Stockwinners Market Radar for December 22, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:38 EST JD.com falls 7% after disclosing that Tencent will reduce its stake to 2.3% - JD.com (JD) "announced that Martin Chiping Lau, who has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company and a member of the compensation committee thereof since March 2014, has retired from the Company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. In addition, the Company is aware that Tencent Holdings (TCEHY), that currently owns indirectly approximately 17.0% of the Company's outstanding shares, announced that it will distribute approximately 460M Class A ordinary shares of the Company owned by Tencent to its shareholders. Immediately following the distribution, Tencent's shareholding in the Company will be approximately 2.3%, and the shareholders of Tencent who receive shares of the Company in the distribution will become the shareholders of the company. The company and Tencent will continue to maintain their mutually beneficial business relationship, including their ongoing strategic partnership agreement." Shares of JD.com ended the after-hours session down 6.9% at $68.66.

20:19 EST Four Corners Property Trust acquires Express Oil Change properties for $4.6M - Four Corners Property Trust "announces the acquisition of two Express Oil Change properties for $4.6M. The properties are located in highly trafficked corridors in Mississippi and both leases are with the corporate entity. The transaction was priced at a 6.3% going-in cash capitalization rate, exclusive of transaction costs."

19:12 EST Nikola up 7% afterhours following tweet that it made deliveries of Tre truck - Shares of Nikola are up 6.9% after-hours at $10.05 per share after a tweet from the company indicated that its "first customer delivery (is) done and more to come". Reference Link

18:44 EST Paychex CEO: We're seeing a near record retention of our clients - Martin Mucci is speaking in an interview on CNBC's Mad Money.

18:15 EST Preferred Bank raises quarterly dividend 13.2% to 43c per share - Preferred Bank reported that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 43c per share, payable on January 21, 2022 to holders of record on January 7, 2022. This dividend represents an increase of 13.2% over the previous dividend level of 38c per share. Chairman and CEO Li Yu commented, "We are very pleased to increase the dividend as it is a direct reflection of the strong performance of the Bank through the pandemic year."

17:56 EST Rocket Lab to redeem all outstanding warrants - Rocket Lab announced that "it will redeem all of its outstanding public warrants to purchase shares of the Company's common stock that were issued under the Warrant Agreement, dated as of September 24, 2020, by and among Rocket Lab USA, and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as original warrant agent, as amended by and assigned to and assumed by the Company, pursuant to that certain Amendment to Warrant Agreement, dated August 25, 2021, by and among Rocket Lab USA, Inc., Continental, and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as successor warrant agent, as part of the units sold in the Company's initial public offering and that remain outstanding at 5:00 p.m. New York City time on January 21, 2022 for a redemption price of $0.10 per Public Warrant. In addition, the Company will redeem all of its outstanding warrants to purchase Common Stock that were issued under the Warrant Agreement in a private placement simultaneously with the IPO (he "Private Placement Warrants" and, together with the Public Warrants, the on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants." Shares of Rocket Lab are down 4.5% after-hours following resumption of trade.

17:28 EST Tesla CEO Musk tweets 'still few tranches left' in his stock sales - Replying to TESMANIAN article that he has hit his prior set target of selling around 10% of his shares, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted: "When the 10b preprogrammed sales complete. There are still a few tranches left, but almost done." Reference Link

17:25 EST Raytheon Technologies subsidiary awarded $146.79M Air Force delivery order - Goodrich Corps., as part of Collins Aerospace and Raytheon Technologies, has been awarded a $146.79M delivery order to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract FA8620-18-D-3014 for multi-spectral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors through the Tactical Reconnaissance Pod Program MS-110 Phase 1b. This contract provides for production, manufacturing, and testing of the new reconnaissance pod systems. Work will be performed in Westford, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by November 30, 2025. This contract involves 100 percent Foreign Military Sales to Taiwan and is the result of a sole source acquisition. FMS funds in the amount of $146.79M are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle is the contracting activity.

17:18 EST Raytheon Technologies awarded $218.16M Navy contract modification - Raytheon Technologies was awarded a $218.16M cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price incentive modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification adds scope to procure long-lead items in support of Lot 16 propulsion systems for F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales, or FMS, customers, and Non-U.S. Department of Defense, or DOD, participants. Work is expected to be completed in December 2024. FY21 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $66.81M; FY21 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $56.56M; FMS funds in the amount of $43.87M; and non-U.S. DoD participant funds in the amount of $50.91M will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.

17:12 EST Northrop Grumman awarded $353.58M Navy contract modification - Northrop Grumman was awarded a $353.58M fixed-price incentive modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification provides for the production and delivery of three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft for the government of France. Work is expected to be completed April 2027. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $353.58M will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.

17:04 EST Agnico Eagle to reduce workforce at Nunavut due to rising Covid cases - Agnico Eagle is "providing an update related to an increase in COVID-19 cases at its Nunavut operations. Since December 18, 2021, there has been a total of 13 presumptive cases at the company's Meliadine, Meadowbank and Hope Bay operations. The health and safety protocols set by the company since the beginning of the pandemic have remained in place at the company's Nunavut operations. Given the increased spread and transmissibility of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the company is taking precautionary steps to further protect the continued health of its Nunavut work force and local residents in the communities in which it operates. Effective immediately, the company, in collaboration with the Nunavut public health authorities, has decided to send home the Nunavut based workforce from the Meliadine, Meadowbank and Hope Bay operations as well as its Nunavut exploration projects. All Nunavummiut workers currently on site will be sent home and those that are currently off-site will not return to work at this time for a period of at least three weeks. These employees will continue to receive their remuneration during this period. In addition, Agnico Eagle will be meeting with its Nunavut contractors to discuss implementing similar measures for their Nunavummiut workforce. The company has increased testing protocols at all its Nunavut operations for remaining workers. Over the next several days, the company will gradually reduce the remaining workforce and activity levels at its Nunavut operations. This reduction in activity is expected to last for the remainder of 2021 and there is expected to be minimal production over this period. The company is also reassessing its existing protocols in preparation for a resumption of activities expected in early 2022."

16:47 EST Zscaler officer Rajic sells $7.9M in company shares - Officer of Zscaler Dalibor Rajic disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had sold 25,000 shares of company stock at $314.38 per share on December 21, for a total transaction value of $7,859,478.

16:37 EST TransAlta announces 300 MW White Rock Wind Project - TransAlta announced that it has entered into two long-term Power Purchase Agreements for the offtake of 100% of the generation from its 300 MW White Rock East and White Rock West Wind Power Projects to be located in Caddo County, Oklahoma. Contracting the renewable electricity and environmental attributes to an outstanding new customer with an AA credit rating from S&P Global Ratings enables TransAlta to move into the construction phase and add the 300 MW White Rock Wind Project to its growing wind generation fleet. The White Rock Wind Project will consist of a total of 51 Vestas turbines with construction expected to begin in late 2022 and a target commercial operation date in the second half of 2023. TransAlta will construct, operate and own the facility. Total construction capital is estimated at approximately $460M to $470M and is expected to be financed with existing liquidity and tax equity. Over 90% of the project costs are captured under executed fixed price turbine supply agreements with Vestas and executed fixed price engineering, procurement, and construction agreements with M.A. Mortenson Company. The project is expected to generate total annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of approximately $44M including production tax credits. It is expected that the White Rock Wind Project will remain a TransAlta project.

16:35 EST Rocket Lab USA trading resumes

16:32 EST Dole recalls salads processed in NC, AZ facilities over possible listeria - Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc., is voluntarily recalling from the market all Dole-branded and private label packaged salads processed at its Bessemer City, NC and its Yuma, AZ production facilities due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. and is also temporarily suspending operations at both facilities to conduct an extensive cleaning and sanitation protocol. Products subject to the voluntary recall are identified by a product lot code beginning with the either the letter "N" or "Y" in the upper right-hand corner of the package (see examples below) and will have a "Best if Used By" date between November 30, 2021, and January 8, 2022. Consumers who still have any of these products in their refrigerators are urged not to consume the product and to discard it immediately. This suspension of operations and recall are being performed voluntarily by Dole out of an abundance of caution, in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The decision to suspend operations and recall all products from these facilities was made after analyzing the strain of Listeria monocytogenes isolated in a single package of Dole-branded Garden Salad produced in the Bessemer City facility and a single package of shredded iceberg lettuce produced in the Yuma, AZ facility. Both of those items were randomly sampled by the state of Georgia and the state of Michigan, respectively, and were a genetic match with a strain of Listeria monocytogenes which FDA and CDC believe is responsible for sixteen illnesses since 2014.

16:23 EST SciPlay special committee 'disappointed' over Scientific Games deal termination - A special committee of independent directors of SciPlay Corporation (SCPL) announced that discussions between the Special Committee and Scientific Games Corporation (SGMS) regarding Scientific Games' proposal to acquire the outstanding publicly traded shares of SciPlay have terminated. In July of 2021, Scientific Games made a proposal to acquire the 19% equity interest in SciPlay it does not currently own at a price of 0.250 shares of Scientific Games for each share of SciPlay. The Special Committee, working closely together with its financial advisor, Lazard, and its legal counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, conducted a careful review of the terms of Scientific Games' proposal and analysis of SciPlay's anticipated financial performance and growth prospects. Based on its review and analysis, the Special Committee rejected Scientific Games' initial proposal, and actively engaged with Scientific Games to negotiate terms that it believed better reflects the value of SciPlay. However, the Special Committee and Scientific Games have been unable to reach an agreement on a transaction between SciPlay and Scientific Games, and discussions between Special Committee and Scientific Games regarding a potential transaction have terminated. "Although the Special Committee is disappointed that it and Scientific Games were not able to reach an agreement, both the Special Committee and Scientific Games remain firm in their support of SciPlay's leading platform of digital games, as well as their belief that SciPlay is at an inflection point and positioned for significant growth," the committeesaid.

