Stockwinners Market Radar for November 18, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:35 EST Cathie Wood's ARK Investment bought 438K shares of Velo3D on Thursday

20:27 EST Accenture to acquire Tambourine, terms not disclosed - Accenture states that it has "agreed to acquire Tambourine, an e-commerce customer experience agency with award-winning capabilities in cloud-based technologies in Japan. Tambourine brings a proven track record in using Salesforce Commerce Cloud to deliver seamless commerce experiences for consumer goods and entertainment companies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed."

19:19 EST Oak Valley Community Bank names Rick McCarty COO - Christopher M. Courtney, President & CEO of Oak Valley Bancorp, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Oak Valley Community Bank, announced the promotion of Rick McCarty to President and Chief Operating Officer effective January 1, 2022. McCarty has been with Oak Valley for over 22 years, joining the bank at a time when Oak Valley had 3 branches and less than $150 million in total assets. He has served the bank as Senior EVP and Chief Operating Officer since 2017. Prior to that McCarty held the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer positions concurrently. "Rick has been an integral part of the growth and prosperity of the bank. His oversight of the bank's mission critical functions and the instrumental role he plays within the management team have been key drivers of our success," stated Chris Courtney, President and CEO. "This promotion signals the influence he has had on the Company through the years and illustrates the continued execution of our succession planning initiatives."

19:13 EST Tractor Supply CFO sells $1.08M in common stock - In a regulatory filing, Tractor Supply disclosed that its CFO Kurt Barton sold 4.8K shares in a total transaction size of $1.08M on November 16th, reducing his stake by about 12%.

18:43 EST Amerant Bancorp director Wilson sells over 30,000 class A shares - In a regulatory filing, Amerant Bancorp director Millar Wilson disclosed the sale of 30,769 class A common shares of the company on November 17 at a price of $29.9727 per share.

18:24 EST Twitter CFO: We left Q3 with the wind at our backs - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Ned Segal said Twitter has tremendous momentum heading into Q4. The company is "laser focused" on its roadmap and there is lots of opportunity ahead, he added. "We've hired a crypto lead to figure out ways that we can leverage crypto," he noted.

17:59 EST Merck updates on phase 2 trial of MK-8507 and Islatravir in HIV treatment - The company states: "Merck announced an update regarding the Phase 2 IMAGINE-DR clinical trial, which is evaluating the investigational combination of MK-8507, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and islatravir, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor, as a once-weekly oral treatment for HIV-1 infection. MK-8507 and islatravir, alone and in combination, are investigational and not approved for use. Decreases in total lymphocyte and CD4+ T-cell counts were observed in study participants randomized to receive ISL+MK-8507. A review by the external Data Monitoring Committee determined that this effect was related to treatment with the combination of ISL+MK-8507; the greatest decreases were seen in the arms of the study receiving the highest doses of MK-8507. At the recommendation of the eDMC, Merck is stopping dosing in the trial, with continued monitoring of study participants. The company has notified investigators and paused development of MK-8507. Merck remains confident in islatravir's overall profile and is continuing with development of islatravir across a range of settings including in treatment of patients living with HIV and in pre-exposure prophylaxis. None of these other programs combine islatravir with MK-8507. In light of the findings from the MK-8507-013 study, Merck conducted a review of trends in total lymphocyte and CD4+ T-cell counts in company-sponsored clinical trials of ISL across all indications and dosing regimens. A dose-dependent decrease in lymphocyte counts was observed in an ongoing Phase 2 trial , which is evaluating monthly ISL for PrEP in participants at low-risk of HIV-1 infection. In this population of HIV-1 uninfected participants, the mean decreases were in the normal range and there was no increase in clinical adverse events (AEs) related to infection. In addition, a small, treatment related mean decrease in CD4+ T-cell counts was observed through Week 48 in two Phase 3 trials, ILLUMINATE SWITCH A and ILLUMINATE SWITCH B, which are evaluating doravirine 100 mg in combination with ISL 0.75 mg daily in HIV-1 virologically suppressed participants. There was no increased incidence of AEs related to infections in participants receiving DOR/ISL relative to comparators through Week 48. Investigators for these trials have been informed and the trials are continuing. "

17:31 EST Dillard's announces special dividend of $15.00 per share - Dillard's announced that the Board of Directors declared a special dividend of $15.00 per share on the Class A and Class B Common Stock of the company. The dividend follows the company's recent record financial performance. The special dividend of $15.00 per share is payable December 15 to shareholders of record as of November 29. Additionally, the company announced that the Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of 20c per share on the Class A and Class B Common Stock of the company. The dividend is payable January 31, 2022 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2021.

17:23 EST Farfetch drops 22% after mixed Q3 results

17:07 EST CPUC approves settlement in California American Water's general rate case - The California Public Utilities Commission issued a final decision in California American Water's General Rate Case at its meeting on November 18, 2021. The final decision adopts the comprehensive settlement California American Water reached with the CPUC's Public Advocates Office, as well as two additional settlements reached with intervenors. Under the CPUC's final decision, which is retroactive to January 1, 2021, California American Water will be authorized additional annualized water and wastewater revenues of $17.9 million for test year 2021, $7.7 million for escalation year 2022 and $7.7 million for attrition year 2023. The decision also authorizes $165 million in new infrastructure investment for forecasted test years 2021-2022 to maintain high-quality water and wastewater service. These investments, which include upgrades to distribution systems, treatment facilities, storage tanks and pump stations, are necessary to maintain and improve water quality, reliability, fire protection and customer service for the communities served by California American Water.

17:03 EST Domtar-Paper Excellence deal receives Canadian Competition Bureau clearance - Paper Excellence and Domtar Corporation jointly announced that they have received Canadian Competition Act approval for their business combination whereby Karta Halten B.V., an affiliate of Paper Excellence, will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Domtar common stock for $55.50 per share in cash pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger dated May 10, 2021. The consent agreement filed by the Canadian Commissioner of Competition with the Competition Tribunal today fulfills the final condition to the closing of the Merger. The consent agreement requires that, following the closing of the Merger, Domtar's pulp mill in Kamloops, British Columbia be sold to resolve the Commissioner's concerns about the Merger's implications on the purchase of wood fibre from the Thompson/Okanagan region in British Columbia. The transaction remains on course to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

16:50 EST AAON to acquire BasX Solutions - AAON announced it has entered into a membership interest purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interests of BasX, LLC, dba BasX Solutions. The transaction terms require an upfront payment of $100M, subject to customary adjustments. Additional payments valued at up to $80M are subject to earn-out milestones that extend through 2023. As a condition to closing, AAON will also sign a real estate purchase agreement with BasX Properties, LLC, an affiliate of BasX, to acquire the real property and improvements utilized by BasX for an additional $22M, subject to customary closing conditions and adjustments. AAON plans to fund the transactions through a combination of cash, borrowings under its revolving credit facility and equity.

16:41 EST Cellectis, Cytovia expand gene-edited NK cells partnership in China - Cytovia Therapeutics and Cellectis announced that they have expanded their collaboration of Talen gene-edited iPSC-derived NK and CAR-NK cells to include new CAR target and development in China by Cytovia's joint venture entity, CytoLynx Therapeutics. The amended financial terms include an equity stake totaling $20M in Cytovia stock as well as up to $805M of development, regulatory, and sales milestones and single-digit royalty payments on the net sales of all partnered products commercialized by Cytovia.

16:38 EST KeyCorp increases common stock dividend 5% to 19.5c per share - KeyCorp declared the following dividends for Q4: a cash dividend of 19.5c per share on the corporation's outstanding common shares, payable on December 15 to holders of record as of the close of business on November 30, a 5% increase compared to the 18.5c paid last quarter.

16:37 EST Rocket Lab signs space technology license deal with Johns Hopkins University APL - Rocket Lab announced it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, to commercialize near and deep space capable small spacecraft telemetry and control radio technology. The Frontier-S by Rocket Lab software defined radio, or SDR, enables communications and radio navigation for planetary and other missions beyond low Earth orbit, or LEO, as well as communications and radio navigation for missions in GPS-denied environments.

16:32 EST Ecolab CFO Dan Schmechel to retire, Scott Kirkland to succeed - Ecolab announced that Dan Schmechel has decided to step down as its CFO December 31, 2021. Schmechel has been Ecolab's CFO since 2012. Ecolab's CEO Christophe Beck announced that Scott Kirkland will become the company's CFO on January 1, 2022. Schmechel will remain with Ecolab through a transition period and retire in mid-year 2022. Kirkland joined Ecolab in 2005. He is currently the Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller, with global responsibility for corporate planning and analysis, accounting and internal audit functions.

16:30 EST Chicken Soup for the Soul announces collaboration with Gracenote - Chicken Soup for the Soul (CSSE) announced a new collaboration with Gracenote, an entertainment metadata and content ID provider under Nielsen (NLSN). With this agreement, Crackle Plus systems will use Gracenote entertainment metadata and unique Gracenote IDs to make Crackle, Popcornflix and Chicken Soup for the Soul streaming service titles more searchable and discoverable by viewers across streaming, multichannel video programming distributor, connected TV and digital search platforms. Crackle Plus will also cooperate with Gracenote on distribution of free ad-supported streaming TV channels starting with the upcoming Crackle and Popcornflix launches. Gracenote will provide a set of enriched metadata such as titles, cast and crew, runtime, ratings, synopsis, theme, mood, and episodic imagery. Crackle Plus will use the metadata across its varied AVOD brands and streaming applications, to maximize engagement and consumption of its content. Crackle Plus AVOD networks offer audiences over 90,000 hours of content across its network of streaming services. Each piece of content has its own set of data that must be accessed by any platform offering these titles.

16:27 EST Matthews says FY22 adjusted EBITDA will be challenged by raised commodity costs - Bartolacci further stated: "We have exciting growth opportunities in several of our businesses. Sales for our energy solutions business, which supports the electric vehicle market, grew significantly in fiscal 2021 and, based on current backlogs and significant interest from multiple well-known auto manufacturers, are expected to significantly grow again in fiscal 2022. The retail-based businesses in our SGK Brand Solutions segment continue to recover from the unfavorable sales impacts of the pandemic. In addition, order rates and backlogs in the warehouse and product identification businesses are expected to support continued sales growth for the Industrial Technologies segment. Further, although declining death rates as the pandemic subsides are expected to impact casket and cemetery memorial unit sales, higher volume trends and continued growth in cremation-related sales are expected to mitigate some of this impact. As a result, we are currently projecting overall growth in consolidated sales for fiscal 2022. Although we are projecting consolidated sales growth for fiscal 2022, adjusted EBITDA will be challenged by the significant increases in commodity costs during the past year. In addition, labor markets, supply chain and other inflationary challenges will also have an impact next year. We expect our projected consolidated sales growth and ongoing cost-reduction initiatives to mitigate some of this impact and, as a result, are projecting a modest decline in consolidated adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2022."

16:21 EST BRP Group to acquire Brush Creek Partners, terms not disclosed - BRP Group has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Brush Creek, LLC. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Brush Creek Partners, also operating as "bcp tech," is a provider of commercial insurance, technology risk management and due diligence solutions for emerging market and middle-market clients in various high growth industries. The Partnership, BRP Group's nomenclature for a strategic acquisition, is expected to close on December 7, 2021, subject to certain closing conditions. "Brush Creek Partners is a unique and rapidly growing independent firm in the Midwest, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the BRP Group family," said John Valentine, Chief Partnership Officer of BRP Group. "Brush Creek Partners' depth of product and industry expertise are important additions to BRP Group's platform, and we believe a tremendous opportunity exists to leverage our collective strengths to continuing innovating and serving our clients. Travis and his incredibly talented team have prioritized innovation and client service, while also fostering a colleague-centric culture, and we are excited to join forces."

16:18 EST Vaxart reports VXA-A1 study shows cellular correlates of protection against flu - A new Stanford study published in Cell Host and Microbe has demonstrated that VXA-A1, an investigational oral tablet flu vaccine under development by Vaxart, had cellular correlates of protection against influenza infection. These cellular correlates were found using mass cytometry analysis of vaccine-elicited cellular immune responses in the peripheral blood of participants in a previously reported Phase II H1N1 challenge study of VXA-A1.

16:17 EST Nike raises quarterly dividend to 30.5c per share from 27.5c - The dividend declared is payable on December 28, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business December 6, 2021. CEO John Donahoe says: "NIKE continues to fuel growth through our Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy, while generating strong cash flow and increasing returns to shareholders. This is now our 20th consecutive year of increasing dividend payouts, and reflects our strong track record and confidence in our ability to deliver sustainable, profitable, capital-efficient growth over the long-term."

16:15 EST Workday to acquire VNDLY for $510M - Workday has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire VNDLY, a cloud-based external workforce and vendor management technology company. As part of the agreement, Workday will continue to partner with and invest in VNDLY's managed services provider network to deliver service capabilities to customers. In addition, VNDLY will continue to support and integrate with third party HR, finance, IT and legal systems. Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Workday will acquire VNDLY for consideration of approximately $510M, consisting principally of cash, subject to adjustments. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 of Workday's FY22, ending January 31, 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals.

16:10 EST Palo Alto Networks CEO says 'we continue to see strong customer demand' - "Q1 was a strong start to fiscal year 2022, driven by strength in both our product and Next-Generation Security businesses, giving us confidence to raise our revenue and billings guidance for the year," said Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks. "We continue to see strong customer demand and have continued to release key innovations which give us confidence in the durable growth we presented at our September Analyst Day." "The combination of strong top-line metrics, upside to our profitability goals, and cash conversion for Q1 showcase our focus on total shareholder return," said Dipak Golechha, CFO of Palo Alto Networks.

16:06 EST National Storage raises quarterly dividend to 45c per share from 41c - The dividend is payable on December 30, 2021 to shareholders of record on December 15, 2021.

