. Patients had an echocardiogram after two weeks of treatment at each dose to determine potential up-titration to the next higher dose. Overall, treatment duration for each patient in REDWOOD-HCM was 10 weeks with an echocardiogram conducted 2 weeks after the last dose. For patients on CK-274 in Cohort 1, the average resting LVOT-G changed from 53.8 mmHg at baseline to 13.4 mmHg at 10 weeks; for patients on CK-274 in Cohort 2 the average resting LVOT-G changed from 58.2 mmHg at baseline to 15.1 mmHg at 10 weeks; and for patients in the combined placebo group the average resting LVOT-G changed from 52.1 at baseline to 44.0 mmHg at 10 weeks. For patients on CK-274 in Cohort 1 the average Valsalva LVOT-G changed from 74.4 mmHg at baseline to 38.1 mmHg at 10 weeks; for patients on CK-274 in Cohort 2 the average Valsalva LVOT-G changed from 82.3 mmHg at baseline to 29.8 mmHg at 10 weeks; and for patients in the combined placebo group the average Valsalva LVOT-G changed from 84.6 at baseline to 76.0 mmHg at 10 weeks. The average ejection fraction for patients on CK-274 in Cohort 1 changed from 73.2% at baseline to 67.4% at 10 weeks; for patients on CK-274 in Cohort 2 the average ejection fraction changed from 75.4% at baseline to 64.1% at 10 weeks, and for patients in the combined placebo group the average ejection fraction changed from 74.5% at baseline to 74.9% at 10 weeks. Overall, the incidence of adverse events was similar between treatment arms. Treatment with CK-274 in REDWOOD-HCM was generally well tolerated in patients being treated with current standard of care with adverse events reported as mild or moderate in severity. There were no treatment related serious adverse events reported by investigators. No patients who received CK-274 in Cohort 1 had an LVEF less than50%. In Cohort 2, one patient with an LVEF at baseline of 58% was up-titrated to 20 mg of CK-274 and experienced transient LVEF reduction to less than50% requiring down titration. No interruptions or discontinuations of treatment with CK-274 occurred in any patients across both cohorts. The distribution of patients across doses of CK-274 in REDWOOD-HCM informs dose selection for the planned Phase 3 trial with the objective to assess clinical outcomes at the lowest effective individualized dose of CK-274.

07:37 EDT ContraFect announces multiple publications on CF-296 - ContraFect announced the publication of two manuscripts that demonstrate the potent in vivo activity of CF-296, a novel engineered lysin agent with potent bactericidal and anti-biofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus, a life-threatening pathogen. "This new research data demonstrates the potential of CF-296, our novel engineered variant of exebacase, our lead lysin product candidate currently in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial.," said Cara Cassino, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at ContraFect. The manuscript published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy presents laboratory data from a study of CF-296 in a preclinical rodent model of acute methicillin-resistant Staph aureus osteomyelitis. In a second manuscript published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, CF-296 demonstrated the efficacy of CF-296, both as a mono therapy and in addition to standard-of-care antibiotics, in a preclinical murine Staph aureus infection model. Of note, the addition of CF-296 to both daptomycin or vancomycin resulted in significantly enhanced antibacterial activity in the model, relative to the activity of these standard-of-care antibiotics alone. ContraFect continues to evaluate CF-296 in further preclinical studies and the potential for future clinical development. CF-296 was developed by ContraFect and the Company is actively pursuing global rights to this investigational development candidate.

07:35 EDT Veritex completes $53.9M investment in Thrive Mortgage - Veritex Holdings announced the Bank has completed the investment to acquire a 49% interest in Thrive Mortgage for $53.9M in cash. As part of the investment, the company obtained the right to designate a member to Thrive's board of directors. Veritex Chairman and Chief Executive Officer C. Malcolm Holland stated, "I couldn't be more excited about our partnership with Thrive. The breadth of management and experience, coupled with an industry leader in cutting-edge technology, provides a powerful earnings investment to drive consistent shareholder return and mitigates business cycle volatility to our commercial-focused portfolio." Veritex's investment in Thrive is anticipated to increase fee income with a counter cyclical business to the company's asset sensitive balance sheet. The investment is also anticipated to leverage excess liquidity and capital while preserving bandwidth for other Veritex strategic core growth and/or acquisitive opportunities.

