Stockwinners Market Radar for January 04, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:27 EST Correction: Adobe did not announce wireless video doorbell - Abode, not Adobe, announced a wireless video doorbell. The previous story attributing the announcement to Adobe has been removed.

19:02 EST SmartRent names Brian Roberts chief legal officer - SmartRent announced the appointment of Brian Roberts as Chief Legal Officer. Roberts, a seasoned public company executive with over 20 years of corporate legal experience, will oversee all legal, corporate governance and compliance matters for the company. Lucas Haldeman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Brian is a proven leader with extensive experience advising companies through complex strategic matters, business combinations, and legal compliance. His counsel and guidance should serve SmartRent well as we advance our growth plan and establish best-in-class compliance and governance practices. We are excited to welcome Brian to the team and look forward to his contributions in our efforts to create value for our shareholders, and our customers."

17:55 EST Beyond Meat jumps 8% to $66.40 after chicken substitute deal with KFC

16:45 EST MYR Group subsidiary acquires shares of Powerline and its affiliate - MYR Group, announced that its Canadian subsidiary, MYR Group Construction Canada, has acquired all issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of Powerline Plus and its affiliate. The Powerline Plus Companies together comprise a leading full-service electrical distribution construction company, founded in 1990 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Over the last two years, the combined average annual revenues of the Powerline Plus Companies were approximately $80M. The Powerline Plus Companies will become MYR Group subsidiaries and will primarily operate as Powerline Plus.

16:45 EST Valley National receives regulatory approval for Bank Leumi acquisition - Valley National Bancorp announced it has received regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to complete the previously announced acquisition of Bank Leumi Le-Israel Corporation, the US subsidiary of Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M., and parent company of Bank Leumi USA. The acquisition remains subject to certain additional regulatory approvals, including by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Bank of Israel, and other closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of Valley.

16:38 EST MillerKnoll drops 7% to $36.50 after Q2 results miss estimates - The company's Q3 EPS guidance also missed estimates.

16:33 EST MillerKnoll 'confident' in synergies target of $100M within two years post close - Management said, "During the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 we reached exciting and symbolic milestones. It was our first full quarter as MillerKnoll, our company name officially changed, and we began trading with our new stock ticker symbol, NASDAQ: MLKN. We are making excellent progress on our integration journey and remain confident that we will deliver our cost synergies target of $100 million within two years of closing. Furthermore, as our teams completed integration planning, they identified additional synergy opportunities and we now expect to increase run rate savings to $120 million by the end of year three. In bringing together the best of Herman Miller and Knoll, we've created a stronger and more resilient organization, built for long-term success. Second quarter demand shows the power of MillerKnoll and we are confident in our ability to drive continued growth and shareholder value."

16:32 EST Travere Therapeutics names Jula Inrig chief medical officer - Travere Therapeutics announced the appointment of Jula Inrig, M.D., as chief medical officer, effective immediately. Dr. Inrig brings to Travere more than 15 years of expertise in medical oversight, drug development, clinical trial planning and execution and global regulatory engagement. Dr. Inrig joins the Company as it prepares for accelerated approval submissions of sparsentan for IgA nephropathy and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in 2022, as well as the continued advancement of its pegtibatinase program in classical homocystinuria. "We are excited to welcome Jula to the Travere Therapeutics team," said Eric Dube, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Travere Therapeutics. "Jula has a clear passion for championing positive advancements for patients. Her demonstrated expertise in clinical development and history of successfully collaborating with regulators, healthcare providers and patient communities to develop new treatment options further strengthens our leadership team as we continue to advance our pipeline and enter a pivotal phase for Travere."

16:30 EST Valaris announces multiple new contracts in Mexico, Australia, U.K. - Valaris Limited announced that it has been awarded the following new contracts: One-well contract with Kosmos Energy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for semisubmersible VALARIS DPS-5. The contract is expected to commence in February 2022 with an estimated duration of 105 days. One-well contract with Western Gas offshore Australia for semisubmersible VALARIS MS-1. The contract is expected to commence in the first quarter 2022 with an estimated duration of 25 days. Six-well plug and abandonment contract with Centrica Storage in the UK North Sea for VALARIS Norway, a heavy duty ultra-harsh environment jackup. The contract is expected to commence in the third quarter 2022 with an estimated duration of 100 days. One-well contract with an undisclosed operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for VALARIS 144, a standard-duty modern jackup. The contract is expected to commence in the first quarter 2022 with a minimum duration of 68 days.

16:16 EST Valley National receives regulatory approval for Bank Leumi acquisition - Valley National Bancorp announced it has received regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to complete the previously announced acquisition of Bank Leumi Le-Israel Corporation, the US subsidiary of Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M., and parent company of Bank Leumi USA. The acquisition remains subject to certain additional regulatory approvals, including by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Bank of Israel, and other closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of Valley.

16:15 EST Annexon announces interim data from ANX005 trial - Annexon announced interim data from its ongoing, open-label Phase 2 clinical trial of ANX005 in patients with Huntington's disease, or HD, who completed the 24-week treatment period. Annexon is developing ANX005, its lead monoclonal antibody candidate, for the treatment of a range of complement-mediated disorders, including HD. Interim data from the ongoing Phase 2 trial show that treatment with ANX005 has been generally well-tolerated, with full target engagement of C1q in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, observed in evaluable patients through the dosing period. Evaluable patients maintained clinical function, as measured by changes in mean Composite Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale, or cUHDRS, relative to baseline after six months of treatment, and improvement in cUHDRS was observed in more than half of all evaluable patients and in 75% of evaluable patients who showed excess complement activity at baseline. NfL levels observed after six months of treatment remained generally consistent and were comparable to NfL levels described in published natural history data for HD patients. ANX005 has been generally well-tolerated in the study. As of the data cutoff date of October 17, the most common adverse events, or AEs, reported were first dose-associated infusion-related reactions, including transient skin rash, consistent with the experience observed in the company's Phase 1b trial of ANX005 in patients with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS. In the HD trial, five patients discontinued ANX005 treatment, three of whom discontinued due to a drug-related AE. Two patients experienced a drug-related serious adverse event, including one event of systemic lupus erythematosus, whose symptoms resolved post-study drug discontinuation, and one event of idiopathic pneumonitis, which stabilized post-study drug discontinuation. Of note, no cases of serious infection were identified, and no deaths were reported. Interim data show that treatment with ANX005 has led to full target engagement of C1q in both serum and CSF through the dosing period in patients who were evaluable as of the cutoff date of October 17, 2021. Patients evaluable as of the cutoff date of December 14, 2021 experienced improvements in clinical measures, assessed by cUHDRS, a clinical rating scale with four domains measuring the progression of HD consisting of motor, cognitive and functional capacity. Overall, patients maintained clinical function relative to baseline in cUHDRS after six months of treatment. Published natural history data show that HD patients typically experienced a decline of approximately one point over one year, or 0.5 points over six months. Additionally, as of the cutoff date, 56% of patients showed improvement from baseline in cUHDRS and several subdomains of cUHDRS over six months of treatment. Moreover, in a sub-analysis of patients assessed according to baseline complement activity, 75% of patients with excess baseline complement activity demonstrated a statistical improvement in cUHDRS over six months of treatment versus 36% with low baseline complement activity, consistent with the scientific hypothesis of rapid response to anti-C1q therapy via enhanced synapse function. Elevated C4a is an objective measurement of excess complement activity in CSF that has been found to correlate with disease progression and multiple clinical endpoints in HD.2 These findings suggest that patients with excess complement activity may be more likely to respond to anti-C1q therapy in future clinical trials and may inform future trial designs. NfL, a protein component of the neuronal cytoskeleton, has been shown to increase in the CSF with disease severity in HD patients. Interim data assessing NfL from patients evaluable as of the cutoff date of October 17, 2021 who completed 24 weeks of treatment showed that mean plasma and CSF NfL levels remained generally consistent and were comparable to NfL levels described in published natural history data for HD patients. Published data suggest that in slowly progressive neurodegenerative diseases like HD, synapse loss is associated with progressive functional decline, preceding the loss of neurons4 and NfL changes. As such, changes in NfL may require treatment durations longer than six months and Annexon will continue to assess NfL levels in patients over the three-month follow-up period. The Phase 2 trial remains ongoing, and Annexon anticipates reporting full data from all patients enrolled, including data from the three-month follow-up period, in the second quarter of 2022. Pending results from the full dataset, Annexon plans to evaluate the opportunity for a Phase 3 trial of ANX005 in HD patients.