16:05 EST Enanta discontinuing development of EDP-721 - Enanta Pharmaceuticals announced it is discontinuing development of EDP-721, an oral HBV RNA destabilizer, based on emerging safety observations in the single ascending dose part of a Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers. "Despite the clean preclinical safety profile demonstrated in comprehensive toxicology studies, safety signals were seen in healthy subjects after administration of EDP-721. Patient safety is our top priority, and we have therefore decided to discontinue further development of this compound," said Jay R. Luly, CEO. "We are committed to developing a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B patients, and remain confident in EDP-514, our HBV core inhibitor, which has demonstrated safe and robust antiviral activity in Phase 1b studies of viremic and NUC-suppressed patients with chronic HBV infection. We believe core inhibitors will be an important component of a successful combination regimen, and we will look to advance our HBV program with additional mechanisms from internal discovery efforts, external opportunities, or both. Importantly, we are grateful to our Principal Investigator and his study team, and the participants in the Phase 1 study for their commitment to HBV research, and to our team for all their efforts in supporting the development and clinical evaluation of EDP-721."

16:04 EST Immunic enrolls first patient in its Phase 3 trial of sclerosis candidate - Immunic announced the first patient enrolled in its phase 3 ENSURE program of lead asset, vidofludimus calcium, the company's selective oral DHODH inhibitor, in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. The ENSURE program comprises twin multicenter, randomized, double-blind phase 3 trials designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of vidofludimus calcium versus placebo in RMS patients. Each trial is expected to enroll approximately 1,050 adult patients with active RMS at more than 100 sites in more than 15 countries, including the United States, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and India. Patients will receive either 30 mg daily doses of vidofludimus calcium or placebo and the primary endpoint for both trials is time to first relapse up to 72 weeks. Key secondary endpoints include volume of new T2-lesions, time to confirmed disability progression, time to sustained clinically relevant changes in cognition, and percentage of whole brain volume change, grey matter volume, and white matter volume. With regard to the disability progression endpoint, the ENSURE program applies a pooled analysis of disability worsening across both trials, which may be further supported by data from the CALLIPER trial.

16:04 EST PhaseBio names Jonathan Birchall as Chief Commercial Officer - PhaseBio announced the appointment of Jonathan J. Birchall as Chief Commercial Officer. Jonathan has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceuticals industry, including building and leading commercial teams in the United States and the United Kingdom. He joins PhaseBio after 12 years at Genentech where, most recently, he was Vice President and U.S. Head of the company's thrombolytics franchise.

15:35 EST Pershing Square sees Universal Music growth continuing beyond medium-term - Says duration of growth for Universal Music Group likely to continue beyond medium-term. Says people starting to already to see margin progression for UMG after Q1 results. Says there's some confusion over whether UMG needs to spend money to grow. Says company can achieve topline growth rate of double digits without having to invest much in M&A. Says deals for a catalogues would be additive to growth, not essential to it. Comments taken from Q3 Investor Call.

15:15 EST Stryker fractionally lower as investor day meeting continues - Stryker began its virtual investor meeting at 2:30 pm and shares are down fractionally to $261.44 near 3:15 pm ET.

13:32 EST Pfizer receives marketing authorization for XELJANZ in the EU - Pfizer announced that the European Commission has approved XELJANZ 5 mg twice daily for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis who have responded inadequately to conventional therapy. XELJANZ is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor approved for five indications in the European Union, including in adults with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis, adults with active psoriatic arthritis, adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, and patients 2 years of age or older with active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis and juvenile psoriatic arthritis. The approval of XELJANZ for AS is based on data from a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib 5 mg twice daily versus placebo in 269 adult patients living with active AS. The study met its primary endpoint showing that at week 16, the percentage of patients achieving an Assessment in SpondyloArthritis International Society 20 response was significantly greater with tofacitinib versus placebo. In addition, the percentage of ASAS40 response was significantly greater with tofacitinib versus placebo, a key secondary endpoint of the study. ASAS20/40 are used for defining improvement or response to treatment. In general, the types of adverse drug reactions in patients with ankylosing spondylitis were consistent with the known safety profile of XELJANZ.

13:15 EST Pershing Square sees Pershing Square Tontine in business by year-end - Sees making prospectus filing for Pershing Square Tontine Holdings by November 24. Says making progress in terms of structure design to make it a "more compelling" entity. Comments taken from Q3 Investor Call.

13:07 EST Pershing Square 'very optimistic' about Howard Hughes long-term growth potential - Says Howard Hughes had "stellar" Q3. Says the company has emerged with "strong" balance sheet. Says "very optimistic" about Howard Hughes long-term growth potential. Says HHC remains "very cheap" stock. Comments taken from Q3 Investor Call.

12:58 EST Pershing Square says Hilton 'fairly rapidly' staging post-COVID comeback - Says Hilton is "fairly rapidly" staging a comeback after COVID. Says company still not back at pre-pandemic RevPAR, but it's "getting close." Sees Hilton's RevPAR returning to pre-COVID levels next year. Says Hilton was forced to cut a lot of costs to be more efficient during the pandemic. Sees Hilton having higher earnings base within next year. Comments taken from Q3 Investor Call.

12:52 EST Pershing Square says Chipotle still has strong pricing power - Says Chipotle continuing to see "solid" results. Says Chipotle still has strong pricing power. Says staffing "key challenge" for Chipotle right now, but company "doing a good job so far" with that issue. Says once current staffing environment subsides, retention will likely be better and higher throughput will occur from more lunch and dinner customers. Comments taken from Q3 Investor Call.

12:42 EST Apple up nearly 3% to $157.57 after Bloomberg report on self-driving car plans

12:38 EST Ackman's Pershing Square says Warner Music Group a 'very undervalued' asset - Says Q3 "quite a strong quarter." Says building position in a new name that won't be discussed on the call. Says believes has achieved NYSE SPAC rules for Pershing Square Tontine (PSTH). Says Waner Music Group (WMG) a "very undervalued" asset. Says market starting to understand "core parts of the story" with WMG. Comments taken from Q3 Investor Call.

12:17 EST Nike announces opening of 'Nikeland' on Roblox platform - Nike (NKE) announced in a post to its website: "There's a new place on Roblox for Nike fans to connect, create, share experiences and compete: NIKELAND. Nike created this bespoke world with the backdrop of its world headquarters and inside Roblox's immersive 3D space, building on its goal to turn sport and play into a lifestyle." Reference Link

12:00 EST Romeo Power falls -12.7% - Romeo Power is down -12.7%, or -66c to $4.51.

12:00 EST Vipshop falls -17.1% - Vipshop is down -17.1%, or -$2.10 to $10.13.

12:00 EST Yatsen rises 17.2% - Yatsen is up 17.2%, or 47c to $3.17.

11:55 EST Lexus, Mazda, Toyota most reliable auto brands, says Consumer Reports - According to Jon Linkov of Consumer Reports, Lexus (TM), Mazda (MZDAF), and Toyota are once again the most reliable auto brands as part of CR's annual auto reliability brand rankings. Rounding out the top five this year are Infiniti (NSANY), which saw a "significant improvement" in reliability, and Buick (GM), which moved one spot to number five this year. While cars, including sedans, hatchbacks, wagons, coupes, and convertibles, are most reliable, all-electric SUVs are the lowest-ranking category, with an overall reliability of below average. "A popular belief is that because electric models have fewer drive components there is less that can go wrong," Linkov said. "However, automakers continue to add new technology to these advanced models, beyond the powertrains, particularly the luxury models such as the Audi (AUDVF) E-Tron and Tesla (TSLA) Model X. Members often report more problems with their in-car electronics and power equipment than with the electric drivetrain." Other companies in the auto space include Honda (HMC), Ford (F), Stellantis (STLA), Daimler (DDAIF), and Volkswagen (VWAGY). Reference Link

11:24 EST Unilever to sell Tea business, ekaterra, to CVC Capital for EUR 4.5B - Unilever announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its global Tea business, ekaterra, to CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII for EUR 4.5B on a cash-free, debt-free basis. "ekaterra is the world's leading Tea business, with a portfolio of 34 brands including Lipton, PG tips, Pukka, T2 and TAZO. The business generated revenues of around EUR 2B in 2020," the company stated. Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever said: "The evolution of our portfolio into higher growth spaces is an important part of our growth strategy for Unilever. Our decision to sell ekaterra demonstrates further progress in delivering against our plans. We are proud of the place that our Tea business has in our company's history. We look forward to seeing ekaterra, with its strong brands and global footprint, prosper under CVC's ownership. I would like to thank our Tea colleagues around the world for their passion and commitment to our Tea business and wish them well for the future." Completion of the transaction is subject to completion of works council consultation processes and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. Completion is expected in the second half of 2022. The transaction perimeter excludes Unilever's Tea business in India, Nepal and Indonesia as well as Unilever's interests in the Pepsi Lipton ready-to-drink Tea joint ventures and associated distribution businesses.

11:02 EST Voyager Digital participates in $15M seed funding round in Particle - Voyager Digital announced participation in the $15M seed funding round in Particle. The company said, "Powered by the Avalanche blockchain, Particle is building a platform that enables anyone to own some of the world's greatest masterpieces by collectively participating in the art market. Founders include Loic Gouzer, former chairman of Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art, Shingo Lavine and Adam Lavine, co-founders of Ethos.io, Philip Eytan, co-founder and chairman of Voyager, and Oscar Salazar, founding CTO and Chief Architect of Uber and advisor to Voyager." Particle divides each piece of art into 10,000 unique NFTs or "Particles," each with its own title deed stored on the Blockchain. Once a buyer purchases a Particle, they receive a digital certificate, or collector's card, representing its owner's specific ownership in the artwork. Purchasers then have the right to buy and sell their Particles on secondary markets, trade, or transfer them to anyone they wish. Particle purchasers will also have the opportunity to view the artwork whenever and wherever it is displayed and enjoy the right to call the artwork partly theirs.

10:18 EST Biogen drops 1% to $256.36 after Bloomberg insurer survey on Aduhelm

10:02 EST Macy's says engaged Alix Partners to help 'further unlock value' - Jeff Gennette, Macy's Chairman and CEO, said earlier on the company's Q3 earnings call: "We regularly review the structure of our business and our strategy and are open to all options that are likely to create long-term shareholder value. This past year, we conducted an analysis of our e-commerce and brick-and-mortar operations, evaluating how each contribute to the value of the company as well as how each benefits from being integrated and working together. In collaboration with our board and with assistance from our advisers, we look at multiple business models that would create long-term shareholder value while always respecting the omnichannel behavior of the customer. This work supports our digitally led omnichannel Polaris strategy that we are successfully executing. That said, we also recognize the significant value of the market assigning to pure e-commerce businesses. And as we look at the landscape today, we are undertaking additional analysis that could help inform our long-term strategy to further unlock value for Macy's. To help in these efforts, we have recently engaged Alix Partners to work with our board and financial advisers. It is too early to tell what the results of this additional analysis will be, but we plan to update everyone after the work is complete."

10:01 EST Precipio receives NYS approval for HemeScreen for POL clinical use - Precipio announces that its HemeScreen RUO assay has received the required approval from New York State's Department of Health. Hemescreen can now be used by New York based physician-owned laboratories who apply to run HemeScreen in their lab as a laboratory-developed test. New York State's DOH is considered one of the strictest regulatory bodies in the US; laboratories interested in setting up and running new assays must submit comprehensive validation data demonstrating the accuracy, efficacy, reliability, and reproducibility of those assays. New York State's DOH conducts an in-depth, rigorous analytical review of the various aspects of the assay and ultimately, if acceptable, provides the submitting laboratory with approval to run the test. Precipio's first customer in NY State, New York Cancer & Blood Specialists embarked on this process earlier this year. It conducted the relevant tests, submitted the required data and responded to numerous rounds of information requests from the NY DOH related to the assay. Now that the process for submitting for NY DOH approval has been established, other POLs in New York State can apply and submit for approval to run HemeScreen in their labs. The launch of our Hemescreen assay by a reputable group such as NYC&B will serve as a powerful case study for other POLs to follow suit. Given the size of the POL practice, the number of doctors, the practice's estimated sample volume, and the potential panels they will use, Precipio estimates that New York Cancer & Blood can potentially generate seven-figure revenues for Precipio. In addition to AON, a Florida-based customer that also recently began running HemeScreen, these two customers alone could provide a substantial revenue increase for Precipio, and a substantial reduction of the company's cash burn.

10:00 EST Custom Truck One Source falls -9.9% - Custom Truck One Source is down -9.9%, or -94c to $8.51.

10:00 EST Victoria's Secret rises 14.6% - Victoria's Secret is up 14.6%, or $7.37 to $57.88.

10:00 EST Macy's rises 17.0% - Macy's is up 17.0%, or $5.25 to $36.09.

09:47 EST Alibaba falls -8.3% - Alibaba is down -8.3%, or -$13.49 to $148.09.

09:47 EST Vipshop falls -10.5% - Vipshop is down -10.5%, or -$1.28 to $10.95.

09:47 EST ZTO Express rises 15.2% - ZTO Express is up 15.2%, or $4.39 to $33.21.

09:46 EST Teladoc up 1% to $136.55 after issuing sales outlook through 2024

09:35 EST Wolfspeed targets CAGR growth of 30% through FY26, reaching $2.1B in revenue - Targets FY26 gross margins of 50%-54% vs. 50% in FY21 and free cash flow at about 20% vs. 15% in FY21. Comments taken from the company's investor presentation slides yesterday.

09:27 EST Lear raises quarterly cash dividend to 77c from 50c per share - The dividend is payable on December 29 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 10.