16:16 EST Delek US announces partial sale program of Delek Logistics Partners units - Delek US Holdings (DK) has commenced a program to sell up to 434,590 common limited partner units in Delek Logistics Partners, LP (DKL) over the next three months in open market transactions conducted pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The company said, "The program is intended to monetize a portion of the current 80% ownership DK maintains in DKL and highlight the tangible value of this ownership that we believe is not currently reflected in the DK stock price. Simultaneously, we believe additional liquidity and float will ultimately benefit DKL unitholders through improved trading volumes and increasing the pool of potential investors. Management will continue to seek opportunities to monetize incremental units over time with a focus on protecting DKL unitholders and the remaining ownership stake."

16:15 EST Microbot Medical initiates search for clinical sites for Liberty Robotic System - Microbot Medical announced that it has and will continue to implement key initiatives that will prepare the Liberty Robotic System for commercialization. In conjunction with recently announced design freeze, Eyal Morag, Microbot's chief medical officer, traveled to the United States to establish a clinical infrastructure with multiple sites and physicians for the commencement of a human clinical trial, which is expected to commence in the second half of 2022.

16:15 EST Minim announces CFO Sean Doherty leaving for career with privately-held company - Minim announced that Sean Doherty will be transitioning from his role as Chief Financial Officer to pursue a new career opportunity with a privately-held company. His resignation is not the result of any dispute or disagreement with the company. Mr. Doherty is committed to an orderly transition of his duties and will stay with the company through March 31.

16:11 EST PotlatchDeltic acquires Loutre Land and Timber Company - PotlatchDeltic "announced a merger with Loutre Land and Timber Company. PotlatchDeltic issued 1.96M shares of common stock and assumed debt of $6.6M in exchange for Loutre's 51,340 acres of high-quality, well-stocked timberlands in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana."

16:10 EST FDA accepts Arcutis Biotherapeutics' NDA for roflumilast for psoriasis - Arcutis Biotherapeutics announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's acceptance for review of the company's new drug application for roflumilast cream for the treatment of psoriasis in adults and adolescents. The FDA assigned the application a Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date of July 29. "With the FDA commencing a review of our NDA filing, we move one step closer to potentially providing a new topical treatment to the millions of Americans living with plaque psoriasis who have limited options beyond steroidal treatments," said Frank Watanabe, President and CEO of Arcutis. "We are proud to be addressing some of the most persistent medical challenges for individuals with serious skin disease and have assembled a strong team that is preparing to commercialize our first product, roflumilast cream, once approved. We look forward to working closely with the FDA during the review process." Roflumilast cream is a once-daily topical formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 4, an enzyme that drives overactive immune responses. PDE4 is an established target in dermatology.

16:05 EST Novavax announces initial omicron data from COVID-19 vaccine booster - Novavax announced initial data evaluating the immune response of its COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, against the omicron variant as well as additional data from its ongoing Phase 2 boost study. New results demonstrate broad cross-reactivity against omicron and other circulating variants from a primary 2-dose regimen, with responses that increased following a third dose at six months. Immune responses included the following: Anti-spike IgG titers after Dose 3 increased 5.4-fold (prototype) to 9.3-fold (omicron) from peak responses seen after 2-dose primary vaccination. This represents a 61.1-fold (prototype) and a 73.5-fold (omicron) increase from prior to the Dose 3 boost. ACE2-inhibition titers increased 6-fold (prototype) to 19.9-fold (omicron) compared to peak responses following 2-dose primary series, representing a 54.4-fold (prototype), a 24.4-fold (delta) and a 36.3-fold (omicron) increase from prior to the booster. Wild-type neutralization responses were observed after 2 doses for prototype, delta and omicron. Significant increases were observed after boosting, with titers for delta and omicron comparable to levels associated with protection in U.S. and Mexico and U.K. Phase 3 studies. After 2 doses, omicron wild-type neutralization was less than4-fold lower than prototype, suggesting that both a booster dose as well as an omicron-specific vaccine may be beneficial. Further, data from the pediatric expansion of Novavax' PREVENT-19 Phase 3 trial in the U.S. and Mexico showed robust immune responses in adolescents, including increased IgG and receptor inhibition titers against a wide array of variants, including omicron, following a 2-dose series. Responses in adolescents were 2- to 4-fold higher than adults against all evaluated variants. "In the midst of an evolving pandemic, NVX-CoV2373 showed strong immune responses against omicron and other circulating variants. We are encouraged that boosted responses against all variants were comparable to those associated with high vaccine efficacy in our Phase 3 clinical trials, suggesting that NVX-CoV2373 can play an important role in the ongoing fight against new variants," said Gregory Glenn, President of Research and Development, Novavax. "Given the continued evolution of the coronavirus, the development of an omicron vaccine could be necessary. Novavax has cloned, expressed and characterized the omicron spike protein vaccine and will soon enter the GMP-phase of production. We expect to begin clinical studies in the first quarter of 2022."

16:01 EST Rocket Lab USA trading halted, news pending

15:13 EST Reliance Global Group Inc trading resumes

15:03 EST Reliance Global Group Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

14:21 EST Amazon says Zoom now available on Fire TV Omni Series - Amazon (AMZN) said that Fire TV customers in the U.S. and Canada can now use Zoom (ZM) on their Fire TV Omni Series. "You can now start and join Zoom Meetings from the biggest screen in your home," the company said in a blog post. Users need a Fire TV Omni Series of any size, Amazon noted. Reference Link

13:41 EST North American rail traffic dropped 4.3% in week ended December 18 - The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 18. Total carloads for the week ending December 18 were 234,704 carloads, up 1.7% compared with the same week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 269,395 containers and trailers, down 6.9% compared to 2020.North American rail volume for the week ending December 18 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 331,416 carloads, down 1.1% compared with the same week last year, and 349,986 intermodal units, down 7% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 681,402 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.3%. North American rail volume for the first 50 weeks of 2021 was 34,480,405 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.8% compared with 2020. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), FreightCar America (RAIL), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link

13:01 EST Disney appoints Horacio Gutierrez as general counselSpotify - Horacio Gutierrez has been named Senior EVP, General Counsel and Secretary of The Walt Disney Company (DIS). Gutierrez joins Disney from Spotify (SPOT), where he has served as Head of Global Affairs and CLO. His appointment is effective February 1, 2022, and he will report directly to CEO Bob Chapek. Gutierrez will succeed longtime Disney veteran Alan Braverman who, as was announced in July, is retiring after nearly two decades as General Counsel.

12:40 EST Discovery confirms European Commission approval of WarnerMedia deal - Discovery, Inc. (DISCA) announced that the European Commission has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of the company's proposed acquisition of AT&T Inc.'s (T) WarnerMedia business. "Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T," said David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, and the future CEO of the combined company. "Today we move one important step closer to creating Warner Bros. Discovery, a premier entertainment company that will be one of the world's leading investors in premium content and one positioned to serve consumers with what we believe will be the most complete content offering under one roof." Discovery currently anticipates the closing of the WarnerMedia transaction to occur in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery stockholders and additional customary closing conditions, including other regulatory approvals. No approval is required by AT&T stockholders.

12:23 EST Pfizer says ready to deliver Paxlovid immediately with FDA authorization - Pfizer announced that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of Paxlovid tablets for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death. Pfizer said it "stands ready to start delivery in the U.S. immediately." In November, Pfizer announced an agreement with the U.S. government to supply 10M treatment courses of Paxlovid, with delivery fulfillment expected to be completed in 2022.

12:12 EST FDA authorizes Pfizer oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment

12:00 EST Hagerty falls -10.6% - Hagerty is down -10.6%, or -$1.63 to $13.81.

12:00 EST ForgeRock rises 13.1% - ForgeRock is up 13.1%, or $2.95 to $25.53.

12:00 EST Boxed rises 15.5% - Boxed is up 15.5%, or $1.50 to $11.17.

11:48 EST Celcuity trading resumes

11:34 EST Skillsoft to acquire Codecademy for $525M in cash and stock - Skillsoft earlier today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Codecademy, an online learning platform for technical skills, for approximately $525M in cash and stock. Following the close of the transaction, the Codecademy team will join Skillsoft to help further build out their technical skills training solution for learners globally. "Codecademy will significantly expand Skillsoft's capabilities in the high-growth Tech & Dev segment. Strategic acquisitions are an important part of our growth strategy. We acquired virtual instructor-led training capabilities with Global Knowledge and coaching with Pluma earlier this year. With the addition of Codecademy's innovative capabilities, we will create an even more immersive online learning experience. When we combine Skillsoft's enterprise customer base of more than 12,000 corporate customers and over 46 million learners with Codecademy's 40 million learners, sophisticated digital marketing capability and influential brand, we expect to unlock significant revenue synergies," said Jeffrey Tarr, CEO of Skillsoft. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Codecademy shareholders will receive total consideration of approximately $525M. The consideration for the transaction is approximately 40% cash and 60% equity. In connection with the transaction, Skillsoft has secured committed financing from Barclays and Citigroup. The company expects pro-forma net leverage at closing to be approximately 4x, consistent with Skillsoft's previous statements regarding leverage following a transformative acquisition. "Codecademy is expected to deliver approximately $47M in bookings and approximately $42M in revenue for the calendar year ended December 31, 2021, up 23% and 31%, respectively, over the prior year. Codecademy is entirely a SaaS business and is expected to deliver gross margins of more than 85% in 2021 and be accretive to Skillsoft's gross margin immediately upon closing. Codecademy is investing to fuel growth and, accordingly, is expected to generate negative EBITDA of approximately $20M in 2021. Skillsoft expects it will accelerate Codecademy's growth in its first year of ownership and that the acquisition will be accretive to EBITDA over the long term," the company added. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022, subject to approval by Skillsoft shareholders, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the receipt of regulatory approvals, including the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

11:04 EST Milestone Scientific announces purchase agreement for CompuFlo, CathCheck - Milestone Scientific reported, that following a trial, it has signed an agreement for the purchase of its CompuFlo Epidural and CathCheck Verification System disposables with a Northeast teaching hospital.