16:10 EST Funko names Charles Denson chairman of the board - Funko announced Charles Denson, a current member of the Board, has been appointed Chairman of the Board effective immediately. Mr. Denson replaces Ken Brotman of ACON Investments, who will continue to serve as a board member. "I feel very privileged to take on this role at such an exciting time for Funko," said Mr. Denson. "The company is at the center of fan culture and innovation in consumer products and the opportunities ahead for Funko are massive." Also, effective immediately, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Perlmutter, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer on January 3rd and succeeds Chief Creative Officer Brian Mariotti, will join the Board, replacing Gino Dellomo of ACON Investments.

16:08 EST Duck Creek partners with new UK insurtech motor insurer , Adiona - Duck Creek Technologies announced that it has partnered with a new UK insurtech motor insurer, Adiona, to offer insurance policies with premiums built on data / telematics, artificial intelligence and machine learning that provide fair and transparent pricing based on the driving habits of each insured customer. Launched in September 2021 with experienced insurance, consumer and technology executives, Adiona is a customer-focused start-up that aims to change how drivers are charged for motor insurance. The company has developed a modern tech-first insurance product that leverages data at scale to deliver a revolutionary customer experience. Adiona chose Duck Creek for the strength of its On Demand SaaS solution and the breadth of the offerings available through its partner ecosystem. Duck Creek's platform gave Adiona the flexibility of allowing this new entrant to the motor insurance market to create a sustainable business and provide coverage tailored to each consumer's unique circumstances, with the most exacting of technologies for policy rating and pricing.

16:06 EST Inhibrx announces results from Part 3 of the 4-part Phase 1 trial of INBRX-106 - Inhibrx announced initial results from Part 3 of the 4-part Phase 1 trial of INBRX-106, a novel hexavalent OX40 agonist, in combination with Keytruda, in development for the treatment of patients with solid tumors. Additionally, an update on single agent data from Part 1 and Part 2 of the trial was provided. In the all-comer Part 3 of this Phase 1 trial, the dose of INBRX-106 was escalated in combination with Keytruda(R) in 21 patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors. INBRX-106 in combination with Keytruda was observed to be well tolerated, with predominantly mild or moderate immune-related toxicities noted. The maximum administered dose of INBRX-106 was 0.3 mg/kg, at which dose-limiting, immune-related toxicities such as dermatitis were observed. Accordingly, 0.1 mg/kg dosed every three weeks was determined to be the maximum tolerated dose of INBRX-106 in combination with Keytruda.

16:02 EST Primo Water subsidiary acquires two water businesses in North America - Primo Water announced that Primo Water North America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Primo, has acquired two water businesses in North America, both of which are leading independent distributors of Primo's Mountain Valley premium water brand. PWNA has acquired substantially all of the assets of Clear Mountain Refreshment Services, dba Premium Refreshment Service, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. PWNA has acquired substantially all of the assets of the Mountain Valley distributor business of North Texas Mountain Valley Corporation, dba Water Event, which operates five locations in Texas.

15:51 EST Deere announces reveal of fully autonomous tractor at CES 2022 - During a press conference at CES 2022, John Deere revealed a fully autonomous tractor that it says is "ready for large-scale production." The autonomous tractor, which combines Deere's 8R tractor, TruSet-enabled chisel plow, GPS guidance system, and new advanced technologies, will be available to farmers later this year, the company said in a press release in conjunction with its full press conference. Reference Link

15:11 EST Constellation Software's Harris acquires i2 product portfolio from IBM - Harris, a global vertical market software provider and part of publicly traded Constellation Software (CNSWF), announced it has acquired the i2 intelligence analysis product portfolio of IBM (IBM), including the i2 Analyst's Notebook, i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis and i2 iBase platforms. "The acquisition positions Harris to further deliver mission-critical applications for national defense, state & local law enforcement, maritime security as well as evidence management. The i2 product portfolio, i2 executives and their global teams will form a new Harris business unit, i2 Group, which will operate independently and autonomously," the company said. Jean Soucy, Harris Group President added: "The acquisition of i2 is important to Harris because not only is it a proven business with an excellent international team of experts, but it also provides Harris with a feature-rich intelligence platform widely deployed by an influential customer base", adding, "We look forward to working with our partners and customers to expand i2's capabilities in this highly innovative space."

13:36 EST HP Inc. reveals newest gaming lineup at CES 2022 - HP Inc. has revealed its newest gaming lineup with the OMEN 45L Desktop, OMEN 25L Desktop, Victus by HP 15L Desktop, and HP's first next-gen console ready OMEN 27u 4K Gaming Monitor. The company also updated its OMEN 16 and 17 Laptops and introduced a new coverage plan to help protect a player's gaming ecosystem. "The HP Ultimate Gaming Coverage Plan, powered by Servify, keeps players gaming with the protection they need against accidental damage, along with mechanical and electrical breakdown for gaming PCs, accessories, and consoles from major gaming brands. Available now for $19.99 per month, it's the industry's only brand agnostic gaming ecosystem coverage plan and comes with coverage up to $4,000, a per claim limit of $2,000, no deductible or hidden fees, and the freedom to cancel at any time," the company explained.

13:32 EST Biomea Fusion moves into new headquarters, expands R&D facility - Biomea Fusion announced that it has moved into new headquarters in Redwood City, at 900 Middlefield Road. The space offers a work environment of more than 27,000 sq. ft. and will support the company's anticipated growth in 2022 and beyond. Biomea also announced it has initiated the second phase of the buildout of its R&D Innovation Center, which is anticipated to be completed in the second half of 2022. The expanded 18,000 sq. ft. R&D Innovation Center will support additional biology and medicinal chemistry as well as drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and process chemistry research for all three programs in the company's pipeline.

13:17 EST Intel announces launch of 12th Gen Core family of mobile processors - At CES 2022, Intel announced what it calls "the world's fastest mobile processor," stating that it is "bringing its performance hybrid architecture to mobile platforms for the first time with new 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors that are up to 40% faster than the previous generation mobile processor." Intel said in a press release in concert with CES that it introduced 28 new 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors that "deliver a feature-rich suite of capabilities to create laptops for people to compute whenever and wherever they need - without compromise." "Intel's new performance hybrid architecture is helping to accelerate the pace of innovation and the future of compute. And, with the introduction of 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors, we are unlocking new experiences and setting the standard of performance with the fastest processor for a laptop - ever," said Gregory Bryant, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's Client Computing Group.

12:41 EST Verizon to deliver 5G Ultra Wideband to 100M people in the U.S. this month - This month, more than 100 million people in 1,700-plus cities around the nation will have access to speeds up to 10x faster than 4G LTE via Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network, Verizon said in a statement. "This massive launch will put incredible speeds, reliability and security in the hands of our customers and amplifies our offering of reliable home and business broadband options to more places around the country, well ahead of the commitment we made last year," said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon. "As 5G Ultra Wideband becomes available to more and more people and businesses, it will allow our customers to do more amazing things."

12:27 EST Mazda Motor reports December U.S. sales down 38% to 19,422 vehicles - Mazda North American Operations reported total December sales of 19,422 vehicles, a decrease of 38% compared to the prior December. Full year sales totaled 332,756 vehicles; an increase of 19.2% compared to 2020. With 27 selling days in December, compared to 28 the year prior, the company posted a decrease of 35.7% on a Daily Selling Rate, or DSR, basis. With 306 selling days in 2021, compared to 309 in 2020, the company posted an increase of 20.3% on a DSR basis for the year.

12:00 EST PagSeguro Digital falls -12.0% - PagSeguro Digital is down -12.0%, or -$3.42 to $25.18.

12:00 EST Heritage Insurance rises 14.4% - Heritage Insurance is up 14.4%, or 85c to $6.74.

12:00 EST NexTier Oilfield rises 22.2% - NexTier Oilfield is up 22.2%, or 86c to $4.73.

11:46 EST Pfizer to provide U.S. with additional 10M courses of Covid-19 oral therapy

11:41 EST Boise Cascade expands Building Materials Distribution operations - Boise Cascade Company announced the expansion of its Building Materials Distribution operations in Minnesota and Northern Kentucky. The BMD Minneapolis branch will be adding 13 contiguous acres to the existing property in Lakeville, MN. The BMD Cincinnati branch will move into a new 200,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Walton, KY. The new location will work in tandem with an existing yard in Erlanger, KY. In November 2021, the Company also announced a new distribution center to be built in Marion, OH.