09:25 EST S&P Global Ratings revises Ford outlook to positive from negative - S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Ford and its subsidiary Ford Motor Credit to positive from negative and affirmed its 'BB+' issuer ratings on both companies. Ford's earnings and cash flow for 2022 and 2023 will likely be better than prior forecasts, the ratings agency said in a statement. The firm expects the company's ongoing cost reduction programs, "favorable" product pricing and working capital improvements will support free operating cash flow to debt of well above 15% in 2022 after a "large" automotive free cash outflow in 2021. These positives "could offset a large portion of inflation risks, mostly associated with aluminum, steel, and precious metals," S&P said.

09:24 EST Unisys acquires Mobinergy, terms not disclosed - Unisys announced it has acquired Mobinergy, which specializes in Unified Endpoint Management. Unisys is funding the transaction with cash on hand and will focus on growing Mobinergy activities globally to expand its UEM business. Mobinergy, which has operations in France, the UK and Germany, will expand and enhance Unisys' existing UEM expertise. The UEM market is estimated at $3.4B in 2020 and is expected to grow at an approximately 32% CAGR through 2027, according to Grand View Research.

09:21 EST Nutanix names Anja Hamilton as Chief People Officer - Nutanix that it has named Anja Hamilton as Chief People Officer, effective January 4. With more than 20 years of experience in human resources leadership roles, Hamilton brings deep expertise in accelerating growth through aligning people with business and customer objectives, shaping corporate culture, and creating an employee-first environment.

09:16 EST Cassava Sciences initiates second Phase 3 study of simufilam - Cassava Sciences announced it has initiated a second Phase 3 study of simufilam, the company's investigational drug for patients with Alzheimer's disease. This second Phase 3 study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of simufilam over 78 weeks in approximately 1,000 patients with Alzheimer's disease across clinical sites in the U.S. and Canada. "Alzheimer's disease isn't going away anytime soon, and neither are we," said Remi Barbier, President & CEO. "Developing a new drug solution for Alzheimer's is a daunting task during the best of times. During these times of outlandish allegations made against us by short sellers, we stand committed to translate what we believe is a promising scientific breakthrough into a potentially meaningful treatment for people with Alzheimer's disease. The rest is noise." Cassava Sciences' Phase 3 program in Alzheimer's is being conducted under Special Protocol Assessments, SPA, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA. The SPAs document that FDA has reviewed and agreed on the key design features of each Phase 3 study protocol.

09:15 EST Castor Maritime announces new charter agreements - Castor Maritime, a diversified global shipping company, announces that: The M/V Magic Nova, a 2010 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate equal to 92% of the average of the Baltic Panamax Index 5TC routes. The charter commenced on November 17, 2021, and has a minimum duration of eleven months and a maximum duration of about fourteen months at the charterer's option. The M/V Magic Orion, a 2006 built Capesize dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate equal to 101% of the average of the Baltic Capesize Index 5TC routes. The charter is expected to commence on or around November 21, 2021, and will have a minimum duration of eleven months and a maximum duration of fourteen months at the charterer's option. The M/V Magic Vela, a 2011 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $19,000 plus a one-time gross ballast bonus of $550,000. The charter is expected to commence on or around November 29, 2021, and will have a duration of about 45 days. The M/V Magic Pluto, a 2013 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate equal to 91% of the average of the Baltic Panamax Index 5TC routes. The charter is expected to commence on December 7, 2021, and will have a minimum duration of eleven months and a maximum duration of about fourteen months at the charterer's option.

09:13 EST Willis Towers Watson appoints four new directors supported by Elliott Management - Willis Towers Watson is pleased to announce that it has selected Inga Beale, Fumbi Chima, Michael Hammond, and Michelle Swanback to join its Board of Directors. As previously announced, the Company had been engaging in a thorough, multi-year succession planning process prior to announcing the transaction with Aon in March 2020, including planning with respect to the composition of the Board. Today's announcement, together with the CEO transition plan announced in August and the plans discussed in September at Investor Day, build upon this work. Three of the four new directors will join the Board effective January 1, 2022, concurrent with the transition to Carl Hess as the new CEO. Ms. Chima will join the Board effective April 1, following her ending another commitment. The new directors were selected in connection with the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee's process, including with the assistance of a leading search firm, and following a constructive engagement with Elliott Investment Management L.P. one of the Company's largest investors. In order to facilitate the director transition process, Jaymin Patel has decided to step down from the Board on January 1, at the time three of the new directors join the Board. Mr. Patel had previously been considering transitioning off the Board at the end of his term to spend more time on other commitments and agreed to accelerate this to coincide with new directors' joining the Board. In addition, Victor Ganzi has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board but will continue to serve as a member of the Board and as Chair through the end of his current Board term, which runs until the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders. He has chosen to do this to facilitate the director transition process and to spend more time on other commitments. The Board thanks Mr. Ganzi and Mr. Patel for their years of dedicated service to the Company. In addition, in connection with the transition to the new CEO and the addition of new Board members on January 1, 2022, the Board will also establish an Operational Transformation Committee. The OT Committee will make recommendations to the full Board regarding the oversight of management's initiatives to drive operational efficiencies and help oversee the implementation of the Company's operational transformation plan, which aims to achieve $300 million or more of run rate cost savings by the end of 2024. The initial members of the OT Committee will be Ms. Beale, Mr. Hammond, Ms. Swanback and Mr. Paul Thomas, an existing member of the Board. As previously announced, Carl Hess will join the Board on January 1, 2022 when he becomes Chief Executive Officer and John Haley steps down from the Board at the end of his contract term. As a result of all of the actions described above, on January 1, the Board will be composed of 11 directors and on April 1 the Board will be composed of 12 directors. The Board's focus on director succession will continue during 2022, leading up to the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders. In order to reduce the size of the Board back to nine directors, two other current Willis Towers Watson directors will serve the remainder of their terms through the shareholders' meeting but will not stand for reelection at the shareholders' meeting. At the time of the 2022 shareholders' meeting, the Board will be composed of nine directors, five of whom will be new and not on the current Willis Towers Watson Board and the Board will have a new Chair. The Company will continue to provide updates with respect to this transition, including the identity of directors who will be transitioning off the Board.

09:12 EST Churchill Downs application for casino owner's license selected by IGC - Churchill Downs announced that the Indiana Gaming Commission, IGC, selected the Company's application for a casino owner's license, submitted by its wholly-owned subsidiary CDITH, to develop the Queen of Terre Haute Casino Resort in Vigo County, Indiana. The IGC unanimously voted to grant CDITH the sole Certificate of Suitability following a competitive proposal process that included applications from three other bidders. CDI's plan includes a $240M investment that will feature 1,000 slot machines, 50 table games, a 125-room luxury hotel, a TwinSpires Sportsbook and several food & beverage offerings. The concepts and design features for the approximately 400,000-square-foot Queen of Terre Haute development will reflect the unique heritage of Vigo County and the surrounding region. The IGC will officially award CDITH the casino owner's license to operate an inland casino in Vigo County upon the final affirmation of the pending nonrenewal of the prior license holder.

09:11 EST Targa NGL Pipeline launches open season to gauge shipper interest - Targa Resources announced today that Targa NGL Pipeline Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, has launched an open season commencing November 18, 2021 and closing December 17, 2021 to gauge shipper interest in committed interstate transportation service for natural gas liquids, NGLs, from a planned interconnection with upstream pipeline facilities in Stephens and Grady counties, Oklahoma to Mont Belvieu, Texas. This open season will provide an opportunity for shippers to secure firm capacity for NGL transportation subject to the terms of their transportation service agreements. The final volume of capacity for both committed and uncommitted service on the project will be determined by Targa in part based on the results of this open season.

09:10 EST Oatly Group introduces frozen dessert bars - Oatly Group announced the introduction of its latest product innovation, Oatly non-dairy frozen dessert bars. Oatly's new non-dairy frozen dessert bars will be available in four flavors, including Vanilla, Chocolate Fudge, and Salted Caramel, in addition to a new Strawberry Swirl, all encased in a decadent chocolatey coating. The oatmilk-based frozen bars will feature the same recipe, consistency and delightful taste that Oatly fans have come to expect from the brand. Three ounces in size - slightly above industry average- the non-dairy frozen dessert bars will be available in three-count packs, with a suggested retail price of $5.99. Customers will be able to find Oatly non-dairy frozen dessert bars at more than 3,000 retail outlets through national and regional grocers including Target, Wegmans, Schnucks, Harris Teeter, Giant, Stop & Shop, Fresh Direct and more, beginning to hit shelves in December and throughout the first half of 2022.

09:09 EST Boston Bruins names DraftKings as official, exclusive fantasy sports partner - The Boston Bruins and DraftKings announced a new multi-year deal, which will make DraftKings the exclusive, Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner of the team and TD Garden, and the exclusive presenting sponsor of the Boston Bruins Foundation 50/50 charitable raffle. The parties have also agreed that DraftKings will be an Official Sports Betting Partner of the Boston Bruins and TD Garden, should sports betting become legal in Massachusetts. The new deal marks another strategic agreement with an NHL team for DraftKings, further advancing DraftKings' relationship with the league as an official daily fantasy partner and an official sports betting partner of the NHL. DraftKings and the Bruins will execute strategic digital and social media content, with DraftKings takeovers of the Bruins homepage, app integration and digital linkages to the DraftKings suite of products. DraftKings and the Bruins will collaborate on a new content series hosted on Bruins social media channels inspired by daily fantasy engagement and exciting moments in the game. DraftKings will be the exclusive presenting sponsor of the Boston Bruins Foundation 50/50 Raffle. During 2021, the raffle is completely online, promoted through multiple Bruins social media channels; however, DraftKings branding will be included in all signage used by the 50/50 ambassadors throughout TD Garden, and in two in-game promotional drops on the HDX video scoreboard. Per the agreement, DraftKings branding and content will be integrated throughout TD Garden. DraftKings has been granted premium, TV visible dasher board locations including on the Bruins offensive end on the side of the net - generating maximum TV exposure.

09:08 EST Sumo Logic announces new integrations with CircleCI, GitLab - Sumo Logic introduced new integrations with CircleCI and GitLab designed to help development teams build, run and measure the health of the entire software delivery lifecycle. The Sumo Logic Software Development Optimization solution makes it easy to democratize and unify fragmented data generated by tools used to build and deliver software. With these new integrations, CircleCI and GitLab customers get the visibility they need to measure and manage the software development and delivery process.

09:07 EST ImmunityBio expands cancer, infectious disease vaccine programs - ImmunityBio announced the expansion of the company's cancer and infectious disease vaccine programs to include self-amplifying self-adjuvating RNA, recombinant protein vaccine candidates, and potent adjuvant formulations that enhance the quality, durability and breadth of immune responses to infectious diseases and cancer. When combined with the company's hAd5 T-cell-based vaccine candidate, the company believes this "mix-and-match" approach will enable a new generation of COVID-19 vaccines that could potentially confer long-term immune memory to overcome the threat of current and future variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. ImmunityBio has established partnerships to bring these technologies together to establish a vaccine consortium and develop multiple vaccine candidates, conduct comprehensive clinical testing, and to immediately further scale ImmunityBio's manufacturing capabilities for global capacity for each of these vaccine candidates. The creation of this novel "mix-and-match" platform, which is also rapidly amenable to incorporation of variant constructs as they emerge, is aimed at establishing widespread availability of cost-effective, broad-spectrum vaccines to meet the remaining global need for COVID-19 vaccines and boosts.

09:06 EST PacBio, ARUP Laboratories collaborate in rare disease diagnosis study - PacBio and ARUP Laboratories announced they are collaborating on a study intended to evaluate whether the solve rate for rare disease cases can be increased. ARUP Laboratories has purchased a PacBio Sequel IIe system for use in the Utah NeoSeq Project. The project, launched in early 2020, leverages an accelerated sequencing and analysis pipeline intended to provide a genetic diagnosis for patients in the neonatal intensive care unit in less than a week. By incorporating the Sequel IIe in the study, the team hopes to demonstrate the potential of long-read HiFi sequencing technology to identify variants in areas of the genome that are difficult to sequence with short-read sequencing technologies and, ultimately, increase diagnostic yield for rare disease cases. Currently, the cause of more than half of rare disease cases worldwide remains unexplained. Using short-read whole genome sequencing, the lab's current diagnostic yield for rare disease is about 30% to 50%. The study will explore the use of HiFi WGS, which provides more comprehensive, accurate, and high-definition coverage of hard-to-read regions in the human genome, to determine if it can identify variants, both small and structural, that were not readily detectible by short-read WGS. Additionally, ARUP Laboratories is seeking to develop clinical assays for areas that are difficult to sequence with short-read sequencing technologies, such as repeat expansions and pseudogenes. The initial phase of the study uses HiFi WGS on those samples already sequenced with short-read technology, but without a resulting diagnosis. The goal is to wrap up this phase of the project in the first quarter of 2022. Should the initial phase of the study be successful, the project will explore using HiFi WGS as a frontline diagnostic tool for rare and inherited disorders.

09:05 EST Poet Technologies appoints board sub-committee to plan Nasdaq listing - The Board of Directors of POET Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has appointed a Sub-Committee consisting of three independent members to determine the timing and other matters related to the Company's planned listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market. The Sub-Committee will consider and recommend to the full Board of Directors the selection of a lead underwriter to support the U.S. listing, and the timing and ratio for a consolidation of the Company's outstanding shares within the ratios previously approved by its shareholders. The Sub-Committee will work with the Company's senior management and company counsel on all aspects of the process and is expected to report its findings to the Board by the next scheduled meeting of the Board in early 2022.

09:04 EST Teradata CMO Martyn Etherington to step down, Jacqueline Woods to succeed - Teradata (TDC) announced that it has appointed Jacqueline Woods as chief marketing officer, effective December 6. As CMO, Woods will be responsible for overseeing Teradata's strategic marketing planning and delivery, including brand and reputation management, digital and social properties, as well as leading customer generation, influencer marketing, public relations, communications and enriching customer experiences. Woods succeeds Martyn Etherington, who is stepping down from his position and will remain with Teradata through the end of December to support a smooth transition. Woods joins Teradata from NielsenIQ (NLSN), where she served as global chief marketing and communications officer.

