Stockwinners Market Radar for December 16, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:54 EST Cerner surges 21% to over $96 after Oracle deal talks report

18:14 EST Bristow, Overair form strategic partnership to introduce Butterfly - Overair announced they signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bristow Group, a provider of innovative and sustainable vertical flight solutions to government and civil organizations. The two companies plan to collaborate on the development of the Butterfly commercialization plans. Bristow has pre-ordered 20 to 50 Butterfly aircraft and both companies will work together to develop an operations development framework focusing on vehicle design considerations, key performance parameters, FAA certification, flight planning best practices, data sharing for improvement of flight operations, connected vehicle and health monitoring strategies, configuration and maintenance protocols, infrastructure, ground support operations, connected fleet management, and government affairs and promotion of eVTOL operations. "Bristow's decades of vertical lift experience will greatly enhance Butterfly's path to commercialization. Their operating insight, combined with our development and execution of the Butterfly program, will position Butterfly to serve Bristow as a valuable workhorse on high-density routes," said Ben Tigner, Chief Executive Officer of Overair. "We're elated to learn from Bristow's practical expertise and ultimately deliver an aircraft optimized for their use cases."

18:01 EST Kite, Daiichi Sankyo announce first YESCARTA treatment site in Japan - Kite, a Gilead Company, and Daiichi Sankyo Company announced that YESCARTA, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, will be available to patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphomas in Japan through the first treatment center now authorized by Daiichi Sankyo. Kite and Daiichi Sankyo will also build on the exclusive licensing deal for commercialization rights for axicabtagene ciloleucel in Japan, formalized in January 2017. "We are pleased to bring the benefits of axicabtagene ciloleucel to eligible patients in Japan, in collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo," said Warner Biddle, Kite's Global Head of Commercial. "Japan has the second-largest number of people diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma globally1 and we remain committed to bringing our innovative CAR T-cell therapies to additional new markets."

17:21 EST Merck publishes MOVe-OUT trial findings in New England Journal of Medicine - Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced the New England Journal of Medicine has published findings from the Phase 3 MOVe-OUT trial evaluating molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral medicine, in non-hospitalized high risk adults with mild to moderate COVID-19. Data from MOVe-OUT demonstrated that early treatment with molnupiravir significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death in high risk, unvaccinated adults with COVID-19. Merck is developing molnupiravir in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

17:18 EST Agilysys acquiring resort & hotel management software provider ResortSuite - Agilysys has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ResortSuite, a Canada-based integrated property management solution provider focused on the multi-amenity and resort market. The transaction is expected to close the beginning of January 2022 for approximately $25M in an all-cash deal subject to customary closing conditions.

17:05 EST Tetra Technologies partners with Eos Energy for zinc battery production - Tetra Technologies (TTI) and Eos Energy (EOSE) have signed a strategic term sheet regarding a long-term supply and collaboration agreement to support the manufacturing of Eos' Znyth aqueous zinc battery. Tetra's U.S. based patented manufacturing process produces high purity zinc-bromide globally. Tetra and Eos will collaborate for improved battery performance, cost and system life including an end-of-life solution. Eos had a backlog in excess of $150M at the end of September 2021 with an opportunity pipeline of $3.7B representing 22 GWh. Eos is projected to expand manufacturing capacity to 800 MWh in 2022. Tetra's recently reported bromine exploration target of between 2.5 million and 8.6 million tons in the Smackover Formation in Arkansas, provides Eos with assurance of having access to key minerals required to expand.

17:02 EST HCI Group to acquire insurance business in three states from United Insurance - HCI Group (HCI) has reached an agreement in principle with United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UIHC) to transition all of United's personal lines insurance business in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to HCI. The business to be transitioned represents approximately $90M of annual premiums. Under the agreement, HCI will provide 85% quota share reinsurance on all of United's in-force, new and renewal policies in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina from December 31 through May 31, 2022. In exchange, HCI will pay United a provisional ceding commission of 25% of premium earned and that percentage could increase up to 32% depending on the direct loss ratio results for the reinsured business. HCI will also pay United a catastrophe allowance equal to 9% of premium earned. As part of the transaction, HCI will pay United a renewal rights ceding commission of 6%, with a portion of the ceding commission paid up-front. In connection with the transaction, United will agree not to compete with HCI for the issuance of personal lines for homeowners business in the three states until July 1, 2025. The transaction is subject to negotiation of definitive agreements and customary closing conditions, including receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals.

16:47 EST Kellogg confirms new tentative agreement with union - Kellogg Company announce that it has reached a recommended tentative agreement for a five-year labor contract with the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union and the four local unions representing 1,400 employees at its U.S. cereal plants in Battle Creek, Mich., Lancaster, Penn., Memphis, Tenn. and Omaha, Neb. Highlights from the agreement include: increasingly leading pay; a path to legacy wages and benefits; improving no cost healthcare; offering attractive retirement benefits; and no takeaways from employees. Kellogg and the union have been engaged in negotiations since Sept. 8 to finalize a master labor contract for its four U.S. Ready to Eat Cereal plants. On Oct. 5, the union decided to strike at all four plants. The union has stated that employees will be voting the tentative agreement by Monday and the company expects to know the results early next week. This is the second tentative agreement between Kellogg and the union.

16:43 EST General Motors announces Cruise CEO Dan Ammann leaving the company - General Motors announced that Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise, is leaving the company. Kyle Vogt, Cruise president and Chief Technical Officer, will serve as interim CEO. In addition, Wesley Bush, the former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman and a GM board member, will join the Cruise board. Alongside this leadership change, GM said it "will accelerate the strategy the company detailed in its recent Investor Day, in which Cruise will play an integral role in building GM's autonomous vehicle platform as GM aggressively pursues addressable AV markets beyond rideshare and delivery." Reference Link

16:36 EST FMC Corporation raises quarterly dividend 10% to 53c per share - Payable on January 20, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 31, 2021. This is the fourth consecutive year FMC has increased its dividend. The company remains committed to growing the dividend at or above the rate of earnings growth moving forward.

16:33 EST Dover to acquire Engineered Controls International for $631M in cash - Dover announced that it has completed the acquisition of Acme Cryogenics for $295M in cash, and that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Engineered Controls International for $631M in cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Additionally, the RegO acquisition includes tax step-up benefits with a net present value of approximately $35M. Both businesses will become part of the OPW Global operating unit within Dover's Fueling Solutions segment. The RegO transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals. Both transactions are being funded through a combination of cash on hand, proceeds from recent divestitures and commercial paper.

16:20 EST Ekso Bionics announces order for two EksoNR devices - Ekso Bionics announced that the Nebraska Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, or F.O.E., an international nonprofit community organization, has purchased two EksoNR devices on behalf of local Nebraska inpatient rehabilitation facilities. The EksoNR devices will be donated to the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Bryan Medical Center, a 30-bed unit in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Nebraska Methodist Hospital & Rehabilitation Center's 22-bed rehabilitation facility in Omaha, Nebraska.

16:18 EST Rivian Automotive to start construction on Georgia facility in summer 2022 - Rivian said it is partnering with the State of Georgia to plan to begin construction on its second manufacturing facility in the summer of 2022. The facility will be based east of Atlanta in Morgan and Walton Counties and is projected to eventually employ more than 7,500 workers. The company anticipates starting production in this facility in 2024 and expects this manufacturing facility to have the capacity to make up to 400,000 vehicles annually.

16:09 EST BioMarin and Skyline Therapeutics developing gene therapeutics for heart disease - BioMarin and Skyline Therapeutics - formerly Geneception -, a gene and cell therapy company focused on developing novel treatments for unmet medical needs, announced a multi-year global strategic collaboration for the discovery, development and commercialization of Adeno-Associated Virus - AAV - gene therapies to treat genetic cardiovascular diseases. BioMarin and Skyline Therapeutics will collaborate on discovery and research through to an Investigational New Drug Application. Each company will advance the programs through clinical development in their pre-defined territories. Skyline Therapeutics will receive an undisclosed payment associated with signing, comprising an upfront payment and an equity investment from BioMarin, and is eligible to receive pre-specified payments for R&D, regulatory and commercial milestones. BioMarin will have the rights to commercialize therapeutic products resulting from the collaboration in its territories, including the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, and Skyline Therapeutics will be responsible for commercialization in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, Skyline Therapeutics will be eligible to receive royalty payments on future sales from BioMarin in its territories.

16:07 EST EVO Payments to form merchant acquiring JV with National Bank of Greece - EVO Payments announced that it has entered into a long-term strategic marketing alliance with the National Bank of Greece to provide merchant acquiring and payment processing services. Under the terms of the agreements, EVO and NBG will form a merchant acquiring joint venture. The Bank will spin off its merchant acquiring business into a new entity, and EVO will acquire a 51% interest in the new entity. This transaction includes a marketing alliance whereby NBG will exclusively refer customers to the joint venture, and EVO will manage the joint venture and provide its market leading card acceptance solutions through its proprietary products and processing platforms. EVO has agreed to pay EUR158M, or approximately $180M, for its ownership interest in the joint venture. Founded in 1841, NBG is the largest bank in Greece by total assets, supporting over 5M active customers and nearly 360 retail branches throughout the country. NBG is the largest card issuer with 33% market share and is the second largest merchant acquirer in Greece with 22% market share and approximately 165,000 merchants generating over $11 billion in annual volume. Today, Greece has a population of approximately 11 million people. Greece's card penetration is currently 28%, and domestic payment volumes have been growing 20% since 2016 and now total over $40B. This transaction expands EVO's presence in Europe and positions EVO to capitalize on these strong digital payments and card adoption trends as it leverages its suite of multi-channel products and services to expand market share. The transaction is expected to close in 2022, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. The joint venture's financial performance is expected to be accretive to the mid-teen revenue growth rate of EVO's Europe segment.

16:06 EST AlloVir announces departure of CMO Augustin Melian - AlloVir announced that Augustin Melian, MD, Chief Medical Officer, has decided to leave the company at the end of this year. Although officially leaving the company, Dr. Melian has agreed to work with AlloVir in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition. Dr. Melian joined AlloVir in March 2019 and under his leadership, the company has advanced its lead product posoleucel into Phase 3 clinical development and shaped the clinical development programs for its investigational therapies targeting respiratory viruses. "Over the last two and half years, Tino has been instrumental in expanding and advancing our pipeline of virus-specific T cells. I'm very grateful for his contributions, which have helped establish AlloVir as a leader in this field and position us well for our next stage of growth," said Diana Brainard, MD, Chief Executive Officer, AlloVir.

16:05 EST Navidea announces launch of Phase 3 trial of NAV3-33 - Navidea Biopharmaceuticals announced the launch of the NAV3-33 Phase 3 clinical trial titled "Evaluation of Tc99m Tilmanocept Imaging for the Early Prediction of Anti-TNFalpha Therapy Response in Patients with Moderate to Severe Active Rheumatoid Arthritis." This Phase 3 trial will establish the ability of Tc99m tilmanocept imaging to serve as an early predictor of treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis patients switching to an anti-TNFalpha therapy.

16:01 EST Taysha Gene Therapies initiates clinical development of TSHA-118 - Taysha Gene Therapies announced the initiation of clinical development of TSHA-118 for the treatment of CLN1 disease under a recently approved Clinical Trial Application. Queen's University in Ontario, Canada has been selected as the initial clinical site under the direction of Dr. Jagdeep Wahlia. There is also an open investigational new drug application in the United States for TSHA-118 in CLN1 disease. "CLN1 disease is caused by mutations in the CLN1 gene, which encodes the soluble lysosomal enzyme palmitoyl-protein thioesterase-1, or PPT1," said Suyash Prasad, MBBS, M.SC., MRCP, MRCPCH, FFPM, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development of Taysha. "Introduction of a functional CLN1 gene with TSHA-118 treatment offers a potentially effective therapeutic approach that addresses the root cause of the disease. In preclinical models of CLN1, TSHA-118 significantly extended survival and improved behavior. We are highly encouraged by the therapeutic potential of TSHA-118 and expect PPT1 activity of 5% or greater to normalize survival and significantly improve clinical phenotype based on natural history data."

15:43 EST CDC panel votes to recommend MRNA COVID vaccines over J&J shot - A CDC advisory committee voted 15 "Yes" to zero "No" on whether to say mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna (MRNA) and Pfizer (PFE)-BioNTech (BNTX) are preferred over Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) vaccine for everyone 18 years old and older, according to multiple media reports on the proceedings.

15:10 EST Air Lease signs comprehensive restructuring agreements with Vietnam Airlines - Air Lease (AL) has signed comprehensive restructuring agreements with Vietnam Airlines covering the leasing of 18 aircraft, including 12 Airbus (EADSY) A321neo and six Boeing (BA) 787-10 aircraft. These agreements extend terms and revise lease economics closely tailored to the recovering economies and air travel in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

15:02 EST Apptio announces collaboration with Microsoft - Apptio (APTI) announced a collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT) to deploy Apptio's financial decisioning platform on the Microsoft Cloud to help enterprises migrate and optimize workloads. The initial go-to-market will focus on providing Microsoft Azure customers with Apptio Cloudability, a cost management and optimization solution for public cloud environments. This includes Apptio's intelligent discovery, utilization and cost management software for enterprise SaaS applications. Apptio's solutions will utilize Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 to deliver unparalleled visibility and decisioning to cloud customers. Apptio will be available via Microsoft Azure marketplace. Both companies will collaborate in joint marketing and selling efforts. "Microsoft offers cloud services for enterprises from Office 365 to Azure to Dynamics and is one of the most strategic partners for CIOs, CFOs and CDOs. We are excited to partner with Microsoft and further deeply integrate Apptio's business management applications for technology leaders to help customers manage, plan, and optimize their technology investments and accelerate customers' journey to Microsoft Cloud platforms," said Sunny Gupta CEO, Apptio.