07:34 EDT Navidea announces first 110 subjects enrolled in NAV3-35 Phase 2b study - Navidea announced that over 110 subjects have been enrolled and imaged in its NAV3-35 Phase 2b study, "Development of a Normative Database for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Imaging with Tc99m Tilmanocept." Expected total enrollment for this two-arm trial will be 135 participants. NAV3-35 will establish a database of hand and wrist images taken following Tc99m tilmanocept administration in healthy volunteers age- and sex-matched to the population of RA patients. Tc99m tilmanocept attaches to mannose receptors on macrophages that are frequently involved in RA joint inflammation. Relatively smaller numbers of CD206 expressing macrophages normally reside in the joints of healthy people without RA. The aim is to recruit 135 volunteers in this two-arm study. The first arm is comprised of 120 healthy subjects who will have planar imaging of their hands and wrists post administration of Tc99m tilmanocept, and arm two is a 15-subject arm comprised of 10 patients with RA and five healthy volunteers with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of 3-dimensional SPECT/CT imaging for the quantitative assessment of RA-involved inflammation in joints. To date, over 100 subjects have been imaged for Arm 1, and 10 in Arm 2.

07:33 EDT Onex completes majority investment in Newport Healthcare - Onex Corporation announced that Onex Partners V has completed its acquisition of Newport Healthcare, in partnership with the company's management team. Newport is a leading provider in the United States of evidence-based healing centers for teens and young adults struggling with primary mental health issues. With this transaction, Onex Partners V is approximately 60% invested. The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

07:33 EDT Ingersoll-Rand confirms SPX Flow acquisition proposal - Ingersoll Rand (IR) confirmed that on June 10, it made an all-cash non-binding proposal to the board of SPX Flow (FLOW) to acquire SPX Flow for $85 per share. The proposal represents a 37% premium over last Friday's closing price and a premium of approximately 20% over SPX Flow's all-time high closing price. On June 21, the SPX Flow board rejected the proposal and declined Ingersoll Rand's request to engage in constructive dialogue, despite Ingersoll Rand's willingness to enter into a customary standstill and non-disclosure agreement. This follows the rejection by SPX Flow of a prior offer by Ingersoll Rand of $81.50 per share made on May 27. The proposal represents an attractive premium that Ingersoll Rand believes reflects the full value of the financial targets set by SPX Flow at its Investor Day on March 11 and mitigates potential execution risk by providing SPX Flow shareholders with immediate and certain cash value. Ingersoll Rand is confident that a definitive agreement could be completed in short order and without a financing contingency.

07:32 EDT Telos appoints Mark Bendza as EVP, CFO - Telos Corporation (TLS) announced it has appointed Mark Bendza as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective July 19, 2021. Bendza previously served as vice president in charge of investor relations at Honeywell International Inc. (HON), where he led an award-winning investor relations program. Bendza succeeds Michele Nakazawa, who served as Telos CFO for over 17 years. Nakazawa, who will be preparing to retire, will stay on with the company on the senior executive team reporting to the CEO and working on special projects and to ensure an orderly transition.

07:29 EDT Omnichannel acquisition in SPAC combo to create Kin Insurance - Kin Insurance and Omnichannel Acquisition (OCA) Enter Into Business combination agreement. Transaction Implies An Approximate $1.03B Combined Company Pro Forma Enterprise Value. Kin Insurancean insurance technology company that makes home insurance easy and affordable, and Omnichannel Acquisition , a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company led by serial entrepreneur Matt Higgins and a deep bench of consumer operators, announced today that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named Kin Insurance, Inc. and is expected to be listed on the NYSE under the new ticker symbol (KI). Kin, which currently operates in Florida, Louisiana and California, also announced today it has accelerated its ability to enter into new markets by signing a stock purchase agreement to acquire an inactive insurance carrier that holds licenses in more than 40 states. The proposed acquisition of the inactive insurance carrier and the business combination are both expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and in the case of the business combination, shareholder approval. As Kin looks to soon expand its reach into new markets, the company announced NBA superstar Draymond Green joined four-time major champion golf pro Rory McIlroy in the recent Series C round as an investor, both of whom will assist in raising Kin's profile across the country in current markets and in new geographies.

07:20 EDT DSP Group, Cloud of Things collaborate to introduce managed IoT cloud services - DSP Group and Cloud of Things announced that they will be using the upcoming ISC West trade show in Las Vegas, NV to demonstrate a fully managed Internet of Things gateway based on ULE. An enterprise-grade device, the CoT Smart IoT Gateway securely collects sensor and equipment data from the edge of the network for localized or cloud-based analysis, relying on ULE for reliable, interference-free, full-coverage wireless communications throughout the home or office. "This combination of market trends and customer demand is why we are excited Cloud of Things chose our ULE solution as the wireless interface for the CoT IoT Gateway and we look forward to demonstrating its capabilities at ISC West," said Tali Chen, Chief Business Officer at DSP Group. "The reliable transmission of wireless data is essential if advanced IoT, machine learning, and artificial intelligence techniques are to reach their full potential at the edge, particularly for critical applications such as home healthcare and security," said Chen. "By incorporating our DHAN-M ULE module in its Gateway, Cloud of Things is making enormous strides in this direction."