09:03 EST United-Guardian declares quarterly dividend of 65c per share - United-Guardian announced that the company's Board of Directors, at its meeting on November 16, 2021, declared a cash dividend of $0.65 per share, which will be paid on December 7, 2021, to all stockholders of record on November 29, 2021.

09:02 EST Curtiss-Wright expands share repurchase program to $350M - Curtiss-Wright announced an expansion of its 2021 share repurchase program, which is now expected to result in record annual share repurchases of $350M in 2021. The company expects to complete the repurchase of $100M in additional shares via a 10b5-1 program by the end of the year. This program will be conducted in concurrence with the existing $50M share repurchase program being executed this year, and follows the completion of the recent $200M opportunistic program that was executed earlier this year. Upon completion of this new $100M share repurchase program, the company will have remaining open authorization of $250M.

08:52 EST Marsh McLennan appoints John Doyle as COO - Marsh McLennan announced changes to its executive committee effective January 1, 2022. John Doyle has been promoted to group president and COO of Marsh McLennan and will continue as vice chair of the Company. Mr. Doyle is currently President and CEO of Marsh, a position he assumed in 2017. In his new role, he will work closely with President and CEO Dan Glaser to realize the enterprise's overall strategic business and operational objectives. Martin South, President of Marsh US and Canada, will succeed Mr. Doyle as President and CEO of Marsh. He was also appointed Vice Chair of Marsh McLennan and will join Marsh McLennan's Executive Committee. Mr. South has more than 30 years of global insurance experience, including serving as CEO for Marsh's Asia-Pacific region, Marsh UK & Ireland and Marsh Europe.

08:50 EST Volcon director buys $337K in common stock - In a regulatory filing, Volcon disclosed that its director Adrian James bought 21.7K shares in a total transaction size of $337K on November 17th, boosting his stake by about 2%. Shares of Volcon are up 1.5% in pre-market trading at $14.88.

08:47 EST Starbucks, Amazon Go collaborate to launch store concept in NYC - In a company blog post, Starbucks (SBUX) said, "The new Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go (AMZN), located in New York City at 59th Street between Park & Lexington Avenues, opens on November 18, 2021. The store is a combination of a Starbucks Pickup and Amazon Go, utilizing the order ahead feature in the Starbucks app and Amazon Go's Just Walk Out technology to create an easy checkout experience, alongside a modernized lounge that features individual workspaces and expanded tables with power outlets and USB ports. The new store offers the full Starbucks menu and a curated assortment of food and beverages in the Amazon Go market, including fresh-prepared salads, sandwiches, bakery items, and snack options...Starbucks Pickup stores primarily accept orders that are placed through the Starbucks app prior to the customer arriving at the store. Customers can place and pay for their order by selecting the Starbucks on "59th between Park & Lex w/ Amazon Go" as their desired location in the app. Once the customer arrives at the location, they can find the status of their order on a digital screen in the store and then pick up their order directly from a Starbucks barista. To enter the Amazon Go market and store's lounge seating, customers can use the "In-Store Code" in the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon One or a credit card, and then shop the Amazon Go market like any other Amazon Go store. Once inside, anything customers take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart. Anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart. When a customer is done shopping, they can either sit in the lounge area to enjoy their Starbucks beverage and food item selected from the Amazon Go market or be on their way. After the customer leaves the Amazon Go market, their card will be charged and they can access their receipt within a few hours, sometimes faster...Starbucks and Amazon Go plan to open at least three Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go stores in the coming year, with a second location planned for The New York Times Building located at 40th Street & 8th Avenue in New York City next year. " Reference Link

08:42 EST Mullen Automotive debuts FIVE EV Crossover - Mullen Automotive is pleased to announce the world debut of the Mullen FIVE EV Crossover at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. The FIVE was debuted to the world for the first time yesterday, Nov. 17, 2021, at the LA Auto Show. Mullen has multiple variants of the FIVE model on display while also showcasing powertrain, battery and charging technology. The vehicle will continue to be on display in the South Hall during the consumer days of the show, Nov. 19-28, 2021.

08:41 EST Runway Growth Finance prices $70M senior notes due 2026 - Runway Growth Finance announced that it has priced a private placement of $70 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.25% Series 2021A Senior Notes due 2026. The 2026 Senior Notes have been offered only to institutional accredited investors in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The 2026 Senior Notes are expected to be delivered and paid for at two closings. The first Closing, in respect of $20 million aggregate principal amount of 2026 Senior Notes, is expected to occur on December 10, 2021 and the second Closing, in respect of $50 million in aggregate principal amount of 2026 Senior Notes, is expected to occur on or about February 10, 2022. Each Closing is subject to customary closing conditions. The 2026 Senior Notes will bear an interest rate of 4.25% per year, payable semiannually, and will mature on December 10, 2026. Runway Growth may use the net proceeds of the private placement to repay outstanding indebtedness, make investments in accordance with the Runway Growth's investment objective and investment strategy and for other general corporate purposes.

08:40 EST Phunware revises investment policy for cash management - Phunware announced revenue guidance of $25 million for 2022, including a revised corporate investment policy providing even more flexibility for diversifying and maximizing returns on cash reserves that are not immediately required for operating liquidity. As part of the updated corporate cash management policy, Phunware may save and/or invest cash reserves in certain specified alternative reserve assets to include, but not limited to: Bitcoin. Phunware currently holds approximately 127 bitcoin, which were acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $7.75 million and an average purchase price of approximately $61,238 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses. The Company expects to add to its bitcoin total as a routine part of corporate operations and treasury management for the foreseeable future. Stablecoins. Phunware expects to use reserve-backed stablecoins, including stablecoin collateral loops, to maximize its savings yields in digital US dollar equivalents that can be far more attractive than traditional legacy banking yields in Annual Percentage Yield terms. The Company will not use Tether stablecoins as any part of this strategy and fully expects to concentrate its stablecoin exposure on assets such as US Dollar Coin and Gemini Dollar amongst other equivalents. Alternative cryptocurrencies. Phunware expects to initiate numerous diversified DeFi positions and techniques to generate financial returns consistent with financial lending, borrowing, market making, yield farming, collateralized looping, swapping, staking, bridging, wrapping, pooling and pairing. The Company will maintain its DeFi strategies, positions and techniques as both confidential and proprietary information. In parallel to formally executing the board approved operating plan for 2022, Phunware will actively manage its cash management and treasury in conjunction with its ongoing board governance, oversight and compliance activities, including all requisite third party legal, audit and regulatory reviews, disclosures and filings as appropriate.

08:38 EST Rio Tinto becomes sole owner of Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada - Rio Tinto has become the sole owner of Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada, continuing its role in the Canadian diamond industry. A transaction has been completed for Rio Tinto's acquisition of the 40% share held by Dominion Diamond Mines in Diavik, following the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta's approval. With production at Diavik expected to end in 2025, its high-end, predominantly white gem quality diamonds with Canadian provenance continue to be in strong demand in all established and emerging consumer markets. The transaction comes after a 19-month process triggered in April 2020 by Dominion Diamond Mines ULC filing for insolvency protection under the Canadian Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Under the terms of the transaction, Rio Tinto has acquired all remaining Diavik assets held by Dominion, including unsold Diavik production and cash collateral held as security for Diavik's future closure costs. In return, Rio Tinto has released Dominion and its lenders from all outstanding liabilities and obligations to fund the operations or closure of the joint venture. Rio Tinto has operated Diavik since production commenced in 2003.

08:37 EST ISS recommends AgJunction shareholder vote for Kubota transaction - AgJunction is pleased to announce that one of the leading independent proxy advisors, Institutional Shareholder Services, has recommended that shareholders of AgJunction vote FOR a special resolution approving the Arrangement between AgJunction and Kubota Corporation. In reaching its recommendation, ISS noted that: "The proposed arrangement offers to the Corporation's shareholders immediate liquidity and certainty of value due to its all-cash structure, and provides a significant premium to the unaffected price of the Corporation's shares. The transaction is supported by the largest shareholder of the Corporation. In addition, management has conducted a comprehensive transaction process." As an independent proxy advisory firm, ISS provides voting recommendations to some of the world's largest institutional investors. In welcoming ISS' favourable recommendation, Brett McMickell, President and CEO of AgJunction, commented: "We are pleased that ISS has recommended in favour of the Arrangement. We unanimously recommend that our Shareholders support this transaction with Kubota by voting FOR the Arrangement at the upcoming special meeting." Under the previously announced Arrangement, Kubota will acquire, by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act, all of AgJunction's issued and outstanding common shares for cash consideration of CAD $0.75 per common share. The Corporation also announced today that it has entered into an amendment agreement to the arrangement agreement relating to the Arrangement, which introduces a technical change to the treatment of the holders of the Corporation's restricted shares under the Arrangement, and to facilitate the assignment of the arrangement agreement by Kubota. The Corporation has been advised by Kubota that, as previously disclosed, Kubota intends to assign the arrangement agreement to one of its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiaries. In accordance with the terms of the arrangement agreement, any such assignment will not relieve Kubota of its obligations under the arrangement agreement.

08:36 EST Coty enters licensing agreement with Orveda - Coty announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Orveda, a skincare brand made in France. Founded in 2014, Orveda products are known for high concentrations of active ingredients to produce efficacy. Coty plans to immediately begin to integrate Orveda and its know-how in microbiome science into the company's Prestige portfolio, with Coty developing, manufacturing and distributing the full range of Orveda products globally. Orveda's brand and product development and global marketing will be managed by Coty chief prestige brands officer, Constantin Sklavenitis. As part of the agreement, Orveda co-founder and sole owner Nicolas Vu will continue to lead the company as its CEO and partner closely with Coty on the brand's development, Coty CEO Sue Nabi, co-founder of the brand with Vu, no longer has an ownership interest in Orveda or any formal role since joining Coty as its CEO. This license arrangement will not be material for Coty in the near-term.

08:35 EST Kopin ships on $3.5M order for Brillian Display for CHMD for U.S. Army - Kopin announced it has recently started production deliveries of its new superhigh-brightness, full-color Brillian Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display, AMLCD, for the Common Helmet Mounted Display, CHMD, System for the US Army's helicopter pilots. Kopin's patented Brillian displays incorporate breakthrough advances in design and processing techniques to produce unsurpassed image performance in applications requiring extreme high brightness. Delivery is on-going on the initial order of $3.5M and we estimate the program's potential revenues are $30M over several years. "Delivery of production displays for the CHMD program is the culmination of a multi-year development effort to advance the capabilities of our AMCLD technology to meet the challenging requirements," stated Bill Maffucci, the Company's Vice President of Government Programs. "Full-color Brillian displays exhibit brightness levels greater than 34,000 nits and typical contrast ratios above 500:1. While Kopin has a long history of providing high-performance monochrome displays for pilot helmets, these full-color displays provide pilots with enhanced visual recognition of critical information." The full-color CHMD is part of the US Army's Air Soldier System, used by helicopter pilots to provide both day and night enhanced situational awareness and survivability in all flight conditions. The CHMD is an advanced, see-through, high-definition, digital helmet mounted display that supports the US Army's CH-47F Chinook and the UH-60L/M/V Black Hawk fleets. "We continue to expand the boundaries of our display capabilities to provide our defense customers with the best possible equipment," said Dr. John C.C. Fan, CEO of Kopin Corporation. "A few years ago, a global defense company approached us to develop a superhigh-brightness, high-contrast color display to convert monochrome pilot helmets to full color. To meet the requirements, we developed an innovative process. It is so rewarding to follow the journey from a concept to design-in and now to production of Brillian displays."

08:34 EST Reliance Global announces launch of 5MinuteInsure.com in South Carolina - Reliance Global Group announced that it has launched 5MinuteInsure.com in South Carolina.

08:33 EST Nordstrom, Fanatics announce new long-term partnership - Nordstrom and Fanatics announced a new long-term partnership through which Nordstrom.com customers will have access to shop thousands of high-quality licensed sports fan products available exclusively through Fanatics' industry-leading assortment. Nordstrom will power the front-end digital customer experience, while orders will be fulfilled and shipped by Fanatics. Fanatics will also make championship products and other real-time items available that are designed and manufactured on-demand through the company's vertical commerce business model and agile supply chain. Through this partnership, Nordstrom is introducing an entirely new product category to its assortment with men's, women's and kids licensed products in the new Nordstrom.com Sports Fan Shop. The new vertical will feature merchandise from top leagues including the NFL, NCAA, NBA, MLB and more. The tailored product selection is from Fanatics' wide-ranging merchandise portfolio and includes quality brands like Fanatics, Nike, Adidas and Mitchell & Ness.

08:33 EST ClearSign Combustion announces multi heater project for national refiner - ClearSign has received a purchase order from a Fortune 500 national refiner in connection with the first phase of the project to retrofit two process heaters with eight ClearSign Core burners each to be installed in their Midwest refinery. The project consists of three phases. The first is the receipt of the purchase order, which includes the fabrication and demonstration of a single burner. The second phase is planned to be an order for the remaining seven burners to complete the first heater. The anticipated third and final stage will be an eight burner order for the second heater.

08:32 EST GlobalFoundries, Ford to partner on semiconductor manufacturing - GlobalFoundries (GFS) and Ford Motor Company (F) announced a strategic collaboration to advance semiconductor manufacturing and technology development within the United States, aiming to boost chip supplies for Ford and the U.S. automotive industry. The companies have signed a non-binding agreement that opens the door for GF to create further semiconductor supply for Ford's current vehicle lineup and joint research and development to address the growing demand for feature-rich chips to support the automotive industry. These could include semiconductor solutions for ADAS, battery management systems, and in-vehicle networking for an automated, connected, and electrified future. GF and Ford also will explore expanded semiconductor manufacturing opportunities to support the automotive industry. This strategic collaboration does not involve cross-ownership between the two companies.