10:39 EST Users reporting issues with Amazon Web Services, says DownDetector - Reference Link

10:31 EST Huadi International Group Company Ltd trading resumes

10:26 EST Huadi International Group Company Ltd trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:20 EST Jowell Global Ltd trading resumes

10:07 EST CMS expands Medicare coverage for CGMs with Medtronic insulin pumps - Medtronic announced that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will expand Medicare coverage for all types of continuous glucose monitors, including adjunctive and non-adjunctive CGMs. This includes CGMs that integrate with Medtronic insulin pumps. The proposed rule was finalized on December 21, 2021 and will be effective starting 60 days after official publication.

10:00 EST Hagerty falls -10.9% - Hagerty is down -10.9%, or -$1.68 to $13.76.

10:00 EST Titan International rises 6.2% - Titan International is up 6.2%, or 47c to $8.06.

10:00 EST Vertical Aerospace rises 14.0% - Vertical Aerospace is up 14.0%, or $1.28 to $10.43.

09:55 EST Society Pass Inc trading resumes

09:50 EST Broadstone Acquisition Corp trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:49 EST US Hybrid receives $5.5M purchase order from Global Environmental Products - US Hybrid announced a $5.5M purchase order from Global Environmental Products for additional battery powertrain kits for electric street sweepers for California's largest fleet operator, with delivery of the order expected to occur during 2022. The battery electric powertrain kits in this new purchase order will include the battery, powertrain, charger, economizer, and telematics.

09:47 EST Mister Car Wash falls -7.1% - Mister Car Wash is down -7.1%, or -$1.27 to $16.59.

09:47 EST Rockley Photonics falls -12.9% - Rockley Photonics is down -12.9%, or -68c to $4.60.

09:47 EST Local Bounti rises 6.0% - Local Bounti is up 6.0%, or 36c to $6.39.

09:44 EST iSpecimen Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:39 EST NHTSA opens investigation into Tesla video game feature - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has started a probe into Tesla vehicles equipped with a feature allowing drivers to play games on a dashboard touch screen while in motion, according to a document filed on the agency's website. "This functionality, referred to as 'Passenger Play,' may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash," the agency said. Reference Link

09:33 EST Borqs Technologies enters five-year strategic cooperation agreement with Cheyin - Borqs Technologies announced that the Company has entered into a five year Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Cheyin Intelligent Technologies, an intelligent vehicle solutions provider for automobile OEMs, including vehicle interactive system development, services based on advanced artificial intelligence technologies. Borqs and Cheyin's cooperation plans to develop the smart digital cockpit market by deploying Qualcomm's integrated and scalable automotive solutions, including but not limited to the R&D and manufacturing of In-Vehicle-Infotainment systems, intelligent cockpit systems, intelligent assisted driving systems and other products based on the Qualcomm technology platform.

09:31 EST Atossa Therapeutics begins enrollment of Phase 2 study of oral endoxifen - Atossa Therapeutics announces that it has initiated enrollment of its Phase 2 clinical study of oral Z-Endoxifen in Sweden. Participants in the study will be premenopausal women with elevated mammographic breast density, which is an emerging public health issue affecting more than 10 million women in the United States and many more worldwide. The study, known as the Karisma-Endoxifen study, is a Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-response study of Atossa's proprietary oral Z-Endoxifen in healthy premenopausal women with measurable breast density. The primary objective of the study is to determine the dose-response relationship of daily oral Z-Endoxifen on breast density reduction. Secondary endpoints will assess safety and tolerability, and the trial includes an exploratory endpoint to assess durability of the breast density changes. It will be conducted at the South General Hospital in Stockholm, and will include approximately 240 participants who will receive daily doses of oral Z-Endoxifen or placebo for six months. The study is being led by principal investigator Per Hall, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet.

09:27 EST iBio announces partial adjournment of annual meeting to January 31 - iBio announced that it has adjourned its 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders with respect to Proposals 4 and 5. The Company partially adjourned the Annual Meeting on December 9, 2021 with respect to Proposal 4 and Proposal 5 to allow those stockholders who hold approximately 40% of the unvoted shares more time to vote. iBio subsequently received additional votes "FOR" the proposals, as well as support from a number of shareholders who changed their "against" votes. Given that voting is still trending in favor of these proposals, the Company has adjourned the reconvened Annual Meeting to provide its shareholders additional time to vote. The Annual Meeting will resume with respect to Proposal 4 and 5 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on January 31, 2022.

09:26 EST Adial Pharmaceuticals completes private placement of common stock - Adial Pharmaceuticals announced that it has received the balance of $720,000 due from the $800,000 private placement previously disclosed by the Company on November 10, 2021. The shares of common stock sold in the Offering were priced at $4.00 per share and a total of 200,000 shares were purchased in the Offering. The Offering was fully subscribed. The Shares were purchased pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement by Bespoke Growth Partners, a long-time strategic investor in Adial. Bespoke is controlled by Adial's CSO Mark Peikin. The payment of the balance of funds due was triggered by Securities and Exchange Commission's December 16, 2021, Notice of Effectiveness of the Form S-3 Registration Statement registering the Shares.

09:23 EST Generation Mining secures $240M stream with Wheaton Precious Metals - Generation Mining is pleased to announce that it has agreed to enter into a definitive Precious Metal Purchase Agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals in respect to the Marathon Palladium Copper project in Northwestern Ontario. The Marathon PMPA becoming effective is subject to the closing of Gen Mining's acquisition of the remaining 16.5% interest in the Marathon Project from Sibanye Stillwater. Pursuant to the PMPA, Wheaton will pay Gen Mining a total upfront cash consideration of C$240M, C$40M of which will be paid on an early deposit basis prior to construction to be used for development of the Marathon Project, with the remainder payable in four staged installments during construction, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied.

09:20 EST Digital Ally subsidiary TicketSmarter announces agreement with Gannett - Digital Ally (DGLY) announces TicketSmarter, a subsidiary of Digital Ally, is integrating its ticket resale platform and branding with Gannett Co. (GCI) across USATODAY.com, USA TODAY NETWORK's 250+ local media sites and more than 70 vertical sports sites that reach over 145 million visitors each month. "In a first-of-its-kind agreement, TicketSmarter will provide visitors with an intuitive way to access information and tickets for sport, entertainment, and lifestyle events on its safe and secure platform. Integration across local media sites is currently underway and readers can access tickets directly from drop-down menus across the Sports and Entertainment sites," the company said. Reference Link

09:18 EST Dyadic International announces NIIMBL grant under White House's ARP - Dyadic International announced it is the recipient of one of thirty-two project grants awarded by the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, NIIMBL, funded through the White House's American Rescue Plan, ARP. Under the NIIMBL grant, Dyadic will receive up to $690,000 in funding to engineer the Company's proprietary and patented C1 thermophilic fungal protein production platform to produce two different antibodies. "We are honored to have been selected by NIIMBL to receive this grant and to further leverage Dyadic's C1-cell protein production platform to help the nation prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus and other public health threats. The grant provides us with the opportunity, among other attributes, to further demonstrate to academia, industry, and governmental agencies the rapid speed at which we can develop stable C1 expressing cell lines to produce antibodies as compared to traditional cell lines, such as Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. We look forward to moving this project forward in the new year," said Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic's President and Chief Executive Officer.

09:16 EST Exela Technologies announces renewal of agreement with HCM services organization - Exela Technologies announced it has secured a 4.3 year renewal of an agreement with a global Human Capital Management services provider to provide mission critical unified communication services for a total contract value of $69M for the renewal period. Exela solutions are designed to ease the corporate administration of labor-intensive workflows for thousands of clients. Exela's platform integrates complex data solutions and analytics to manage end to end customer communications for human capital and business process outsourcing.

09:15 EST Diana Shipping announces preliminary results of self tender offer - Diana Shipping announced the preliminary results of its tender offer to purchase up to 3,529,411 shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a price of $4.25 per share, net to the seller in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest. The tender offer expired at 5:00 P.M., Eastern Time, on December 21, 2021. Based on a preliminary count by Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the depositary for the tender offer, the total number of shares tendered in the tender offer was 9,366,263 shares. In addition, there were 972,121 shares tendered pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedure described in the tender offer documents. Because the preliminary information received from the depositary indicates that the tender offer was oversubscribed, it is expected that the number of shares that the Company will purchase from each tendering shareholder will be prorated so that the Company purchases a total of 3,529,411 shares in the tender offer for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $15 million.

09:15 EST SeaChange trading resumes

09:14 EST Gevo appoints Bogue-Buchholz as Site, Process Optimization Leader - Gevo announced that Staci Bogue-Buchholz has joined Gevo as Site and Process Optimization Leader at the Luverne, Minnesota facility. Bogue-Buchholz brings over 20 years of experience in plant management, strategic planning, major capital project leadership, and technical operations. Most recently, she acted as Head of Engineering at VBTC Holdings. She also previously held leadership positions with the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, including serving as Plant Manager for their Decatur Protein Complex.