11:14 EST CDC shortens Pfizer vaccine booster internal to five months from six - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommendation for when many people can receive a booster shot, shortening the interval from six months to five months for people who received the Pfizer (PFE) -BioNTech (BNTX) COVID-19 Vaccine. This means that people can now receive an mRNA booster shot five months after completing their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series. The booster interval recommendation for people who received the Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) vaccine of two months or the Moderna vaccine of six months has not changed. Additionally, the CDC is recommending that moderately or severely immunocompromised 5-11-year-olds receive an additional primary dose of vaccine 28 days after their second shot. At this time, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is authorized and recommended for children aged 5-11.

11:04 EST AMD unveils additions, enhancements to Radeon graphics portfolio - During the 2022 Product Premiere livestream event, AMD unveiled additions and enhancements to the AMD Radeon graphics portfolio to "deliver incredible, next-level experiences to more gamers than ever," the company announced in a press release concurrent with the event. "Bringing higher levels of performance to power a new class of premium laptops, the new solutions expand the AMD Radeon RX 6000M Series mobile graphics family, with the addition of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, Radeon RX 6650M XT, Radeon RX 6650M, Radeon RX 6500M and Radeon RX 6300M mobile graphics. AMD also announced the new AMD Radeon RX 6000S mobile graphics lineup - the AMD Radeon RX 6800S, Radeon RX 6700S and Radeon RX 6600S - optimized to bring power-efficient, high-performance gaming to incredibly thin-and-light laptops that are the fastest growing segment in the gaming laptop market," the company said. AMD added: "The Alienware m17 R5, an AMD Advantage laptop powered by up to an AMD Ryzen 6980HX APU and up to an AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT GPU is expected to be available in Q2 2022. Other laptops with new AMD Radeon RX 6000M Series mobile graphics are expected to be available beginning in Q1 2022 from leading OEMs. Laptops with AMD Radeon RX 6000S Series mobile graphics are expected to be available beginning in Q1 2022, including the ROG Zephyrus G14, the first 14-inch AMD Advantage laptop powered by up to an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS APU and up to an AMD Radeon RX 6800S GPU. AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT graphics cards are expected to be available from AMD board partners including ASRock, ASUS, BIOSTAR, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE, XFX and Yeston at global etailers/retailers beginning January 19, 2022. The graphics card has an SEP of $199 USD. It is also expected to be available in pre-built systems from OEMs and system integrators beginning in Q1 2022. Pre-built systems with AMD Radeon RX 6400 graphics card are expected to be available beginning in 1H 2022."

11:02 EST AMD announces lineup of new Ryzen 6000 Series processors - During its 2022 Product Premiere livestream event, AMD announced the full lineup of new AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors for laptops, "bringing the new, highly-efficient and extremely powerful, 'Zen 3+' core architecture together with all-new AMD RDNA 2 architecture-based on-chip graphics," the company announced in a press release concurrent with the event. "The new AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors are built using TSMC's 6nm process technology and deliver unprecedented levels of built-in graphics performance, offering revolutionary 1080p AAA gaming, along with cutting-edge features and superb battery life. AMD also announced the new Ryzen 7 5800X3D desktop processor with AMD 3D V-Cache technology for elite-level gaming performance that dominates the competition1, and previewed the new Ryzen 7000 Series CPU powered by "Zen 4" architecture and using the new AMD Socket AM5," the company said. "AMD is at the forefront of innovation in the PC industry, delivering unmatched experiences for creators, professionals and gamers. The new AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors bring remarkable efficiency for impressive battery life, unbeatable built-in graphics and optimized performance to deliver the best AMD has to offer to every type of notebook user," said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, Client business unit, AMD.

10:44 EST Surna signs $3.4M contract with Aeriz Holdings - CEA Industries, doing business as Surna Cultivation Technologies, announced it has signed one of the largest contracts in its history. "After working with Aeriz Holdings Corporation, a large, multi-state operator, on projects in Arizona and Illinois, Surna is delighted to be a part of their most recent facility in California. Today we are happy to announce a signed contract for $3.4M with them for their 96,000 square feet cultivation facility in Riverbank," said Jon Kozlowski, Surna's Vice President of Sales. "The project includes Surna's mechanical engineering services, controls design services and HVACD equipment for the veg, flower, and wet and dry cure rooms. We are excited to work with a client for whom operating costs and efficiency gains are a priority and to have an engineering team that understands and can manage the complex engineering associated with this design."

10:39 EST GM sees 2021 light industry sales of 15M, 2022 sales of 16M - General Motors expects economic growth in the U.S. and improving semiconductor availability to help drive U.S. total light industry sales from around 15M in 2021 to around 16M in 2022. "The key constraint for sales continues to be reduced inventory levels as a result of the semiconductor shortage. Those inventory levels are beginning to recover against a backdrop of strong fundamental demand conditions, with ample job openings, high household savings and low interest rates," said Elaine Buckberg, GM chief economist. "Consumers want to drive as much as before the pandemic, based on recent high levels of vehicle usage. High vehicle usage and deferred sales mean pent up demand for new vehicles in the millions and building. That pent up demand will support sales as vehicle supply improves."

10:36 EST General Motors reports Q4 deliveries down 43% to 440,745 vehicles - General Motors said the company and its dealers sold 440,745 vehicles in Q4, down 43% compared with the fourth quarter of 2020. "GM entered the quarter with record low inventories; however, the company's fourth-quarter production and wholesale deliveries were up significantly from the third quarter as semiconductor supply conditions improved," the company said in a statement. Dealer inventory, including in-transit units on their way to dealers, was 128,757 units at the end of Q3 and 199,662 at the end of Q4.

10:23 EST Google acquires Siemplify for security operations - In a company blog post, Sunil Potti, VP/GM of Google Cloud Security said, "At Google Cloud, we are committed to advancing invisible security and democratizing security operations for every organization. Today, we're proud to share the next step in this journey with the acquisition of Siemplify, a leading security orchestration, automation and response provider. Siemplify shares our vision in this space, and will join Google Cloud's security team to help companies better manage their threat response. In a time when cyberattacks are rapidly growing in both frequency and sophistication, there's never been a better time to bring these two companies together. We both share the belief that security analysts need to be able to solve more incidents with greater complexity while requiring less effort and less specialized knowledge. With Siemplify, we will change the rules on how organizations hunt, detect, and respond to threats. Providing a proven SOAR capability unified with Chronicle's innovative approach to security analytics is an important step forward in our vision. Building an intuitive, efficient security operations workflow around planet-scale security telemetry will further realize Google Cloud's vision of a modern threat management stack that empowers customers to go beyond typical security event and information management and extended detection and response tooling, enabling better detection and response at the speed and scale of modern environments...The Siemplify platform is an intuitive workbench that enables security teams to both manage risk better and reduce the cost of addressing threats. Siemplify allows Security Operation Center analysts to manage their operations from end-to-end, respond to cyber threats with speed and precision, and get smarter with every analyst interaction. The technology also helps improve SOC performance by reducing caseloads, raising analyst productivity, and creating better visibility across workflows. We plan to invest in SOAR capabilities with Siemplify's cloud services as our foundation and the team's talent leading the way. Our intention is to integrate Siemplify's capabilities into Chronicle in ways that help enterprises modernize and automate their security operations." Reference Link

10:08 EST Oshkosh names Jay Iyengar as EVP, chief technology, strategic sourcing officer - Oshkosh Corporation announced that Jay Iyengar has joined the organization as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Strategic Sourcing Officer. Jay will have responsibility for Oshkosh's vision and strategy that will drive the investment, development and deployment of leading-edge technologies. She will also be responsible for global strategic sourcing activities focused on building a supply chain capable of delivering next generation technologies. Ms. Iyengar has over 30 years of diverse industry experience across the automotive, aerospace, diversified industrial, agricultural and heavy-duty vehicle markets, most recently serving as Chief Technology and Quality Officer at CNH Industrial.

10:00 EST Core & Main falls -9.9% - Core & Main is down -9.9%, or -$3.04 to $27.74.

10:00 EST Heliogen falls -25.6% - Heliogen is down -25.6%, or -$3.47 to $10.10.

10:00 EST Heritage Insurance rises 10.5% - Heritage Insurance is up 10.5%, or 62c to $6.51.