08:31 EST CNH Industrial's Iveco presents business strategy, demerger rationale - Iveco Group presents its Business, Strategy and 2026 Financial Ambitions. 2026 Ambitions: Total net revenues of Industrial Activities at between EUR 16.5B - 17.5B. In 2019: EUR 11.8B. Adjusted EBIT margin of Industrial Activities at between 5.0% - 6.0%, in 2019: 3.6%. Adjusted Net Profit at between EUR 0.6 - 0.8 billion, in 2019: EUR 0.3 billion. Shareholders to receive 1 new Iveco Group N.V. share for every 5 CNH Industrial N.V. shares owned Demerger Rationale: The Demerger of Iveco Group from CNH Industrial will create an independent 'pure player' focused on its leading Commercial and Specialty Vehicles, Powertrain, and Financial Services businesses. "The Demerger is intended to maximize management focus and flexibility, aligns investment priorities and incentives, better meets respective business needs, and optimizes the cost and capital structure of each Company to drive profitable growth," the company said. The Iveco Group believes it is well-placed to benefit from these trends due to: Its strong, historic presence across the full range of Commercial and Specialty Vehicles; Its focus on innovation and the development of advanced and sustainable solutions; and a proven ability to reinforce these strengths through partnerships. As a result of the Demerger, Iveco Group will become the holding company of a leading global capital goods group engaged in the design, production, marketing, sale, servicing, and financing of trucks, commercial vehicles, buses and specialty vehicles as well as combustion engines, alternative propulsion systems, transmissions and axles for those vehicles and engines and alternative propulsion systems for agricultural and construction equipment and for marine and power generation applications.

08:29 EST EverCommerce announces withdrawal of previously announced follow-on offering - EverCommerce has determined that given Wednesday's market conditions it is not in the best interest of the company and its shareholders to raise equity capital at this time and intends to withdraw its previously announced underwritten public offering of common stock. As previously announced, concurrent with the launch of the equity offering, the Company launched a $200 million upsize of its existing term loan facility under its credit agreement. The Company intends to continue to pursue the Term Loan Upsize and will use the proceeds therefrom to repay approximately $190 million currently outstanding under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes, which may include the acquisition of, or investment in, technologies, solutions, or businesses that complement our business.

08:26 EST Stereotaxis to host inaugural Innovation Day - Stereotaxis announced it will host an inaugural Innovation Day by live webcast on December 13. The event will include presentations of the company's innovation pipeline by members of Stereotaxis leadership with a live Q&A session.

08:23 EST Enphase Energy, Power Solar grow battery systems partnership - Enphase Energy announced that Power Solar, a residential solar and battery system provider in Puerto Rico, and an Enphase Installer Network Platinum member, has become one of the fastest growing Enphase partners in Puerto Rico as households seek out battery systems to protect them from an unstable utility grid and extreme weather conditions like hurricanes.

08:22 EST Points International, Rocket Travel partner to enhance travel booking experience - Points International (PCOM), will collaborate with the industry-leading provider of bespoke white-labelled travel booking platforms, Rocket Travel, Inc., a Booking Holdings Company (BKNG), to enhance the overall booking experience offered to its roster of Loyalty Program partners. As part of the collaboration agreement, Rocket Travel's best-in-class white-label loyalty hotel and car booking services will replace the services currently provided by the Points Travel solutions while still leveraging Points' Loyalty Commerce Platform capabilities. In addition, pointshound.com will become a Rocketmiles.com channel provider, enabling accelerated rewards with even more worldwide loyalty partners in a streamlined user journey. Points' loyalty program partners and their members will continue to enjoy a robust travel booking platform and leading user experience, while benefiting from an unmatched breadth of hotel and car inventory backed by Booking Holdings' worldwide network and Rocket's leading full service, white-label travel booking platform. Points will continue to manage the loyalty program relationships and process the miles and points portion of each transaction. Rocket Travel and Points are committed to seeking additional opportunities to more effectively serve their respective loyalty partners and members by complementing one another's offerings and core competencies.

08:21 EST Else Nutrition receives conditional approval to graduate to TSX - Else Nutrition Holdings announced it has received conditional approval to list its common shares and warrants on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Final approval of the TSX listing is subject to the Company meeting certain customary conditions of the TSX on or before January 20, 2022. Upon receiving final approval from the TSX, Else intends to issue a news release confirming the date upon which its common shares and warrants will commence trading on the TSX. At that time, Else's common shares and warrants will be concurrently delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange. The trading symbol for the common shares and warrants of the Company on TSX will remain unchanged as "BABY", "BABY.WT" and BABY.WT.A".

08:20 EST Twist, Invetx team on antibodies to treat diseases in cats and dogs - Twist Bioscience announced an extension to their existing antibody therapeutic partnership. The extended agreement covers the addition of next-generation synthetic antibody phage display technology for the discovery of novel monoclonal antibodies, mAbs, for the treatment of multiple diseases in cats and dogs. "Our initial partnership with Twist to develop canine and feline TAO platforms and use them to optimize development of our veterinary biotherapeutics has been very successful," said Juergen Horn, PhD, chief executive officer of Invetx. "With this expanded agreement, we are adding complementary in vitro synthetic antibody discovery capabilities to our existing in vivo platform. This combination enables us to generate best-in-class therapeutics for an even broader range of targets to treat chronic and serious conditions in dogs and cats." Under the terms of the agreement, Twist Biopharma, a division of Twist Bioscience, leverages its "Library of Libraries," a panel of synthetic antibody phage display libraries to identify potential therapeutic antibody candidates against specific feline and canine disease targets provided by Invetx. Twist has already generated fully feline and canine synthetic antibody libraries and from them, has begun to identify drug candidates. Twist will work with Invetx to validate and optimize any resulting new antibody candidates.

08:18 EST authID.ai to be granted Biometric Identity Authentication Routing Tech patent - authID.ai announced the Company has received notification from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office hat U.S. Patent No. 11182777 will be issued on November 23, 2021. The '777 patent, entitled Systems and Methods Using a Primary Account Number to Represent Identity Attributes, is for a method that enables various attributes of the individual, to be securely linked to a Primary Account Number to authenticate the user's identity. The PAN of a user may then be used for identifying a user, without any sensitive data being released, as well as used to provide access, such as opening a door for a user, or accessing a bank account, or other payment method of the user. The PAN has become the most ubiquitous way of processing credit card and other payment transactions, which can be sent over established communications networks between banks and merchants anywhere in the world. Using this invention, identity authentication transactions can be authorized via the individual's biometrics, such as the user's unique facial features and routed over the same networks in the same way as payment transactions. The identity attributes are stored in a secure, encrypted database that can be accessed when called upon during identity authentication or verification transactions. A transaction processor can then use the PAN to efficiently and securely facilitate a range of identity verification or authentication transactions. In this way, the identity attributes themselves do not have to be transferred or disclosed to the merchant and thereby exposed to potential theft. These types of identity verification and authentication transactions which can be authorized by the individual using their biometrics may be required when, for example: using public transportation, accessing medical records, entering physical facilities, or when making payments at a point of sale to a merchant both on existing global networks as well as future platforms that may be developed.

08:16 EST Molecular Templates granted Fast Track designation for MT-6402 - Molecular Templates announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track Designation for MT-6402 for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer expressing PD-L1. MT-6402 is the first of MTEM's third generation ETBs to enter the clinic. It was designed to induce potent anti-tumor effects via PD-L1 targeting through multiple mechanisms that may overcome the limitations of the PD-L1 antibodies. MT-6402 is currently being evaluated in a multi-center, open-label, dose escalation and dose expansion Phase I trial in patients with solid tumors in the United States. Patient enrollment is currently ongoing. Following determination of the maximum tolerated dose or recommended Phase 2 dose, expansion cohorts are planned to evaluate MT-6402 as a monotherapy in tumor-specific and basket cohorts.

08:15 EST State Street in strategic pact with RIMES to enhance indexing, benchmarking - State Street announced a strategic partnership with RIMES, the global data partner for asset managers, asset owners, and service providers, to enhance State Street Alpha. Through this partnership, State Street Alpha clients will benefit from RIMES' deep expertise and experience with the global index provider marketplace leveraging its market-leading operational capabilities and infrastructure. Industry-wide investing dynamics have radically shifted over the past decade, and indexes and benchmarks have become critically important to the investment lifecycle. This partnership will help State Street to meet clients' increasingly complex index needs and provide a comprehensive solution to aggregate indexes and benchmarks across multiple providers. Index and benchmark data provision requires highly engineered and performant delivery, of which RIMES' 25 years of best-in-class data solutions and award-winning Benchmark Data Service will provide. "The management of comprehensive index and benchmark data at scale is vital to our clients and through this partnership with RIMES, State Street Alpha will now deliver the foremost benchmark and index service," said John Plansky, head of State Street Alpha. "We continue to explore all opportunities to advance the capabilities of State Street Alpha and our Alpha Data Platform for our clients and are thrilled to announce this partnership with RIMES."

08:15 EST Kintara Therapeutics presents updates on two Phase 2 clinical studies - Kintara Therapeutics announced data from two scientific posters for its Phase 2 clinical studies of VAL-083, the company's lead compound for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. The data are being presented at the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology being held in Boston on November 18-21. Kintara is presenting posters on two Phase 2 clinical studies evaluating VAL-083 in patients with MGMT-unmethylated GBM. The first poster outlined the open-label, Phase 2 study of VAL-083 as a first-line treatment in newly-diagnosed, unmethylated GBM patients conducted at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in China. Progression free survival was 8.7 months and median overall survival was 19.1 months. The poster also highlights a case report from the study for a patient who remains progression free for more than 37 months after diagnosis. All patients have completed treatment. Adverse events have been consistent with prior studies with myelosuppression being the most common adverse event. The second poster outlined the two groups of patients receiving VAL-083 in the open-label, Phase 2 study in recurrent and adjuvant unmethylated GBM. mOS was 8.0 months. While not a head-to-head study, this compares favorably to historical lomustine control mOS of 7.2 months. All patients have completed treatment. Consistent with prior studies, myelosuppression was the most common adverse event in both recurrent GBM and in the adjuvant setting.

08:13 EST ATI Physical Therapy acquires Excel-R-ation Physical Therapy, no terms disclosed - ATI Physical Therapy announced that the company has acquired Excel-R-ation Physical Therapy, extending its footprint into the Grand Rapids area. The addition of Excel-R-ation strengthens ATI's Michigan portfolio and builds on existing clinics in the southern and northwestern regions of the state. Excel-R-ation was formed in 2003 by a group of five physical therapists dedicated to the mission of serving local patients with unsurpassed physical therapy services.

08:13 EST MSG Sports, MSG Entertainment enter marketing deal with Caesars sportsbook - Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGS) and Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) announced a multi-year marketing partnership with Caesars Sportsbook, an entity of Caesars (CZR), making Caesars Sportsbook an Official Sports Betting Partner of the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden Arena and MSG Networks. In addition, the sportsbook operator will also gain digital media exposure across MSG Sports' and MSG Entertainment's platforms, as well as MSG and hospitality experiences that will be available to Caesars Rewards program customers. Caesars Sportsbook will have a hospitality space inside Madison Square Garden that will be open for all Knicks and Rangers games, as well as additional select events. Caesars Rewards members will have an opportunity to access the space, which will undergo a full refurbishment leading into the 2022-23 Knicks and Rangers seasons. Once complete, the space will be highlighted with Caesars Sportsbook branding and feature programming, including special guest appearances, giveaways, and enhanced activations, all available through Caesars Rewards. Through this partnership with Caesars Sportsbook, a part of the largest gaming and entertainment company in the US, MSG Networks and Caesars Sportsbook will also launch a new content series on MSG Networks and its social media channels featuring JB Smoove. "One Course with JB Smoove" will integrate Caesars Sportsbook betting odds and content. In addition, MSG Networks and Caesars Sportsbook will launch a 20-part programming marathon to bring back the hit series, "Four Courses with JB Smoove." The show, which premiered in 2013, showcased JB Smoove having conversations with athletes and celebrities from a dinner table, and will now be updated with Caesars-themed content. Caesars Sportsbook will receive exposure inside Madison Square Garden, including TV visible signage, in-arena LED messaging, GardenVision features and activations on the court and ice during Knicks and Rangers games. Digital boards outside of Madison Square Garden and in the new Moynihan Train Hall will also feature Caesars Sportsbook branding on display to the millions of people who walk by every day.

08:12 EST Plus Therapeutics announces interim data from ReSPECT-GBM Phase 1 trial - Plus Therapeutics released positive interim data on its lead investigational drug, Rhenium-186 NanoLiposome from the first-in-man Phase 1 ReSPECT-GBM clinical trial in patients with recurrent glioblastoma at the 2021 Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting and Education Day being held in Boston, Massachusetts. According to the interim data, 186RNL delivered via convection enhanced delivery is well-tolerated with favorable overall survival in adult patients at higher absorbed radiation doses. A positive correlation was observed between overall survival and higher absorbed radiation doses. The poster, titled "Safety and Feasibility of Rhenium-186 NanoLiposome in Recurrent Glioma: the ReSPECT Phase 1 Trial," outlines data from the ReSPECT-GBM trial, substantially funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, which has thus far evaluated 22 adult patients with recurrent GBM across seven cohorts of increasing dose, treated over a six year period. Key findings include the following: No delivery failures were observed and an average absorbed dose of 267.5 Gy of radiation was delivered to the tumor. No dose limiting toxicities or adverse events with the outcome of death, or discontinuations due to AEs have been observed. Of 22 total subjects with recurrent GBM treated with 186RNL, seven patients remain alive and mean and median overall survival is currently 336.6 days and 231.5 days, respectively. In the subset of 13 patients receiving greater than 100 Gy absorbed radiation, seven patients remain alive and mean and median OS is currently at 453.8 days and 330 days respectively. No patients remain alive in the cohort of 9 patients receiving less than 100 Gy absorbed radiation and mean and median OS is 167.3 days and 156 days respectively. In 10 treated patients in cohorts five through seven, 13.4 millicuries or more of radiation was delivered and 80% received greater than 100 Gy average absorbed dose of radiation to the tumor.