14:55 EST Capital Product Partners announces delivery of M/V 'Adonis' to new owners - Capital Product Partners L.P. announced that the M/V "Adonis" containership was delivered to its new owners on December 13, generating gross proceeds from the sale of approximately $49.3M after repaying outstanding debt. In addition, the Partnership took delivery of the "Aristidis I" X-DF LNG carrier, the last vessel of the six LNGCs acquisition program previously announced. The acquisition was financed with $82M cash at hand and the assumption of $123M of debt. Jerry Kalogiratos, CEO of the General Partner, commented: "We are very pleased to have completed this substantial investment, amounting to more than $1.2 billion, in six latest generation LNGCs with long term employment in place. We believe that this transaction is highly transformative for the Partnership across all metrics and positions us firmly in the LNG market. The LNG market is supported by positive long-term fundamentals, as both natural gas and LNG are expected to play a key role in the energy transition to net zero and as such, we are excited to be growing in this segment at an opportune moment."

14:34 EST Stewart announces acquisition of Devon Title Agency - Stewart Information Services announced the acquisition of Devon Title Agency. "Devon is one of the largest title agencies in Michigan, with more than 30 years of providing superior title services to customers across the state. The transaction highlights Stewart's continued emphasis on investing in key markets across the country on its path to becoming the Premier Title Services Company," Stewart stated.

14:07 EST Bonitas Research short Agrify, says company created 'artificial demand' - In a recently published report, Bonitas Research said it is Short Agrify. "We believe that Agrify created artificial demand for its product by financing undisclosed Company insiders to act as independent customers. After its January 2021 IPO, Agrify's shares soared amongst a wave of sales announcements to alleged independent third party licensed commercial growers via new total turnkey partnerships ("TTK Partnerships"). We found two major issues with Agrify's TTK Partnerships. First, we found the majority of Agrify's TTK Partnerships are either with undisclosed Company insiders or with unlicensed unproven operators. Second, the TTK Partnerships use Agrify's balance sheet to finance the construction of the customer's facility, equipment sales and installations, which suggests to us that Agrify's recorded revenues are artificially inflated by loan balances from Agrify to TTK Partnership customers... We suspect Agrify's actual revenues are significantly less than what is reported to investors which is why we are short Agrify and think that its stock is going lower," the report reads. In Thursday afternoon trading, shares of Agrify have dropped over 25% to $9.42. Reference Link

13:30 EST Motorola Solutions announces acquisition of 911 Datamaster - Motorola Solutions announced it has acquired 911 Datamaster, a "Next Generation 9-1-1 data solutions provider." Mahesh Saptharishi, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Motorola Solutions, said, "With 911 Datamaster's technology, we continue to enhance our integrated command center software suite that is trusted by agencies across North America to manage their operations with greater efficiency, accuracy and safety." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

13:24 EST Triumph Group awarded production supply agreement with Boeing Commercial - Triumph Group [TGI) announced that it has been awarded a production contract extension with Boeing Commercial Airplanes to continue the manufacture and delivery of hydraulic and actuation equipment for Boeing (BA) 737 MAX, 777, 777X, and 767 airplanes. The contract extension includes key equipment and components used in the landing gear actuation, nose wheel steering, engine cowl door opening, brake, hydraulic and slat control systems. This work will be performed at Triumph's Actuation Products & Services facilities in Clemmons, North Carolina, and Yakima, Washington.

13:18 EST Washington Trust increases quarterly dividend to 54c from 52c per share - The board of directors of Washington Trust Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of 54c per share for the quarter ending December 31. This represents a two cent per share increase over the most recent quarterly dividend rate and the eleventh consecutive year with a dividend increase, the company noted. The dividend will be paid January 7, 2022 to shareholders of record on January 3, 2022.

12:48 EST Activision Blizzard plans to hire, put in place more DE&I leaders - Activision Blizzard President and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Alegre today sent the following letter to employees showing the company's current data on global gender and US diverse representation, along with its commitments to continually improve these numbers over the next several years: "One of the key areas of feedback has been the need to share more information openly as a company. I recognize that without being more transparent on important data it can make it harder to keep us accountable for progress where needed. That is not my intent, and this will change. As part of our resolve for greater transparency, we are sharing, for the first time, our current data on gender and diverse representation at ABK. As you will see by viewing the full data set, we are not sugar-coating the data or cherry-picking only those points where we excel. You can review the data sorted by full company, Corporate, Activision Publishing, Blizzard, and King here. We will share demographic updates on our progress quarterly and discuss with candor what we are learning and how we are responding. BU leaders are, or will be, sharing context with their respective teams, but here are two results from the full company data that stand out for me: Our employees who self-identify as women globally make up 24% of our overall workforce. That is identical to our peer gaming companies that publicly disclose this data. Within our business units, however, these numbers vary widely - with some exceeding this industry comparison and others behind. Importantly, women represented 29% of ABK hires and 26% of ABK attrition in 2021; In the U.S., 36% of employees identify as a member of an underrepresented ethnic group (UEG). This lags behind the data available from our peers (showing 40% representation). While representation company-wide is similar to our peer gaming companies in the United States, this is wholly inadequate in my mind. We will do better. We have a lot of work to do as we build an organization where diversity is as much a core value as innovation. A few weeks ago, we committed to increasing women and non-binary representation at ABK by 50% to account for more than one-third of our Company within the next five years. Leadership across the Company, myself included, is accountable to make this happen. Candid, engaged, and respectful dialogue between diverse, welcoming and passionate employees is crucial to these important ambitions. Your input and participation in this process is invaluable. As we begin 2022, we will focus on several key areas: Hire or put in place additional DE&I leaders at the ABK and division levels; Tie yearly diversity goals to respective ABK and division Executive Leadership performance goals; Invest in learning and development curriculum that fosters a culture of inclusion; Stand up manager and executive mentorship and sponsorship programs aimed at unlocking upward mobility for UEGs and women; Continue evolving our talent and recruiting system, including launching ABK Academy. Each business unit will also have their own specific initiatives that I will support or adopt globally where appropriate. As stewards of this company, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to dramatically reshape our workforce so it reflects and expands our diverse global player base and unlocks new ideas and approaches that keep us at the leading edge of interactive entertainment. This is but one of the transparent reports you will see from us, and we will be sharing greater details on pay equity and a progress update on compliance."

12:30 EST Skyworks drops 10% following Bloomberg report, Broadcom down 3%

12:24 EST Wrap Technologies: AMRRP votes to approve funding to procure BolaWrap devices - Wrap Technologies announced that the Arizona Municipal Risk Retention Pool Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to approve funding to assist its member police agencies statewide in procuring BolaWrap devices for active-duty police officers. The AMRRP represents over 60 rural agencies with more than 1,800 police officers, the company said in a statement. As a result of the vote, AMRRP will fund 50% of the purchase price of the BolaWrap and the associated accessories, to help equip police officers that work for its member agencies. WRAP President & CEO, Tom Smith said, "The unified vote of the Board of the AMRRP shows that Arizona community leaders are dedicated to the same mission we are: provide law enforcement with innovative solutions to complicated issues. We're finding more and more that our communities are calling for alternative policing methods like our BolaWrap family of products and improved officer training aimed at reducing force, a key training goal of our immersive training platform, Wrap Reality."

12:20 EST Novavax says full results from PREVENT-19 COVID vaccine trial published in NEJM - Yesterday, Novavax noted that the full results from PREVENT-19, Novavax' pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of NVX-CoV2373, a recombinant protein nanoparticle vaccine against COVID-19, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "PREVENT-19 achieved its endpoint of efficacy in preventing polymerase chain reaction-confirmed, symptomatic mild, moderate or severe COVID-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second dose. The trial demonstrated 100% protection against moderate and severe disease, 93.2% efficacy against the predominantly circulating variants of concern and variants of interest, and 90.4% efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity during the time period evaluated. Solicited adverse events were predominantly mild-to-moderate and transient. Severe reactions were infrequent and there were no safety concerns related to vaccination. PREVENT-19 evaluated the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373 with Matrix-M adjuvant in nearly 30,000 participants 18 years of age and older at 119 locations in the United States and Mexico. The trial included a blinded 'crossover,' ensuring all participants received NVX-CoV2373 without compromising Food and Drug Administration-required safety follow-up. Novavax expects to submit its complete CMC package to FDA for review by the end of 2021," the company stated. Reference Link

12:02 EST Studio City International Holdings Limited (Class A ADS) trading resumes

12:00 EST Bakkt falls -28.1% - Bakkt is down -28.1%, or -$3.86 to $9.90.

12:00 EST Cian rises 9.9% - Cian is up 9.9%, or $1.20 to $13.31.

12:00 EST Mechel rises 16.9% - Mechel is up 16.9%, or 45c to $3.11.

11:49 EST Warner Music acquires 300 Entertainment, terms not disclosed - Warner Music Group announced the acquisition of 300 Entertainment, 300's artists include top-charting, multi-platinum stars such as Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug and his label Young Stoner Life, Gunna, Fetty Wap, Highly Suspect, the newly signed Mary J. Blige, and many others. Since its launch nearly a decade ago, 300 has been distributed by Atlantic Records, and the acquisition represents the expansion of an already successful partnership. At the same time, 300 Co-Founder and CEO Kevin Liles will be appointed Chairman & CEO across 300 and Elektra Music Group. Elektra Music Group, which encompasses Fueled By Ramen, Roadrunner Records, Low Country Sound, DTA Records, and Public Consumption, will continue to be headed by Co-Presidents Mike Easterlin and Gregg Nadel, who will report to Liles. 300 will retain its independent identity, and the entirety of its team will continue to occupy separate headquarters in New York.

11:40 EST CFPB confirms inquiry into 'Buy Now, Pay Later' credit - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a series of orders to five companies offering "buy now, pay later" credit. The orders to collect information on the risks and benefits of these fast-growing loans went to Affirm (AFRM), Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal (PYPL), and Zip. The CFPB is concerned about accumulating debt, regulatory arbitrage, and data harvesting in a consumer credit market already quickly changing with technology, it said in a statement. "Buy now, pay later is the new version of the old layaway plan, but with modern, faster twists where the consumer gets the product immediately but gets the debt immediately too," said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. "We have ordered Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, and Zip to submit information so that we can report to the public about industry practices and risks." Reference Link

11:32 EST Ameresco partners with Merthyr Tydfil Council for energy conservation project - Ameresco announced its partnership with Merthyr Tydfil Council on a GBP 1.09 million energy conservation project. Ameresco's partnership with Merthyr Tydfil Council expands the renewable energy company's presence in the United Kingdom. Known as the former "Iron Capital of the World," Merthyr Tydfil is in the process of transforming itself into a modern commercial hub and smart city. With the help of Ameresco, the city council will look to provide solutions across the council's 31 sites, including upgrades to the town's aging infrastructure, optimizing the lifespan of the existing equipment, installing nine solar pv systems and 30 LED lighting upgrades, and implementing smart heating and hot water systems. Implemented upgrades will reduce Merthyr Tydfil's energy costs, cut carbon emissions and improve the internal environment of buildings for town residents. Once completed, the project is estimated to save the city GBP 136,000 per year and reduce carbon emissions from buildings by 251 tonnes per year. Throughout the survey process, Ameresco adhered to Covid-19 safety protocols to ensure the safety of Merthyr Tydfil Council staff.

11:19 EST Lennar sees having name, management team for spinco by January-February

11:18 EST EMA says Pfizer's Paxlovid could be used for adults with COVID - The European Medicines Agency's human medicines committee issued advice on the use of Pfizer's Paxlovid for the treatment of COVID-19. The medicine, which is not yet authorized in the European Union, can be used to treat adults with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe disease, the agency said. Paxlovid should be administered as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of the start of symptoms, it added. Reference Link

11:11 EST Lennar: Short supply 'likely to remain for some time to come'

11:10 EST Lennar: Housing market remains very strong in major markets - Comments taken from Q4 earnings conference call.

11:01 EST Anebulo Pharmaceuticals Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:56 EST EMA approves increase in manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines - European Medicines Agency's human medicines committee, or CHMP, has approved an additional manufacturing site for the production of COVID-19 vaccine Janssen (JNJ), developed by Janssen-Cilag International NV. The site, located in Marcy-l'Etoile, France, and operated by Sanofi Pasteur, will manufacture finished product. The site is expected to support the continued supply of COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen. The CHMP has also given a positive opinion for an increase in production of Spikevax, the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna (MRNA), at the manufacturing site operated by ROVI Contract Manufacturing, located in Madrid, Spain.The increase in production includes a 50% scale-up of the batch size of the finished product and a second fill-and-finish line. These changes will allow the production of around 25 million additional doses of Spikevax every month to the European Union and to third countries through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX, initiative. An increase in production of the active substance of Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine from BioNTech (BNTX)/Pfizer (PFE), at the manufacturing site operated by Wyeth BioPharma Division of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, located in Andover, MA, USA, was also approved by the Committee. This increase in production capacity is expected to support the continued supply of Comirnaty in the European Union. These recommendations do not require a European Commission decision and the changes can become operational immediately. Reference Link

10:49 EST Forward Air announces rate increase for independent contractor drivers - Forward Air is executing a growth strategy that involves organic infrastructure investments, such as its ongoing LTL network expansion, as well as inorganic investments, including acquisitions of complementary businesses. Forward today announced the largest ever rate-per-mile increase to its independent contractor fleet within its less-than-truckload and Truckload divisions. Today's announcement of a fifteen cent per mile increase for independent contractor fleets and independent contractor teams and solo drivers is an example of Forward's commitment to grow our business and provide our independent contractors an excellent opportunity to operate and grow a successful business.

10:31 EST EMA issues advice for potential early use of Pfizer's Paxlovid - Pfizer announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency issued advice on the use of PAXLOVID, stating that PAXLOVID can be used to treat adults with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe disease. The CHMP also recommend that PAXLOVID should be administered as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of the start of symptoms. The EMA issued this advice under Article 5(3) of Regulation 726/2004 to support authorities of European Union Member States who may decide to allow the supply and use of PAXLOVID, for example in emergency use settings, prior to EU conditional marketing authorization. PAXLOVID is currently not authorized for use in the EU. "The CHMP's advice signifies the strength of our data for PAXLOVID in the treatment of high-risk adults diagnosed with COVID-19," said Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer. "COVID-19 continues to take lives at an unprecedented pace globally and exacts a devastating toll on health care systems. If authorized, PAXLOVID has the potential to help save lives and reduce hospitalizations. We look forward to working with the EMA and other regulatory agencies worldwide to bring this potential treatment to patients as quickly as possible." The CHMP based their advice on positive results from the Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR interim analysis, which enrolled non-hospitalized adults with confirmed COVID-19 who are at increased risk of progressing to severe illness. The data demonstrated an 89% reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause in patients treated with PAXLOVID compared to placebo within three days of symptom onset, with no deaths in the treatment group.