07:20 EDT Ascot Resources, Nisga'a Nation sign updated benefits agreement - Ascot Resources and Nisga'a Nation are pleased to announce that they have entered into an updated Benefits Agreement, which now encompasses both the Premier Gold Project and the Red Mountain Project. The updated Agreement replaces the former which only pertained to RMP. The comprehensive Agreement sets the basis for the long-term success of the Projects and how they will benefit Nisga'a Nation, its citizens, and businesses as well as the shareholders and stakeholders of Ascot. Nisga'a Nation have rights and interests as defined by the Nisga'a Final Agreement with Canada and British Columbia, encompassing the entirety of the Projects. Under the terms of the Agreement, Nisga'a Nation will provide ongoing support and continued consultation for the development and future operations of underground gold mines at the Projects, emphasizing respect for the land, protection of the environment, and understanding of cultural use and knowledge as well as health and safety, on and off the worksite. Nisga'a Nation will participate in the economic benefits of the Projects, particularly through training, employment, business opportunities and cash payments during development and operations. Highlights of the Agreement include: Cash payments tied to permitting, project development, and production milestones, as well as annual payments during production; Training, employment and business development implementation activities and related committee oversight; Business Opportunities Committee to identify and plan for requirements, build capacity, facilitate subcontracting, and manage direct-award contracts; Working collaboratively to implement environmental management plans and requirements under the Projects' Mines Act and Environmental Management Act Permits, with special emphasis on tailings, waste rock and water discharge; Establish a management-level Committee to monitor implementation and ongoing developments.

07:18 EDT Sprott announces completion of arrangement with Uranium Participation - Sprott (SII) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sprott Asset Management has successfully completed its previously announced transaction with Uranium Participation Corporation (URPTF), and that UPC's shareholders are now unitholders of the newly-created Sprott Physical Uranium Trust The Trust begins trading this morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "U.UN" in Canadian dollars and "U.U" in U.S. dollars. "The Sprott Physical Uranium Trust is the world's largest publicly-listed physical uranium fund and a perfect addition to our physical trust franchise," said John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management. "We are pleased UPC shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the transaction and look forward to leveraging our global brand, fund marketing expertise and shareholder base to grow the Trust and improve its trading liquidity."

07:16 EDT Sprott Physical Uranium Trust completes arrangement with Uranium Participation - Sprott Asset Management (SII), Uranium Participation Corporation (URPTf0 and the newly-formed Sprott Physical Uranium Trust announced that the previously announced plan of arrangement involving UPC, SAM, the Trust, and 2834819 Ontario Inc. became effective. UPC's shareholders are now unitholders of the Trust. The Trust begins trading this morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "U.UN" in Canadian dollars and "U.U" in U.S. dollars.

07:14 EDT Vislink adjourns Annual Meeting to August 18 - Vislink announced that its 2021 annual meeting of stockholders, which was originally scheduled for June 21, 2021, and subsequently adjourned to July 19, 2021, will be convened and adjourned, without any business being conducted, due to lack of the required quorum. The Annual Meeting will be adjourned to 9:00 a.m. on August 18, 2021 to allow additional time for the Company's stockholders to vote on the proposals set forth in the Company's definitive proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2021, as supplemented by the supplemental proxy materials filed with the SEC on June 17, 2021.

07:13 EDT Kadmon says ROCKstar clinical trial of REZUROCK to treat cGVHD published - Kadmon Holdings announced that data from the pivotal ROCKstar clinical trial of REZUROCK for the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease, ROCKstar clinical trial of REZUROCK , were published in the journal Blood. The ROCKstar data served as the basis for the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for REZUROCK for the treatment of cGVHD, which was granted full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 16, 2021 for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older with cGVHD after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy. "Belumosudil is very effective in inducing responses across all organs affected by cGVHD and is safe and well tolerated. It is exciting to see the development of new interventions that can help patients," said Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Medical Director, Adult Stem Cell Transplantation Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and ROCKstar study investigator.

07:11 EDT Brookfield files revised offer to purchase Inter Pipeline - Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP), together with its institutional partners agrees with a leading independent proxy advisor's recommendation to vote AGAINST the Alternative Transaction. Additionally, Brookfield Infrastructure announces it has filed a fourth notice of variation and change in respect of its offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Inter Pipeline Ltd. (IPPLF). Brookfield Infrastructure's Offer to Purchase IPL for $21.23 per IPL common share1, on a prorated basis, represents a premium of C$1.53 or 8%2 to the Alternative Transaction. Under the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer, as varied by the Fourth Notice of Variation, shareholders may elect to receive up to 100% cash consideration totalling C$20.00 per share without being subject to proration, or 0.250 of a BIPC Share, subject to proration, valued at C$23.85 per IPL common share as of market close on July 14, 2021. The BIPC Shares available under the Offer will be subject to pro-ration based on a maximum of 31.0 million BIPC Shares issuable to IPL shareholders. To maximize the amount of tax-deferred consideration available to shareholders eligible to elect to receive 100% of their consideration in BIPC Shares on a tax-deferred basis, the 31.0 million maximum BIPC Shares issuable under the Offer would be increased up to an incremental 5.0 million BIPC Shares.