09:08 EST Aware acquires Fortress Identity, terms not disclosed - Aware announced it has acquired Fortress Identity, a pioneering provider of digital ID verification and biometric authentication. As a result of the acquisition, Aware expands its offerings around identity proofing-enhancing its onboarding, verification and authentication offerings to directly address financial compliance requirements and enable organizations to mitigate risk and curtail increasing fraud. The FortressID platform from Fortress Identity uses biometric multi-factor authentication to combine onboarding validation and due diligence for compliance and risk management. The result is a highly secure, seamless user experience that eliminates the need for passwords; enables customers to verify identification documents; and directly performs risk and due diligence checks.

09:06 EST United Health Products says FDA review of HemoStyp PMA ongoing - United Health Products provided an update on the status of its application to the Food & Drug Administration for Pre-market Approval of its HemoStyp hemostatic gauze. On Dec. 21, the FDA informed UHP that its review of the PMA application is ongoing and at this time there were no additional information requests to UHP. The FDA reserves the right under its review process to request additional information at any time. As previously disclosed, UHP's PMA application is currently in Substantive Review by the FDA. Receipt of a PMA is a condition to the company's ability to market its HemoStyp products for human surgical procedures in the United States. There can be no assurance that a PMA will be granted by the FDA.

09:05 EST Petra Acquisition announces share redemption backstop, forward purchase deals - Petra Acquisition announced that it has entered into certain backstop agreements and forward share purchase agreements for up to $12M in connection with its proposed business combination with Revelation Biosciences, a clinical-stage life sciences company focused on the development of immunologic-based therapies for the prevention and treatment of disease. The backstop agreements and forward share purchase agreements with AXA Prime Impact Master Fund, Meteora Capital Partners, LifeSci Venture Partners, and other Petra and Revelation institutional and individual holders, total up to $12M. This amount includes up to $2.5M of convertible note financing obtained by Revelation from AXA Prime Impact Master Fund, which will be used to backstop redemptions. These backstop agreements and forward share purchase agreements should ensure the minimum cash condition required of the business combination agreement will be met and provide the post-business combination entity with working capital to fund the continued development of Revelation's REVTx-99 product candidate. On December 21, 2021, Petra entered into backstop agreements with AXA Prime Impact Master Fund, LifeSci Venture Partners and other Petra and Revelation institutional, and individual investors. As part of such backstop agreements, the Backstop Subscribers have agreed to subscribe for and purchase, in the aggregate, up to $4.5M of shares of Petra's common stock, in the event that more than $31.5M of public shares of Petra are submitted for redemption in connection with the proposed business combination. On December 21, 2021, Petra also entered into a forward share purchase agreement with Meteora Capital Partners and its affiliates pursuant to which Meteora has committed, subject to certain customary closing conditions, to purchase additional shares of Petra common stock in the open market or from redeeming stockholders so that Meteora holds at least 750,000 shares of Petra common stock as of the closing of the proposed business combination, and to not redeem any of such 750,000 shares in connection with the business combination. In addition, on December 21, 2021 Revelation obtained convertible note financing in an amount of up to $2.5M from an AXA Prime Impact Master Fund, the proceeds of which may be used by Revelation to purchase shares of Petra common stock from redeeming stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination.

09:02 EST Dogness International expands cooperation with top eCommerce company in China - Dogness announced an expansion of its cooperation with one of the world's largest eCommerce companies in China, which boasts a dominant position in the China market with over 500M active customers.

09:01 EST iClick Interactive Asia announces $20M share repurchase program - iClick Interactive Asia announced its board of directors has approved a share repurchase program in which the company may purchase its own ADSs with an aggregate value of up to $20M from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

08:49 EST Triller Hold Co to become public via reverse merger with SeaChange - SeaChange International together with Triller Hold Co announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger to combine with SeaChange, a publicly-traded company focused on advanced digital advertising with TrillerVerz. The proposed business combination is expected to ultimately result in a value of the combined company at approximately $5B. The companies said, "TrillerVerz believes it is positioned to become a leading AI-powered social media platform for content, creators & commerce and is anticipated to be publicly traded on a U.S. national exchange through the proposed Business Combination." After completing the proposed Business Combination, SeaChange will change its name to "TrillerVerz Corp." The ticker symbol is expected to change from "SEAC" currently listed on Nasdaq to the new ticker symbol "ILLR". TrillerVerz expects it will create a leading voice on the Web3.0 movement and embrace the power of decentralized systems to enable greater participation in the multi-hundred billion dollar creator economy. TrillerVerz believes that creators deserve to own, manage, distribute and monetize their content, and TrillerVerz is designed for ever greater creator control, extensibility, and agency. TrillerVerz's services enable creators of all kinds to engage and build audiences across all open platforms with unique channels of communication they can control. TrillerVerz enables over 750 million interactions with consumers every month. TrillerVerz plans to diversify its revenue streams by expanding its global footprint and investment in new growth opportunities across the creator economy and emerging technologies. The combined company will be well-positioned to pursue a robust acquisition strategy that will only strengthen its economic engine. The boards of both TrillerVerz and SeaChange have approved the proposed Business Combination. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals and the satisfaction of other closing conditions, including specified working capital requirements. Upon closing, the combined company will be led by TrillerVerz's CEO, Mahi de Silva, who will also become Chairman of the Board. Peter Aquino, President and CEO of SeaChange will join the TrillerVerz team. Pursuant and subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, in addition to other contemplated transactions, the parties anticipate that TrillerVerz will conduct an offering of convertible notes prior to the closing in an amount in excess of $100M, and the charter of the surviving company will provide for two classes of common stock, consisting of Class A common stock and Class B common stock. The stockholders of SeaChange will have the right to elect to receive either their pro rata portion of $25M cash consideration along with their pro rata portion of an aggregate $75M in principal of notes to be issued by the surviving company to the holders of SeaChange common stock or a number of shares of Buyer Class A Common Stock, in an amount equal to that which such holder would have received if such holder had purchased Company Convertible Notes in an aggregate amount equal to its pro rata portion of the Cash/Notes Consideration and then converted such Company Convertible Notes at the conversion price at which such Company Convertible Notes were issued and then participated pro-rata along with the TrillerVerz holders in the proposed Business Combination. Assuming that all holders of SeaChange common stock elect the Stock Consideration and that TrillerVerz issues $250M of Company Convertible Notes which convert in connection with the proposed Business Combination at an agreed discount of 20% to an assumed $5B TrillerVerz valuation, the stockholders of SeaChange would own approximately 2.3% of the surviving company and the holders of TrillerVerz would hold approximately 97.7% of the surviving company. If all stockholders of SeaChange elected to receive the Cash/Notes Consideration, such stockholders would have no equity interest in the surviving company, and the Triller holders would collectively own 100% of the surviving company. For SeaChange stockholders that elect the Cash/Notes Consideration, each would receive their pro rata portion of such Cash/Notes Consideration which would then also reduce the resulting SeaChange stockholders' ownership percentages by taking into account the payment of the Cash/Notes Consideration and related reduction in the Stock Consideration. The notes to be issued to SeaChange stockholders who elect the Cash/Notes Consideration are payable on the one-year anniversary of issuance, bear interest at a rate of 5% per annum and, in the event an agreed fairness opinion is obtained by SeaChange in accordance with the provisions of the Merger Agreement, will be automatically converted by the surviving company into Buyer Class A Common Stock at such time as the market capitalization of the surviving company equals or exceeds $6 billion for ten consecutive trading days into 80% of the same number of shares of Buyer Class A Common Stock which the SeaChange stockholder would have received if instead of electing the Cash/Notes Consideration such SeaChange stockholder had elected the Stock Consideration for the portion of the Cash/Notes Consideration attributable to the principal amount of the Notes Consideration. If the fairness opinion is not obtained, the Merger Consideration Notes will not be automatically convertible, but in any case, the holders of the Merger Consideration Notes will have the option to convert into Buyer Class A Common Stock if the surviving company exercises its optional redemption right, which it may do at any time, in whole or in part, on the same terms set forth above. The holders of the Merger Consideration Notes will have recourse against the surviving company and its assets only to the extent of the surviving company's interest in certain of its subsidiaries. The existing subsidiaries of SeaChange prior to the proposed Merger are also anticipated to provide a first lien security interest on their assets securing the Merger Consideration Notes. The Merger Consideration Notes will have limited covenants.

08:48 EST FDA conditionally approves Jaguar Health's Canalevia-CA1 for CID in dogs - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration conditionally approved Canalevia-CA1 ,crofelemer delayed-release tablets, for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea in dogs. This is the first treatment to be approved for this condition. "Diarrhea is a common side effect of chemotherapy in dogs, which can be so severe that cancer treatment must be halted. Chemotherapy drugs often have potential side effects, but, unlike in human medicine where patients may be willing to tolerate some discomfort in exchange for a potential cure, the primary purpose of cancer treatment in dogs and other pets is to extend survival without sacrificing quality of life and comfort," said Steven M. Solomon, D.V.M., M.P.H., director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "This new medication provides veterinarians and dog owners with another tool to help control the side effects of chemotherapy for dogs undergoing such treatment." Reference Link

08:41 EST HeartBeam appoints Alan Baumel as COO - HeartBeam has appointed Alan Baumel as COO. Before joining HeartBeam, Baumel was program director of the case for quality collaborative community at medical device innovation consortium, where he elevated the focus of all medical device stakeholders from baseline quality and regulatory compliance to sustained, predictive practices that advance medical device quality and safety to achieve better patient outcomes. As COO, which is a new role at HeartBeam, Baumel will lead product development, manufacturing, quality assurance and regulatory affairs.