09:49 EST Wrap Technologies reports reorder of BolaWrap 150 by Dominican Republic - Wrap Technologies announced that the company received and shipped an order for 100 BolaWrap 150 remote restraint devices from the Dominican Republic Ministry of Defense. The order follows live demonstrations of the device delivered in April of 2021 following an initial order of 20 devices for the Navy of the Dominican Republic. The demonstrations were presented to five government departments in total, the company said in a statement. "We're seeing momentum in international markets despite the continuation of the pandemic," said Tom Smith, WRAP President & CEO. "The time frame may be extended for international orders, but we are seeing encouraging progress by distributors and their customers." WRAP received and shipped the order for its BolaWrap 150 remote restraint devices in the fourth quarter of 2021.

09:47 EST Core & Main falls -10.4% - Core & Main is down -10.4%, or -$3.19 to $27.59.

09:47 EST Paysafe rises 7.0% - Paysafe is up 7.0%, or 28c to $4.33.

09:47 EST NexTier Oilfield rises 14.0% - NexTier Oilfield is up 14.0%, or 54c to $4.41.

09:35 EST Ideanomics announces strategic investment in InoBat Auto - Earlier, Ideanomics announced their strategic investment in InoBat Auto, which the company calls "a European-based premium battery technology and manufacturing company." The funding will support the completion of InoBat's R&D center and pilot battery plant located in Voderady, Slovakia by the end of 2022, Ideanomics stated. "In conjunction with the investment, Ideanomics and InoBat will also collaborate to develop, produce, and distribute integrated battery pack solutions for the US market. The collaboration is intended to accelerate Ideanomics subsidiaries' continued growth and deliver potential revenue opportunities targeting other U.S. commercial EV fleet customers... InoBat is actively pursuing plans to build several gigafactories on additional sites across Europe and other global locations through 2024 in order to support and serve the international market at scale. Recently, InoBat also welcomed financial investments to deliver its facility and pilot battery line from Rio Tinto, a global mining and metals company, and Amara Raja, a leading industrial and automotive battery company in India," the company added.

09:24 EST PharmaCyte Biotech proves capsule material not toxic for encapsulated cells - PharmaCyte Biotech announced that the empty capsule material that makes up PharmaCyte's CypCaps pancreatic cancer product candidate is not toxic for the encapsulated cells inside the CypCaps. PharmaCyte's Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth L. Waggoner, said, "We have completed another study that proves exactly what we expected to find in the data. Like previous biocompatibility studies on our CypCaps product candidate to treat locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer this study demonstrates that the capsule material is not in any way toxic to our encapsulated live cells. This study also confirms previously obtained data that the capsule material is bio-inert." The cells were examined 24 hours later under the microscope by the CRO for any abnormal cell morphology and the possible presence of cell lysis. The capsule material was found to be "non-cytotoxic" to mouse fibroblast cells at all of the concentrations examined.

09:22 EST Schneider National acquire Midwest Logistics Systems in $263M transaction - Schneider announced the company is growing its dedicated operations with the acquisition of Ohio-based truckload carrier, Midwest Logistics Systems. MLS is a leading dedicated carrier with over 1,000 professional drivers, operating 900 tractors across 30 central U.S. locations. Schneider has acquired 100% of the equity interest in MLS. The carrier will run as an independent subsidiary of Schneider. MLS professional drivers and associates will continue to operate under the MLS name. MLS annual revenues are approximately $205M, and the acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Schneider's earnings per share. MLS financial results will be reported in dedicated operations as part of the Truckload segment beginning in the first quarter of 2022. The enterprise value of the transaction was approximately $263M. Schneider financed the transaction through cash on hand. Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary served as Schneider's transaction and legal advisor and Frost Brown Todd served as Midwest Logistics Systems, Ltd.'s transaction and legal advisor.

09:16 EST ImmunityBio awarded 'seminal patent' on natural killer cells' - ImmunityBio has been granted a U.S. patent for a novel natural killer cell therapy composition and method for treating cancer that combines the company's genetically modified NK-92 cells with CD16 receptors to enhance binding and activity of monoclonal antibodies. The combination of these engineered NK-92 cells with current monoclonal antibody therapies has the potential to augment the overall cytotoxic effects of monoclonal antibody treatment alone and help to address relapse by bolstering the patient's own natural immune system response. ImmunityBio's NK-92 cells are specifically modified versions of the NK cells that are a core element of the human immune system. First discovered in the blood of a non-Hodgkins lymphoma patient, these cells retain most of the activating receptors of NK cells but lack the major inhibitory receptors, giving them higher baseline cytotoxicity against tumor cells. The cells have been included in more than 450 published papers covering a wide range of research and they are currently being studied in clinical trials for pancreatic cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The off-the-shelf NK cell platform can be easily expanded, genetically modified and cryopreserved. By inserting chimeric antigen receptors in the NK-92 cells, they have the potential for multi-specific killing including direct NK cell killing via stress ligands, CD16-mediated killing via tumor-targeted antibodies, and CAR-mediated killing. The patent, which protects this therapeutic approach for 20 years from its original filing, covers the use of these NK-92 cells in conjunction with the mAbs that are a standard of care in many cancer cases. "While monoclonal antibodies have significantly improved the clinical outcomes in patients with cancer, many of these patients ultimately relapse," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., Executive Chairman and Global Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at ImmunityBio. "A growing body of research suggests that clinically meaningful responses to these antibody therapies is dependent upon the overall health of the patient's own natural killer cells and whether the cells express the high-affinity variant of the CD16 receptors, which are found on the surface of natural killer cells. Only about 10% of NK cells in the blood of healthy people have the high-affinity CD16 receptors for monoclonal antibody binding-the majority of NK cells have the intermediate- and low-affinity receptor-therefore an infusion of these NK-92 cells engineered with a high-affinity CD16 receptor supercharges the monoclonal antibodies, potentially enabling the antibodies to be therapeutically more effective in combination with the killing activity of these engineered NK-92 cells."

09:12 EST Gevo appoints David George as SVP, Verity Tracking - Gevo announced that David George has joined Gevo as Senior Vice President, SVP, Verity Tracking. George brings over 20 years of experience in technical, commercial, and business development leadership. Before coming to Gevo, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer at Xpansiv. George will manage the launch and strategy development for Verity Tracking, a blockchain technology for tracking sustainability, building trust, and setting the standards for the growing industry.

09:12 EST GeoVax Labs issues shareholder update letter - GeoVax Labs issued an update letter from Chairman and CEO, David Dodd, to the Company's shareholders and other interested parties. The letter is posted to the Company's website.

09:10 EST UGI Corporation subsidiary to acquire Stonehenge Appalachia for $190M - UGI Corporation announced that its subsidiary, UGI Energy Services, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Stonehenge Appalachia from Stonehenge Energy Holdings for approximately $190M. This investment is expected to be immediately accretive to adjusted earnings. The Stonehenge system, located in Butler County Pennsylvania, includes more than 47 miles of pipeline and associated compression assets, and has gathering capacity of 130M cubic feet per day. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and other closing conditions, including Federal antitrust clearance pursuant to the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Assuming fulfillment of all conditions, the transaction is expected to close by January 31, 2022.

09:10 EST Avalon GloboCare provides year-end business update on clinical programs - Avalon GloboCare provided a year-end business update. "We believe we have made significant progress in 2021, advancing our scientific and clinical programs focusing on immuno-oncology and cellular medicines," said David Jin, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Avalon. "Our goal is to address the unmet needs of patients utilizing innovative technologies that transform cellular therapy and regenerative medicine. We have partnered with world-renowned research centers and universities on cutting edge research, and are accelerating our own innovative research, bio-process development, clinical programs and product commercialization." Avalon entered into a new collaboration with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to develop new cancer immunotherapy approaches. Avalon's lead candidate, AVA-011 is currently at an IND-enabling stage. Avalon is on track to initiate AVA-011 first-in-human clinical trial by mid-2022. Avalon's research partnership with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria, is progressing. Avalon has co-developed and jointly filed a patent with BOKU on a novel platform of S-layer coated emulsome technology for next-generation, targeted drug delivery and cellular immunotherapy applications. The Company believes this novel SLET platform will help accelerate the development of Avalon's mRNA-based Flash-CAR and other cellular therapy programs.

09:08 EST Illumina, Synapse partner to evaluate large panel biomarker testing patterns - Syapse announced a partnership with Illumina aimed at assessing the real-world uptake and actionability of comprehensive genomic profiling in the community oncology health system setting. The work between Syapse and Illumina seeks to understand biomarker testing patterns and actionability of test results to inform clinical decision-making in the community health system setting as a first step toward facilitating improved clinical decision making. "It has become clear that the ability for all patients to receive personalized care via the application of real-world evidence is foundational in the global fight against cancer," said Dr. Phil Febbo, chief medical officer of Illumina. "The insights gleaned from this collaboration can help to make that a reality by improving clinical decision making, at both the provider and health system level and ultimately strengthening the delivery of precision oncology care."