07:09 EDT Eluminex exclusively licensing FibroGen's biosynthetic cornea, collagen III - Eluminex Biosciences announced that it has exclusively licensed global rights for the development and commercialization of an investigational biosynthetic cornea derived from recombinant human collagen Type III intended to treat patients with corneal blindness, from FibroGen. Under the terms of the agreement, Eluminex will make an $8M upfront payment to FibroGen. In addition, FibroGen may receive up to a total of $64M in future manufacturing, clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments for the biosynthetic cornea program, as well as $36M in commercial milestones for the first recombinant collagen III product that is not the biosynthetic cornea. FibroGen will also be eligible to receive royalties based upon worldwide net sales. "We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Eluminex and license this technology to a seasoned ophthalmology team," said Enrique Conterno, CEO of FibroGen. "This transaction enables FibroGen to focus on development of next generation biopharmaceutical therapies in our core areas of cancer, autoimmune and fibrotic diseases, and anemia."

07:09 EDT Gelesis to become public through Capstar Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. deal - PureTech Health (PRTC) announced that its founded entity, Gelesis and Capstar Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. (CPSR), have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company's securities are expected to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (GLS). Gelesis is a biotherapeutics company aiming to transform weight management using a proprietary biomimetic superabsorbent hydrogel technology. The company's first commercial product, Plenity, is a FDA cleared aid in weight management in adults with excess weight or obesity, Body Mass Index of 25 to 40 kg/m, when used in conjunction with diet and exercise. The transaction values the combined company at an implied enterprise value of approximately $1B and equity value of approximately $1.3B, based on a $10.00 per share price of Capstar common stock and assuming no redemptions by Capstar's public shareholders. The transaction will provide up to $376M in gross proceeds to the combined company from a combination of a $100M common stock PIPE financing at $10.00 per share along with $276M of cash held in Capstar's trust account. Proceeds from the business combination, PIPE, and credit facility will be primarily used to support the full commercial launch of Plenity for weight management later this year and expanded manufacturing to meet consumer demand. Gelesis' existing shareholders will convert 100% of their ownership stakes into the new company. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Gelesis and Capstar. It is expected to close in Q4, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including a registration statement being declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the approval of Capstar shareholders.

07:08 EDT Compugen doses first patient in Phase 1/2 trial of COM701 Bristol-Myers - Compugen (CGEN) has dosed the first patient in the cohort expansion arm of the Phase 1/2 study evaluating the triple combination of COM701, Compugen's first-in-class anti-PVRIG antibody, with Opdivo and Bristol Myers' (BMY) investigational anti-TIGIT antibody, BMS-986207. This study evaluates Compugen's three-pathway hypothesis with the triple blockade of PVRIG, TIGIT and PD1. The company is on track to report preliminary data from the triple combination dose escalation arm of the study in Q4.

07:06 EDT Athira Pharma to present ATH-1017 Phase 1 Translational Data at AAIC - Athira Pharma announced that it will present clinical electroencephalogram data, including in Alzheimer's patients, from the Phase 1 a/b trial of its lead development candidate, ATH-1017, at the upcoming Alzheimer's Association International Conference, or AAIC, 2021. Title: Quantitative EEG as a translational measure for the assessment of ATH-1017 neurophysiological changes in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease

07:05 EDT U.S. Silica announces price increases on Industrial and Specialty Products - U.S. Silica announced that its Industrial and Specialty Products business will increase prices for most of its non-contracted silica sand, diatomaceous earth and clay products used primarily in glass, foundry, paints, coatings, elastomers, roofing, chemicals, recreation, building products, agricultural, pet litter and other applications. Price increases will range up to 15%, depending on the product and grade, and go into effect for shipments beginning September 1. These price increases are necessary to help offset significant cost increases in energy, transportation, materials and manufacturing costs.

07:04 EDT Provectus announces acceptance of PV-10 abstract at ESMO Congress - Provectus announced that data from an ongoing clinical trial of investigational cancer immunotherapy PV-10 for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors metastatic to the liver refractory to somatostatin analogs and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress, to be held online from September 16-21, 2021. The abstract accepted for electronic poster presentation is entitled: "Phase I study of hepatic intralesional rose bengal disodium, an autolytic immunotherapy, in metastatic neuroendocrine neoplasms".