08:39 EST Dollarama joins Stingray Retail Media Network - Stingray (STGYF) announced that Canadian value retailer Dollarama (DLMAF) has joined the Stingray Retail Media Network. Under the agreement, Stingray will produce and dynamically insert digital audio advertisements within Dollarama stores connected to the retail audio network powered by Stingray's proprietary streaming media technology. The Stingray Retail Media Network will enable advertisers to reach and connect with Dollarama principal shoppers at point-of sale. The Stingray Retail Media Network will launch across Dollarama locations during the first quarter of 2022.

08:37 EST ABVC BioPharma's Vitargus presented at 14th APVRS Congress - ABVC Biopharma announced that Vitargus was presented by Dr. Andrew Chang, MD, Ph.D on December 11, 2021 at the 14th Asia-Pacific Vitreo-Retina Society, APVRS, Congress. APVRS. Early clinical studies indicate that Vitargus has properties that eliminate the need for post-surgery patient face-down positioning and significantly improves recovery period patient comfort and visual acuity compared to existing products. ABVC intends to commence a multi-country, multi-patient Phase II clinical study of Vitargus in 2022 and has already identified three sites and principal investigators in Australia to conduct the study. The objective of the Australian study, expected to begin in Q1 of 2022, is to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Vitargus as compared to SF6 Gas OE, now commonly used for retina re-attachment.

08:35 EST Luckin Coffee announces effectiveness of scheme of arrangement - Luckin Coffee announced that its scheme of arrangement became effective on December 17, 2021. The Scheme was proposed by Luckin Coffee with the support of its Joint Provisional Liquidators, in relation to the restructuring of its $460M 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2025. At a hearing before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on December 16, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court granted the Joint Provisional Liquidators' motion for entry of a final order giving full force and effect to the Scheme in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The hearing followed overwhelming support for the Scheme, including the previously announced unanimous approval for the Scheme by the voting creditors affected by the Scheme and sanction of the Scheme by the Cayman Court. The Bankruptcy Court entered the Scheme Enforcement Order the following day, December 17, 2021, which was a condition precedent to the effectiveness of the Scheme. Each of the conditions necessary for the Scheme to become effective following entry of the Scheme Enforcement Order has been satisfied. A copy of the notice of the occurrence of the Scheme Effective Date is attached as Exhibit 99.2 to the Current Report on Form 6-K furnished by the Company to the Securities and Exchange Commission today. The restructuring contemplated in the Scheme is expected to become effective on or about January 28, 2022. In the interim, the Company will complete the tender process with respect to the Existing Notes and related procedures and calculations necessary to distribute the consideration under the Scheme to the Scheme Creditors. To permit completion of these tasks, the latest day by which the Scheme must be implemented has been extended to January 28, 2022, in accordance with the Scheme, provided that the Scheme Distribution Longstop Time may be further extended in certain circumstances. A copy of the notice regarding the extension of the Scheme Distribution Longstop Time is attached as Exhibit 99.3 to the Current Report on Form 6-K furnished by the Company to the Securities and Exchange Commission today.

08:33 EST Exela renews $72M, 4-year agreement with global HCM services provider - Exela Technologies announced renewal of 4-year agreement with a global Human Capital Management, HCM, services provider to provide mission critical unified communication services for a total contract value of $72M. The $72M figure includes about four months remaining on the prior contract. Exela will continue to provide transactional mailing services to support the needs of this global provider and its consumer base. "This renewal is a strategic foundation for global expansion of our partnership" said Suresh Yannamani, president of Exela, adding "our full suite including recruit to retire services along with our procure to pay and exchange for bills and payments solutions, support our global customers in their strategic journey"

08:32 EST Agenus announces Bal plus Zal data published in JCO - Agenus announced the publication of results in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, JCO, from a global Phase 2 clinical study of balstilimab, Bal, plus zalifrelimab, Zal, in second-line recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer patients who had relapsed after treatment with platinum-based therapy. The trial showed that in the 125 evaluable patients treated with Bal/Zal, ORR was 25.6%; among PD-L1+ patients, the ORR was 32.8%. The Phase 2 trial was conducted in patients with recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer who had relapsed after prior platinum-based therapy, a population disproportionately represented by younger women, who have limited effective treatment options. Complete and partial responses were achieved by 8.0% and 17.6% of all patients respectively. The disease control rate in the trial was 52.0%. Responses achieved in patients were highly durable, with a median duration of response not yet reached following 21-month median follow-up. Median overall survival was 12.8 months, with 69.2% and 53.3% of patients remaining alive at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Responses were observed across tumor histologies in the trial. The Bal/Zal combination continued to show no unexpected toxicities and no new safety signals were identified. TRAEs leading to discontinuations occurred in 7.7% of patients.

08:24 EST Optoro receives strategic investment led by Zebra Technologies - Optoro announced a new strategic investment led by Zebra Technologies Corporation (ZBRA). Circular solutions focused investor, Volta Circle, along with previous investors, including eBay (EBAY) and UPS (UPS) also participated in the strategic funding round of $25M. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Optoro. The company said, "Optoro's returns technology platform helps top retailers such as American Eagle, Best Buy, Target, Staples, and IKEA turn returns into a strategic advantage by using data science and real-time decision-making automation to determine the best path for each returned item. Technology-powered returns solutions can decrease inefficiencies, maximize repurchases and recovery, and reduce environmental waste-allowing retailers to focus on forward fulfillment and offering the best customer experience." In addition to the investment, the companies will also pursue new solutions and technology to further innovate returns management, cutting waste and driving more profitable growth for retailers.

08:18 EST Medicenna announces preliminary clinical data from Phase 1/2 ABILITY study - Medicenna Therapeutics announced preliminary data from the Phase 1/2 ABILITY study of MDNA11, the Company's selective, long-acting and novel IL-2 super-agonist. Key findings from the ABILITY study's first two dose escalation cohorts, which evaluated MDNA11 monotherapy in patients with advanced malignancies and administered intravenously once every two weeks, include the following: CD8+ T and NK cell levels increased by ~2 fold over baseline with MDNA11 treatment at doses where competing "not-alpha" IL-2 variants have not demonstrated any activity. MDNA11 preferentially increased anti-cancer CD8+ T cells over pro-tumor Treg cells, as the CD8+ T / Treg ratio increased by ~2-3 fold over baseline. MDNA11 has exhibited an encouraging safety profile. No dose limiting toxicities, or any evidence of cytokine release syndrome, or evidence of vascular leak syndrome has been reported to date.

08:16 EST Pharvaris announces changes to board of directors - Pharvaris (PHVS) announced the appointment of Anne Marie de Jonge Schuermans, Ph.D., to the board of directors with expected confirmation at the company's 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders. Dr. de Jonge Schuermans will replace Remi Droller, who has stepped down from the board effective Dec. 22, 2021, to focus on new investments. Dr. de Jonge Schuermans is an Executive Committee member and Senior Vice President at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (BIOVF) where she is responsible for all Technical Operations encompassing CMC development, manufacturing, sourcing, supply chain and quality of commercial and development products.

08:15 EST Aemetis signs agreement to purchase 125-acre former US Army Facility - Aemetis announced it signed a Master Developer Agreement with the City of Riverbank to lease/purchase the 125-acre former military base in Riverbank, California known as the Riverbank Industrial Complex. The Riverbank facility features 710,000 square feet of existing buildings, a four-mile railroad loop with 120 railcar storage capacity, and an onsite hydroelectric substation with 100% low carbon hydroelectric power. The site has received more than $72M of federal funding for facility upgrades and remediation since being decommissioned as an army base. Aemetis plans to build the "Carbon Zero 1" sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel biorefinery at the site. The plant is designed to use hydroelectric and other renewable power available onsite to produce 90M gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, and other byproducts. Under the terms of the Master Developer Agreement and as the owner of the properties as parcels are transferred, Aemetis will manage current tenants, utilize existing production facilities for new tenants or as production facilities, and develop vacant portions of the site with planned renewable fuels and carbon sequestration facilities.

08:14 EST Allarity submits NDA for dovitinib for third-line treatment of RCC - Allarity Therapeutics announced the submission of a new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking marketing approval for dovitinib for the third-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma patients. The Company's NDA filing is supported by its prior PMA submission with the FDA for use of Dovitinib-DRP, the Company's validated companion diagnostic for the drug, to select and treat RCC patients most likely to respond to dovitinib. Dovitinib is a small molecule, pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor in-licensed from Novartis, and is Allarity's most advanced clinical therapeutic candidate. The drug has previously shown clinical activity in a number of cancer indications, including RCC, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, endometrial cancer, metastatic breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The Company expects to further evaluate the therapeutic benefit of dovitinib in one or more of these additional indications, either as a monotherapy or in combination with other oncology therapeutics.

08:12 EST Tattooed Chef completes acquisition of Belmont Confections - Tattooed Che announced that on December 21, 2021 it completed the acquisition of Belmont Confections, a private label co-manufacturer of snack bars, for approximately $18M in cash and stock, subject to a customary adjustment based on working capital at closing. Belmont specializes in the development and manufacturing of a variety of snack bars. The 47,000 square foot facility in Youngstown, Ohio expands Tattooed Chef's manufacturing capabilities into a new category and accelerates the Company's expansion into ambient and refrigerated products. The Company plans to launch new Tattooed Chef branded plant based bars in 2022.