10:13 EST Eliem Therapeutics Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:00 EST Danimer Scientific falls -15.3% - Danimer Scientific is down -15.3%, or -$1.62 to $8.97.

10:00 EST IronNet falls -24.6% - IronNet is down -24.6%, or -$1.67 to $5.13.

10:00 EST Hamilton Beach rises 12.9% - Hamilton Beach is up 12.9%, or $1.74 to $15.29.

09:47 EST Danimer Scientific falls -15.0% - Danimer Scientific is down -15.0%, or -$1.59 to $9.00.

09:47 EST IronNet falls -28.1% - IronNet is down -28.1%, or -$1.91 to $4.89.

09:47 EST Freyr Battery rises 13.0% - Freyr Battery is up 13.0%, or $1.47 to $12.78.

09:41 EST Oncology Institute Inc trading resumes

09:39 EST Regeneron says REGEN-COV antibodies have 'diminished potency' versus omicron - Earlier, Regeneron stated that it has found that currently authorized REGEN-COV, casirivimab and imdevimab, antibodies have diminished potency versus Omicron, but are active against predominant Delta variant. "Regeneron has confirmed that multiple 'next generation' monoclonal antibodies from its large collection of fully human monoclonal antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 are active against the Omicron (B.1.1.529) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants, as well as against the other variants of concern. Pending regulatory discussions, we anticipate entering the clinic in the first quarter of 2022. While Regeneron's currently authorized REGEN-COV antibodies have diminished potency against Omicron, they are active against Delta, which currently is the most prevalent variant in the U.S., The company stated. Reference Link

09:38 EST Accenture acquires Zestgroup, terms undisclosed - Accenture has acquired Zestgroup, a services firm specializing in energy transitions, net carbon-zero projects and procurement of renewables. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Zestgroup brings more than 120 professionals to Accenture Operations, with clients in a variety of sectors and expertise across energy transition and reconciliation, supplier market regulations, renewable spending category and project and procurement services. It also provides spend optimization services to help organizations better manage sustainability spend and energy reconciliation services to better optimize claim settlements across the energy value chain.

09:34 EST Global Indemnity to transfer to NYSE from Nasdaq - Global Indemnity announced it is transferring the listing of its Class A Common shares and its 7.875% Subordinated Notes Due 2047 to the New York Stock Exchange from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The transfers to the NYSE are expected to be effective January 3, 2022 and will trade under the same symbols. Trading on Nasdaq is expected to continue until the close of business on December 31.

09:33 EST Oncology Institute Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:32 EST Lakeland Industries promotes Allen Dillard to chief operating, financial officer - Lakeland Industries announced the promotion of Allen Dillard to chief operating and financial officer, effective January 1, 2022. Dillard has served as CFO of Lakeland Industries since August 12, 2019. In his new capacity, Dillard will add manufacturing, planning, and procurement functions to his reporting responsibilities.

09:21 EST AmpliTech completes acquisition of Spectrum Semiconductor for $8M in cash - AmpliTech announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets and operations of Spectrum Semiconductor Materials, a global specialty distributor of semiconductor components. The transaction is expected to close within our fiscal year 2021, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions. "The purchase is expected to deliver significant strategic and top and bottom-line benefits while also building on AmpliTech's technical and management expertise and distribution reach," the company said. The purchase price is $8.0M in cash plus $1.5M to be held in escrow through December 2022, to fund any purchase price or other adjustments, plus the grant of 188,442 restricted shares of AmpliTech common stock. The parties have agreed to a purchase price adjustment of 25% of Spectrum's cumulative net revenue above or below $20M in sales for calendar years 2021 and 2022 combined. AmpliTech CEO, Fawad Maqbool, commented, "Spectrum Semiconductors is a perfect fit for advancing AmpliTech's strategic goals and delivering shareholder value. With Spectrum, we will add a well-managed, growing business with a long-term track record for high quality and excellent customer service and the ideal distribution platform for the launch of our MMIC chip solutions. This transaction will allow us to more than triple our current annual revenue run rate, while also being immediately accretive to our bottom line. Of equal importance, Spectrum brings us a highly satisfied, long-term, and global customer base with excellent penetration in our core end markets of aerospace, defense, automotive, and computing, along with a deep Silicon Valley presence, to support the launch of MMIC chip solutions we plan to bring to market by the end of Q1 2022. We expect AmpliTech and Spectrum will play a key role in improving the speed and efficiency of communications systems around the world in high-growth applications such as 5G cellular, MEO and LEO satellites, quantum computing, and autonomous vehicles. Importantly, AmpliTech is well funded to complete this transaction and to then execute on the growth opportunities of the combined business."

09:20 EST Steel Dynamics sees momentum continuing into 2022 - Fourth quarter 2021 profitability from the company's steel operations is expected to be higher than third quarter results setting a new quarterly record, driven by strong underlying steel demand and metal spread expansion across the platform, more than offsetting seasonally lower steel shipments. Domestic steel demand remains strong, with the automotive, construction, and industrial sectors continuing to lead the momentum. Fourth quarter 2021 earnings from the company's metals recycling operations are expected to be aligned with sequential third quarter results, based on improved metal margins despite modestly lower selling values and offsetting lower shipments. Many domestic steel mills had planned maintenance outages throughout the fourth quarter 2021, which lowered ferrous scrap demand. Fourth quarter 2021 earnings from the company's steel fabrication operations are expected to be more than two and one-half times higher than sequential record third quarter results, as significantly higher selling values and near-record shipments, meaningfully more than offset higher steel input costs. The non-residential construction sector remains strong as evidenced by robust order activity, resulting in another record order backlog and record forward-pricing for the company's steel fabrication platform. The company anticipates this momentum to continue through 2022 based on these dynamics.

09:19 EST Cerence Browse selected by Toyota Motor North America - Cerence (CRNC) announced that Toyota Motor (TM) North America has selected Cerence Browse, Cerence's AI-powered, cloud-based content domain, to bring the power and intelligence of internet search engines directly into Toyota and Lexus vehicles* in its next-generation multimedia system. TMNA is the first automaker to deploy Cerence's new cloud service. Cerence Browse will enable Toyota and Lexus passengers to ask general information or real-time event questions - including geography data, stock information, astronomy, holidays, etc. "Cerence Browse is a remarkable Deep Reasoning Network technology built to support automakers in creating unique, human-like responses to questions," said Stefan Ortmanns, CEO, Cerence. "By implementing Cerence Browse, Toyota can expect to see overall in-car voice assistant usage increase, along with user engagement and satisfaction levels."

09:18 EST Verizon, Google Cloud to collaborate to deliver 5G mobile edge computing - Verizon (VZ) and Google Cloud (GOOG;GOOGL) are working together to "bring the power of the cloud closer to mobile and connected devices at the edge of Verizon's network," the companies said. Verizon plans to bring Google's compute and storage services to the edge of the local network enabling the bandwidth and low latency needed to support real-time enterprise applications. The companies expect that this combination will enable enterprises in industries from retail to manufacturing to "unlock the power of 5G and mobile edge computing and gain operational efficiencies, higher levels of security and reliability, and improved productivity," the companies said. Verizon and Google Cloud also plan to develop public 5G mobile edge computing for developers and enterprises. The public 5G Edge solution has the potential to enable developers to build and deploy applications at the edge of Verizon's wireless network in various locations throughout the U.S. Ericsson (ERIC), in collaboration with Verizon, will pilot 5G Edge with Google Distributed Cloud Edge as part of a proof of concept at its USA 5G Smart Factory. The first trial use case involves Verizon's Sensor Intelligence solution, which involves attaching a camera to an autonomous mobile robot that will scan packages to maintain inventory and location of indirect materials in the factory's warehouse. Then the robot will communicate the bar code and shipping label data via 5G and mobile edge computing to the inventory management system, providing real-time analytics to improve logistics.

09:15 EST DoubleVerify appoints Rose Velez-Smith CHRO - DoubleVerify (DV) announced that Rose Velez-Smith has joined the company as EVP and chief human resources officer, or CHRO. As CHRO, Velez-Smith will be responsible for all aspects of our human resources strategy and people functions globally, including talent management, leadership development, compensation & benefits, diversity, and inclusion & belonging. Prior to joining DV, Velez-Smith managed global HR efforts for Pitney Bowes (PBI), spending more than two decades with the organization.

09:12 EST Globant and Pixelynx partner to launch music metaverse platform - Globant has established a partnership with Pixelynx, a music metaverse gaming platform. Pixelynx was founded by musicians and technologists Joel Zimmerman and Richie Hawtin, along with music and gaming industry veterans Ben Turner, Dean Wilson and CEO Inder Phull. Pixelynx is developing a new virtual world ecosystem that aims to allow artists to launch their own interactive environments and monetize them through NFTs, social music experiences and virtual performances. Via their upcoming mobile AR game, fans will be able to explore the real world, attending concerts and visiting physical locations to collect NFTs that can be used in-game to unlock rewards and new interactive experiences from talent, according to the company.

09:11 EST Kargo announces partnership with NewsGuard, results with Oracle Moat - Kargo announced two major content quality milestones with NewsGuard and by Oracle Moat. First, Kargo entered into a partnership with NewsGuard that will ensure mobile advertisers are protected from placing ads on misinformation and disinformation sources. In its first analysis of Kargo's inventory, NewsGuard found that news and information websites in Kargo's inventory had an average NewsGuard trust score of 91 out of 100. NewsGuard will continue to conduct weekly checks of Kargo's inventory data and flag any untrustworthy news sites. Kargo is also announcing performance as reported by Oracle Moat. Oracle Moat recently released a new report card, measuring overall media quality including Potentially False Information, PFI, through the non-profit Global Disinformation Index and Kargo is the first supply-side platform to share these results. Oracle Moat's September Brand Safety & IVT report card measured over 2.6M hours of exposure generated across its display advertising campaigns. Kargo ranked .07% for PFI, significantly below Oracle Moat's benchmark of 1.5% and 0.89% for IVT, well below Oracle Moat's benchmark of 4%.

09:10 EST Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives secures $44M award - Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives has secured a $44 million award to lead the construction of a 60 MW utility-scale wind farm in Riverside County, California. The project is expected to commence in the first quarter 2022, with targeted completion by the first quarter 2023. Under the terms of the contract award, IEA will self-perform all engineering and construction of fifteen wind turbines, two substation and meteorological evaluation towers and an underground electrical collector system. As outlined within the scope of work, IEA will also be tasked with construction of new private-land access roads, together with improvements to existing public roads surrounding the property. With more than 6,000 MW of installed capacity across more than 120 projects throughout the state, California is the second-largest producer of wind energy in the nation. Wind energy, an integral part of California's electricity portfolio, will play a critical role in helping the state meet its Renewables Portfolio Standard, one that will require utilities to procure 60 percent of retail sales from renewable sources by 2030. To-date, nearly $12 billion has been invested in California wind farms.

09:09 EST Nuvve Holding, Colorado/West deploy first V2G electric school bus in Colorado - Nuvve Holding (NVVE) and Colorado/West Equipment, a Blue Bird (BLBD) dealership, announced the deployment of the first vehicle-to-grid capable electric school bus in the state of Colorado at Durango School District 9-R. La Plata Energy Association, a forward-thinking, member-owned cooperative serving over 34,000 members, co-wrote the grant and donated funds towards the Blue Bird bus and Nuvve V2G DC 60kW charging station.

09:09 EST O2Micro granted patent for system, method for light source, controllers - O2Micro International announced the patent grant of light-source systems and controllers. O2Micro was issued 20 claims under UK Patent No. GB 2544185 for the invention of light-source systems and controllers, which provides a sense signal indicative of the light-source current, detects a variation in a ripple amplitude of the output current by detecting a level of the indication signal, and controls a duty cycle of a switch so as to reduce an increasing rate of the ripple amplitude if the level of the indication signal increases, and to reduce a decreasing rate of the ripple amplitude if the level of the indication signal decreases.

09:07 EST Tetra Tech awarded six lots on CCS Construction Professional Services framework - Tetra Tech announced that it has been awarded a place on Crown Commercial Service's Construction Professional Services framework. Crown Commercial Service, or CCS, supports the United Kingdom's public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2020/21 CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to GBP 2.04B supporting public services that offer best value for taxpayers. The framework, which has a potential spend of GBP 1.7B, will cover multi-discipline environmental, civil and structural engineering, building services engineering, architectural, cost management, and project management services. Tetra Tech has been awarded a position on all six lots of the new four-year agreement-the only consultancy to do so. The lots are divided by project type and focus on the built environment and general infrastructure, urban regeneration, international, high-rise structures, defense, and environment and sustainability.

09:06 EST CleanSpark marks one year of sustainable bitcoin mining - CleanSpark announced the one-year anniversary of its bitcoin mining operations. CleanSpark implements an ESG approach by sourcing regional energy mixes with strong renewable energy portfolios for its mining facilities in Norcross and College Park, Georgia. CleanSpark entered the bitcoin mining industry in December 2020 with its purchase of ATL Data Centers. A second data center, located in Gwinnett County, was acquired in August 2021 with plans to invest $145 million in capital and human investments over the next five years. CleanSpark draws on its clean energy background to take an efficient approach to Bitcoin's high energy usage. The Company is now a leading sustainable miner and paving the way for clean mining best practices in the worldwide call-to-action. The Company's ESG strategy also helps the communities it operates in. Aside from using renewable energy mixes for its mining operations, CleanSpark facilitates more reliant transmission lines with infrastructure-level upgrades and invests in state solar power programs, such as Georgia's Simple Solar. This approach is making a positive impact on the local economy by developing abandoned areas and creating new job opportunities.