08:11 EST Tempest announces first patient dosed with TPST-1495 with pembrolizumab - Tempest Therapeutics announced the first patient has been dosed with TPST-1495 in combination with pembrolizumab in the Phase 1a/1b open-label, dose and schedule optimization study of TPST-1495 in patients with solid tumors. "We're very pleased to announce the start of patient dosing with TPST-1495 in combination with pembrolizumab," said Sam Whiting, MD, Ph.D., chief medical officer of Tempest. "TPST-1495 is designed to inhibit key components of the Prostaglandin E2, or PGE2, pathway, which is both a driver of tumor cell proliferation and an important suppressor of anti-tumor immune function. In addition, recent data show that PGE2 is involved in enabling tumors to escape from immune checkpoint inhibitors such as pembrolizumab, a process known as adaptive immune resistance. Based on this mechanistic rationale and our preclinical data, we are excited about the potential of this combination to be superior to either approach alone and bring benefit to patients."

08:10 EST Reservoir Media acquires songs by writer-producer Dallas Austin - Reservoir Media announced the acquisition of hit songs by Platinum-selling songwriter and producer Dallas Austin. In recognition of his contributions to the music industry, Austin was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. Austin's catalog spans several decades and includes hit songs such as Boyz II Men's "Motownphilly," several hits off Madonna's 3x-Platinum selling Bedtime Stories, Gwen Stefani's "Cool," P!nk's "Just Like a Pill" and "Don't Let Me Get Me," Michael Jackson's "2 Bad," and many more. Austin also notably collaborated on five tracks off TLC's debut album Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip, including singles "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" and "What About Your Friends." He went on to contribute to two Hot 100 #1's for the group, writing and producing 1994's Platinum-selling "Creep," and co-writing and producing 1999's "Unpretty."

08:10 EST Zscaler powers its global data centers, offices with 100% renewable energy - Zscaler announced that it achieved 100% renewable energy through a combination of directly purchased renewable energy and renewable energy credits, RECs, for its offices and 150+ data centers that run the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. Zscaler has built its cloud security platform in more than 150 data centers across the world with many already operating on 100% renewable energy. 78% of the energy used to process over 190B security transactions per day was from renewable sources as of October 2021. Zscaler took the next step to achieve 100% renewable energy by purchasing high-quality RECs from projects such as wind and solar farms. These RECs match the projected non-renewable energy used by Zscaler's offices and data centers globally for calendar year 2021. "We are passionate about creating meaningful change for our customers and our planet," said Amit Sinha, president and CTO and member of the board, Zscaler. "Zscaler has a long track record of driving technology innovation via the cloud which now uses 100% renewable energy. With the steps that we took today, Zscaler supports our customers' goals of adopting Zero Trust security and eliminating the carbon emissions associated with the energy used for their security program. We will continue to enhance the efficiency of our architecture and infrastructure to do our part in addressing climate change."

08:08 EST Booz Allen partners with U.S. Air Force to commercialize Platform One - Booz Allen Hamilton announced they have partnered with the U.S. Air Force to commercialize Platform One's Big Bang product and Iron Bank container hardening services, propelling the delivery of modern, secure mission capabilities at scale. As a plank holder of Platform One-and now a commercialization partner-the firm, teamed with Rancher Government Solutions is at the forefront of enterprise-wide software modernization and innovation for Department of Defense , federal government, and private sector organizations who can leverage Platform One to accelerate delivery through continuous, reusable, flexible, and secure solutions. Booz Allen's implementation of Platform One products and services will provide immediate value for clients across the government, as well as for industry partners by rapidly delivering innovation to federal organizations with increased mission assurance. Organizations throughout the DoD, federal government, and commercial sector will now work with Booz Allen to leverage Platform One's Big Bang product, which deploys a software factory built on DoD hardened and approved packages in a customer owned environment This baseline of open-source software development tools allows organizations to deploy and customize Platform One's software factory for their specific mission needs to accelerate modernization of mission capabilities from Day One. This significantly reduces overall project costs and time, while mitigating mission risk due to a robust, proven, and enterprise-grade solution built and supported by Platform One and Booz Allen.

08:07 EST Longeveron announces FDA granted RPD designation for Lomecel-B to treat HLHS - Longeveron announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has granted Rare Pediatric Disease, RPD, designation for Lomecel-B for the treatment of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, HLHS, a rare and life-threatening congenital heart defect in infants. Lomecel-B, an investigational allogeneic, bone marrow-derived medicinal signaling cell, MSC, product, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial. "We are pleased by FDA's acknowledgment of the urgent need for a safe and effective treatment for children born with this rare and devastating congenital heart defect," stated Longeveron co-founder and Chief Science Officer Joshua Hare, M.D. "We are encouraged by our Phase 1 clinical data, and the progress being made in the ongoing Phase 2 trial. Lomecel-B represents a unique cell therapy approach that could potentially be administered at the same time as surgery in these critically impacted infants." Infants with HLHS are currently being enrolled in ELPIS II, a 38-subject, phase 2 randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial.

08:06 EST Eli Lilly's migraine comparison test with Emgality begins enrollment - Eli Lilly announced that enrollment is now open for the Challenge-MIG clinical trial comparing two anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide medicines for the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. The study is evaluating once-monthly Emgality injection compared to Nurtec ODT, a tablet patients take every other day, on patient-centric measures, including reductions in monthly migraine headache days and quality of life improvement. Lilly's CHALLENGE-MIG study aims to deepen the understanding of CGRP monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) compared to oral gepants in the preventive treatment of migraine and answer important questions that will help physicians and patients make informed treatment decisions. The Challenge-MIG clinical trial is expected to enroll approximately 700 adults across the U.S. with episodic migraine, and individual participation in the study can last up to 6 months.

08:06 EST Tantech Holdings unit wins major new midibus order - Tantech Holdings announced that its subsidiary, Shangchi Automobile Co., Ltd., has won another new order for 15 of its high-quality, highly efficient customizable midibuses. 10 of the 15 have already been delivered to the customer in the Philippines.

08:05 EST Cognition Therapeutics expects cash to fund operations for next 24 months - Cash and cash equivalents were $8.3M at September 30, 2021 and did not include the gross proceeds from the IPO of $52M, which was received subsequent to the quarter end.

08:05 EST Better Therapeutics completes patient enrollment in BT-001 trial - Better Therapeutics announced the completion of patient enrollment in its potentially pivotal study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BT-001 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

08:04 EST DavidsTea launches Steeping Together podcast - DAVIDsTEA is thrilled to announce the launch of Steeping Together, its very own podcast devoted entirely to the world of tea, and the communitea that revolves around it. Those eager to join the weekly tea party will be able listen-in on the latest conversations with tea enthusiasts from different backgrounds starting on November 12, with new episodes launching each Friday. Inspired by DAVIDsTEA's love for tea talk, Steeping Together is the brand's newest platform. Wanting to re-create some of the more organic conversations that happen in the Company, with partners, in stores, and online, DAVIDsTEA looked for new ways to share its passion for tea culture, tea trivia and tea recipes beyond its 18 flagship stores, website, blog and social media. With each episode answering a specific question surrounding tea, Steeping Together offers listeners the opportunity to deep dive into the personal stories and passion behind the world's most beloved beverage by showcasing a diverse mix of guests sharing unique stories.

08:03 EST Nasdaq releases Data Fabric managed data solution - Nasdaq announced the launch of Data Fabric, a managed data solution to help investment management firms scale their data infrastructure with enhanced quality, governance and integrity. Built off Nasdaq Data Link, Data Fabric enables firms to significantly improve data time-to-value and can power investment processes and strategies with new datasets in a matter of days or weeks instead of months. The platform provides secure, end-to-end data hosting through fully managed infrastructure and data onboarding services, enabling firms to integrate internal and external data sets quickly to focus on their competitive edge. Through its integration with Nasdaq Data Link, Data Fabric allows clients to use a single API to access hundreds of datasets from Nasdaq and its partners alongside their own internal datasets. The Data Fabric team further supports clients throughout the entire data deployment life cycle: developing ingestion pipelines, processing and data quality assurance, and deploying and maintaining any structured dataset.

07:57 EST Spotify announces Lyrics feature in partnership with Musixmatch - In a company blog post, Spotify said, "Let's say it plain and simple: It's easier to jam out to your latest favorite song when you know the words. That's why, beginning today, Spotify is empowering millions of fans around the world to sing louder and more confidently than ever with the launch of Lyrics. Lyrics are one of the most requested features from listeners across the globe. So after iterating and testing, we've created an experience that's simple and interactive-and even shareable. By partnering with Musixmatch, we're bringing song lyrics to life through in-app access across the majority of our extensive library of tracks. As of today, Lyrics are available to all Free and Premium users globally across iOS and Android devices, desktop, gaming consoles, and TV, so that millions of fans can connect with the music and artists they love on an even deeper level." Reference Link

07:42 EST Oramed subsidiary Oravax Medical and Genomma Lab partner for oral COVID vaccine - Oramed Pharmaceuticals and Genomma Lab, a pharmaceutical and personal care product company in Latin America, announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture between Genomma Lab and Oramed's majority-owned subsidiary Oravax Medical to develop and commercialize Oravax's oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Mexico. Genomma Lab is expected to contribute resources to the joint venture's oral COVID-19 vaccine development, as well as clinical, regulatory, and commercial activities in Mexico supported by close strategic cooperation between the two companies. Genomma Lab will leverage its extensive supply chain capabilities, partnerships and market presence in Latin America to support the business development process and vaccine roll-out throughout the region. Oramed and Genomma Lab intend to enter into a $20M share swap based on the average closing price of their respective shares during the past 15 trading days. Genomma Lab has also committed to participate in a future investment in Oravax.

07:37 EST Lion Group signs LOI with Hong Kong New Full Rich to invest in cryptomining - Lion Group signed a letter of intent with Hong Kong New Full Rich. Under this investment agreement, the two parties will cooperate to construct and operate an encrypted digital currency mine project in Tajikistan through Ganj Technology, a company owned by New Full Rich. New Full Rich specializes in the construction, development and operation of overseas digital mines and digital mining business. The first phase of construction for the digital mine infrastructure and power-on operation is expected to be completed in 1Q22, and the project's annual profit is expected to be no less than $25M. In addition, the two groups will gradually promote the construction of a 300,000-load mine field for the second phase of the Project. Lion Group will issue 5,000,000 shares to New Full Rich at a price of $3.00 per share in exchange for 20% of the Target Company's enlarged shares. Lion will work closely to execute the Project and expects to achieve profit sharing of $5M in 2022. In addition, Lion can exercise priority to purchase 10,000 WhatsMiner M series mining machines from New Full Rich with operational hashing power ranging from 60 to 62 terahashes per second. Upon installation and initial use of the mining machines, Lion expects to generate an estimate of approximately 3.38 BTC per day. After deducting 22% for electricity fees and subsequent machine maintenance costs, annual profit is expected to reach $62M.

07:37 EST Aehr Test Systems joins PowerAmerica to support advancing SiC, GaN technology - Aehr Test Systems announces that it has joined the PowerAmerica Institute , a public-private research initiative dedicated to accelerating the adoption of high performing, next generation silicon carbide. SiC, and gallium nitride, GaN, power electronics. The collaboration will result in bringing next generation silicon carbide and gallium nitride power electronics to markets faster, reducing cost and risk factors associated with new generation technologies. Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, "Wide bandgap semiconductors permit devices to operate at much higher temperatures, voltages, and frequencies, making the power electronic modules using these materials significantly more powerful and energy efficient than those made from conventional semiconductor materials. The benefits of bringing the more robust and cost effective SiC and GaN technologies to market will drive longer range in electric vehicles, along with energy savings in consumer, data center and industrial processes and help deliver renewable energy onto the electric grid."

07:35 EST Abeona Therapeutics announces sponsorship of Venture Into Cures - Abeona Therapeutics announced its sponsorship of the second annual Venture Into Cures, a virtual event supporting EB Research Partnership's mission to find a cure for epidermolysis bullosa. The event will take place virtually on November 18, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT. The one-hour show will feature inspiring stories about individuals and families living with EB and bring together world-renowned speakers alongside appearances and performances from a lineup of celebrity supporters, to educate viewers about EB and raise funds for critical research towards finding treatments and cures for EB. Venture Into Cures will stream globally for free at www.ventureintocures.org.

07:34 EST Endo begins shipment of generic MIACALCIN injection - Endo announced that its Par Sterile Products business has begun shipping calcitonin salmon injection, USP, multi-dose vials (2 mL) following final approval from the U.S. FDA for its Abbreviated New Drug Application. Par's calcitonin salmon injection is AP-rated to Viatris' MIACALCIN and is indicated for the early treatment of hypercalcemic emergencies, along with other appropriate agents, when a rapid decrease in serum calcium is required. Calcitonin salmon injection is also used to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis in women greater than 5 years postmenopause and to treat symptomatic Paget's disease of bone when alternative treatments are not suitable for these conditions. According to IQVIA data, U.S. sales of calcitonin salmon injection were approximately $170M for the 12 months ended September 2021.