09:07 EST Anghami partners with Amazon Alexa for new interactive experience - Anghami (VMAC) s now providing users in KSA and UAE a seamless innovative experience by rolling out access to its skills in not only English but also in Arabic language through its partnership with Alexa, Amazon's (AMZN) smart assistant technology. Being among the first Arabic and English skills built for Alexa, Anghami aims to deliver a seamless localized music experience in a Khaleeji Arabic voice, as well as in English, embodying the rich Arab culture by optimizing the experience for both its Arabic and English-speaking users. These skills offer Anghami users in the UAE and KSA an enhanced interactive experience that allows them to play music that fits their mood, stream their favourite podcasts, listen to religious content and control millions of songs by simply conversing with Alexa using local pronunciations and intonation in both Arabic and English dialects. Customers with smart devices will simply need to connect their Anghami accounts to their Alexa device and start the conversation by saying "Alexa, start Anghami music" and the skill will welcome them providing a wide range of Arabic content available on the platform.

09:06 EST Arthur J. Gallagher acquires Risk Transfer Insurance Agency, terms undisclosed - Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Orlando, Florida-based Risk Transfer Insurance Agency. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2000, Risk Transfer Insurance Agency is a full-service commercial property/casualty agency and program administrator offering customized insurance solutions and risk management services for professional employer organizations and temporary staffing firms across Florida and throughout the U.S.

09:05 EST Pico acquires Redline Trading Solutions - Pico, a company that entered into a definitive agreement with special purpose acquisition company FTAC Athena Acquisition (FTAA), announced that it has acquired Redline Trading Solutions. "The acquisition marks a key milestone in Pico's vision to become a leading provider of technology, software, data and analytics solutions to the financial markets. The addition of Redline's high performance, multi-asset software solutions will provide access to a common API for global markets, both real-time and historical, delivered via Pico's global network," the company said. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Redline had previously been backed by GS Growth, the growth investing arm of Goldman Sachs.

09:04 EST Best Buy launches new advertising business, Best Buy Ads - Best Buy said in a statement: "That's why we're excited to announce Best Buy Ads, our new in-house media company that will help shoppers discover products, services, and offers. With our deep customer insights, we will partner with relevant brands in a variety of new and holistic ways, to provide meaningful messages at the right time. We interact with our customers three billion times a year - in our stores, in their homes, and online. These relationships last longer and run deeper than most. Knowing our customers on this level means we can help other brands cut through the clutter with advertising that won't waste our customers' time. With Best Buy Ads, we can show more of what interests our customers, when it interests them, and even help them save money. Whether a brand sells products at Best Buy or offers complementary products and solutions our customers need, we can help them reach their audience on our own channels and on external sites with a broad portfolio of offerings. We have spent the past few years building a business that can analyze the data from our customer relationships and recommend relevant ways to connect with customers based on cutting-edge data science and analytics. It's an innovative approach to advertising, in line with the innovative tech we sell. Just what you'd expect from Best Buy," said the company in a statement.

09:03 EST Genmab, Synaffix enter license agreement for ADC technology - Genmab and Synaffix announced that Genmab and Synaffix have signed a license agreement providing Genmab broad access to Synaffix's ADC technologies. Genmab is granted exclusive research rights to utilize Synaffix ADC technologies for one drug target with the option for the worldwide development and commercialization of the resulting ADCs. Genmab has the option to exercise exclusive research and commercial licenses for additional targets. For each specific target nominated under the license agreement, Genmab gains exclusive access to Synaffix's clinical-stage GlycoConnect antibody conjugation technology, HydraSpac polar spacer technology, as well as select toxSYN linker-payloads, each designed to enable ADCs with best-in-class efficacy and tolerability for the development of multiple potential therapies. Genmab will be responsible for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of any resulting ADC therapies. Under the terms of the agreement, Synaffix will receive an upfront payment of $4.5M and, on a target-by-target basis, is eligible to receive option-exercise, development-, regulatory- and commercial milestone payments. The total potential deal value is $415M plus tiered, mid-single digit royalties on commercial sales.

09:02 EST Corsair Gaming launches CORSAIR ONE i300 - CORSAIR announced the new CORSAIR ONE i300 range of compact desktop PCs, the latest in the ORSAIR ONE lineup. This powerhouse system takes advantage of the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors, debuting with a formidable Intel Core i9-12900K. Replete with an assortment of premium CORSAIR components - including VENGEANCE DDR5 memory - in an unbelievably small form-factor, the CORSAIR ONE i300 is the premier choice for PC gaming, creative applications, and more.

08:59 EST Dorel Industries declares special dividend of $12.00 per share - Dorel also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special dividend of US $12.00 per share on Dorel's outstanding Class B Subordinate Voting Shares and Class A Multiple Voting Shares, representing an aggregate amount of approximately US $390 million. The special dividend will be payable on February 1, 2022 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on January 18, 2022. The full amount of the special dividend is designated as an eligible dividend for purposes of section 89(1) of the Income Tax Act. The Toronto Stock Exchange has determined to implement its "due bill" trading procedures with respect to Dorel's special dividend of US $12.00 per share. Due bills are entitlements which attach to listed securities undergoing certain material corporate events, including a cash dividend in an amount equal to or greater than 25% of the market value of the underlying listed securities. In the case of Dorel's special dividend, due bills represent entitlement to the cash amount of US $12.00 per share. For trading purposes, due bills will attach to Dorel's Class B Shares and Class A Shares from the opening of business on Monday, January 17, 2022, being the first trading day prior to the record date of Tuesday, January 18, 2022, until the payment date of Tuesday, February 1, 2022, inclusively, so that Dorel's shares will carry the value of the special dividend until the dividend has been paid. Dorel's Class B Shares and Class A Shares will commence trading on an "ex-dividend" basis on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, as of which date purchasers of the shares will no longer have an attaching entitlement to payment of the special dividend. The due bill redemption date will be February 3, 2022.

08:58 EST Dorel Industries completes sale of sports segment to Pon Holdings for $810M - Dorel Industries announced that it has completed the previously-announced sale of Dorel Sports, its bicycle segment, to Pon Holdings B.V., a Dutch mobility group, for US $810 million, representing approximately CAD $1.03 billion. At closing, Dorel received net proceeds from the sale of approximately US $735 million, which Dorel will use for payment of a special dividend of US $12.00 per share described below and to reduce indebtedness. The transaction consisted of the sale by Dorel of 100% of the shares of its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary companies comprising Dorel Sports as well as certain related assets.

08:51 EST FingerMotion retains Skyline Corporate to provide investor relations services - FingerMotion announces that it has recently retained the services of Skyline Corporate Communications Group to manage its investor relations and corporate communications activities within the financial community. Martin Shen, CEO of FingerMotion, commented, "Our Nasdaq listing along with our robust operating activities, growth objectives, and expected corporate milestones prompted FingerMotion to select Skyline as our investor relations representative. We believe that Skyline's strong reputation, communications strategies, methodologies, and standards are an excellent pairing for us as we enter into a growth phase for the Company, and we want to have a skilled partner working closely with us when communicating our message to the investing public."

08:50 EST Quantum Computing appoints Turmelle to board of directors - Quantum Computing (QUBT) has appointed Michael Turmelle to serve on the company's board of directors. "Turmelle brings years of public company executive experience, as well as an extensive background in finance and operations in technology-based companies," the company said. Prior to joining QCI's board, Turmelle was appointed Chairman of the Board for Ideal Power (IPWR)

08:48 EST Virtu Financial commences marketing of senior secured first lien term loan - Virtu Financial announced that its subsidiaries commenced marketing of a $1.8B senior secured first lien term loan due in 2029. The proceeds of the Term Loan will be used to repay its existing senior secured term loan in connection with a refinancing of its existing credit facilities, to fund share repurchases under the Company's authorized repurchase program and for general corporate purposes. The Term Loan will be guaranteed by Virtu Financial LLC, a subsidiary of the Company, and certain of its subsidiaries.