09:05 EST AstraZeneca says Evusheld shown to retain neutralizing activity against omicron - AstraZeneca's Evusheld, a long-acting antibody combination for the prevention of COVID-19, retained neutralizing activity against the omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant, according to new preclinical data, the company announced. In this study, Evusheld's Inhibitory Concentration 50, a measure of neutralizing potency of an antibody, was 171 ng/ml and 277 ng/ml in two confirmatory tests, which is within the range of neutralizing titres found in someone who has been previously infected with COVID-19. Evusheld's IC50 for the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, previously referred to as the Wuhan strain, was approximately 1.3 ng/ml and 1.5 ng/ml, respectively. "The early data, generated by pseudovirus testing of the full Omicron variant spike against the combination of tixagevimab with cilgavimab, the antibodies that comprise Evusheld, add to the growing body of preclinical evidence demonstrating that Evusheld retains activity against all tested variants of concern to date. The study was performed independently by investigators at the US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. The work was supported by US government research funds," the company stated.

09:04 EST JetBlue, American Airlines to increase summer schedule in New York and Boston - JetBlue (JBLU) and American Airlines (AAL) announced that the airlines added new routes, improved schedules and enhanced product offerings in New York and Boston. Nine new routes go on sale this week across both airlines in New York and Boston. With these new routes, the NEA offers more frequencies in New York and Boston than any other airline. At New York-LGA, the NEA will offer nearly 200 daily departures, which includes JetBlue tripling their departures compared to 2019. In summer 2022, the NEA will offer more than 200 daily departures in Boston, with JetBlue operating more than 150, to more nonstop destinations than any other carrier.

09:03 EST Synopsys announces $200M accelerated share repurchase plan - Synopsys announced that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with HSBC Bank USA, National Association to repurchase an aggregate of $200M of Synopsys stock. Under the terms of the ASR, Synopsys will receive an aggregate initial share delivery of approximately 443,000 shares, with the remainder, if any, to be settled on or before February 14, 2022, upon completion of the repurchases. The specific number of shares that Synopsys ultimately repurchases under the ASR will be based on the average of Synopsys' daily volume-weighted average share prices during the repurchase period, less a discount.

09:02 EST Esports Technologies to be exclusive data provider for NFT-based fight simulator - Esports Technologies signed a non-binding letter of intent with Turnt Gaming to be the exclusive esports data provider for Taunt Battleworld. The fighting game simulator built on Polygon's blockchain solution will feature NFT's of boxing icons Floyd Mayweather and Deontay Wilder. The game is targeted for release in early 2022. Esports Technologies intends to provide odds, game balancing, outcome math and logic models to power Taunt Battleworld. Floyd Mayweather and Deontay Wilder represent the first of several real-world fighters from boxing and MMA slated to appear in Taunt Battleworld.

09:01 EST Fanhua trading resumes

08:57 EST Muddy Waters short KE Holdings, says company engaged 'in systemic fraud' - In a recently published report, Muddy Waters said it is short KE Holdings (BEKE) as "we conclude the Company is engaged in systemic fraud, by our estimate, inflating its new home sales GTV by over ~126% and its commission revenues by approximately ~77-96%. We found massive discrepancies between the transaction volumes, store count and agent count reported to investors and the transaction data from our multi-month data collection program from BEKE's platform. We corroborated these discrepancies by spot-checking our findings through primary due diligence on BEKE's stores, including field interviews and site visits. BEKE's mantra, oft repeated on Company earnings calls, is 'doing the right thing, even if it is difficult.' Nothing could seem further from the truth. Put simply, we found massive fraud, including a likely sham acquisition seemingly designed to mask the fraudulent revenues. Our field work found ghost stores, clone stores and undisclosed schemes to inflate revenues by round tripping cash through connected brokerages. Similar to Luckin Coffee (LKNCY), this is a real business with significant amounts of fraud. Shares of KE Holdings are down about 6% in pre-market trading. Reference Link

08:56 EST KE Holdings down 4% after Muddy Waters issues short report, alleges fraud - Shares of KE Holdings (BEKE) are down 78c, or 4%, to $17.90 in pre-market trading after Muddy Waters' Carson Block issued a short report in which he alleges that the company is "engaged in systemic fraud," comparing it to Luckin Coffee (LKNCY). KE Holdings is "inflating its new home sales GTV by over ~126% and its commission revenues by approximately ~77-96%," claims Block, who said he found "massive discrepancies between the transaction volumes, store count and agent count reported to investors and the transaction data from [his] multi-month data collection program" from the company's platform. Reference Link

08:52 EST ElectraMeccanica provides update on Mesa Assembly Facility - ElectraMeccanica Vehicles provided a status update regarding the progress of its Mesa Assembly Facility. The facility in Mesa, Arizona is the Company's new 235,000 square foot U.S. assembly and engineering technical center, which is on-track and scheduled to be commissioned in the summer of 2022 with the purpose of assembling an enhanced, U.S-built 2023 model year SOLO EV. The first flex line at the facility will have the ability to produce up to 20,000 vehicles per year, enables domestic assembly operations within the U.S. and European target market. Kevin Pavlov, CEO of ElectraMeccanica commented, "To say I am pleased with the execution of our entire team is an understatement. Our team continues their hard work and dedication on all fronts. As we work to finalize the facility, we are concurrently working in other ElectraMeccanica facilities to identify assembly best-practices to ensure an optimized, highly efficient production line. As we continue to execute and deliver vehicles, we have built out sales, logistics and service networks to support all near-term delivery targets as we ramp production and sales. The U.S. base of operations in Mesa, Arizona is a critical component to this cohesive strategy," concluded Pavlov.

08:51 EST Information Services appoints Robert Antochow as CFO - Information Services Corporation announced the appointment of Robert Antochow as the Company's CFO, effective February 1, 2022. Mr. Antochow is currently the Senior Director, Finance for ISC and will succeed Shawn Peters as CFO. As announced on October 13, 2021, Mr. Peters will assume the role of the Company's President and CEO on February 1, 2022.

08:50 EST EzFill announces new revolving credit facility - EzFill Holdings announced that it has entered into a revolving credit line agreement with City National Bank of Florida. Under the revolving credit facility, the Company may borrow up to approximately $16M, a number that will vary over time. Funds can be used for general corporate purposes. The revolving credit line is secured with the securities held in the Company's investment portfolio with the Bank.

08:49 EST Assure Holdings performs over 1,700 procedures in November 2021 - Assure Holdings announced record monthly managed cases during November 2021. John Farlinger, Assure's executive chairman and CEO said, "The Company reported our highest number of monthly managed cases in November 2021, performing over 1,700 procedures. Assure expects to generate a record number of managed cases in the fourth quarter of 2021. In addition, I am pleased to report growing strength in our remote neurology business, and we remain on pace to have 1,000 to 1,200 remote neurology managed cases in the fourth quarter of 2021. We expect our remote neurology platform to be a big driver of incremental revenue and margin in 2022. Thus far in the fourth quarter of 2021, we have only experienced a minimal slowdown as a result of COVID-19, but are continuing to monitor this dynamic situation closely." During the month of November 2021, Assure expanded its remote neurology capabilities with the addition of its third and fourth neurologists. The Company is actively recruiting to fill additional positions and expects to continue ramping-up staffing for this function over the course of 2022 and beyond.

08:47 EST Barfresh Food Group expands education program to additional 473 locations - Barfresh Food Group announced that it has expanded its education program to an additional 473 school locations with the addition of Hillsborough County Public Schools District and Orange County Public Schools District. These 473 schools are spread out across two districts in Florida and form a collective student population of over 435,000 students. Barfresh product will initially be part of both the breakfast and dinner menu once a week at Hillsborough County Public Schools and will be part of the breakfast menu twice a week at Orange County Public Schools District.

08:46 EST ProPhase Labs appoints Beelter as CSO, announces several promotions - ProPhase Labs announces the addition of Sam Beeler as Chief Strategy Officer, CSO, for ProPhase Precision Medicine, and the promotions of Alice Lioi and Jason Karkus to Executive Vice President /Co-Chief Operating Officers along with Sergio Miralles as Executive Vice President/Chief Information Officer for ProPhase Diagnostics. Sam Beeler has over 17 years of leadership experience. Sam has served in progressive enterprise leadership, strategy, and operations roles for Advantage Care Physicians, The Advisory Board, TeamHealth, PivotHealth and more.

08:44 EST Accenture jumps 9% to $411.25 after Q1 results beat, FY22 guidance raised

08:43 EST Sonida Senior Living acquires two senior living communities for $12.3M - Sonida Senior Living announced that it entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire two recently renovated senior living communities for approximately $12.3M. The communities, Northfield Senior Living and Southfield Senior Living, include 157 independent living units and are located approximately 20 minutes outside of downtown Indianapolis. The company expects the acquisition to close in the first quarter of 2022 subject to customary closing conditions. The properties recently underwent a significant refurbishment, and the company's purchase price, equating to approximately $79,000 per unit, represents a significant discount to replacement cost.

08:43 EST Alico provides sustainability report summary - Alico announced improvements to its Institutional Shareholders Services, ISS, Environmental, Social and Governance scores following the publication of the Company's inaugural Sustainability Report on December 8, 2021. Alico is one of the largest citrus growers in the United States. The Company owns more than 80,000 acres of citrus groves, ranch land and improved pasture in seven Florida counties. With the release of the Company's Sustainability Report, which documents the actions that Alico has undertaken prior to and during 2021, Alico has seen its ISS environmental and social scores improve. In January 2021, ISS rated Alico as 9 for environmental and 10 for social. Today, those scores have improved to 6 and 2. Its scores for Governance have remained unchanged at 3. The Company believes that its annual ESG rating by ISS will be changed in early 2022. Highlights of the Alico 2021 Sustainability Report include: Alico established a Sustainability Steering Council; The Company conducted its baseline carbon footprint study; Alico nurtured more than 5M citrus trees now in the ground, and the Company has planted on average 375,000 trees in each of the last four years with plans to continue planting additional trees annually; Water performance data is collected and analyzed; Sustainable agriculture highlights included Alico not having any genetically modified organisms; The Company reaffirmed its commitment to establishing and maintaining strong and ethical relationships with suppliers; Alico is constantly implementing data privacy and security initiatives; Alico's employees enjoy a safe, friendly work environment; the Company has made direct financial contributions in activities focused on three main areas: Next Generation Agriculture, Youth and Community Spirit.

08:42 EST Mustang Bio added to Nasdaq Biotechnology Index - Mustang Bio announced that the company has been added to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. The annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 20, 2021.

08:40 EST Stryve Foods announces Costco, Walmart distribution increases - Stryve Foods, Inc. (SNAX) announced new agreements for significant 2022 expansion of its domestic U.S. distribution footprint and product line penetration with Costco (COST) and Walmart (WMT). Following the recent addition of Costco warehouses in the northwest U.S. region, select Stryve Biltong and Vacadillos products are now available every day at Costco warehouses in Arizona and business centers nationwide, doubling Stryve's previous Costco distribution. As part of this expansion, Costco will begin carrying the 12 oz. Hickory flavor of Stryve Biltong amongst its healthy and nutritious Stryve and Vacadillos offerings. Stryve's Costco warehouse count is also set to increase significantly in 2022, with agreements in place to secure new distribution into Costco's Bay Area region and participation in a 2022 national Costco multi-vendor mailer campaign. The promotion in Costco's popular warehouse member coupon book brings on-shelf placement in all U.S. Costco warehouse locations. At Walmart, Stryve is adding in April two new Vacadillos Carne Seca SKUs and a Stryve Biltong multipack to its array of products offered at Walmart Supercenters, more than doubling its SKUs from two to five. Stryve's total retail footprint stands at more than 30,000 retail locations.

08:38 EST Fanhua appoints Yinan Hu as chairman, CEO - The board of directors of Fanhua announced that with immediate effect, Mr. Yinan Hu, founder and a director of the Company, has been appointed by the Company's Board to be its chairman and chief executive officer, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Mr. Chunlin Wang. Mr. Wang has informed the Board that his resignation is due to his personal reasons. As the founder of Fanhua, Mr. Yinan Hu is also the largest shareholder of the Company, currently beneficially owns approximately 18.6% of the Company's outstanding ordinary shares.

08:37 EST Kyowa Kirin, IveniAI expand AI-driven partners to multi-year collaboration - InveniAI and Kyowa Kirin expanded their longstanding relationship with a new, multiple drug discovery agreement. The collaboration will provide Kyowa Kirin with access to InveniAI's AI Innovation Lab and AI Technology Platform, AlphaMeld, to expand the scope of Kyowa Kirin's drug discovery programs. The agreement builds on an ongoing partnership between InveniAI and Kyowa Kirin that began in 2018. The collaboration enables Kyowa Kirin to access InveniAI's AI technology platform, AlphaMeld, its AI Innovation Lab, and a dedicated team of experts to drive drug discovery efforts across Kyowa Kirin's therapeutic areas, platforms, and modalities. InveniAI and Kyowa Kirin are now standing at the intersection of state-of-the-art biotechnology and digital technology. Both scientists will work together more interactively to generate innovative drug candidates. Under the terms of the collaboration, InveniAI will receive a committed annual research funding fee for the duration of the collaboration term and obtain rights to receive milestone payments and royalties on sales from Kyowa Kirin.

08:35 EST Rogers Communications expands fibre network across 163 kilometers - Rogers Communications announced that it is expanding its fibre network across 163 kilometers to connect 1,780 homes and businesses in the communities of Humber Village, Little Rapids and Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition to the fibre network expansion, a new wireless tower will be installed and the existing tower will be upgraded on Bell Island to provide reliable wireless connectivity throughout the island.

08:34 EST GreenSky provides update on acquisition by Goldman Sachs - GreenSky issued the following statement: "As previously disclosed, at a special meeting of our stockholders held on December 10, 2021, we received the necessary stockholder approval for our previously-announced acquisition by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., satisfying one of the remaining conditions to closing of the transaction. Closing of the transaction remains subject to the receipt of certain required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary conditions. We continue to expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022."