07:03 EDT MIND Technology says Seamap unit receives $4.1M in new orders - MIND Technology announced that its Seamap unit has received new orders totaling approximately $4.1M for source controller and GNSS positioning systems. Deliveries of the related products are expected to occur in the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal year.

07:02 EDT First Radius to merge with ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corp. - Fast Radius and ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corp. have entered into a definitive agreement that will result in Fast Radius becoming a publicly-listed company. The combined company will have an estimated post-transaction enterprise value of $995 million with an estimated equity value of $1.4 billion from the contribution of $445 million in gross cash proceeds from the transaction. Proceeds will consist of up to $345 million of cash held in ENNV's trust account and an additional $100 million fully committed private investment, including a $25 million forward purchase commitment from certain accounts managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. Other investors in the PIPE include UPS, Palantir, ECP and other institutional investors. The net proceeds raised from the transaction will be used to support Fast Radius' continued growth across customer acquisition, software development, and micro-factory expansion. Fast Radius' growth strategy is projected to generate revenue and EBITDA of $635 million and $135 million, respectively, in 2025. Current Fast Radius management, employees and existing shareholders will roll 100% of their existing equity holdings into equity of the combined company. The business combination has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Fast Radius and ENNV. The business combination is expected to close in Q4 2021, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals, and other customary closing conditions. Upon closing of the transaction, ENNV will be renamed "Fast Radius, Inc." and is expected to remain listed on the NASDAQ.

07:01 EDT ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corporation (Class A Stock) trading halted, news dissemination

06:55 EDT NRx Pharmaceuticals to present Zyesami data at summit - NRx Pharmaceuticals will present data at the Disease Control and Prevention Summit on July 21. The presentation identifies a statistically significant effect of Zyesami in preventing the sharp rise in cytokines, commonly associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19. In the recently-completed phase 2b/3 trial, patients treated with placebo experienced a statistically significant elevation in interleukin 6, or IL-6, cytokine levels, whereas those treated with Zyesami had a minimal increase in IL-6. Change in cytokine level was a prespecified endpoint of the study. Health regulators continue to prioritize therapies for COVID-19 which help block the impact of IL-6 cytokines in patients with COVID-19. The anti-cytokine effect of Zyesami was additionally associated with a significant decrease in 60-day mortality. The cytokine data were collected as part of the phase 2b/3 trial of Zyesami compared to placebo, in critically ill patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure. The effect was noted across a diverse set of patients, suffering different levels of COVID-19 severity and treated in both tertiary care and community hospitals. NRx has submitted these findings to the FDA as a supplement to its pending application for Emergency Use Authorization and is submitting a biomarker letter of intent to the FDA as part of its biomarker program, authorized under the 21st Century Cures Act.

06:50 EDT Pershing Square Tontine drops 1% after ending Universal Music transaction - Shares of Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH) are down 1% to $20.35 in premarket trading after the company announced that its board unanimously determined not to proceed with the Universal Music Group transaction. Pershing Square has also agreed to assume the Vivendi (VIVHY) indemnity agreement and its UMG transaction costs. "Our decision to seek an alternative initial business combination was driven by issues raised by the SEC with several elements of the proposed transaction - in particular, whether the structure of our IBC qualified under the NYSE rules," Pershing Square Tontine said in a statement. Pershing Square Tontine noted that it has 18 months remaining to close a new transaction "unless extended by the vote of our shareholders." It added, "Our share price has fallen by 18% since the transaction was announced on June 4th. While we believe our shareholders recognize UMG's extraordinary attributes including its attractive growth characteristics, business quality, and superb management team, we underestimated the reaction that some of our shareholders would have to the transaction's complexity and structure. We also underestimated the transaction's potential impact on investors who are unable to hold foreign securities, who margin their shares, or who own call options on our stock."

06:50 EDT Lazard appoints Joanne Choi as Chief Marketing Officer - Lazard has appointed Joanne Choi as a Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer, effective immediately. Based in New York, Choi joins from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she was Head of Global Marketing.

06:47 EDT Primo Water acquires Earth2O - Primo Water announced that Primo Water North America, or PWNA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Primo, has acquired substantially all of the assets of The Sweetwater Company, doing business as Earth2O, a bottled water company based in Oregon. Earth2O manufactures and distributes spring water to residential and retail accounts in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The company was founded in Culver, Oregon in 1991 and sources water in the Cascade Mountains. The acquisition will add approximately 9,000 customers to PWNA. Customers of Earth2O will continue to be offered Earth2O products and will soon be able to enjoy Sierra Springs, the Primo water brand in the region.