08:47 EST Dirtt Environmental calls activist action 'unnecessary' - DIRTT Environmental Solutions provided an update regarding the requisition made by an activist investor, 22NW Fund, LP, and reiterates that notwithstanding its concerns regarding the Activist's conduct, the committee of its independent directors tasked with reviewing and considering the Requisition remains committed to engaging in discussions with the Activist regarding this unnecessary proxy fight. The company said, "On December 23, 2021, the Activist filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A, which contained numerous statements that the Company believes are inaccurate or misleading, including but not limited to the following: The Preliminary Proxy Statement asserts that, on November 12, 2021, the board of directors of the Company "declined to appoint Mr. English" to the Board. On such date, two members of the Board reiterated to Mr. English that the Board would consider his candidacy in February 2022 consistent with its customary review and selection process for director nominees for election at an annual general meeting, and such directors offered to send to Mr. English a form of standstill agreement that they believed would be required by the Company in connection with any appointment of Mr. English to the Board. The Preliminary Proxy Statement asserts that, on October 11, 2021, Mr. English participated in a telephone call with the Board Chair to "reiterate his concerns about the Company's governance". 22NW's statement that the telephone call was to reiterate Mr. English's "concerns about the Company's governance" is misleading and fails to disclose that Mr. English's sole concern on the call was his potential appointment to the Board. The Preliminary Proxy Statement asserts that, on March 8, 2021, representatives of 22NW participated in a "Cost of Ownership" tool demonstration and had been invited with other DIRTT shareholders to also participate in the demonstration. 22NW's statement that "other DIRTT shareholders" were invited "to also participate in the demonstration" is false. The statement fails to note that 22NW and the Company agreed to invite exactly one other DIRTT shareholder, which is materially different than the statement that "other DIRTT shareholders" were invited to participate. Furthermore, such shareholder is the subject of a complaint submitted by the Company to the Alberta Securities Commission, which complaint alleges that such shareholder is acting jointly or in concert with 22NW. The Preliminary Proxy Statement also discloses the trading activity in DIRTT stock by the Activist, Mr. English and certain employees of the Activist during the past two years. These trades raise significant concerns regarding whether 22NW has complied with various disclosure and reporting obligations under Canadian and US securities laws. The Company has raised these issues with the Alberta Securities Commission, including apparent breaches by 22NW of certain provisions under the alternative monthly reporting regime of Canadian securities laws. The Company has shared these concerns with the Activist. These most recent regulatory concerns are in addition to those previously identified, including that the Company shareholders have not been provided with full and fair disclosure concerning relationships amongst the Activist and certain other shareholders, their coordinated trading activities, their joint plans, and the extent of their influence and control. The Board is raising concerns about the Activist's activities and disclosures because they raise fundamental issues with respect to the protection of DIRTT's minority shareholders and the equal treatment of our shareholders, and in order to ensure that shareholders have accurate and complete information to make informed decisions...As previously disclosed, the Company has advised the Activist that it remains committed to negotiations that benefit ALL shareholders, but will only resume such negotiations in good faith and not through press releases. Accordingly, counsel to the Company once again informed counsel to the Activist this morning that the Special Committee is prepared to have discussions with the Activist on a without prejudice basis."

08:46 EST ARCA Biopharma announces data published on Gencaro - ARCA biopharma announced that the paper entitled "Dose Limiting, Adverse Event Associated Bradycardia with beta-blocker Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation in the GENETIC-AF Trial" has been published in Heart Rhythm O2, a publication of the Hearth Rhythm Society. The paper details an analysis that examined the prevalence of bradycardia and its association with adverse events and failure to achieve target dose in the GENETIC-AF Phase 2b clinical trial. The 267-patient GENETIC-AF clinical trial tested the hypothesis that pharmacogenetic inhibitory targeting of the higher function, 389 arginine variant of the beta1-adrenergic receptor by Gencaro would be more effective in preventing AF than inhibition by metoprolol succinate, a beta blocker without differentiated effects for the ADRB1 Arg389Gly polymorphism. Additional analyses determined that mean HR in sinus rhythm was 62.6 +/- 12.5 bpm for metoprolol and 68.3 +/- 11.1 bpm for Gencaro, but in AF HRs were not different. On multivariate analysis of 21 candidate bradycardia predictors including presence of a device with pacing capability, Gencaro treatment was associated with the greatest degree of prevention.

08:44 EST Starwood and Morningstar announce joint venture - Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, a non-listed REIT managed by a subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group, and Morningstar Properties, a leading owner and operator of self-storage facilities under the Morningstar Storage brand, announced the formation of a joint venture to own and operate high-quality stabilized assets in the self-storage sector. The joint venture includes the recapitalization of 25 assets owned by Morningstar owned and managed funds, as well as a commitment of capital to continue acquiring assets in the sector under the Morningstar brand. The seed portfolio for the newly formed venture includes 1.8 million square feet of storage space located throughout the Sun Belt region, which is experiencing significant population, employment and income growth. The joint venture will seek to capitalize on favorable sector and regional trends through acquisition of high-quality portfolios and one-off assets. Morningstar was advised by Eastdil Secured on the recapitalization of the seed portfolio and formation of this venture.

08:44 EST Starwood and Morningstar announce joint venture - Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, a non-listed REIT managed by a subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group, and Morningstar Properties, a leading owner and operator of self-storage facilities under the Morningstar Storage brand, announced the formation of a joint venture to own and operate high-quality stabilized assets in the self-storage sector. The joint venture includes the recapitalization of 25 assets owned by Morningstar owned and managed funds, as well as a commitment of capital to continue acquiring assets in the sector under the Morningstar brand. The seed portfolio for the newly formed venture includes 1.8 million square feet of storage space located throughout the Sun Belt region, which is experiencing significant population, employment and income growth. The joint venture will seek to capitalize on favorable sector and regional trends through acquisition of high-quality portfolios and one-off assets. Morningstar was advised by Eastdil Secured on the recapitalization of the seed portfolio and formation of this venture.

08:42 EST Point Biopharma appoints Matthew Vincent as SVP, business development - POINT Biopharma Global announced the appointment of Matthew Vincent, Ph.D., J.D., as Senior Vice President, Business Development. Dr. Vincent brings more than 25 years of pharma business development experience through a variety of partnering, licensing, and M&A transactions and will lead licensing activities for POINT, with a focus on expansion into the Asian markets and strategic partnerships to fully realize the potential of POINT's pan-cancer targeting technologies. Vincent was most recently Senior Vice President, Business Development at Avacta Life Sciences Ltd., a clinical stage oncology drug company based in London, UK and Boston, MA which develops novel cancer immunotherapies.

08:40 EST National Retail Solutions launches NRS eWIC - National Retail Solutions announced the introduction of NRS eWIC, a breakthrough eWIC payment processing service purpose-built for the independent retailer. WIC is the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, a federal program administered by the states to provide healthy food to nutritionally at-risk pregnant women and new mothers, infants and young children. Across the country, states are migrating their distribution of WIC benefits from paper vouchers to electronic benefit transfer cards. Retail stores must operate a state-certified eWIC processing service in order to accept WIC payments.

08:38 EST American Battery hires third-party board services firm for vetting process - American Battery Technology Company released a letter to shareholders from Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer Ryan Melsert. The letter read in part, On behalf of the team at American Battery Technology Company, I hope that you have had an eventful and prosperous 2021. This has certainly been the case for us over the past twelve months as we now look forward and commence 2022 operations. About a year ago, the global automotive industry started to show a tepid interest in a transition to an electric propulsion based transportation economy, and since then that initial interest has grown to a groundswell of momentum that has resulted in a paradigm shift with virtually all major automotive original equipment manufacturers, as well as government agencies and investment institutions, embracing the transition and devoting unprecedented resources towards its implementation. While this led to immediate announcements of hundreds of new and existing vehicle factories being devoted to the manufacturing of electric vehicles, and of hundreds of new battery cell factories being constructed globally, unfortunately this momentum did not carry over to significantly grow the manufacturing capacity of the upstream battery metals and their refineries needed in order to supply this wave of new demand. As such, we are in a position where the committed demand for these battery metals from the electric vehicle and battery cell factories already under construction is far greater than the global capacity of all battery metal manufacturing facilities combined... As announced in August, our founder-stage board members will not be running for re-election, allowing us the opportunity to build a new well-balanced board of directors in alignment with our corporate mission. This is an effort I take very seriously, and over the past four months we have been able to interview more than 30 prospective candidates for these board seats. The majority of these candidates are current or former executives or board members at the automotive OEMs, at global chemical companies, at institutional investment and/or ESG-based firms, are former members of federal or state governments, or are industry experts in key fields of research. While I have always felt our company mission and position in the industry are compelling, it is still inspiring that after hearing our technology roadmap and business plans effectively every one of these candidates has accepted our offer to be considered for a seat. The nominations of our board members are too important to be decided by a single individual, so we have hired a third-party board services firm to perform a vetting process, including conflicts of interest and background checks, on each of the downselected candidates. Once these final candidates are vetted and nominated, the full dossiers prepared for each nominated board member will be sent to all shareholders as part of the announcement of our annual shareholders meeting, at which each nominated candidate will be voted upon by the shareholders. We have hired a separate third-party firm to host and manage the voting for the annual shareholder meeting, and the date of this meeting will be announced once the board candidate vetting processes are complete. While this is a time-consuming process, the establishment of our new board of directors is a critical factor in driving company success and ensuring proper corporate governance. It has been just over four months since I was appointed the CEO of ABTC, and I still wake up each morning humbled by the confidence you have placed in me, awestruck by the opportunity at our fingertips, and steadfast to help drive this company to its goals."