08:11 EST Cerence selected by Mercedes-Benz to provide AI-powered EV, Cerence EVD - Cerence (CRNC) announced that Mercedes-Benz (DDAIF) has selected Cerence to provide enhanced capabilities, including conversational AI-powered electric vehicle use cases and Cerence Emergency Vehicle Detection, EVD, within its intuitive multimedia system, MBUX - Mercedes-Benz User Experience - in the new Mercedes-Benz EQS, the first all-electric luxury sedan from the Mercedes-EQ lineup. MBUX in the Mercedes-Benz EQS features a new set of electric vehicle-related capabilities and use cases powered by Cerence. Drivers can simply ask MBUX for important information about battery status and charging time in their natural language, with the ability to sort by parameters based on their personal preferences. In addition, the Mercedes-Benz EQS will be the first car to market with Cerence EVD, which integrates with MBUX to alert drivers of approaching emergency vehicles so they can adapt their driving accordingly. Cerence EVD uses the car's existing microphones to detect varying types and styles of emergency vehicle sirens accurately.

08:11 EST H2O Innovation announces renewal of $12M operation, maintenance contract - H2O Innovation announced that it has recently renewed the operation, management and maintenance contract with the City of Long Beach, Mississippi, for an additional period of four years. This contract, valued at $12M, brings the Corporation's O&M backlog to $86.8M. This renewal includes annual consumer price index increases, scope expansion and the addition of five new full-time resources.

08:09 EST Outlook Therapeutics begins commercial launch planning activities for ONS-5010 - Per the National Eye Institute use of unapproved repackaged IV bevacizumab from compounding pharmacies is estimated to account for at least 50% of all wet AMD prescriptions in the United States each year. Globally, the nine major markets account for an estimated $13.1 billion market for anti-VEGF drugs to treat retina diseases. In anticipation of potential FDA marketing approval in 2022 for ONS-5010, Outlook Therapeutics has begun commercial launch planning, including manufacturing with drug substance manufacturer FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and best-in-class drug product manufacturer Aji Biopharma Services, distribution, sales force planning, physician and payor advisory board outreach, key opinion leader support and payor community engagement. To bring ONS-5010 to market in a way that benefits all stakeholders - patients, clinicians and payors - Outlook Therapeutics has already commenced collaborative discussions with payors and the retina community. Outlook Therapeutics is also developing registration documents on a parallel path for approvals in Europe and expects to submit them shortly after completing the submission to the FDA. Outlook Therapeutics continues to explore potential strategic commercialization partners, such as Syntone Biopharma JV in China. Outlook Therapeutics expects ONS-5010, if approved, to be a safe and cost-effective choice for patients, clinicians and payors worldwide for retinal indications. In addition to the clinical development program evaluating ONS-5010 for wet AMD, Outlook Therapeutics has received agreements from the FDA on three Special Protocol Assessments for three additional registration clinical trials. These SPAs cover the protocols for a planned registration clinical trial evaluating ONS-5010 to treat branch retinal vein occlusion and two planned registration clinical trials evaluating the drug candidate for the treatment of diabetic macular edema. Outlook Therapeutics currently expects to initiate registration clinical trials for ONS-5010 for DME and BRVO in 2023 if FDA approval is received for the wet AMD indication.

08:08 EST Outlook Therapeutics plans to submit ONS-5010 BLA in 1Q22 - Outlook Therapeutics' wet AMD ONS-5010 clinical program for the planned BLA submission consists of three clinical trials, NORSE ONE, NORSE TWO, and NORSE THREE, all of which have now been completed. In early August, Outlook Therapeutics reported positive top-line data from its NORSE TWO pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial. In NORSE TWO, ONS-5010 achieved statistically significant and clinically relevant primary and key secondary efficacy endpoints with 41.7% of subjects gaining at least 15 letters of BVCA. In November 2021, positive results were also reported at the AAO 2021 Annual Conference for the remaining secondary endpoints, with 56.5% of ONS-5010 subjects gaining greater than or equal to 10 letters of vision and 68.5% of ONS-5010 subjects gaining greater than or equal to 5 letters of vision. ONS-5010 was also found to be safe and well tolerated in the NORSE TWO trial. With the registration clinical trials now completed, Outlook Therapeutics plans to submit a new BLA under the Public Health Service Act 351(a) regulatory pathway in the first quarter of calendar 2022. If the BLA is approved as planned in the first quarter of calendar 2023, it is expected to result in 12 years of marketing exclusivity for ONS-5010 as the first and only ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab approved by the FDA to treat wet AMD. As previously announced, if ONS-5010 receives FDA approval, Outlook Therapeutics plans to file a supplementary application for approval to provide the product in a pre-filled, silicone-free syringe that meets the strict specifications for ophthalmic use. In anticipation of potential approval, Outlook Therapeutics is conducting NORSE SEVEN to compare the safety of ONS-5010 in vials versus pre-filled syringes. NORSE SEVEN will enroll ~120 subjects with visual impairment due to retinal disorders. Patients will be treated for three months and the enrollment of patients in the arm of the study receiving ONS-5010 in vials has been completed.

08:07 EST OptimizeRx CEO issues letter on completion of management changes - OptimizeRx issued an open letter from the CEO to shareholders detailing the completion of internal management changes. Will Febbo, CEO, wrote the following. "Dear OptimizeRx Shareholders... As we prepare for 2022, and another strong growth year, I wanted to take this time to refresh and update the market on key organizational changes we have implemented this year. As previously announced, Ed Stelmakh has joined OptimizeRx in the combined role of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operational Officer. Ed hit the ground running and he is getting up to speed with a focus on developing the right KPIs that best represent our position and prospects in the marketplace, as well as making sure we have the systems and processes in place to continue scaling our business. Effective December 31, 2021, Miriam Paramore will be retiring from her full-time position as President and Chief Strategy Officer and transitioning to an advisory role to the leadership team... Going forward, the Company's executive leadership team will be comprised of myself, Ed Stelmakh, Steve Silvestro, Todd Inman and Marion Odence-Ford. We also feel very strongly that over the last 18 months we have built an extremely capable and talented extended leadership team with all the skillsets that are necessary to continue our growth trajectory with an ever-expanding addressable market."

08:06 EST OneSpan announces headcount reductions, sees $10M-$12M in FY22 cost savings - In a regulatory 8-K filing yesterday, OneSpan stated: "In August 2021, OneSpan began a review of its operations while developing a new multi-year strategic plan. On December 16, 2021, the board of directors approved a plan designed to advance the Company's operating model, streamline its business, and enhance its capital resources. The Plan is the first of two phases constituting the multi-year strategic plan. The Company expects to provide additional details regarding the multi-year strategic plan in Q2 of 2022, at which time any updates to the Plan will also be provided, to the extent appropriate. As a result of the business review undertaken since August 2021, the Company began taking certain cost reduction actions in August 2021, and on December 16, 2021, the Board approved additional actions that, combined with the prior actions, should achieve initial annual, pre-tax cost savings of approximately $10M-$12M for FY22. These savings are primarily derived from headcount reductions, decreased leased office spaces, and other external spend rationalization. In connection with the Plan, the Company expects to record total charges of approximately $3M-4M, all in the first quarter of 2022. The Company expects that approximately $2.75M-$3.75M of these charges will be severance and related benefit costs and approximately $250,000 of these charges will be related to decreased leased office spaces. The cash payments associated with these charges are expected to be substantially completed in 2022. Additionally, the Company believes that these identified cost savings provide financial flexibility to invest in its core products and advance its go-to-market strategies. The Company further expects that the actions taken under the Plan should benefit the Company's long-term goal of accelerating revenue growth in a recurring revenue business model."

08:04 EST Cocrystal Pharma's announce results on COVID-19 oral inhibitors against omicron - Cocrystal Pharma announces that in vitro studies demonstrate its oral and intranasal/pulmonary SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors exhibit antiviral potency against the Omicron variant. The Company earlier confirmed that its protease inhibitors demonstrated broad-spectrum antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and all major previously identified variants including Delta, Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Cocrystal expects to initiate Phase 1 clinical studies with its COVID-19 intranasal/pulmonary protease inhibitor CDI-45205 and an oral COVID-19 protease inhibitor as rapidly as possible. To confirm the antiviral activity of its protease inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Cocrystal conducted an analysis of SARS-CoV-2 lineages covering all reported Omicron variant sequences including those from South Africa, Europe, Asia and North America, and identified one prevalent mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Using its proprietary platform technology and assays, the Company further confirmed in vitro antiviral activity of its protease inhibitors against the Omicron variant.

08:03 EST FOREWARN partners with Daytona Beach Area Association of REALTORS - FOREWARN announced that Daytona Beach Area Association of REALTORS has contracted to make FOREWARN services available for the 2,200+ REALTOR members it serves throughout the Daytona Beach area to promote proactive real estate agent safety.

08:02 EST ALJ Regional Holdings to sell benefit exchange verticals of Faneuil to TTEC Holdings - ALJ Regional Holdings (ALJJ) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the tolling and transportation and health benefit exchange verticals of its wholly owned subsidiary, Faneuil, to TTEC Holdings (TTEC). Consideration to be paid by TTEC is $140M, less an indemnification escrow amount of approximately $15M dollars. Faneuil is also eligible to receive additional earn-out payments in an aggregate amount of up to $25M. Other Faneuil verticals, including its utilities, non-health benefit exchange, commercial and other verticals, as well as Vistio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Faneuil, which incorporates software tools and methodologies to improve and optimize the contact center agent experience, will remain at Faneuil and Faneuil will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of ALJ. The transaction is expected to close during the first calendar quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act by the Federal Trade Commission.