06:43 EDT Charah Solutions to acquire Avon Lake Generating Station, adjacent property - Charah Solutions announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the Avon Lake Generating Station and adjacent property from GenOn and will begin environmental remediation and sustainable redevelopment of the property upon closing. Avon Lake is a 627 MW coal-fired plant operated by GenOn located in Avon Lake, Ohio, 23 miles west of Cleveland along Lake Erie. The transaction was signed in May and the full transfer will take place in early April 2022 after the plant ceases generation operation. Charah Solutions has commenced the redevelopment and remediation planning efforts and will begin physical work once the full transfer occurs. GenOn will continue to maintain responsibility for the plant and operate the plant in the normal course of business through closing. As part of this agreement, Charah Solutions, through its subsidiary Avon Lake Environmental Redevelopment, or ALERG, will acquire the 40-acre area located on Lake Erie, which consists of multiple parcels of land adjacent to the generating plant, including the generating station, submerged lands lease in Lake Erie, substation/switch gear and transformers, administrative offices and structures, coal rail and storage yard parcels south of Lake Road as well as the interconnection agreement. ALERG will be responsible for the shutdown and decommissioning of the coal power plant and performing all environmental remediation and redevelopment work at the site.

06:37 EDT Kite Realty Group, Retail Properties of America announce stock-for-stock merger - Kite Realty Group (KRG) and Retail Properties of America (RPAI) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which RPAI would merge into a subsidiary of KRG, with KRG continuing as the surviving public company. The combined company is expected to have an equity market capitalization of approximately $4.6B and a total enterprise value of approximately $7.5B upon the closing of the transaction assuming a KRG share price of $20.83, which was the closing price on July 16. This immediately accretive transaction is expected to provide a runway to increase value for shareholders. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each RPAI common share will be converted into 0.6230 newly issued KRG common shares in a 100% stock-for-stock transaction. Based on the closing share price for KRG on July 16, this represents a 13% premium to RPAI's closing stock price on July 16. On a pro forma basis, following the closing of the transaction, KRG shareholders are expected to own approximately 40% of the combined company's equity and RPAI shareholders are expected to own approximately 60%. KRG anticipates assuming all RPAI debt and has obtained a financing commitment to provide a $1.1B term loan bridge facility in the event certain debt consents cannot be obtained prior to the closing of the transaction. The parties expect the transaction to close during Q4 subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of both KRG and RPAI shareholders. The transaction was unanimously approved by the board of Trustees of KRG and the board of directors of RPAI. The merger will create an operating portfolio of 185 open-air shopping centers comprised of approximately 32M square feet of owned gross leasable area. These properties are primarily located in metro markets in the United States with 70% of centers by annualized base rent having a grocery component. The transaction provides immediate accretion to earnings per share upon realizing cash expense synergies of $27M- $29M. The number of trustees on KRG's board will be expanded to thirteen with four members of the existing board of directors of RPAI to be appointed to KRG's board. John Kite will continue to serve as chairman of the board of trustees of the combined company. William Bindley will continue to serve as lead independent trustee. The KRG management team will lead the combined company, with John Kite as CEO, Thomas McGowan as president and COO and Heath Fear as CFO. Upon completion of the merger, the company's headquarters will remain in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company will retain the Kite Realty Group name and trademarks and will continue to trade under the NYSE symbol KRG.

06:34 EDT Kite Realty Group, Retail Properties of America announce $7.5B merger - Kite Realty Group Trust (KRG) and Retail Properties of America (RPAI) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which RPAI would merge into a subsidiary of KRG, with KRG continuing as the surviving public company. The strategic transaction joins together two high-quality portfolios with complementary geographic footprints creating a top five shopping center REIT by enterprise value. The combined company is expected to have an equity market capitalization of approximately $4.6B and a total enterprise value of approximately $7.5B upon the closing of the transaction assuming a KRG share price of $20.83, which was the closing price on July 16. This immediately accretive transaction, paired with a strong balance sheet and significant value creation opportunities, is expected to provide a runway to increase long-term value for shareholders. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each RPAI common share will be converted into 0.6230 newly issued KRG common shares in a 100% stock-for-stock transaction. Based on the closing share price for KRG on July 16, this represents a 13% premium to RPAI's closing stock price on July 16. On a pro forma basis, following the closing of the transaction, KRG shareholders are expected to own approximately 40% of the combined company's equity and RPAI shareholders are expected to own approximately 60%. KRG anticipates assuming all RPAI debt and has obtained a financing commitment to provide a $1.1B term loan bridge facility in the event certain debt consents cannot be obtained prior to the closing of the transaction. The parties expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2021 subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of both KRG and RPAI shareholders. The transaction was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees of KRG and the Board of Directors of RPAI. The merger will create an operating portfolio of 185 open-air shopping centers comprised of approximately 32M square feet of owned gross leasable area. These properties are primarily located in "Warmer and Cheaper" metro markets in the United States with 70% of centers by annualized base rent having a grocery component. The combined company is expected to benefit from increased scale and density in strategic markets, deeper tenant relationships given the broader mix of open-air retail types, an appropriately sized development pipeline and a strong balance sheet.