08:37 EST Achieve Life Sciences completes last subject in Phase 3 ORCA-2 trial - Achieve Life Sciences announced that the last study follow-up visit for the last subject enrolled in the ORCA-2 Phase 3 trial occurred in late December 2021.The ORCA-2 trial is the first Phase 3 trial in Achieve's ORCA, Ongoing Research of Cytisinicline for Addiction, Program, designed to evaluate the smoking cessation effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of 3 mg cytisinicline taken three times daily for either 6 or 12 weeks, compared with placebo.Topline data regarding the primary results are expected in the second quarter of 2022. Achieve's second cytisinicline Phase 3 registrational clinical trial, ORCA-3, is expected to initiate enrollment of approximately 750 adult cigarette smokers in the first quarter of 2022.

08:35 EST Microchip announces MPLAB ICE 4 programming, debugging tool - Embedded engineers seeking complete analysis of projects for rapid development require easy-to-use yet powerful emulation hardware. Microchip Technology announced the MPLAB ICE 4 next-generation full in-circuit emulator, debugging and programming development tool for the company's PIC and AVR microcontrollers, dsPIC digital signal controllers, and SAM MCUs and microprocessors. The MPLAB ICE 4 In-Circuit Emulator is Microchip's fastest and most feature-rich emulation and programming tool for its MCUs and MPUs, debugging and programming with the powerful, easy-to-use graphical user interface of MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment. The MPLAB ICE 4 In-Circuit Emulator provides a flexible development experience including advanced debugging capabilities to write power-efficient code coupled with all the features needed to reduce debugging time.

08:34 EST Tabula Rasa HealthCare renews contract with Evernorth - Tabula Rasa HealthCare announced a five-year contract renewal with Evernorth, to expand use of TRHC's Medication Therapy Management, or MTM, programs and other clinical services. Evernorth renews contract and expands use of TRHC's Medication Therapy Management programs and other clinical servicesThe new agreement expands upon THRC's previous 10 year relationship with Express Scripts PBM, which is part of the Evernorth portfolio. TRHC's technology can identify medication risk for individual patients or across patient populations by combining patient-specific, clinical and pharmacology data to identify which patients or populations are at high risk for Adverse Drug Events and require more immediate medication management attention. Under the new agreement, Evernorth will continue to deliver TRHC's MTM services to millions of Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and commercial health plan members. Additionally, TRHC will provide Evernorth and Express Scripts PBM with expanded face-to-face and digital models to improve member engagement and satisfaction through the addition of TRHC's network of more than 18,000 pharmacies.

08:34 EST symplr to acquire Midas Health Analytic Solutions from Conduent - symplr, a company backed by Clearlake Capital Group and Charlesbank Capital Partners, announced that it has agreed to acquire Midas Health Analytics Solutions from Conduent Incorporated. The transaction is expected to close in the Q1, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Midas Health Analytics Solutions leverage a data warehouse with over 100 million claims and 30,000+ indicators as well as comparative data from approximately 800 hospitals. Sidley Austin provided legal counsel for symplr and Holland & Knight provided legal counsel for Conduent.

08:34 EST Tabula Rasa HealthCare renews contract with Evernorth - Tabula Rasa HealthCare announced a five-year contract renewal with Evernorth, to expand use of TRHC's Medication Therapy Management, or MTM, programs and other clinical services. Evernorth renews contract and expands use of TRHC's Medication Therapy Management programs and other clinical servicesThe new agreement expands upon THRC's previous 10 year relationship with Express Scripts PBM, which is part of the Evernorth portfolio. TRHC's technology can identify medication risk for individual patients or across patient populations by combining patient-specific, clinical and pharmacology data to identify which patients or populations are at high risk for Adverse Drug Events and require more immediate medication management attention. Under the new agreement, Evernorth will continue to deliver TRHC's MTM services to millions of Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and commercial health plan members. Additionally, TRHC will provide Evernorth and Express Scripts PBM with expanded face-to-face and digital models to improve member engagement and satisfaction through the addition of TRHC's network of more than 18,000 pharmacies.

08:33 EST Capital Power announces six-year tolling agreement extension - Capital Power Corporation announced the execution of a 6-year tolling agreement extension through October 2031 for its Arlington Valley facility with the current counterparty. Arlington is a 600-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle facility located west of Phoenix, Arizona that began commercial operations in 2002 and was acquired by Capital Power in late 2018.

08:32 EST HCA Healthcare purchases MD Now Urgent Care centers in FL, no terms - HCA Healthcare announced it has purchased MD Now Urgent Care, a network of 59 urgent care centers in Florida. The transaction significantly expands HCA Healthcare's reach as one of the nation's leading providers of urgent care, currently operating more than 170 clinics across 19 markets. MD Now is the largest urgent care provider in Florida. "The addition of MD Now Urgent Care in Florida enhances our already strong capabilities in a rapidly growing state by providing convenient outpatient care options for our patients," said Sam Hazen, HCA Healthcare's chief executive officer. "It also connects MD Now patients to a comprehensive statewide network of care, including acute care and specialty services should they be needed." The acquisition of these MD Now centers, combined with the November announcement of HCA Healthcare's plans to build three additional hospitals in the state, will enhance HCA Florida Healthcare's ability to offer patient-centered, high-quality care to more Floridians and meet the growing need for healthcare services in the state. HCA Florida Healthcare currently serves 6.4 million patients each year at more than 400 affiliated sites of care across Florida. HCA Florida Healthcare has a long history of investing in Florida, including a major capital investment initiative of approximately $3 billion spent over the last three years. This includes the $360 million HCA Florida University Hospital and existing facility renovations across the state to accommodate new, advanced equipment. As a tax-paying entity, HCA Florida Healthcare has also supported local communities with more than $957 million in state taxes over the past three years. The transaction was completed at the end of 2021. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

08:32 EST GreenPower Motor delivers four EV Star Cab and Chassis to TCI Trucks - GreenPower Motor Company announced that Transportation Commodities has taken delivery of four GreenPower EV Star Cab and Chassis. TCI offers comprehensive transportation solutions across the United States and will deploy the EV Star CCs as part of their service fleet. The four units received funding from the most recent funding round of California's Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project, which took place on October 28, 2021.

08:31 EST Sunrun appoints Manjula Talreja to board of directors - Sunrun (RUN) announced the appointment of Manjula Talreja, Chief Customer Officer of PagerDuty (PD) as a member of the company's board of directors.

08:28 EST Spero Therapeutics announces lifting of FDA clinical trial hold on SPR720 - Spero Therapeutics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has lifted the clinical hold on the Phase 2 trial of SPR720, Spero's investigational oral product candidate being developed for nontuberculous mycobacterial disease. The SPR720 program was placed on a clinical hold by the FDA following a review of data from a non-human primate toxicology study in which mortalities with inconclusive causality to treatment were observed. The FDA's decision to lift the hold follows Spero's submission of a comprehensive study report with detailed analyses from the NHP toxicology study. Spero plans on engaging with the FDA in Q1 of 2022 to discuss the re-initiation of the SPR720 Phase 2 trial for NTM-pulmonary disease patients, with an expected study start date commencing in the second half of 2022.