08:33 EST NanoXplore acquires Canuck Compounders for C$9.3M - NanoXplore announced that it has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Canuck Compounders for a total cash consideration of approximately $9.3 million subject to post-closing adjustments, which represents a multiple of approximately five times of the average EBITDA of the last three years. Canuck, a privately held plastic recycling compounder for the past 30 years, provides sustainable and engineered recycled plastic compounds for use in transportation, building and construction, agriculture and packaging markets. Canuck's manufacturing facility, based in Cambridge, Ontario, has a production capacity of approximately 40 million pounds annually. NanoXplore paid $7.3 million in cash at the closing of the transaction, while $1 million in cash will be paid in one year and another $1 million will be paid in two years. Following the transaction, William Dickinson, CEO and founder of Canuck, will continue in a role as General Manager, alongside approximately 40 employees. As demonstrated by the Canuck acquisition, NanoXplore is seeking to expand its downstream, value-added product offering through enhanced masterbatch and compounds, Anode and Cathode pastes, battery materials for the Li-ion battery market, formulated thermoset resins, and admixtures for cement.

08:31 EST DZS collaborates with LG Uplus in O-RAN ALLIANCE Plugfest - DZS (DZSI) announced its participation in the third Global O-RAN ALLIANCE Plugfest, and the first to be conducted in South Korea, in partnership with 5G mobile network innovator LG Uplus at its 5G Innovation Lab in Seoul. This testing validated multi-vendor 5G interoperability and end-to-end alignment to O-RAN ALLIANCE specifications for open Radio Access Network, RAN, elements, including fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul interfaces between Radio Access Network equipment provided by DZS, Altiostar, NEC Corporation (NIPNF), Intel (INTC) and Keysight Technologies (KEYS). "Having worked closely with LG Uplus for over 15 years to support its mobile transport infrastructure, DZS is proud to collaborate with LG Uplus in defining the future of 5G O-RAN architectures in South Korea and beyond," said Charlie Vogt, President and CEO, DZS. "This highly successful Plugfest showcasing DZS open fronthaul and mobile transport solutions demonstrates how we, in combination with our industry partners, can enable a path forward for service providers seeking to modernize their networks with the flexibility and efficiencies of O-RAN architectures. After this successful Plugfest in Seoul, it is clear that O-RAN is not only a compelling solution for greenfield networks like Rakuten Mobile who have scaled this architecture already to millions of subscribers in Japan, but also relevant to established service providers like LG Uplus who have already pioneered national-scale 5G deployments to continue to enhance their networks and address new markets." Starting in Q3 2021, the third O-RAN ALLIANCE Global Plugfest was held in 7 venues across the world including 94 participating companies. Vendor solutions in the LG Uplus multivendor interoperability test network included: DZS C1216RO open fronthaul gateways featuring built-in GPS and network timing support, and the xHaul enabled DZS M3500 Cell Site Router; NEC 5G radio units; Altiostar/Rakuten Symphony virtualized distributed unit and central unit software; Intel compute and network acceleration technology; and Keysight Technologies test solutions, including a mix of real Test UE devices and multi-UE emulators as well as the CoreSIM Core emulator

08:29 EST Nkarta receivs FDA orphan drug designation for NKX101 - Nkarta announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to NKX101 for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. NKX101 is a novel investigational NK cell therapy, engineered to augment the innate anti-tumor biology of NKG2D. NKG2D is an activating receptor found on naturally occurring NK cells that triggers the targeted killing of stressed and cancerous cells. NKX101 is currently being studied in a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in adults with r/r AML or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). As previously announced, Nkarta expects to announce initial data from the NKX101 clinical trial in the first half of 2022.

08:25 EST Fanhua announces receipt of non-binding going private proposal - Fanhua announced that its Board of Directors has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter dated December 16, 2021, from a consortium led by Mr. Yinan Hu, founder and a director of the Company, to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the Company not already owned by the Consortium for $9.8 per American Depositary Shares, or $0.49 per ordinary share in a going private transaction, subject to certain conditions. The price represents a premium of approximately 10.2% to the closing price of the Company's ADS on December 15, 2021. Mr. Hu currently beneficially owns approximately 18.6% of the Company's outstanding ordinary shares. According to the proposal letter, Mr. Yinan Hu will form an acquisition vehicle for the purpose of implementing the Proposed Transaction, which may admit other existing shareholders of the Company and equity investors as consortium members and the acquisition is intended to be financed by a combination of debt and/or equity capital from the Potential Consortium Members. The Board intends to form a special committee consisting of independent directors to consider the Proposed Transaction. The Board of Directors cautions the Company's shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that no decisions have been made with respect to the Company's response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. The Company does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to this or any other transaction, except as required by applicable law.

08:23 EST Fanhua trading halted, news pending

08:22 EST Corporacion America Airport reports November traffic up 183.1% - Corporacion America Airport reported a 183.1% YoY increase in passenger traffic in November, and a 35.0% decline when compared to the same period of 2019. Total passenger traffic in November grew 1.8x compared to the same period of last year, driven by increases across all countries of operations, particularly in Argentina, reflecting easier comparisons due to tougher travel restrictions in the year ago period and the opening of borders since November 1. When compared to 2019, overall passenger traffic declined 35.0%, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, though consistently improving from the 75.7% decline recorded in April. International and domestic passenger traffic dropped 50.4% and 28.1%, respectively, from pre-pandemic levels of November 2019.

08:21 EST Histogen announces $3.5M private placement - Histogen announced that it has entered into securities purchase agreements with certain institutional and accredited investors to issue, in a private placement, 8,235,297 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 8,235,297 shares of common stock, at a purchase price of $0.425 per share of common stock and associated warrant, for expected gross proceeds to Histogen of approximately $3.5 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses payable by the Company. The warrants have an exercise price of $0.425 per share of common stock, will be exercisable commencing six months and one day following the date of issuance for a period of five and one-half years from the date of issuance. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the private placement. The closing of the private placement is expected to occur on or about December 20, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the private placement for working capital and general corporate purposes.

08:20 EST Rubius Therapeutics to highlight RED PLATFORM at Platform, Pipeline Day - Rubius Therapeutics announced significant advances from its RED PLATFORM and across its pipeline of Red Cell Therapeutics at the Company's first Pipeline and Platform Day. RED PLATFORM: Achieved clinical validation of the RED PLATFORM with initial clinical results from the single-agent RTX-240 Phase 1 clinical trial in advanced solid tumors, reported in March 2021; RCTs are well tolerated, induce the desired biological effect and generate clinical benefit in certain patients with advanced solid tumors; Advancing next generation aAPCs with loadable MHC Class I, enabling the presentation of multiple antigens on a single RCT and broadening the potential patient population with a library of HLA types; Enabling rapid and repeatable parallel generation of therapeutic candidates with the programmable RED PLATFORM; The platform creates multiple modalities for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease and the ability to express hundreds of thousands of copies of therapeutic proteins on or within the cell to access numerous immune pathways. Oncology: Broad Immune Stimulation Approach: RTX-240: Established clinical proof of concept of RTX-240 in advanced solid tumors, based on initial results reported in March 2021, potentially increasing the likelihood of clinical success across the oncology pipeline; Escalating the dose of single-agent RTX-240 in the Phase 1 solid tumor clinical trial to three doses of 5e10 followed by one dose 1e10 until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, based on no dose-limiting toxicities observed to date, a clear dose response in the increase of NK cells and other pharmacodynamic effects; Additional clinical results are expected from this trial and the Phase 1 arm in relapsed/refractory AML during the first quarter of 2022. The Company plans to initiate single-agent RTX-240 Phase 2 expansion cohorts in select solid tumor types during the first quarter of 2022. Continuing dose escalation in the RTX-240 Phase 1 combination study with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced solid tumors. RTX-224: Planning to initiate the Phase 1 clinical trial of RTX-224 in patients with certain advanced solid tumors during the first quarter of 2022. Investigational New Drug application cleared. Antigen-Specific Immune Stimulation Approach: RTX-321: Continuing enrollment in Phase 1 clinical trial of RTX-321 in patients with advanced HPV 16-positive cancers; Planning to report initial clinical results during the first quarter of 2022. Autoimmune Diseases and Type 1 Diabetes: Demonstrated tolerance induction and bystander suppression in stringent type 1 diabetes preclinical models; Established efficacy in the BDC2.5 adoptive transfer model with data supporting that repeated dosing extended duration of disease protection, reverses established inflammation, which is important for the treatment of existing autoimmunity, and induces two types of regulatory T cells, resulting in protection against re-challenge; Showed efficacy in non-obese diabetes preclinical model; Results at 25 weeks exhibit bystander suppression by delivering only two antigens, indicating the mouse surrogate of RTX-T1D prevented or delayed disease caused by many autoantigens; These findings are potentially translatable beyond type 1 diabetes to multiple autoimmune diseases, including other Rubius' high priority target indications, including multiple sclerosis and celiac disease. Manufacturing: Increased cells produced per batch by four times in 50L bioreactors from 2020 to 2021, enabling uninterrupted clinical supply for three Phase 1 arms of the RTX-240 clinical trial and Phase 1 RTX-321 trial. Additional accomplishments include: High success rate: greater than 90% lot success rate for RTX-240 and RTX-321 clinical supply in 2021; Greater than 200 doses administered across three arms of RTX-240 Phase 1 and RTX-321 Phase 1 trials; High transduction efficiency: greater than 90% of cells are transduced with therapeutic proteins; Highly consistent protein expression; Introduced frozen drug substance for RTX-321 and RTX-224, enabling inventory storage of greater than two years; Developing frozen drug product to further simplify supply chain with the goal of making our therapies available around the world; Bringing all product testing in-house to strengthen supply chain and reduce time-to-product release; Continuing to invest in the platform to improve productivity and efficiency; Scaling to 200L bioreactors by mid-2022 to support potential pivotal trial and eventual commercialization.

08:18 EST Soluna's subsidiary enters qualification stage for EV battery measurement device - Soluna, MTI Instruments division announced that it has entered into the advanced qualification stage for its electric vehicle, EV, battery measurement device with several major automotive OEM manufacturers. Moshe Binyamin, President and CEO of MTI Instruments, commented, "We committed to shareholders that we would communicate with them as we began to get traction in the growing and large EV Battery manufacturing segment. I am pleased to report, we are gaining serious traction." Binyamin further added, "In fact, one-system integrator working with a major European automotive manufacturer, recently ordered an additional system to accelerate the final testing and adoption of MTI's thickness monitoring solution into their manufacturing process."

08:16 EST China SXT Pharmaceuticals receives bid price deficiency notification from Nasdaq - China SXT Pharmaceuticals received a notification letter from Nasdaq notifying the company that the minimum bid price per share for its ordinary shares has been below $1.00 for a period of 30 consecutive business days and the company therefore no longer meets the minimum bid price requirements in Nasdaq Listing Rules. The notification received has no immediate effect on the listing of the company's ordinary shares on Nasdaq. The company has until June 13, 2022, to regain compliance. If the company does not regain compliance during such 180-day period, the company may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar days, provided that the company provides a written notice of its intention to cure this deficiency during the second compliance period, by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary.

08:15 EST Bionano Genomics announces launch of version 6.1 of BioDiscovery's NxClinical - Bionano Genomics announced the launch of version 6.1 of BioDiscovery's NxClinical software with expanded capabilities for next-generation sequencing, NGS, data in genetic diseases and cancer. NxClinical is a platform-agnostic software solution. "We believe version 6.1 significantly improves the ability of NxClinical to detect more clinically relevant variants from NGS data with the inclusion of uniparental disomy functionality and the expanded sequence knowledgebase for visualization and reporting of relevant genomic variants," the company said. In addition, data interpretation has been streamlined with the automated annotation of clinically relevant variants using the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics technical standards. This feature automatically calculates the relevance for many of the evidence categories described by the ACMG technical standards for CNV interpretation, which can simplify data interpretation and reduce time to reportable result. "At Bionano, we are working to transform the way the world sees the genome to elevate human health and wellness," said Erik Holmlin, PhD, President and CEO of Bionano Genomics. "Software is the primary way our customers interact with their data and experience our products. Our goal is to increase the number of Bionano subscribers using NxClinical software to create a network effect where customers can obtain more meaningful results from their NGS and microarray data today so that in the future they can more easily implement OGM within the same software tool to see more genomic variants that matter."

08:14 EST Corcept Therapeutics announces preliminary results of tender offer - Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated announced the preliminary results of its previously announced tender offer to purchase up to 10,000,000 shares of its common stock, par value $0.001 per share, at a price not greater than $23.75 nor less than $20.75 per share, in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest, which expired one minute after 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on December 15, 2021. Based on the preliminary count by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the depositary for the Tender Offer, 31,743,651 shares of Corcept's common stock were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn at or below a purchase price of $23.75 per share, including 13,648,561 shares tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery. In accordance with the terms and conditions of the Tender Offer, and based on the preliminary results reported by the Depositary, Corcept expects to purchase approximately 10,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $20.75 per share, for an aggregate cost of approximately $207,500,000, excluding fees and expenses relating to the Tender Offer. The number of shares that Corcept expects to purchase in the Tender Offer represents approximately 9% of the total number of shares of common stock outstanding as of December 15, 2021. Corcept expects to have approximately 105,933,592 shares of common stock outstanding immediately following payment for the shares of common stock purchased in the Tender Offer. Due to the oversubscription of the Tender Offer, based on the preliminary count described above, Corcept will accept for purchase on a pro rata basis approximately 35% of the shares of common stock properly tendered and not properly withdrawn at the purchase price of $20.75 per share.

08:13 EST Beam announces product offerings suited for White House EV action plan - Beam Global announced a new alignment level of federal initiatives with Beam Global's differentiated product offerings. Executive Order 14057 Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability prioritizes federal investment in energy resilient infrastructure for EV charging, powered by locally produced and delivered renewable energy for America's next generation electricity supply. Beam products are procured through the General Services Administration, GSA, Multiple Award Schedule, MAS, Contract Number 47QSWA21D0006 which simplifies the federal procurement process and ensures best pricing. "Key pillars in the Executive Order for a Clean Energy Economy are perfectly aligned with what we've been passionately building for over a decade: resilient, clean, sustainable and rapidly deployed EV charging infrastructure solutions," said Desmond Wheatley, Beam Global CEO. "We've seen an increase in federal GSA orders and opportunities siting federal initiatives and we anticipate this latest Executive Order will further fuel Beam's business. Our sustainable EV charging solutions create American manufacturing jobs to build American made products that serve zero emission transportation with 100% locally generated renewable and resilient energy. We applaud the Biden administration for its support of EV charging infrastructure and particularly for focusing on rapidly deployed, shovel ready, off-grid American made products like ours."