06:30 EDT Kite Realty Group, Retail Properties of America announces $7.5B merger

06:19 EDT Abeona Therapeutics: Tribunal finds in favor of Regenxbio in arbitration claims - In a regulatory filing on Friday, Abeona Therapeutics (ABEO) said that on July 13, 2021 a Tribunal of the American Arbitration Association found in favor of REGENXBIO Inc. (RGNX) in connection with the parties' arbitration claims and counterclaims, which had been pending since May 2020. Although the Tribunal awarded REGENXBIO $28M plus interest in connection with the companies' former license agreement entered into in November 2018, Abeona believes that prior to the arbitration decision the two companies had entered into a binding settlement agreement, including $18M payable to REGENXBIO over a two-year period, that superseded the Tribunal's decision. Abeona intends to seek enforcement of the settlement agreement. As REGENXBIO acknowledges in its Form 8-K filing dated July 16, 2021, the timing and amount of any award are uncertain.

06:06 EDT KBR wins two recompetes totaling more than $120M - KBR won two recompetes totaling more than $120M to provide leading-edge engineering services for U.S. Navy training systems and aircraft survivability equipment. Most recently, KBR won a $64.9M task order to develop and upgrade training system hardware and software, as well as electronic classroom content and interactive courseware for the E-2/C-2 Airborne Command and Control Systems Program Office. KBR will also research and develop recommendations for live, virtual, and constructive training that is interoperable with other platforms. This work will enhance training effectiveness for aircrew and maintainers, increasing overall readiness for the Navy. Additionally, KBR won a $55.3M task order to perform research and analysis, including forecasting and predictive modeling, for the Advanced Tactical Aircraft Protection Systems Program Office. The company will boost the reliability, availability, and maintainability of aircraft survivability equipment. This equipment includes electronic systems that safeguard aircraft and crews against infrared and laser missiles and other threats on the battlefield. KBR will also develop and manage databases and electronic technical manuals.

06:04 EDT Scholastic appoints Peter Warwick as CEO - The board Scholastic announced that Peter Warwick has been named president and CEO of the company, effective August 1. Warwick, who has served as an independent director on the company's board since 2014, assumes the lead operating roles and responsibilities of the late Richard Robinson, Jr., who passed away in early June. In Warwick's new role as CEO, he will be responsible for Scholastic's business strategy and overseeing all business segments and corporate functions. The company also announced the immediate appointment of two new members to the company's board. Iole Lucchese, the executive VP, chief strategy officer of the company and president, Scholastic Entertainment, was elected to fill the board seat recently vacated by the passing of Dick Robinson, with the board also appointing Lucchese as the chair of the board. In her current executive positions, which she will continue to hold, Lucchese has worked in partnership with Dick Robinson to advance the company's strategic and creative initiatives across all operating units, including new product and program offerings, business transformation, and digital expansion, as well as overseeing the Company's digital content and marketing initiatives and its expanding media activities.

05:36 EDT Genentech announces results from final analysis of STASEY study - Genentech, a member of Roche, announced results from the final analysis of the Phase IIIb STASEY study, which confirm the favorable safety profile of Hemlibra, consistent with the Phase III HAVEN clinical program. In the analysis, no new safety signals were identified with longer-term Hemlibra treatment in adults and adolescents with hemophilia A with inhibitors to factor VIII, the clotting protein that is missing or defective in people with hemophilia A. The data were presented at the virtual International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, or ISTH, 2021 Congress. The final analysis of the STASEY study included data from 193 people with hemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors who received Hemlibra prophylaxis once-weekly for up to two years. The analysis did not show any new cases of thrombotic microangiopathy or serious thrombotic events related to Hemlibra. The most common AEs occurring in 10% or more of people in the STASEY study were joint pain, common cold symptoms, headache, injection site reaction, or ISR, and fever. Thirty-five people reported a Hemlibra-related AE, with ISRs being the most common. In addition, the STASEY study reinforced that Hemlibra is associated with a low incidence of anti-drug antibody, or ADA, development. Ten participants tested positive for ADAs, five of whom were classified as having ADAs that were neutralizing in vitro. In all 10 participants, ADA development did not affect the efficacy or safety of Hemlibra; none of the participants had ADAs that resulted in a decrease in Hemlibra plasma concentration, and none of the ADA-positive participants experienced a treated bleed. In addition, the ADAs disappeared over time, as all study participants tested negative for ADAs at their last visit. Hemlibra also continued to demonstrate effective bleed control in the STASEY study, with 82.6% of participants experiencing no bleeding episodes that required treatment. Annualized bleeding rates were consistent with previously reported observations from the pivotal HAVEN studies.