07:34 EST Enveric Biosciences' EV102 shows radiodermatitis reduction - Enveric Biosciences' cannabidiol based product in development for topical prescription treatment of radiodermatitis, EV102, has demonstrated "significant and meaningful reduction in dermatitis severity, skin redness, and duration in a preclinical rodent model", the company stated. CEO Joseph Tucker said, "EV102 was topically applied during a daily treatment regimen and resulted in a nearly 50% reduction in redness scoring severity. Similar results were obtained for overall dermatitis severity, which includes desquamation - skin peeling - and ulceration as part of a composite score. Extending these promising results was an observed reduction in overall duration of dermatitis symptoms." The significance of these preclinical findings will be evaluated in a planned human evaluation in 2022. The company expects results from the preclinical study to move EV102 to a Phase I clinical study, targeted to begin in the second half of 2022. Radiodermatitis is a condition caused by the high-energy X-rays delivered during radiation therapy.

07:32 EST MediWound receives positive advice from EMA for NexoBrid extension - MediWound announced that the company has received positive scientific advice from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, CHMP, of the European Medicines Agency, EMA, related to the pediatric label extension for NexoBrid. Based on the feedback, the Company anticipates submitting a pediatric label extension request in the first half of 2022. EMA's CHMP agreed to assess a potential pediatric label extension on NexoBrid for the treatment of thermal burns, based on the available safety and efficacy results of the pivotal phase 3 pediatric clinical study with its 12-month follow-up, and that the long-term follow up data are likely to be supportive data. "We are very pleased to have received support and positive guidance from the CHMP on the regulatory pathway towards a pediatric label extension for NexoBrid," said Sharon Malka, Chief Executive Officer of MediWound. "Having a non-surgical option for these severely burned young patients will be a significant step forward over the current surgical standard of care, which involves painful surgery with long recovery times. NexoBrid growth in Europe has been strong, and with the potential pediatric label extension, our commercial team and distribution partners are looking forward to expanding the market and continuing to improve on the standard of care."

07:31 EST Petco raises FY21 CapEx view to $220M-$235M from near top of $185M-$235M

07:27 EST Builders FirstSource announces additional $1B stock repurchase plan - Builders FirstSource announced that the Board has authorized the Company to repurchase an additional $1B of its common shares. With approximately $147M remaining in our previous authorization, this additional authorization provides a total repurchase capacity of approximately $1.147B.

07:26 EST Freight App launches EDI interface 2.0 - Hudson Capital announced that Freight App has expanded the features of the Electronic Data Interchange interface announced earlier this year, to now include financial transactions in addition to logistics data.

07:25 EST Xos partners with Los Angeles Mission to distribute 10,000 meals - Xos announced it is partnering with Los Angeles Mission, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty in Los Angeles. Xos will deploy its fully electric stepvan for emission-free transportation and delivery of 10,000 meals to Los Angeles families experiencing food insecurity. The distribution is part of Los Angeles Mission's effort to combat food insecurity and rising food prices across the County and will take place on two dates at five locations. On Friday, November 19th, an Xos vehicle will be filled with food boxes containing 6,000 meals and then delivered to four school distribution locations. On Sunday, November 21st, an Xos vehicle filled with food boxes containing 4,000 meals will be delivered to Guardians of Love, a non-profit that supports children in the foster care system.

07:24 EST Guardian Capital renews Normal Course Issuer Bid - Guardian Capital Group announced that it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange for its Normal Course Issuer Bid, pursuant to which it intends to purchase, during the period from November 23, 2021 to November 22, 2022, up to 137,469 or 5% of its outstanding Common Shares, entitled to one vote per share, and up to 1,706,357 or 10% of its public float of Non-Voting Class A Shares as at November 9, 2021. Shares may also be purchased by the trustee for Guardian's employee profit sharing plan. In each case, these shares will be purchased at market prices, on the TSX and alternative Canadian trading systems. All shares purchased by Guardian will be cancelled. Guardian intends to purchase the shares because it believes that, from time to time, the shares may become undervalued at prevailing market prices, based on Guardian's earnings and prospects and accordingly, Guardian is of the opinion that the purchase of shares is an appropriate use of corporate funds to increase shareholder value. Pursuant to its current Normal Course Issuer Bid, under which Guardian sought and received approval from the TSX to purchase up to 144,746 Common Shares and 1,715,270 Class A Shares for the period from November 23, 2020 to November 22, 2021, Guardian and the Trustee have purchased, as of November 9, 2021, 0 Common Shares and 914,991 Class A Shares at an average purchase price of $31.19 per Class A Share. All of these shares were purchased on the TSX and alternative Canadian trading systems. As of November 9, 2021, there were 2,749,379 Common Shares and 24,215,096 Class A Shares issued and outstanding and the public float of the Class A Shares was 17,063,576 shares. The average daily trading volume for Guardian's shares on the TSX during the period from May 1, 2021 to October 31, 2021, excluding purchases made by Guardian under its Normal Course Issuer Bid and by the Trustee during the same period, was as follows: 1,202 Common Shares; and 6,010 Class A Shares. Except as otherwise permitted by the TSX, daily purchases under the bid will be limited to 1,000 Common Shares and 1,502 Class A Shares, other than block purchase exceptions.

07:22 EST Duolingo appoints Kendra Ross as head of social impact - Duolingo recently appointed Dr. Kendra Ross to a newly created role as Head of Social Impact. This role will be located in the company's Pittsburgh headquarters, and is Duolingo's first full-time position dedicated to social impact. The initial goal of the social impact function at Duolingo is to channel the company's people and resources towards making a positive impact in the local community. Prior to joining Duolingo, Dr. Ross served as an Assistant Professor at Point Park University, where she recently completed a doctoral degree in Community Engagement.

07:17 EST Enthusiast Gaming reports Unique Visitor traffic in the U.S. in October - Enthusiast Gaming announced that Unique Visitor traffic to its digital media property in the United States reached an "all-time high" in October 2021, based on recent digital media ratings from Comscore, a leading independent third-party measurement firm. The Enthusiast Gaming digital media property reached 47.8M U.S. Unique Visitors for the month of October. The metric does not include additional under-18 mobile video traffic to the Company's property, or viewership in the Company's esports and entertainment division, including viewership of Luminosity Gaming. "This Comscore data shows the continued growth and attractiveness of our platforms to the coveted U.S. Gen Z and Millennial audience," commented Adrian Montgomery, CEO of Enthusiast Gaming. "Gaming continues to take a greater share of overall Internet traffic, and we are proud to be next to companies like Twitch and Roblox in taking a greater share of overall gaming traffic."

07:17 EST LabCorp to acquire Toxikon, terms undisclosed - Labcorp announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Toxikon, a contract research organization delivering nonclinical testing services. Once completed, the transaction will create a strategic footprint for Labcorp to partner with pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients in the Boston area. Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, and with annual revenues of around $40M, Toxikon maintains facilities and a roster of pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device clients. The facility in Bedford also has capacity for growth and provides Labcorp Drug Development with an opportunity to expand its traditional toxicology business. The transaction is expected to close during Q4, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

07:15 EST Amicus announces publication of Phase 3 PROPEL study results - Amicus Therapeutics announced that the data from the Phase 3 PROPEL pivotal trial, assessing the efficacy, safety and tolerability of AT-GAA in adults with late-onset Pompe disease compared to the standard of care, alglucosidase alfa, were published online in The Lancet Neurology. The manuscript includes data on the primary and key secondary endpoints, which were previously reported, as well as additional secondary endpoints. Based on the outcomes observed in the key domains of Pompe disease, the peer reviewed results determined the PROPEL data showed clinically meaningful improvements over standard of care, even among those who had been receiving approved therapy for at least 2 years, a subgroup that has been shown to plateau or decline after several years on treatment. AT-GAA is a two-component therapy consisting of cipaglucosidase alfa, an enhanced phosphorylated enzyme and miglustat, an enzyme stabilizer, thereby providing a different mechanism of action compared with alglucosidase alfa. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration previously granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for AT-GAA and accepted for review the Biologics License Application and the New Drug Application. The FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act action date of May 29, 2022 for the NDA and July 29, 2022 for the BLA. In the EU, the Marketing Authorization Applications for AT-GAA have been submitted in the fourth quarter of 2021.

07:14 EST PyroGenesis confirms 'everyhting material has been disclosed' - PyroGenesis Canada issues this press release in response to an inordinate number of investor inquiries relating to recent trading activity. The Company prefers not to opine on stock price and trading activity, however, given the recent inquiries from investors, the Company confirms that everything material has been disclosed by the Company in either its press releases or financial reports. PyroGenesis further confirms that none of the contracts previously disclosed are at risk. Last, but not least, the Company wishes to reassure PyroGenesis' investors that the Company remains on track with current and prospective projects. Furthermore, the Company believes that the market price of the Company's common shares may not, from time to time, reflect the underlying value of the Company, particularly its growth opportunities. Accordingly, the Company is starting to purchase common shares under the existing Normal Course Issuer Bid and will report such purchases as required by regulators. The Company will not be obliged to provide further updates with respect to its continuation, or otherwise, under the NCIB. The Company believes that the proposed purchasing of its common shares is in the best interests of the Company and represents an appropriate use of corporate funds.

07:12 EST Adicet Bio appoints Michael Kauffman to board of directors - Adicet Bio announced the appointment of Michael Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Kauffman joins the Adicet board with over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including expertise in preclinical research, clinical development and regulatory strategy. Currently, he is a board member for Karyopharm Therapeutics, Verastem Oncology and Kezar Life Sciences.

07:12 EST Calibre Mining appoints David Splett as Senior VP, Chief Financial Officer - Calibre Mining announces the appointment of David Splett as Senior Vice President, VP, and Chief Financial Officer effective November 29, 2021. Splett comes to Calibre with 30 years of international experience in financial and operational roles spanning base & precious metals, industrial minerals, and oil & gas. Prior to joining Calibre, Mr. Splett was the CFO of Elevation Gold.

07:12 EST Tilt approved to begin adult-use retail operations at Brockton dispensary - TILT Holdings announced that the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission approved TILT's subsidiary, Commonwealth Alternative Care, to commence adult-use retail operations at its Brockton, Mass. dispensary, effective November 22, 2021. The Brockton location, which recently began serving medical patients in October, is CAC's first adult-use dispensary. CAC's Taunton location is also expected to receive its final adult-use license by the end of the year. Combined, the two dispensaries serve more than 8,000 medical patients in the greater Boston area.

07:10 EST CareDx enrolls first patients in study in transplant using AlloCare - CareDx announced the enrollment of the first patients in what will be the largest ever digital study measuring the impact of AlloCare, a tech-enabled mobile health app, on organ transplant patient outcomes. The TEAMMATE study will enroll 4,000 patients from more than 100 transplant centers nationwide as part of a prospective, randomized, controlled, multicenter study spanning kidney, heart, lung, and liver transplantation. Half of the participants will be enrolled in the study arm and half in the control arm. The study arm will have patients trained for regular use of the AlloCare mobile health app. The control arm will maintain the center's standard of care. The primary endpoint will be 90-day readmission rates. The secondary endpoints will include medication adherence, blood pressure management, organ rejection at 3, 6, and 12 months, and patient satisfaction levels. AlloCare is a patient management app that helps transplant recipients precisely manage their medications, schedule their lab work, track their blood pressure and other vital metrics, view their AlloSure and other test results, and connect with other transplant recipients. AlloSure is a non-invasive transplant diagnostic tool that measures donor-derived cell-free DNA levels released into the blood stream to indicate potential, post-transplant allograft injury.

07:09 EST Orchard announces publication of interim PoC study results of OTL-203 - Orchard Therapeutics announced data published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluating the safety and efficacy of OTL-203 for the treatment of the Hurler subtype of Mucopolysaccharidosis type I. OTL-203 is an investigational autologous hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy comprising an individual's own CD34+ HSCs transduced ex vivo with a lentiviral vector encoding the alpha-L-iduronidase gene. Mucopolysaccharidosis type I is a rare, inherited neurometabolic disease caused by a deficiency of the alpha-L-iduronidase lysosomal enzyme. It is estimated to occur globally in approximately 1 in 100,000 live births. Approximately 60 percent of children born with MPS-I have the most severe subtype, MPS-IH, also called Hurler syndrome, and rarely live past the age of 10 when untreated. In this ongoing non-randomized, single center proof-of-concept study, eight patients diagnosed with MPS-IH were treated with OTL-203 between July 2018 and December 2019. The primary endpoints included blood IDUA activity at one-year post-treatment, overall survival, hematological engraftment by day 45, as well as short-and long-term safety monitoring. Secondary endpoints included assessment of anti-IDUA antibody immune response, normalization of urinary glycosaminoglycans and growth velocity at one-, three-, and five- years post-treatment, among other exploratory endpoints. All participants showed prompt and sustained engraftment of gene-corrected HSCs and achieved supraphysiologic blood IDUA activity by one-month post-treatment. At the time of analyses, results showed: Efficacy Result: At 12 months, all eight participants achieved the primary endpoint of supraphysiologic blood IDUA activity, above the 97.5 percentile of age-matched healthy children. By last available follow-up, IDUA activity was above the upper limit of normal and supraphysiological in all eight participants. This was associated with a decrease in urinary glycosaminoglycans levels to normal or near normal levels by three to six months in all participants, remaining stable up to last available follow-up. Previously undetectable levels of IDUA in cerebrospinal fluid at baseline became evident in all participants post-treatment, starting from the first follow up at three months and persisting up to the latest available follow-up. This corresponded with a rapid decline in GAG levels in the cerebrospinal fluid suggesting a profound metabolic correction within the central nervous system. All eight participants showed stable cognitive development post-treatment and continued to progressively acquire motor skills over time, as shown by the stability of Gross and Fine Motor Quotient Scores at time of last follow up of 12 to 24 months. At last follow-up, all participants continue progress along expected growth percentiles of healthy children and exhibited longitudinal growth that was considered within the normal range adjusted for age and gender. Range of motion assessments at last available follow-up showed improvements in joint range of motion compared to pre-treatment as measured by goniometry in shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, and knee extension angles. In vivo gene marking with OTL-203 stabilized after six months, reaching a median vector copy number of 0.98 per genome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells at nine to 12 months post-treatment. Safety Results: Overall survival was 100 percent through the end of available follow-up. Anti-IDUA IgG antibodies detected at baseline in five of seven participants who were taking enzyme replacement therapy prior to treatment with OTL-203 were no longer detectable within the first three months following OTL-203 administration. Enzyme replacement therapy was stopped at least three weeks before OTL-203 and not restarted in any patient. Throughout the follow up period, 19 serious adverse events were observed, seven of which were related to known complications of MPS-IH and were already present prior to treatment, and all have resolved. No participants developed graft-versus-host-disease, as expected given the autologous nature of OTL-203. The lentiviral vector integration profile was consistent with other lentiviral-based HSC gene therapy studies, and all participants had a stable and highly polyclonal repertoire.