08:11 EST Immutep advances IMP761 manufacturing, signs MSA with Northway Biotech - Immutep announces it has signed a Manufacturing Service Agreement, MSA, with Northway Biotech, an end-to-end biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization, to manufacture IMP761 ahead of clinical testing. IMP761, Immutep's preclinical candidate for autoimmune diseases is an immunosuppressive agonist antibody to LAG-3. It has now been tested in a Th1-driven autoimmune disease setting, oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Northway Biotech is a European specialist manufacturer of recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies, with manufacturing sites in Lithuania and the United States. Under the agreement, Northway has already started developing a GMP-compliant manufacturing process of IMP761 and will manufacture IMP761 in large scale bioreactors. The process is based on a pharmaceutical-grade, stable GS knockout CHO K1 cell line system that has been shown to produce product yields of IMP761 in small scale setup. After completion of the required preclinical development, the material produced will be used for Immutep's clinical trials of IMP761. Planning for further pre-clinical and clinical development is ongoing.

08:09 EST Nisun International announces dismissal of class action lawsuit - Nisun International announced the result of the class action In re Hebron Technology Co., Ltd. Securities Litigation, Case No. 1:20-cv-04420-PAE that the case against the company has been dismissed in its entirety. "We are very pleased of the Court's decision to dismiss this lawsuit," said Mr. Xiaoyun Huang, Chairman and CEO of Nisun International. "We are glad to put this distraction behind us and remain fully committed to our protecting the interests of our shareholders."

08:09 EST Marrone Bio acquires exclusive rights to strains of Streptomyces acidiscabies - Marrone Bio Innovations has acquired exclusive rights to high-performing strains of Streptomyces acidiscabies, allowing for the accelerated commercialization of a new, second-generation bioherbicide, MBI-006. The addition of these strains, developed by and licensed from Novozymes, will optimize MBI-006's use rate, lower the cost of production, and enhance performance. MBI-006 provides an improvement in efficacy at lower rates over MBI-005, the former herbicidal Streptomyces acidiscabies strain developed and registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency. This biotechnological advancement will position the product at a more competitive price point against leading commercial herbicides. MBI-006 has an uncommon mode of action that inhibits the formation and repair of plant cell walls. As a result, the development of herbicide resistance is rare. The bioherbicide has shown pre- and post-emergent efficacy on a wide spectrum of annual broadleaves, grasses, and sedges and mixes well with most chemical crop protection products and fertilizers. The first generation MBI-006 is expected to launch in 2024/2025 for organic and specialty crops, as well as turf, ornamentals and the home and garden market. The second generation of MBI-006 will be targeted at row crops, currently treated by synthetic chemistry, and is anticipated to be commercially available in 2027/2028.

08:08 EST Nisun International signs cooperative supply chain agreement with Henan Fulushi - Nisun International announced that Fintech Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Fintech Digital Technology Co., Ltd and a controlled affiliate of the company, has signed a supply chain cooperative agreement with Henan Fulushi Industrial Co., Ltd. Under this agreement, the two parties will cooperate on supply chain procurement services to support the trade of frozen grocery products.

08:07 EST Beyond Meat appoints Jorg Oostdam as general manager, Europe - Beyond Meat announced the appointment of Jorg Oostdam to the newly created leadership position of General Manager, Europe. With over two decades of experience in the food and retail sector, including a 15-year tenure at Mars, Incorporated, Oostdam will drive Beyond Meat's expansion in Europe and accelerate its strategic growth worldwide. He most recently served as CEO for Zed Candy, where he relaunched the brand and expanded the business into 14 new markets globally. Oostdam will be based in the Netherlands and start with the company in February 2022.

08:06 EST Infinera's ICE6 800G technology selected by Telia Carrier - Infinera and Telia Carrier announced the selection of Infinera's ICE6 800G solution for Telia Carrier's global network after completing a successful trial of the technology on Telia Carrier's live number-one-ranked global network, AS1299. The decision to deploy Infinera's ICE6 comes after a field validation trial on the 2,396-km link in the U.S. between Denver and Chicago. The trial was performed using Infinera's innovative ICE6 technology over an existing third-party line system and demonstrated superior performance and improved network capacity. The trial demonstrated that by leveraging Infinera's ICE6 fifth-generation coherent technology, Telia Carrier was able to achieve transmission speeds of 600G and spectral efficiency of 5.33 bits/s/Hz, resulting in a fiber capacity increase of at least 50 percent compared to the previous generation of transponders.

08:05 EST Westport completes refinancing of $20M term loan - Westport Fuel Systems announced it has refinanced a $20 million Term Loan from Export Development Canada providing for the extension of the maturity of the indebtedness to EDC and a reduction in interest rate. The new Term Loan replaces the Company's existing indebtedness to EDC of approximately $18 million under the Second Amended and Restated Facility Agreement, including the Original Term Facility and the COVID-19 Facility, with an option to draw an additional $2 million. The Term Loan extends the maturity date of the prior indebtedness to EDC to September 15, 2026, which aligns better with the Company's investment profile. The interest rate on the Term Loan is now US Prime + 2.01% per annum and has no prepayment penalty or standby charge.

08:05 EST Baker Hughes awarded CCS contract with Santos - Baker Hughes has been awarded a contract with Santos, a natural gas producer in Australia, to supply turbomachinery equipment for the Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS, project. The project will serve a gas processing plant and permanently store 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide annually in depleted natural gas reservoirs in the onshore Cooper Basin in South Australia. Baker Hughes will provide gas turbine, compressor and heat recovery steam generator technologies to compress the carbon dioxide.

08:04 EST Enphase Energy battery storage expands in Southern California - Enphase Energy announced that Enphase installers in Southern California have seen increased deployments of Enphase Energy Systems, powered by IQ Microinverters and IQ Batteries, as utility power shutoffs continue to threaten the state. Enphase delivers a safer solar-plus-battery solution which does not expose installers or homeowners to high-voltage DC. The Enphase IQ Battery features Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry, which provides a long cycle life and safer operation through excellent thermal stability. The batteries are equipped with Enphase Power Start technology, which helps seamlessly power-up air conditioners and well-pumps. Homeowners have insight into their systems through the Enphase App, as well as the ability to go off-grid through the app. The Enphase IQ Battery accommodates over-the-air software upgrades and comes with a 10-year limited warranty with a 5-year limited warranty extension available for purchase.

08:03 EST BriaCell announces insiders' intention to purchase up to 10% of securities - BriaCell Therapeutics announces that certain members of its Board of Directors and Management team have informed the Company of their intention, on an individual basis and not in concert, to use their personal funds to purchase approximately 10% of the Company's basic common shares outstanding. The Insiders may purchase approximately 1.59 million common shares and/or publicly-listed common share purchase warrants on the open market, representing approximately 10% of basic common shares outstanding within the six month period commencing January 31, 2022. Any Insider purchase will be conducted in compliance with the Company's insider trading policy and Insiders will meet the SEC and TSX Venture reporting obligations.

08:02 EST Uber, Motional partner on autonomous deliveries - Motional and Uber Technologies announced a partnership to launch autonomous deliveries for Uber customers, starting in Santa Monica in early 2022. Motional's all-electric vehicles will conduct deliveries of a curated set of meal kits from select restaurants on Uber Eats. The partnership represents industry-shaping firsts for both companies; Motional's expansion into driverless delivery and Uber's first on-road delivery partnership with an autonomous vehicle technology provider.

07:58 EST Minerals Technologies announces two satellite contracts in Asia - Minerals Technologies announced that it has entered into two separate long-term agreements. The first agreement is to deploy ground calcium carbonate technology with Asia Symbol, a premier pulp, paper, and packaging company in China. The agreement with Asia Symbol provides high quality GCC supply to the first phase of their new coated paperboard mill in Rugao, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China, which is expected to commence operations in 2023. This represents MTI's first GCC satellite offering specifically tailored for packaging customers. The second agreement is with Seshasayee Paper and Boards to build a 22,000 metric ton per year satellite precipitated calcium carbonate plant at SPB's paper mill in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. The facility is scheduled to begin operating in late 2022.

07:45 EST Ford launching FordPro Charging to help customers manage EV fleets - Ford CEO Jim Farley said via Twitter that the company is launching FordPro Charging "to help customers manage their electric vehicle fleets. Drivers will have flexibility to charge at a depot, public charger or even at home. And software will optimize everything. This is a game changer for commercial vehicle industry. We'll be helping businesses plan their on-site charging infrastructure. And we're taking an open-standards approach, so @FordPro Charging will not only support @Ford's electric vehicles, but also EVs from other manufacturers & vehicle classes, like forklifts & heavy-duty trucks." Reference Link

07:45 EST Flowr director Jorg Cieslok resigns - Flowr would like to announce that Jorg Cieslok has resigned from the Board of Directors in order to pursue other opportunities.

07:44 EST Twist Bioscience, Sosei Group announce GPCR collaboration - Twist Bioscience and Sosei Group announced a strategic collaboration to discover therapeutic antibodies against G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCR, identified by Sosei Heptares. The collaboration will utilize Sosei Heptares' fully structurally enabled GPCR target proteins, isolated and stabilized using its proprietary StaR platform technology. Twist will leverage its proprietary antibody libraries, including two synthetic GPCR-focused antibody libraries, and apply its sophisticated bioinformatics approaches. Sosei Heptares will have exclusive, full global rights to develop and commercialize any antibody leads identified and directed to the targets of interest. Twist will be eligible for an upfront payment, ongoing R&D costs and future payments based on the achievement of predefined development milestones. No financial terms are disclosed.

07:42 EST Avalo Therapeutics to host virtual investor day on January 6 - Avalo Therapeutics announced it will host a virtual investor day that will be held on Thursday, January 6th from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET. Avalo's upcoming virtual Investor Day will include presentations from Michael Cola, Chief Executive Officer; Garry Neil, MD, Chief Scientific Officer; H. Jeffrey Wilkins, MD, Chief Medical Officer; and other members of Avalo's senior management team. The event will provide a comprehensive update on Avalo's lead programs and clinical-stage pipeline, including: Update on the Phase 1b proof-of-concept study of AVTX-002 in Crohn's disease, upcoming plans in ulcerative colitis and discuss the long-term product development plans, including new indications; Update for the AVTX-007 development program for multiple myeloma and adult-onset Still's disease; Update for the AVTX-803 development program for leukocyte adhesion deficiency type II; Update on the Company's other pipeline programs and outline of the Company's goals for fiscal year 2022.

07:41 EST Sosei Group enters agreement with Twist to discover, develop novel antibodies - Sosei Group (SOLTF) and Twist Bioscience Corporation (TWST) announced a strategic collaboration to discover therapeutic antibodies against G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) identified by Sosei Heptares. The collaboration will utilize Sosei Heptares' fully structurally enabled GPCR target proteins, isolated and stabilized using its proprietary StaR platform technology. Twist will leverage its proprietary antibody libraries, including two synthetic GPCR-focused antibody libraries, and apply its sophisticated bioinformatics approaches. Sosei Heptares will have exclusive, full global rights to develop and commercialize any antibody leads identified and directed to the targets of interest. Twist will be eligible for an upfront payment, ongoing R&D costs and future payments based on the achievement of predefined development milestones. No financial terms are disclosed. "We are pleased to partner with Sosei Heptares, a recognized leader in the stabilization of GPCR targets," said Emily Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. "We believe that by leveraging our target class specific GPCR antibody library along with our discovery and optimization capabilities, we will identify key antibody leads for further development by Sosei Heptares."

07:39 EST Singular Genomics launches the G4 sequencing platform - Singular Genomics Systems announced the commercial launch of the G4, the benchtop sequencer. The next-generation sequencing, NGC, platform features chemistry and advanced engineering to deliver accuracy, flexibility, speed and power for a range of applications. Orders for the G4 instrument and consumable kits are now being accepted, with shipments expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022. "The genomic tools and technologies developed over the last two decades have greatly improved our understanding of biology, advanced clinical diagnostics and empowered the development of novel therapies. Yet, real limitations remain, such as long run times, labor-intensive protocols, lack of run flexibility and high cost," said Drew Spaventa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Singular Genomics. "We listened to the sequencing community and developed a sequencing platform to solve real pain points for a broad set of customers. The G4 offers a combination of speed, power, versatility and flexibility unmatched in the market that will seamlessly integrate into any existing lab ecosystem, providing a true plug-and-play solution for both researchers and clinicians."

07:37 EST nCino selected by Armstrong Bank, to deploy Bank Operating System - nCino announced that Armstrong Bank will deploy the nCino Bank Operating System across multiple lines of business. The nearly $3B-asset sized community bank, with a footprint in Oklahoma and Arkansas, will move its business to a single digital platform. Armstrong will deploy multiple solutions on the nCino platform, including nCino's Commercial, Small Business and Retail Banking Solutions, as well as nCino's Deposit Account Opening Solution. "At Armstrong Bank, we take pride in knowing our customers and understanding their unique needs so that we can provide exceptional customer service," Armstrong Bank President Ryan Quidley said. "Partnering with nCino will offer our customers a seamless experience so that our bankers can serve our customers in an even more personalized manner going forward." Armstrong Bank continues to invest in its infrastructure, and technology, and the solutions on the nCino platform will help replace several products with an automated digital platform for its clients. nCino will also streamline account openings for the institution by incorporating automation and analytics into the process, reducing paperwork, and shortening the time it takes to open accounts to less than five minutes.