07:52 EST Coinbase says investigating technical issue with submissions - Coinbase said in a post to its status page: "Investigating - We are experiencing a technical issue with our submission form and are currently unable to receive any submissions. We are working to resolve this as quickly as we can and will provide an update on the Help Center." Reference Link

07:37 EST Abeona issues letter to shareholders on 2022 anticipated milestones - Abeona Therapeutics issued the following letter to shareholders. Vish Seshadri, Chief Executive Officer, wrote, "Dear fellow shareholders, We have never been closer to fulfilling our mission of providing novel gene and cell therapies to patients who currently have no approved treatment options as we continue to advance the EB-101 and ABO-102 pivotal studies toward completion to support two U.S. Biologics License Application submissions. At the same time, we are continuing to make steady progress with other clinical and preclinical programs. As we end the calendar year 2021, it is important to reflect on all that we at Abeona have achieved over the last 12 months, and it is even more crucial to look ahead at the opportunities awaiting us in 2022 and beyond... Well-positioned for 2022 Anticipated Milestones... we expect to begin 2022 with cash and financial resources of more than $50M. We believe focusing on our milestones is the best way to create value for our shareholders, and our strengthened balance sheet is crucial in positioning us to further execute our operating plan and achieve important anticipated milestones. Our anticipated milestones in 2022 include: EB-101 - Completion of patient enrollment for the EB-101 Phase 3 VIITAL study in the first quarter of 2022. Top-line VIITAL study results in the third quarter of 2022. ABO-102 - Construct and operationalize the new AAV manufacturing facility in 2022. Top-line results for MPS IIIA Transpher A study between the fourth quarter of 2022 and second quarter of 2023. ABO-101 - Two-year neurocognitive data from MPS IIIB Transpher B study in the second half of 2022. Preclinical Pipeline - Generate proof-of-concept data assessing AAV capsids in multiple undisclosed eye indications beginning in the first half of 2022. Pre-IND meeting with FDA in the second half of 2022."

07:35 EST Document Security nears completion of Premier Packaging facilty expansion - DSS announced the facility expansion of its Premier Packaging Corporation subsidiary is nearing completion with operations expected to begin at the new facility on February 1, 2022. Since 2019, the new management team has accelerated the transformation of Premier's operations, investing in new state of the art manufacturing equipment, people, and processes to increase its capacity, improve quality and delivery, and ensure it has the resources to support its growing customer base and their evolving supply chain demands. The new facility, located in the Town of Henrietta, a suburb of Rochester, NY, approximately 15 miles from Premier's current operations in Victor, NY, more than doubles its operating space, expanding the facility from approximately 42,000 square feet today to more than 105,000 square feet.

07:33 EST S&T Bancorp to raise base pay rate to $15 per hour for all positions in January - S&T Bank announced it will raise its base pay rate to $15 per hour for all positions, effective January 2022, furthering its longstanding commitment to workforce development and to creating opportunities in the communities it serves.

07:32 EST Durect, Innocoll announce $136M U.S. licensing agreement for POSIMIR - Durect announced a licensing agreement granting Innocoll Biotherapeutics, a specialty pharmaceutical company and portfolio business of Gurnet Point Capital, exclusive development and commercialization rights to POSIMIR for infiltration use, DURECT's FDA-approved non-opioid, sustained-release local analgesic for the treatment of post-surgical pain in adults following arthroscopic subacromial decompression surgery, in the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, Innocoll will make near-term payments to DURECT of $6M, consisting of a $4M license fee and a $2M payment upon first commercial sale, with the potential for up to an additional $130M in commercial, regulatory and intellectual property milestone payments as well as tiered, low to mid double-digit royalties on net product sales in the United States. Innocoll has been granted the exclusive right to develop and commercialize POSIMIR in the United States. Innocoll has also been granted the right to conduct additional development activities to expand the approved indications for POSIMIR, and DURECT's contract manufacturing supply agreement for POSIMIR has been assigned to Innocoll. DURECT retains all commercial rights to POSIMIR throughout the rest of the world.

07:19 EST Calavo Growers appoints Brian Kocher as president, CEO - Calavo Growers announced it has appointed Brian Kocher as President and CEO of the company effective Feb. 1, 2022. Prior to joining Calavo, Kocher served as the President and CEO of the Castellini Group of Companies.Mr. Kocher will succeed Steve Hollister, who has served as Calavo's Interim CEO since September. Mr. Hollister will return to serving as an independent member of the Board of Directors on Feb. 1.

07:12 EST Paramount Gold Nevada submits CPA for Grassy Mountain Gold Mine - Paramount Gold Nevada announced that it has submitted a modified Consolidated Permit Application, CPA, with the State of Oregon seeking approval to construct and operate its proposed, high-grade gold mine located in Malheur County in eastern Oregon. After its initial application, the Company received from the State of Oregon a detailed completeness review and recommendations for the submission of a modified CPA. In addition to responding to the State of Oregon's completeness review, the modified CPA includes changes and additional information that resulted from mine design optimizations and permitting regulation changes. The modified CPA includes, but is not limited to the following: Completion of additional geotechnical drilling and design of the waste rock dump to improve stability analysis; Further analysis and modeling of ground water including new data gathered for the Feasibility Study; Design review of the Tailings Storage Facility's leak collection and detection systems; Adjustments to the Wildlife Protection and Mitigation plan including design adjustments to include Avian diverters and wildlife protection measurements; Adjustments to the personnel safety and environmental training program to include additional detail on the transport of dangerous materials and emergency protocols; and Revisions to the reclamation, monitoring and mine closure plan including associated cost estimates. The DOGAMI along with the other permitting and cooperating agencies will review the modified CPA for completeness. Once the modified CPA is deemed complete, the State of Oregon will proceed with completing an environmental evaluation and socio-economic analysis and instruct permitting agencies to prepare draft permits. Under the law, the State must complete these steps within 225 days.

07:10 EST DIFI announces seven new members from DIS Working Group consolidation - The Digital IF Interoperability Consortium and the Digital Interface Standards Working Group announced that the seven members of DIS will consolidate that organization within DIFI, advancing the breadth of industry representation working together for common interoperability standards. The new members joining DIFI are some of the most recognized names in the industry, including Communications & Power Industries, DataPath, Datum Systems, Inc., Gilat Satellite Networks (GILT), SES SA. (SGBAF), ST Engineering iDirect, and Wavestream. Comtech (CMTL), a DIFI member since October of this year, is also a member of DIS. DIFI members are working to support innovation and the digital transformation of space, satellite and related network technologies through the development of industry interoperability standards. The founding members of DIFI include Hawkeye 360, Intelsat Corp., Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (KTOS), Microsoft (MSFT), and the U.S. Navy.

07:08 EST Mereo BioPharma, UAB announce results from COSTA Phase 1b/2 trial of alvelestat - The University of Alabama at Birmingham, UAB, and Mereo BioPharma Group announced data from a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating alvelestat, a novel, orally active Neutrophil Elastase, NE, inhibitor in hospitalized COVID-19 Respiratory Disease patients. The COSTA Phase 1b/2 trial is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study in adult patients with COVID-19 Respiratory Disease, evaluating the safety and tolerability of alvelestat on top of Standard of Care in patients hospitalised with proven COVID-19 lung disease. Patients requiring mechanical ventilation were excluded. Enrolled subjects received alvelestat or matched placebo, twice daily, for 5 days, with optional extension to 10 days per investigator judgement. The Primary Endpoint was Safety and Tolerability to Day 60, with mortality assessment at Day 90. Secondary Endpoints were clinical outcomes to Day 60. Fifteen patients were randomized, and all completed the Primary Endpoint Safety assessment to Day 60 and the Day 90 final study assessment. Primary Endpoint: Safety and Tolerability to Day 60: Consistent with the known safety profile of alvelestat, no safety signals were observed in lab safety monitoring, including none in liver, renal and vital sign parameters; Treatment emergent headaches were more frequent in the alvelestat arm; There were no deaths on study. Secondary Efficacy Endpoints: Clinical Outcome Measures: In the alvelestat arm 62.5% patients had a 2-point decrease in the WHO Disease Severity score by Day 5, compared to 28.5% patients in the placebo arm. Inflammatory Biomarkers: The pro-inflammatory blood biomarker, Interleukin-6 was elevated in this population and decreased in the alvelestat arm from baseline at end of treatment compared to an increase from baseline for placebo. Consistent with this response, a greater reduction in C-reactive Protein was observed in alvelestat compared to placebo. In addition, there was a reduction in D-Dimer in the alvelestat arm in comparison to the placebo arm which increased over the treatment period.

07:07 EST IMV Inc. announces Andrew Hall as CEO - IMV Inc. announced that its board of directors has appointed Andrew Hall to the role of CEO and director of the board, effective January 1, 2022.

07:05 EST Novartis' Sandoz submits MAA for proposed biosimilar trastuzumab to EMA - Sandoz announced that it has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application for a proposed biosimilar trastuzumab 150 mg, for intravenous use, developed by EirGenix, Inc. to the European Medicines Agency, or EMA. Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive, or HER2-positive, breast cancer and metastatic gastric cancers2. Sandoz is seeking approval for the same indications as the reference medicine, based on a comprehensive package that includes analytical, preclinical, and clinical data. As part of the license agreement signed in April 2019, EirGenix, Inc. is responsible for development and manufacturing and Sandoz will have the right to commercialize the medicine upon approval in all markets excluding China and Taiwan. On December 20, Sandoz announced submission of a Biologics License Application for a proposed biosimilar trastuzumab 150 mg to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

07:04 EST ICL to supply clear brine fluids for oil and gas drilling to Emirates - ICL announced it will be supplying clear brine fluids to the United Arab Emirates, directly from Israel for the first time. ICL is expected to supply an initial $6M of materials by the end of this year, and the company intends to significantly increase its clear brine fluid sales to the Emirates during 2022. ICL, which is the global leader in bromine compounds, is one of only a few companies in the world able to meet the stringent demands of the oil and gas industries for clear brine fluids. The signing of the normalization agreements has enabled new commercial collaborations, which will benefit both countries. "We welcome the opportunity to supply our product, as part of this historically significant agreement," said Anat Tal, president of Industrial Products for ICL. "Sales of clear brine fluids have increased as the year has progressed, and we anticipate this trend will continue into 2022. With the return of drilling activity, we foresee additional commercial opportunities in the Emirates."