07:06 EST XPO Logistics appoints Swati Sharma as treasurer - XPO Logistics announced the appointment of Swati Sharma as senior vice president and treasurer, effective immediately. Sharma is responsible for managing XPO's capital structure, liquidity, financial risk, banking relationships, insurance and real estate to align with the company's strategic objectives. She succeeds Ravi Tulsyan, who served as treasurer until his appointment as chief financial officer in September. Prior to joining XPO, Sharma served as chief financial officer of Avenues: The World School, where she led the finance organization and was responsible for global accounting.

07:04 EST Moderna announces 1st patient dosed in Phase2/3 study of mRNA in RSV - Moderna announced the first participant has been dosed in the Phase 2/3 study of mRNA-1345, the Company's Respiratory Syncytial Virus, RSV, vaccine candidate. This study is known as ConquerRSV. "RSV is a respiratory virus that can result in hospitalization and death in adults over 65 years of age. Yet, RSV illness in older adults is often under-recognized and there is no vaccine against it. The start of this international Phase 2/3 study is an important milestone as we continue to advance mRNA vaccines against respiratory viruses," said Stephane Bancel, Moderna's Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that vaccine candidate against RSV can have a positive impact on public health as RSV represents a significant unmet global need. In addition, we believe that combination vaccines against multiple respiratory pathogens can help ensure that people are fully vaccinated by leading to higher compliance and better uptake, which may result in a longer-term benefit to health care systems and protect people from a broader number of respiratory viruses." RSV is a common respiratory virus that generally causes cold-like symptoms. In the U.S. and areas with similar climates, RSV infections occur primarily during fall, winter, and spring. Most people recover in approximately one to two weeks, but RSV can be serious, especially for young children under 5 years of age and older adults over 65 years of age. RSV is a leading cause of severe respiratory illness in older adults and young children. In older adults, RSV can result in pneumonia and respiratory distress and represents a substantial burden of illness. In the U.S., RSV causes approximately 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths in adults 65 years and older. Additionally, RSV in older adults results in an estimated $3 billion in annual medical costs in the U.S. each year. RSV is also the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children younger than one year of age in the U.S. RSV leads each year, on average, to approximately 58,000 hospitalizations among children younger than five years. There is no approved vaccine available today for RSV. Moderna's mRNA vaccine portfolio includes candidates against respiratory viruses, candidates against tropical viruses, and candidates against latent viruses. In Moderna's respiratory virus vaccine program, in addition to its RSV vaccine candidate, the Company is advancing COVID-19 booster vaccine candidates and a seasonal flu vaccine candidate . At Moderna's annual R&D Day in September, the Company announced that it is developing a single dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu. The Company is also advancing a combination vaccine candidate against human metapneumovirus and parainfluenza virus 3 and a combination vaccine candidate against both pediatric RSV and hMPV. In preclinical studies, Moderna has observed that its seasonal flu, RSV and COVID-19 booster vaccines can be combined into one dose that produces an immune response to all six antigens1. Moderna intends to explore vaccine combinations including RSV, Flu and COVID-19. mRNA-1345 is a vaccine against RSV encoding for a prefusion F glycoprotein, which elicits a superior neutralizing antibody.

06:59 EST Macy's sees Q4 SSS on an owned-plus-licensed basis up 2%-4% vs. 2019 - In the fourth quarter 2021, comparable sales on an owned-plus-licensed basis versus 2019 are expected to increase between 2% and 4%. This includes an approximately 125-basis point adverse impact due to the shift of the Friends and Family promotional event from the fourth quarter into the third quarter as compared to 2019.

06:57 EST EU passenger car registrations down 30.3% in October - In October 2021, new passenger car registrations in the European Union contracted further by 30.3%, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline this year, reported the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. "With 665,001 units sold across the region, this was the weakest result in volume terms for a month of October since records began," the group stated. Publicly traded automakers include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Stellantis (STLA), Tesla (TSLA), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VWAGY).

06:54 EST Roche announces launch of cobas 5800 system - Roche announced the launch of the cobas 5800 System, a new molecular laboratory instrument, in countries accepting the CE mark. "Testing is one of the first lines of defense to protect a patient's general well-being and is vitally important in quickly guiding their treatment. The cobas 5800 System helps address challenges that laboratories are facing from an increase in patient testing, reimbursement complexities and the need for a more diverse testing menu while providing meaningful and timely results. The cobas 5800 system, the newest member of the Roche Molecular Work Area, is built upon the innovation of the cobas 6800 and cobas 8800 systems, making molecular testing accessible to more patients around the world. Roche anticipates receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval during Q3 2022," the company stated.

06:52 EST Sanofi announces $180M investment, new strategic collaboration with Owkin - Sanofi announced an equity investment of $180M and a new strategic collaboration with Owkin comprised of discovery and development programs in four exclusive types of cancer, with a total payment of $90M for three years plus additional research milestone-based payments. "Owkin, an artificial intelligence and precision medicine company, builds best-in-class predictive biomedical AI models and robust data sets. With the ambition to optimize clinical trial design and detect predictive biomarkers for diseases and treatment outcomes, this collaboration will support Sanofi's growing oncology portfolio in core areas such as lung cancer, breast cancer and multiple myeloma. To accelerate medical research with AI in a privacy-preserving way, Owkin has assembled a global research network powered by federated learning, which allows data scientists to securely connect to decentralized, multi-party data sets and train AI models without having to pool data. This approach will complement Sanofi's emerging strength in oncology, as the company's scientists apply cutting-edge technology platforms to design potentially life-transforming medicines for cancer patients worldwide... Sanofi will leverage the comprehensive Owkin Platform, in order to find new biomarkers and therapeutic targets, building prognostic models, and predicting response to treatment from multimodal patient data. Sanofi's investment will support Owkin's development and goal to grow the world's leading histology and genomic cancer database from top oncology centers," the company stated.

06:47 EST Pfizer to supply 10M courses of COVID-19 oral antiviral to U.S. government - Pfizer announced an agreement with the U.S. government to supply 10M treatment courses of its investigational COVID-19 oral antiviral candidate, Paxlovid, subject to regulatory authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If approved or authorized, Paxlovid, which originated in Pfizer's laboratories, would be the first oral antiviral of its kind, a 3CL protease inhibitor specifically designed to combat SARS-CoV-2. Pfizer is seeking Emergency Use Authorization of Paxlovid with the U.S. FDA; rolling submissions have also commenced in several countries, and the company will continue working to submit applications to regulatory agencies around the world. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. government will acquire 10 million treatment courses to be delivered by Pfizer beginning later this year and concluding in 2022. Pfizer will receive $5.29B from the U.S. government, pending and contingent upon regulatory authorization. Pricing for Paxlovid is based on the principles of advance commitment, volume, equity, and affordability. The price being paid by the U.S. government is reflective of the high committed volume of treatment courses being purchased through 2022. The company has also entered into advance purchase agreements with several other countries and has initiated bilateral outreach to approximately 100 countries around the world.

06:42 EST BJ's Wholesale CEO says 'we saw growth in all of our divisions' in Q3 - "We are proud of delivering another strong quarter." said Bob Eddy, President and CEO, BJ's Wholesale Club. "Our business accelerated during Q3 on broad based strength, and we saw growth in all of our divisions, with acceleration in traffic and ticket, growth in digitally-enabled sales and conventional sales, all underpinned by strong membership statistics in both new and tenured members. Our growth flywheel is spinning faster than it has in a long time, and we look forward to continue building on that momentum."

06:40 EST BJ's Wholesale not providing 'formal detailed guidance' - "We are pleased with the performance of our business and optimistic that many of the trends contributing to this performance will be enduring in nature," said Laura Felice, Executive Vice President, CFO, BJ's Wholesale Club. "However, there continue to be external factors and uncertainties in the market, and as a result we will continue to refrain from offering formal detailed guidance."

06:39 EST BJ's Wholesale announces $500M share repurchase authorization

06:35 EST NOV Inc. reinstates regular quarterly cash dividend of 5c per share - Payable on December 17 to each stockholder of record on December 3.

06:33 EST iRobot acquires Aeris Cleantec, terms undislcosed - iRobot announced that it has acquired privately-held Aeris Cleantec, a provider of air purifiers headquartered in Cham, Zug Switzerland. Aeris' founders Pierre Bi, CEO, and Constantin Overlack, COO, will join iRobot and lead air purification product operations, including engineering, product management and design. Aeris currently employs over 30 people, all of whom are expected to join iRobot. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Although iRobot anticipates that the Aeris business will be modestly dilutive to iRobot's full-year 2022 earnings, the company expects that accelerated revenue growth during the second half of 2022 will deliver improved operating profitability and that this transaction will be accretive to the company's full-year 2023 earnings. The company expects to provide additional information about the Aeris products and the anticipated financial impact from this product line over the coming years during the company's Investor Day on December 9.

06:30 EST Autohome announces $200M share repurchase program - Autohome's board authorized a share repurchase program under which the company may repurchase up to $200M of its American depositary shares over the next twelve months.

06:13 EST Biodesix's VeriStrat proteomic test shows improved patient survival in NSCLC - Biodesix announced new interim data published from the large multi-center observational registry study INSIGHT utilizing its predictive and prognostic blood-based host immune classifier - the VeriStrat test - to stratify Immune checkpoint inhibition treatment response in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. The study was published in the Journal of Immunotherapy of Cancer. Results from the interim analysis of approximately 2,000 patients with at least one year of follow up showed that patients classified by VeriStrat as host immune classifier hot had better outcomes, on average living 2-3 times longer when compared to patients classified by VeriStrat as HIC-Cold. A classification of HIC-H implies that patients are potentially responsive to therapies that boost immune response. HIC "cold" classification correlates to where tumor-directed immunity is compromised. The data suggests that using an HIC test alongside PD-L1 results and other clinical factors may help inform treatment response and improve outcomes.

06:07 EST Organigram launches new CBD brand Monjour - Organigram announced the launch of Monjour, the company's new wellness brand, offering CBD-forward products for consumers seeking ways to incorporate cannabidiol into their daily wellness routine. Monjour's first offerings in this emerging category include both vegan-friendly as well as sugar-free soft chews, both in assorted flavours. Monjour is the latest product line to be produced in the recently acquired Edibles and Infusions facility located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

06:03 EST KBR awarded Plinke nitric acid concentration contract by Hanwha - KBR announced it has secured a contract for its Plinke nitric acid concentration and spent acid recycling technologies from Hanwha Solutions for its new production facilities at Yeosu, South Korea. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide a license, basic and detailed engineering design, technical services, and proprietary equipment to Hanwha for the production of 160,000 metric tons per year of concentrated nitric acid and treatment and recycling of 240,000 metric tons per year of spent sulfuric acid. Nitric acid and its derivatives are processed for the production of various materials such as flexible polyurethane foams which help manufacturers in the furniture, bedding and automotive sectors to achieve sustainability and energy conservation objectives, or precision chemicals such as those used in the semiconductor industry.

05:39 EST Rocket Lab deploys two satellites into orbit for BlackSky - Rocket Lab (RKLB) has successfully deployed two satellites to orbit for BlackSky (BKSY). Rocket Lab also successfully introduced helicopter operations to a recovery mission for the first time, using a helicopter to observe and track the Electron rocket's first stage as it descended to Earth under parachute as part of the company's program to make Electron the world's first reusable, orbital-class commercial small rocket.

05:28 EST The9 NFT platform enters exclusive license agreement with Giannis Antetokounmpo - The9 announced that NFTStar, a wholly owned subsidiary of The9 for NFT trading and community platform, has signed an exclusive license agreement with two-time NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and his three brothers, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Antetokounmpo and Alex Antetokounmpo. NFTStar will develop, sell, and trade NFT collections authorized by the Antetokounmpo brothers, and the brothers will become global ambassadors and shareholders of The9 Limited and NFTStar.

05:18 EST Bitdeer to become public through Blue Safari Group Acquisition combination - Bitdeer and Blue Safari Group Acquisition announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for a business combination of Blue Safari and the company . As a result of the Transaction, the combined company is expected to be renamed Bitdeer Technologies and remain a publicly listed company on Nasdaq. Bitdeer is a technology company for the cryptocurrency mining community. Headquartered in Singapore, Bitdeer currently operates five proprietary mining datacenters in the United States and Norway. Following the close of the transaction, the combined company will continue to be led by Jihan Wu as chairman and founder of Bitdeer. The transaction values Bitdeer at an implied enterprise value of approximately $4B. The Bitdeer and Blue Safari boards of directors have unanimously approved the proposed transaction, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, subject to, among other things, regulatory approvals, the approval by Blue Safari's shareholders of the transaction and satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.