07:35 EST Emergent BioSolutions initiates of Phase 1 study of influenza vaccine candidate - Emergent BioSolutions announced the first participant dosed in its phase 1 study, EBS-UFV-001, evaluating the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the company's investigational universal influenza vaccine candidate. This current version of Emergent's universal influenza vaccine candidate contains multiple components intended to induce broad and supra-seasonal immunity against influenza A viruses. "Emergent remains focused on investing in our diverse portfolio of R&D programs targeting infectious disease and other public health threats," said Kelly Warfield, Ph.D., senior vice president, research and development at Emergent BioSolutions. "Initiating this phase 1 study demonstrates our commitment to advancing our pipeline and our research and development team's scientific prowess to adopt an innovative technology and investigate a potential vaccine candidate for a disease that affects millions every year." The goal of this single-center, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled dose-escalation study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate at two dose levels and two schedules in 60 healthy adult individuals aged 18 to 45. This phase 1 study, being conducted in Australia, is fully funded by Emergent.

07:32 EST Xoma announces CEO Neal appointed as chairman - XOMA Corporation announced the appointment of Jim Neal, Chief Executive Officer of XOMA, as Chairman of the Board. W. Denman Van Ness, who has served as XOMA's Chairman of the Board since 2011, will continue as Lead Independent Director. Under Neal's leadership, XOMA has established itself as royalty aggregator with a strong balance sheet. The Company also announced Neal has communicated his intention to position XOMA for its next phase of growth and retire from his operational role as Chief Executive at such time as his successor has been appointed. The Company plans to commence a search process led by Neal.

07:27 EST Delta CEO tells CNBC carrier has had 'really strong' close to the year - "The combination of stronger revenues coupled with a little bit of moderation in fuel prices is going to result in a profit for us," CEO Ed Bastian said on CNBC.

07:25 EST Delta Air Lines CEO says omicron to have 'some impact' on Q1 - CEO Ed Bastian tells CNBC that omicron may delay the return to office by a couple of months. He adds that masks are going to be "important for awhile yet."

07:22 EST Ares Management sells stake in Convergint to LGP, Harvest Partners - Ares Management announced that Leonard Green & Partners, or LGP, and funds managed by Harvest Partners, have purchased equity in Convergint from a fund managed by Ares' Private Equity Group and other existing shareholders. As a result of the transaction, Ares, LGP and Harvest will be financial partners with the company. Headquartered in Illinois, Convergint is a service-based systems integration company, working alongside a global network of partners and manufacturers to design, install and service security, fire alarm, life safety, audio-visual and building automation solutions for enterprise customers. Convergint maintains a global footprint with more than 7,100 colleagues in over 150 locations worldwide. With Ares' sponsorship, the company has experienced growth with revenue and EBITDA more than doubling since 2017.

07:20 EST Super League Gaming, LiveOne partner on multi-year, multi-even deal - LiveXLive, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LiveOne (LVO), and Super League Gaming (SLGG) announced that they have formed a strategic partnership to create experiences within the metaverse tied to LiveOne's music, lifestyle and pay-per-views events. "Together, the companies plan to offer fans and gamers alike opportunities to enjoy immersive 3D environments featuring exclusive content, unique virtual goods, NFTs, and gamified activities that drive increased affinity and socially-connected engagement," the companies said. Starting today, the two companies will work together to identify specific music and gaming events that can be activated in virtual spaces within some of the world's largest metaverse platform. Audiences of all ages will have the opportunity to experience music performances while also exploring a visual world. Within the LiveOne virtual metaplex will be multiple stages, special kiosks for purchasing merchandise, VIP rooms for avatar-based meet-and-greets, interactive competitions offering fun prizes, and more. Following active collaboration between the two companies, Super League will be responsible for the creation and management of the LiveOne metaverse environment, inclusive of user testing, ongoing user support, and regular updates that keep fans and players alert and engaged.

07:18 EST NewLake Capital Partners raises quarterly dividend 29% to 31c per share - NewLake Capital Partners announced that its board of directors has declared a fourth quarter 2021 cash dividend of $0.31 per share of common stock. The dividend is equivalent to an annualized dividend of $1.24 per common share, and is an approximate 29% increase over third quarter annualized dividend of $0.96 per common share. The dividends are payable on January 14, 2022 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 31, 2021.

07:17 EST GCM Mining announces intercepts from drilling programs at Segovia - GCM Mining announced multiple high-grade intercepts from the latest 130 diamond drill holes, totaling 30,714 meters, from the 2021 in-mine and near-mine drilling programs, as well as 28 diamond drill holes, totaling 6,946 meters, from the 2021 brownfield drilling programs at its Segovia Operations. The Company also announced the assay results from 8 additional kick-off diamond drill holes from the ongoing directional drilling program at the El Silencio Deep Zone. Significant high-grade intercepts from the latest drill results include: In-mine and near-mine drilling Sandra K: 138.25 g/t Au and 574.0 g/t Ag over 0.33 meters on the Sandra K Techo Vein; Sandra K: 120.77 g/t Au and 682.0 g/t Ag over 0.54 meters on the Sandra K Techo Vein; Chumeca: 26.89 g/t Au and 17.2 g/t Ag over 0.55 meters on the Chumeca Footwall Vein; El Silencio: 128.78 g/t Au and 43.7 g/t Ag over 0.30 meters on the Manto Vein; El Silencio: 28.20 g/t Au and 24.7 g/t Ag over 0.75 meters on the 450 Vein; El Silencio: 66.87 g/t Au and 12.9 g/t Ag over 0.74 meters on the Manto Vein; Providencia: 53.66 g/t Au and 26.1 g/t Ag over 0.46 meters on the Providencia Footwall Vein; Carla: 25.46 g/t Au with 24.6 g/t Ag over 0.39 meters on the La Gran Colombia Hanging-wall Vein. Brownfield drilling Vera: 1.83 g/t Au and 432.3 g/t Ag over 0.42 meters on the Lluvias Vein; Marmajito: 22.56 g/t Au and 21.8 g/t Ag over 0.54 meters on the Marmajito Vein.; Manzanillo: 41.22 g/t Au and 58.2 g/t Ag over 0.63 meters on the Manzanillo Vein; La Guarida: 62.34 g/t Au and 37.3 g/t Ag over 0.40 meters on the La Guarida Vein. The ongoing 2021 in-mine and near-mine infill and step-out drilling programs commenced in early January with four diamond drill rigs operating from purpose-built underground drill stations and comprise a total of approximately 40,000 meters, or about 67% of the total drilling program for this year. In-mine and near-mine infill and step-out drilling is focused on replacing the 2021 mining production and organic growth through resource and reserve expansion at the Company's core operating mines. The other 33% of the planned drilling campaign for 2021, which is focused on achieving new resources from the brownfield exploration targets encompassing the 24 veins within the Segovia mining title that are not currently in production, commenced in late 2020 at the Vera Project with one diamond drill rig operating from purpose-built surface drill stations. 100% of the total in-mine and near-mine drilling campaign for 2021 and approximately 50% of the brownfield exploration drilling campaign were completed by the end of October. GCM Mining currently has eight diamond drill rigs in operation at Segovia. Two rigs are carrying out resource definition in the Sandra K mine from one purpose-built surface platform and one underground drill station within the underground developments of the Sandra K mine; two rigs are operating from two purpose-built underground drill stations within the underground developments of the El Silencio mine testing the 450 and Manto veins from Level 38 and the National Vein from the Lejanias sector; one rig is operating from surface at Carla to follow-up the high-grade intercepts encountered at depth during the 2020 drilling campaign; two rigs are operating from surface on the La Guarida-Cristales Trend; and one rig is operating from surface at Vera testing the northeastern extension of the vein system and a soil gold anomaly.

07:15 EST MoneyLion to acquire Even Financial for $440M, sees accretion - MoneyLion announced that it has agreed to acquire Even Financial, the embedded finance marketplace. The transaction provides for total consideration to Even's equity holders of up to $440M, using a convertible financing structure that values MoneyLion at its initial public listing price of $10 per share. The transaction is expected to be accretive to MoneyLion's earnings with Even expected to add $90M of revenue and positive EBITDA in 2022. MoneyLion will pay a total purchase price of up to $440M to acquire Even, using a convertible financing structure that values MoneyLion at its initial public listing price of $10 per share, comprised of: a $360M upfront payment comprised of $15M in cash and $345M in preferred shares that are convertible into 34.5M MoneyLion common shares at $10 per share. Subject to the successful achievement of certain revenue targets, a potential earn-out of up to $80M, payable up to 8M in preferred shares valued at $10 per share. Unconverted preferred shares carry a 3% annual dividend payable in common equity or cash, at MoneyLion's discretion. Even employees will be subject to a lock-up of 12 months following closing of the transaction; all other Even shareholders will be subject to a lock-up until March 22, 2022. The transaction is expected to be accretive to MoneyLion's 2022 earnings. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions

07:14 EST ProQR Therapeutics doses first patients in Phase 2/3 trials of QR-421a - ProQR Therapeutics announced the first patients dosed in Phase 2/3 Sirius and Celeste clinical trials of investigational RNA therapy QR-421a for people with USH2A mediated retinitis pigmentosa and Usher syndrome.

07:12 EST Americas Gold and Silver provides production update for Cosala Operations - Americas Gold and Silver provided a brief update to production following the re-opening of the company's Cosala Operations. On December 1, the company announced the Los Braceros plant has returned to nameplate production. Since this date, the mill has seen steady production over the 15 days of the month. Averaging over 1,600 tonnes milled of ore per day. Approximate average mill feed grades of 55 g/t silver, 4.5% zinc and 1.9% lead The company will be providing details for December production and the continued ramp-up for the Cosala Operations in early January 2022. Starting in January 2022, the company expects to increase the throughput to an average of 1,800 tons per operating day. Initial production will focus on maximizing near-term free cash flow by mining high-grade zinc areas of the Main Zone which were fully developed prior to the illegal blockade. Over the course of the next six months, the mine will continue development into the Upper Zone, which carries silver grades approximately five to six times higher than the Main Zone. Mining the silver-rich areas of the Cosala Operations is expected to significantly increase silver production to over 2.5M ounces of silver per year.

07:11 EST Kaixin Auto announces intention order for 10,000 electric vehicles - Kaixin Auto Holdings announces that it has reached a strategic partnership agreement with Beijing Bujia International Logistics Limited, which agrees to order at least 10,000 new energy trucks from Kaixin in the next 5 years. The total dollar amount of this intention order is above $500M. Bujia is China's leading automotive new retail logistics and service terminals platform. Over the next 5 years, it plans to establish 300 automotive logistics transfer warehouses and 1,000 automotive terminal delivery centers. Bujia will integrate a fleet of more than 60,000 delivery trucks participating in its logistics operations, of which new energy trucks will account for no less than 30%.

07:10 EST Farmland Partners purchases over 8,000 acres in Louisiana - Farmland Partners finalized two farm purchases in eastern Louisiana, totaling more than 8,000 acres. The company now owns four farms and more than 17,000 acres in the state. The biggest of the two farms is in Avoyelles Parish and has 7,273 contiguous acres - 6,553 of which are tillable. The farm, which grows corn, cotton, rice, soybeans, and grain sorghum, was purchased for $25.1M. Additionally, a 732-acre farm in West Carroll Parish was acquired for $3.6M. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and sweet potatoes are grown on 689 acres of the land. Leases for the farms include cash rent and bonus rent and are expected to yield 3.5%-4% annually, assuming crop production and prices in line with recent historical production and crop prices on the acquired farmland.

07:10 EST Xeris Biopharma announces UK availability of Ogluo - Xeris Biopharma announced that its commercialization partner, Tetris Pharma has launched Ogluo in the United Kingdom and it is now available by prescription for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia in adults, adolescents, and children aged two years and over with diabetes mellitus. In July, Xeris announced a licensing agreement with Tetris for the commercialization of Ogluo in the European Union area, the UK, and Switzerland. Under the terms of the applicable agreements, Xeris is responsible for product supply and Tetris is responsible for the commercialization of Ogluo in the Territory, starting with the UK. Tetris aims for Ogluo to be launched in several countries across Europe during 2022.

07:09 EST Evofem and Orion Biotechnology collaborate to develop HIV prevention product - Evofem and Orion Biotechnology Canada have entered into a collaboration agreement to evaluate the compatibility and stability of Orion's novel CCR5 antagonist, OB-002, in Evofem's Phexxi vaginal gel with the goal of developing a Multipurpose Prevention Technology product candidate for indications including the prevention of HIV in women. There are limited methods available to prevent transmission of HIV, and no products are approved to simultaneously prevent pregnancy, STIs and HIV. This collaboration will focus on determining compatibility and stability of OB-002 in Phexxi and is expected to yield results in 3Q22. Assuming positive results, the companies will seek government and philanthropic funding for subsequent clinical trials of the MPT vaginal gel product candidate. In trials to date of Orion's novel CCR5 antagonist, OB-002 has demonstrated best-in-class in vitro potency. OB-002 was 100% effective in blocking transmission of HIV infection in a non-human primate model. A 15-subject Phase 1 study of vaginally administered OB-002 gel demonstrated that the OB-002 gel was safe and well tolerated, with no evidence of systemic absorption. Top-line data is expected from Evofem's pivotal Phase 3 trial for the prevention of chlamydia and gonorrhea in women in the second half of 2022.

07:07 EST Seres Therapeutics announces preliminary microbiome data analyses from ECO-RESET - Seres Therapeutics announced preliminary microbiome data analyses from the Phase 2b ECO-RESET study evaluating SER-287 in patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis, or UC. Following the topline clinical data readout in July, which noted that the SER-287 Phase 2b study did not achieve its primary endpoints, analysis of the microbiome data demonstrated the successful engraftment of SER-287 bacterial species. The company continues to conduct analyses on its SER-287 and SER-301 UC clinical stage programs to inform next steps for further development. Based on the SER-287 Phase 2b microbiome data analyses, engraftment of SER-287 bacteria was statistically significant in patients receiving SER-287 versus placebo. The magnitude and kinetics of engraftment were comparable to Seres' Phase 1b study. However, unlike the Phase 1b study, anticipated changes in disease-relevant metabolites post-administration with SER-287 in the Phase 2b study were not observed. Analysis of the genomic and metabolomic data characterizing the microbiome of SER-287 study participants at baseline and post dosing suggest potential biomarkers for inclusion in future development efforts. UC is a biologically and clinically heterogeneous disease and the company believes that a biomarker-based patient selection approach may enable future development to focus on individuals most amenable to a microbiome-based therapeutic intervention.