07:03 EST Lucira Health announces expanded partnership with Switch Health - Lucira Health announced a new agreement with Switch Health Solutions to increase Canadians' access to at-home molecular COVID-19 tests as Omicron cases surge. Lucira will provide more than 2 million at-home COVID-19 test kits in 2022 as part of the deal. Switch Health is a Canadian healthcare company dedicated to providing better decentralized patient care. Switch Health has quickly become a leader in COVID-19 testing on-site at its Switch Health Clinics and at-home through its remote telehealth service and in-person visits. Last month, Lucira announced confirmation that its COVID-19 Check-It and All-In-One molecular self-test kits' can detect 100% of Omicron variant genome sequences analyzed, including the "stealth variant." Lucira assays target viral sequence regions unaffected by the spike protein mutations found in Omicron, Delta, and other variants of concern, allowing it to maintain its accuracy in the face of an evolving virus. Lucira has received Interim Order authorization from Health Canada to sell and distribute its COVID-19 test kits for at-home self-testing in Canada.

07:03 EST Electric Last Mile chosen by Glovis for operations, urban utility pilot - Electric Last Mile Solutions announced an order from Glovis America for the ELMS Urban Delivery. Glovis specializes in air, ocean and ground freight logistics, and it plans to use ELMS commercial vehicles to support its industrial operations. The Urban Delivery will be used for materials movement and shuttling personnel on-campus. Glovis operates at 18 ports across the U.S. and manages ocean transportation for over 800,000 twenty-foot cargo containers, three million cars, trucks, buses, locomotives, heavy machines, and 90 million tons of bulk cargo. Glovis will also evaluate various configurations of the Urban Utility for operations like unloading cargo ships, transporting personnel and transporting heavy materials at its ports. The Urban Utility is a Class 3 medium duty commercial electric vehicle that has a unique cab-over chassis design, allowing it to be highly configurable. It can be outfitted with a dry box, flat bed, stake bed and other customizable cargo options depending on customer needs. "Glovis's large port and facilities presence in the U.S. requires an efficient commercial fleet with zero downtime," said Ron Feldeisen, Chief Revenue Officer, ELMS. "ELMS is ready to help Glovis streamline fleet operations with our versatile, all-electric commercial vehicles and telematics solutions as it moves its logistics and freight operations to an electrified future."

07:01 EST Syndax: European Commission grants Orphan Drug Designation to SNDX-5613 - Syndax Pharmaceuticals announced that the European Commission has granted Orphan Drug Designation to SNDX-5613, the company's highly selective oral menin inhibitor, for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

06:58 EST Becton Dickinson announces new distribution, retail partners for COVID-19 Test - Becton Dickinson announced the BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 Test is now available for purchase through Everly Health, a digital health company and Southeastern Grocers, parent company of Fresco y Mas, Harveys Supermarket, and Winn-Dixie stores, a grocery store serving the southeastern United States.

06:46 EST Seritage Growth Properties names Eric Dinenberg as COO - Seritage Growth Properties announced that Eric Dinenberg, Executive Vice President of Development and Construction at Seritage, has been promoted to COO, effective January 1, 2022. Prior to joining Seritage in 2019, Dinenberg spent nearly nine years with Brookfield Properties and Rouse Properties, which Brookfield acquired in 2016, most recently serving as Executive Vice President Development and Operations of Brookfield Properties.

06:31 EST Cadre to acquire Radar Leather Division, sees accretion - Cadre announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the stock of Radar Leather Division from the leadership team of Pietro and Paolo Pellegrini. Pietro Pellegrini, CEO of Radar, and Paolo Pellegrini, VP of Radar, will remain with the business and partner with the team at Cadre to further grow and develop the business alongside Cadre's wholly owned subsidiary, Safariland LLC. Established in 1957 by Gisberto Pellegrini and based in Fucecchio, Italy, Radar is a family-owned duty gear business that specializes in the production of holsters, belts, duty belts, and other accessories. Radar generates the majority of its revenue in Europe, selling its products through distribution partners and directly to agencies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in January 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

06:27 EST MagnaChip announces $75M share buyback - In a regulatory 8-K filing last night, MagnaChip "announced that the Board of Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase up to $75M of the Company's common stock. As an immediate step towards implementing the approved stock repurchase program, the Company has entered into an accelerated stock repurchase agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association to repurchase an aggregate of $37.5Mof Magnachip's common stock." Shares of MagnaChip are up 5% at $19.80 in pre-market trading.

06:02 EST KBR awarded study to help establish green hydrogen market in Trinidad and Tobago - KBR announced that it has been awarded a study to help establish a green hydrogen market in Trinidad and Tobago as part of an ongoing technical cooperation financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, or IDB. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will analyze strategies for maximizing opportunities to establish a green hydrogen economy in Trinidad and Tobago, undertaking supply and demand dynamics for green hydrogen generation, transportation and end use applications. The study will identify opportunities for the development of a low carbon economy, with a roadmap to net zero through technological innovation. It will assess the potential for green hydrogen production as well as the repurposing of the existing facilities for low carbon hydrogen. The assessment will include recommendations for a technical implementation plan.

06:01 EST Merck, Ridgeback: U.K. to purchase additional 1.75M courses of molnupiravir - Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced that the United Kingdom Government will purchase an additional 1.75M patient courses of molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine. In the U.K., LAGEVRIO is the planned trademark for molnupiravir; the trademark for molnupiravir in other countries has not been approved. With this additional procurement agreement, which follows a previously announced agreement for 480,000 courses of treatment, the U.K. Government has now committed to purchase a total of 2.23M courses of molnupiravir.

05:57 EST Tesla CEO Musk sells $528M in common stock - In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Tesla disclosed that CEO Elon Musk sold another 583,611 shares worth $528M, bringing his total sales since early November to about $14.1B.

05:46 EST Reliance Global to acquire Medigap for $19.6M in cash, shares - Reliance Global announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Medigap Health Insurance in an asset purchase transaction. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of 2022, and is subject to customary closing conditions. Medigap is an insurance brokerage company headquartered in Florida, specializing in Medicare supplement insurance. Medigap generated revenue of approximately $7M for the trailing twelve months ended September 30. Total consideration for Medigap is expected to be approximately $19.6M, consisting of both cash and restricted common stock of Reliance Global Group.

05:35 EST Gorilla Technology to become public through Global SPAC Partners combination - Gorilla Technology and Global SPAC Partners (GLSPU), a blank check company, announced that they have entered into a business combination agreement. The combined company will be called Gorilla and is expected to be publicly listed on Nasdaq under the symbol (GRRR) following the closing of the transaction, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and a minimum of $50M gross cash at closing, along with customary closing conditions. Gorilla was established in 2001 with the vision of being a global leader in video intelligence, IoT technologies and cybersecurity. Gorilla specializes in video analytics, network security and big data to support a wide range of solutions for commercial, industrial, cities and government purposes. Following completion of the transaction, board of the the company is expected to consist of Jay Chandan, as executive chairman, Spincer Koh, founder and CEO, Tomoyuki Nii, executive officer at SBI Group, Yoichiro Pina Hirano, founder and CEO of Asteria, Ruth Kelly and Gregg Walker. In the transaction, a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of Gorilla will merge with Global, with Global being the surviving entity, and with Global shareholders and holders of Global warrants receiving equivalent shares and warrants of Gorilla as the successor public company. As part of the transaction, the outstanding equity of Gorilla will be converted into equity of the combined company. Existing Gorilla shareholders will receive no cash consideration, and will retain all of their current equity interests, effectively rolling over their current ownership into an equivalent of approximately 65M shares of Gorilla. The transaction values Gorilla at a pro-forma enterprise value of approximately $708M. The transaction is expected to deliver up to $169M of gross proceeds from cash held in Global's trust account, subject to redemptions by Global subunit holders. The merger closing is conditioned upon Global having at least $50M in gross cash proceeds at closing from either Global's trust account or other sources. Up to $159M of cash remaining on Global's balance sheet at the closing of the transaction, after paying off transaction expenses, is expected to remain on Gorilla's balance sheet for working capital, growth capex and other general corporate purposes. The board of directors of Gorilla and Global, respectively, have approved the transaction. The transaction will require the approval of the shareholders of Global and Gorilla, and is subject to other customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2022.

05:21 EST Pfizer announces additional agreement with UK to supply 2.5M Paxlovid courses - Pfizer announced an additional agreement with the United Kingdom, or UK, government to supply an additional 2.5M treatment courses of its investigational candidate Paxlovid subject to local authorization. This is in addition to the 250,000 treatment courses previously contracted by the UK Government, pending authorization and recommendation for use, bringing the full amount of treatment courses to 2.75M. In anticipation of the potential for regulatory authorization or approval, Pfizer initiated manufacturing of Paxlovid earlier this year and expects to produce up to 80M courses of treatment by the end of 2022, with 30M treatment courses available in the first half of the year.

05:15 EST Sportradar, Bundesliga announce five-year extension of partnership - Bundesliga International and Sportradar have agreed to a five-year extension of their long-term partnership with a focus on providing fans with greater access to German football's top leagues.