05:22 EDT Zoom Video acquires Five9 for $200.28 per share or $14.7B in all-stock deal - Zoom Video Communications (ZM) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Five9 (FIVN) in an all-stock transaction valued at $14.7B. As part of the agreement, Five9 stockholders will receive 0.5533 shares of class A common stock of Zoom Video for each share of Five9. Based on the closing share price of Zoom class A common stock as of July 16, this represents a per share price for Five9 common stock of $200.28. The boards of Zoom and Five9 have approved the transaction. "Combining Five9's Contact Center as a Service solution with Zoom's broad communications platform will transform how businesses connect with their customers, building the customer engagement platform of the future," the company said in a statement. The acquisition "is expected to help enhance Zoom's presence with enterprise customers and allow it to accelerate its long-term growth opportunity by adding the $24 billion contact center market," it added. Following the close of the transaction, Five9 will be an operating unit of Zoom and Rowan Trollope will become a President of Zoom and continue as CEO of Five9.

05:18 EDT Pershing Square Tontine Holdings issues shareholder letter regarding UMG deal - Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH) CEO Bill Ackman issued the following letter: "Yesterday, our board of directors unanimously determined not to proceed with the Universal Music Group transaction, and to assign our share purchase agreement to Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) and affiliates ("PSH and affiliates" or "Pershing Square"). Pershing Square has also agreed to assume the Vivendi (VIVHY) indemnity agreement and our UMG transaction costs. In light of these developments, PSTH is withdrawing its Redemption Tender Offer and related Warrant Exchange Offer. Our decision to seek an alternative initial business combination ("IBC") was driven by issues raised by the SEC with several elements of the proposed transaction - in particular, whether the structure of our IBC qualified under the NYSE rules. We and our counsel had multiple discussions with the SEC attempting to change its position on the issues that it had identified. Ultimately, our board concluded that it was in the best interest of shareholders to assign the UMG stock purchase agreement to Pershing Square (which is specifically permitted under the terms of the agreement with Vivendi) as it did not believe PSTH would be able to consummate the transaction in light of the SEC's position. Management and the board believe that greater shareholder value can be created by working expeditiously to identify a new merger partner. PSTH has 18 months remaining to close a new transaction unless extended by the vote of our shareholders. In light of our recent experience, our next business combination will be structured as a conventional SPAC merger... Our share price has fallen by 18% since the transaction was announced on June 4th. While we believe our shareholders recognize UMG's extraordinary attributes including its attractive growth characteristics, business quality, and superb management team, we underestimated the reaction that some of our shareholders would have to the transaction's complexity and structure. We also underestimated the transaction's potential impact on investors who are unable to hold foreign securities, who margin their shares, or who own call options on our stock. While management and the board clearly understood that the intricacies of our transaction structure could affect its attractiveness in the short term, we believed that substantial shareholder value would have emerged over the intermediate to long term from the sum of the parts that were created in the transaction, namely: (1) UMG, (2) PSTH RemainCo, and (3) warrants on Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, Ltd. Furthermore, we expected that the transaction's structural issues would largely be resolved by the end of this year. While PSTH shareholders will not receive UMG stock, UMG will become a public company when it is listed on Euronext Amsterdam in September. None of us anticipated this outcome. Yet, despite the inability of PSTH to consummate the UMG transaction, our counterparty was not left at the altar. Pershing Square will be fulfilling PSTH's commitment to Vivendi. Pershing Square intends to be a long-term UMG shareholder, and will endeavor to work with UMG management to help create value for all stakeholders. We are devoting our full resources to identifying and consummating a new transaction for the benefit of PSTH shareholders. We remain extremely grateful for your patience and support."

05:06 EDT Nokia selected by TST to extend 5G footprint across Taiwan - Nokia announced that it has been selected by Taiwan Star Telecom, or TST, to extend its 5G footprint across the country. Nokia is a long-term partner of TST and will provide equipment from its latest 5G AirScale portfolio which will support TST's 5G standalone network with integration. Nokia will supply equipment from its AirScale portfolio to meet a variety of deployment scenarios. This includes its AirScale Indoor, or ASiR, system for retail and office environments. The indoor system is designed to upgrade to 5G NR via plug-and-play with minimal on-site work. TST will also utilize the EN-DC functionality available on Nokia's AirScale radios. EN-DC allows devices to connect simultaneously to 5G and LTE networks, transmitting and receiving data across both air-interface technologies. This means devices can achieve a higher throughput than when connecting to 5G or LTE alone.