07:06 EST Wingstop names Donnie Upshaw as Chief People Officer - Wingstop announced the appointment of Donnie Upshaw to Chief People Officer. Donnie joined Wingstop in 2018 and most recently served as Senior Vice President of People.

07:05 EST Vertical Aerospace to begin trading on NYSE - Vertical Aerospace Group (EVTL) announced the closing of a business combination with Broadstone Acquisition Corp. (BSN). Vertical Aerospace Ltd.'s ordinary shares will begin December 16 under the ticker "EVTL" on the New York Stock Exchange.

07:05 EST In8bio provides update from ongoing Phase 1 trial of INB-100 - IN8bio provided an update from the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of INB-100, a donor-derived gamma-delta T cell therapeutic in development for patients with leukemia undergoing haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The three patients with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia, AML, treated to date demonstrate that allogeneic gamma-delta T cell therapy has a manageable toxicity profile with the potential for durable responses in high-risk patients. Haploidentical HSCT patients have high relapse rates of up to 50% at one-year post-treatment. All three of the INB-100 treated patients remain in remission with two patients in remission at 18 and 20 months, respectively. No treatment-related grade 3 or greater adverse events, infusion reactions or dose-limiting toxicities were observed. The trial continues to track these patients and enroll additional patients. "We believe that the encouraging early data from the first patients dosed in this clinical trial suggest the potential of gamma-delta T cells to offer a novel treatment option for patients with aggressive hematologic malignancies," said Trishna Goswami, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at IN8bio. "Multiple complete responses with durability greater than 1.5 years is especially promising for patients with high-risk leukemias, who have high rates of post-HSCT relapse. The absence of grade 3 or greater graft versus host disease 100 days post gamma-delta T cell infusion is also encouraging for an allogeneic therapy. We continue to enroll patients in this Phase 1 clinical trial and look forward to reporting additional data from this program in 2022."

07:04 EST Safe-T executives complete open market purchases of shares - Safe-T Group announced that subsequent to the filing of Safe-T's third quarter earnings results, members of its senior management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as well as its Chairman of the Board, completed open market stock purchases as an expression of their long-term confidence in the Company. In aggregate, executives have purchased over 180,000 shares during the trading window, between December 7 and December 13, 2021. Safe-T Group qualifies as a Foreign Private Issuer under U.S. securities laws and therefore its directors and executive officers are not subject to certain reporting obligations, including the filing of Statements of Changes of Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 4.

07:04 EST Safe-T executives complete open market purchases of shares - Safe-T Group announced that subsequent to the filing of Safe-T's third quarter earnings results, members of its senior management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as well as its Chairman of the Board, completed open market stock purchases as an expression of their long-term confidence in the Company. In aggregate, executives have purchased over 180,000 shares during the trading window, between December 7 and December 13, 2021. Safe-T Group qualifies as a Foreign Private Issuer under U.S. securities laws and therefore its directors and executive officers are not subject to certain reporting obligations, including the filing of Statements of Changes of Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 4.

07:03 EST Safe-T executives complete open market purchases of shares - Safe-T Group announced that subsequent to the filing of Safe-T's third quarter earnings results, members of its senior management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as well as its Chairman of the Board, completed open market stock purchases as an expression of their long-term confidence in the Company. In aggregate, executives have purchased over 180,000 shares during the trading window, between December 7 and December 13, 2021. Safe-T Group qualifies as a Foreign Private Issuer under U.S. securities laws and therefore its directors and executive officers are not subject to certain reporting obligations, including the filing of Statements of Changes of Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 4.

07:02 EST Biogen, Eisai expect to submit final protocol for Phase 4 ADUHELM study in March - Biogen Inc. (BIIB) and Eisai (ESALY) provided an important update on the continuing progress of the Phase 4 post-marketing confirmatory study of ADUHELM 100 mg/mL injection for intravenous use in Alzheimer's disease. The companies anticipate submitting the final protocol for review to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2022, with the initiation of patient screening in May 2022. The study is a post-marketing requirement of the FDA's accelerated approval and will be a global, placebo-controlled trial, aiming to enroll more than 1,300 early Alzheimer's disease patients, with a primary clinical endpoint at 18 months after treatment initiation. Based on enrollment rates from the previous Phase 3 trials with ADUHELM, the primary completion date is expected to be approximately four years after the study begins. The trial will also include a long-term extension to collect longer-term treatment data for up to 48 months. The companies will continue to work with FDA, external stakeholders and regulators in other geographies on the study design.

06:59 EST Delta Air Lines sees FY23 capital expenditures $5B-$5.5B - Sees FY23 ASMs 100% vs 2019. Sees FY23 NF CASM up low to mid-single digits. Sees FY23 fuel cost per gallon $2.20-$2.30. "As we look ahead, our priorities are strengthening our trusted consumer brand, restoring our financial performance and building a better future for our people and our planet," Bastian said. "Our ambition is to transcend the industry and create significant long-term value for our people and our owners. As reconnecting the world becomes more important than ever, we are accelerating our path to reshape and redefine air travel."

06:52 EST Spire Global deploys battery in orbit for U.S. Space Force SBIR program - Spire Global (SPIR) delivered a U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command payload to space aboard its 3U LEMUR CubeSat. The satellite has been operating nominally since July 2021 and is performing on-orbit experiments to collect payload performance data. SSC, through their Science and Technology Directorate, awarded Spire this mission under the Small Business Innovation Research program. Spire modified the power system of the satellite to integrate ZeroVolt 18650 battery cells provided by EnerSys (ENS). Through Spire's space-as-a-service model, in 12 months, Spire integrated the EnerSys ZeroVolt Lithium-ion battery cells into the nanosatellite and deployed it on orbit.

06:40 EST Cullinan updates Phase 1/2a data for lung cancer candidate CLN-081 - Cullinan Oncology reported updated data from the company's ongoing Phase 1/2a trial of CLN-081 in non-small cell lung cancer - NSCLC - patients whose tumors harbor epidermal growth factor receptor exon 20 insertion mutations that have progressed on or after prior therapy. The current analysis of the ongoing trial included a total of 73 NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations who received at least one dose of CLN-081 and were evaluable for safety as of the data cutoff. Of 36 response evaluable patients, 14 achieved a confirmed PR for a 39% confirmed response rate and one additional patient had a PR that was pending confirmation at the time of the data cut-off. The median duration of response was greater than15 months and the median progression free survival was 12 months in the initial cohort of phase 1 patients - N=13 -. Treatment related EGFR associated adverse event data for patients enrolled in the 100mg BID cohort: rash has been limited to Grade 1 and 2 events, with conventional supportive care and no patients have experienced Grade 3 or greater treatment-related rash; diarrhea has been limited to Grade 1 and 2 events. Cullinan is evaluating various doses of CLN-081 in a Phase 1/2a trial in patients with NSCLC harboring exon 20 mutations whose disease has progressed on or after prior therapy.

06:36 EST Matinas BioPharma approved to move into final cohort of EnACT Trial of MAT2203 - Matinas BioPharma announced that the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board of the EnACT trial has completed a prespecified review of the third cohort and unanimously recommended progression to the fourth and final cohort of patients. Enrollment in the next randomized EnACT cohort, with 40 active-treatment patients, is expected to begin early first quarter 2022.

06:35 EST Stem to acquire Also Energy Holdings for $695M - Stem and Also Energy Holdings, a provider of solar asset management software, have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Stem will acquire AlsoEnergy, in a stock and cash transaction, on a cash-free debt-free basis, for an aggregate purchase price of $695M, consisting of approximately 75% of the total consideration in cash and approximately 25% in Stem common stock. Founded in 2007, AlsoEnergy is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and provides performance, analytics, monitoring, and control solutions with 32.5 GW of solar assets under management across more than 50 countries. AlsoEnergy contracts with and serves multiple stakeholders in the solar ecosystem. In 2020, AlsoEnergy generated approximately $49M in revenue and 60% gross margin across its software, grid edge monitoring, controls, and services businesses. Stem will bring its AI-driven approach to AlsoEnergy's software to increase efficiencies for customers. The cash portion of the transaction consideration, which is subject to customary working capital adjustments, will be paid entirely from existing cash on Stem's balance sheet. The transaction is expected to close in 1Q22.

06:34 EST Medtronic, LifeTech further collaboration on domestic pacemaker project - LifeTech Scientific announced that it has extended its agreements with Medtronic to further the strategic collaboration on the "HeartTone domestic pacemaker project" and to start the collaboration on domestically-made MRI-conditional pacemakers. Together with MRI-conditional leads, these products will address growing MRI-related therapeutic needs in China. The agreements also include the extension of the partnership on the "HeartTone domestic pacemaker project" to 2028. Similar to its collaboration on the first generation of HeartTone pacemakers, Medtronic will provide a series of specialized technical consulting services for the MRI-conditional products project.

06:31 EST Aerie Pharmaceuticals names Raj Kannan as CEO - Aerie Pharmaceuticals announced that Raj Kannan will join the company as CEO and a director, effective December 20. Prior to joining Aerie, Raj was the CEO and President of Chiasma.

06:11 EST Clean Energy announces additional renewable gas contracts - Clean Energy (CLNE) announced additional fuel and infrastructure contracts to meet the demand for renewable natural gas. In the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as part of Clean Energy's Adopt-a-Port program with Chevron (CVX), Chevron has committed to provide a total of $28M of financing to trucking companies serving the ports region as well as owner-operators to purchase new RNG heavy-duty trucks. Pacific Green Trucking signed a fueling agreement with Clean Energy for an estimated 1 million gallons of RNG to power 61 new natural gas trucks. Republic Services has signed an agreement with Clean Energy for an expansion project in Huntington Beach, CA. Other projects in which Clean Energy has been contracted include: the Republic Services RNG fueling facility in Anaheim, CA; Harrison Industries in Ventura, CA; Golden Empire Transit in Bakersfield, CA; Salem Area Mass Transit District in Oregon; MV Transit in Long Beach, CA; the County of Sacramento; the Dallas Area Rapid Transit; Blue Diamond Disposal, a refuse and recycling company located in Mount Arlington, NJ; the Atlantic County Utilities Authority; the City of Tacoma, WA; the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority in Ohio; Atlantic City Jitney Association; Green Path Logistics, a nationwide carrier in Dallas, TX; the City of Temple, TX; the City of London, Ontario, in Canada.

06:05 EST Xiaobai Maimai changes name to Akso Health - Akso Health (AHG), formerly known as Xiaobai Maimai (HX), announced that the company will update its name and ticker symbol on Nasdaq, effective at the start of trading on December 16.

06:03 EST Amazon to reduce its cut of Alexa skill developer revenue starting in 2022 - Amazon will reduce its Alexa skills commission to 20% from 30% for developers who earn less than $1M per year, starting in 2Q22, the company said in a blog post. "As part of the Alexa Skill Developer Accelerator Program, we are increasing revenue share for Alexa Skill developers that earn less than $1 million in revenue to 80/20, starting in Q2 2022. This increase is based on the previous calendar year aggregate revenue from In-Skill Purchasing, subscriptions and Paid Skill purchases across a developer's Skills. In addition to increasing the portion of revenue share paid to developers that earn less than $1 million in revenue, next year we'll be rolling out new benefits to help developers generate traffic and increase skill visibility. These benefits could be worth up to an additional 10 percent of a developer's potential revenue under the program - bringing the total potential program benefits for developers that earn less than $1 million up to 90 percent." Reference Link

05:57 EST Arrival Group reveals first finished prototype of Arrival Car - Arrival (ARVL) revealed the first finished prototype of the Arrival Car. The Arrival Car has been designed specifically for the ride hailing industry to give the best possible experience for both drivers and passengers. To achieve this, Arrival has created a vehicle that has leg room twice as large as that of an average car of the same length. The Arrival Car prioritizes cost, uptime, driver comfort, safety, and convenience, given an average ride-hail vehicle will on average drive 45,000-50,000 km a year, versus 12,000km, for a typical vehicle. Arrival has been able to develop the Car alongside ride-hailing drivers from Uber (UBER) in just over six months. Arrival vehicles are designed from the ground-up and vertically integrated using a new method of design and production using microfactories. Arrival will now commence testing of the car and will incorporate the feedback into the next design phase.

05:34 EST Novavax announces Takeda submits COVID-19 vaccine NDA to MHLW in Japan - Novavax (NVAX) announced the submission of a new drug application, or NDA, to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, or MHLW, in Japan for its COVID-19 vaccine by its partner Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK). Novavax' recombinant nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine with Matrix-M adjuvant, known as TAK-019 in Japan and NVX-CoV2373 outside Japan, is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be submitted under an NDA in Japan.

05:29 EST Celyad doses first patient in KEYNOTE-B79 trial - Celyad announced the first patient was dosed in the KEYNOTE-B79 Phase 1b trial.

05:24 EST Novartis to initiate $15B share buyback - Novartis (NVS) announced that it will initiate a share buyback of up to $15B to be executed by the end of 2023. The buyback is funded through the proceeds from the recent sale of 53.3M Roche (RHHBY) bearer shares. The share buy-back will be executed on the second trading line, is expected to commence in the coming days and to conclude by the end of 2023.

05:19 EST Zealand Pharma enrolls last patient in glepaglutide trial - Zealand Pharma has enrolled the last patient required for the planned interim analysis of its pivotal Phase 3 trial, EASE-SBS 1, of glepaglutide the company's long-acting GLP-2 analog, under evaluation for the potential treatment of short bowel syndrome.

05:10 EST NXP Semiconductors enters strategic partnership with Foxconn subsidiary - NXP Semiconductors has announced a strategic partnership with Foxconn Industrial, a subsidy company of Foxconn, to transform the car into the ultimate edge device. NXP will provide FII with its portfolio of automotive technologies. The initial phase of the joint project will focus on the development of a full digital cockpit solution, based on the NXP i.MX 8 QuadMax. The platform will include digital clusters, and a head-up display, or HUD, system, which will enable leading global automotive OEMs and Tier Ones to deliver in-vehicle experiences for their customers. The digital cockpit solution is expected to start mass production in 2023. The companies aim to expand the relationship into UWB-based secure car access, and safe automated driving, augmented by NXP's radar solutions.