08:27 EST Icanic Brands provides update on status of Management Cease Trade Order - Icanic Brands Company is providing this update on the status of a management cease trade order granted on November 30, 2021 by the British Columbia Securities Commission under National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Order. On November 30, 2021, the Company announced that, for reasons disclosed in the news release, there would be a delay in the filing of its financial statements and accompanying management's discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021 beyond the period prescribed under applicable Canadian securities laws. In addition, the delay in the annual statements has resulted in the interim financial statements and accompanying management discussion and analysis for the three-month period ended October 31, 2021 being delayed beyond the period prescribed as well. The Company reports that it anticipates filing the Annual Filings and the Interim filings for period ended October 31, 2021, on or before January 29, 2022. Further updates on timing will be provided by the Company as necessary. During the MCTO, the general investing public will continue to be able to trade in the Company's listed common shares. However, the Company's chief executive officer and chief financial officer will not be able to trade in the Company's shares. Other than as disclosed in this news release, there are no material changes to the information contained in the Default Announcement. The Company confirms that it intends to satisfy the provisions of NP 12- 203 and will continue to issue bi-weekly default status reports for so long as it remains in default of the Annual Filings requirement.

08:26 EST NetSol Technologies achieves SOC 2 Type 1 compliance - NETSOL Technologies has successfully achieved SOC 2 Type 1 compliance, with a global audit conducted by A-LIGN, the first-ever licensed CPA firm to focus on IT audits such as SOC 2 with over 20 years of SOC experience. Designed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, SOC 2 attests to the protection of client data. Achieving SOC 2 Type 1 compliance reinforces NETSOL's commitment to ensuring the security of its clients' data and confirms that all system requirements were designed based on the trust services criteria relevant to the security standards set by AICPA.

08:24 EST Draganfly announces it will be featured at EDGE22 - Draganfly announces that it will be featured at EDGE22: Common Missions in Today's Digital World at the Park MGM Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Draganfly's onsite demonstration to government representatives will consist of a live drone flight equipped with the company's Smart Vital system. Using existing drone camera systems, the company's Smart Vital system is able to survey, with voluntary consent, vital signs including heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and blood oxygen content. "We are thrilled to be participating in EDGE22," said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. "For more than two decades, Draganfly has continued to develop game-changing drone solutions, software and AI systems that are revolutionizing the way organizations across a variety of industries do business. We are excited to share our passion for creating effective and sustainable solutions that save time, money, and lives."

08:23 EST Aqua Metals appoints Justin Chen as APAC Region Leader - Aqua Metals has appointed Justin Chen as Aqua Metals' Asia Pacific regional leader. "Chen will add key organizational capability in ensuring the success of the Company's first licensee, ACME Metal, to drive region-wide business and market development for AquaRefining solutions for lead and lithium battery recycling," the company said.

08:18 EST Ensysce Biosciences complete part A of MAD/BE trial for PF614 - Ensysce Biosciences announced that it has successfully completed Part A of the previously announced clinical study PF614-102, "A Phase 1b, Randomized, 2-Part Single-Center Study to Evaluate the Pharmacokinetics, PK, and Safety of Multiple-Ascending Oral Doses, MAD, of PF614 and the Food Effect and Bioavailability/Bioequivalence, BE, of Single Oral Doses of PF614 Relative to OxyContin in Healthy Adult Subjects." The Part A of the trial evaluated three dose levels of PF614 delivered orally, twice daily for five days to healthy subjects. Following completion of each cohort, a review from the trial's independent Safety Review Committee allowed the trial to proceed to the next dose level. All three dose levels have now been successfully completed. With this successful completion of the MAD portion, the company is progressing to the BE stage of the study. Fully analyzed MAD data is expected in the first quarter of 2022, with the BE study results to follow in the second quarter. Safety and PK data is scheduled to be presented at the 2022 Pain Therapeutic Conference to be held in London, UK, in May 2022.

08:18 EST symplr to acquire Midas Health Analytic Solutions from Conduent - symplr, a company backed by Clearlake Capital Group and Charlesbank Capital Partners, announced that it has agreed to acquire Midas Health Analytics Solutions from Conduent Incorporated. The transaction is expected to close in the Q1, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Midas Health Analytics Solutions leverage a data warehouse with over 100 million claims and 30,000+ indicators as well as comparative data from approximately 800 hospitals. Sidley Austin provided legal counsel for symplr and Holland & Knight provided legal counsel for Conduent.

08:17 EST AbbVie says FDA grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to Teliso-V - AbbVie announced that the U.S. FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to investigational telisotuzumab vedotin for the treatment of patients with advanced/metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor wild type, nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer with high levels of c-Met overexpression whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based therapy. The FDA's BTD program is intended to expedite the development and review of medicines with preliminary clinical evidence that indicate that the investigational treatment may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints.

08:15 EST Omnicell acquires pharmacy software provider MarkeTouch Media for $82M - Omnicell announced it has acquired pharmacy software solutions provider MarkeTouch Media for total aggregate cash consideration of $82M, subject to customary adjustments. The acquisition is expected to expand the footprint of Omnicell's EnlivenHealthTM division across the retail pharmacy sector, while enhancing potential growth opportunities in new market segments like specialty pharmacy and pharmacy benefits management. Recent studies have shown that the use of mobile apps can significantly improve medication adherence. The addition of MarkeTouch Media's mobile and web-based technology and patient engagement solutions to EnlivenHealth's suite of industry-leading SaaS-based solutions is expected to create a comprehensive offering that will help pharmacies and health plans to thrive while improving the lifelong health of their patients and members. "We are thrilled to be joining with one of the most respected and innovative medication management technology leaders in the industry," said Charles Russo, chief executive officer of MarkeTouch Media. "The combination of our mobile and web-based capabilities and patient engagement solutions with EnlivenHealth's broad portfolio of digital technology solutions will create a robust offering that will help pharmacies and health plans continue to achieve better patient health outcomes and business results."

08:15 EST Solid Biosciences reports inducement grant to SVP, human resources - Solid Biosciences announced the grant of inducement awards to its newly appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Allison Bogosian. The grant was approved by a majority of the independent directors of the Company on November 18, 2021 as an inducement material to Ms. Bogosian entering into employment with the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The inducement grant to Ms. Bogosian consisted of an option to purchase up to 131,400 shares of common stock and a restricted stock unit award with respect to 65,700 shares of common stock. The option has a ten-year term and an exercise price of $1.78 per share, the closing price per share of Solid Biosciences' common stock as reported by Nasdaq on January 3, 2022. The option and restricted stock unit award each vest in four equal installments on each one-year anniversary of Ms. Bogosian's employment start date until the fourth anniversary of Ms. Bogosian's start date, subject to Ms. Bogosian's continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting dates.

08:15 EST Mayfair Gold reviews 2021 highlights, plans for 2022 - Mayfair Gold is pleased to provide a review of the Company's first year of operations at the 100%-controlled Fenn-Gib gold project in the Timmins region of Ontario and also outline plans for 2022. Mayfair Gold acquired Fenn-Gib one year ago on December 31, 2020. Fenn-Gib currently hosts an Indicated Resource of 70.2M tonnes containing 2.08M ounces at a grade of 0.921 g/t gold. Mayfair's vision is to grow the Fenn-Gib resource to +3M ounces through the current 80,000-meter infill and expansion drill program. By late December 2021, when drilling paused for the Christmas break, a total of 54,741m had been drilled in 89 holes. Drilling is scheduled to resume on January 10, 2022, and the 80,000m program is expected to be completed by Q2 2022, with a resource update scheduled for Q3 2022. Concurrent with the drill program, Mayfair resumed metallurgical testing of Fenn-Gib mineralization in 2021. The program is being managed by Ausenco Engineering Canada and samples are currently being tested at SGS Lakefield. The final results of the flowsheet trade off study are expected in Q2 2022. Through this program, Mayfair is seeking to maximize gold recoveries, minimize projected capital and operating costs, and expedite permitting. Following completion of the 80,000m drill program and metallurgical test campaign, Mayfair is planning a preliminary economic assessment for the Fenn-Gib deposit. The PEA will be prepared by Ausenco and is expected to be completed by Q4 2022. In the quest to discover additional deposits at the 4,800-hectare Fenn-Gib project, Mayfair flew the first ever high-resolution triaxial MAG survey at 75m spaced flight lines over both the North and South Blocks at Fenn-Gib in April 2021. Based on very encouraging results, a regional exploration program has been designed to test priority gold targets. Ground geophysics on the North Block will commence shortly, followed by a 7,000m Phase 1 regional drill program. At the South Block, line cutting will also commence shortly to allow access for ground geophysics in preparation for a 3,000m Phase 1 drill program. On December 13, 2021, Mayfair closed a $4.64M flow-through financing. Combined with cash in treasury, the Company's current 2022 plan is fully funded.

08:12 EST Healthcare Realty Trust announces 2021 acquisition, disposition activity - Healthcare Realty TrusT announced acquisition and disposition activity for the full year ended December 31, 2021. The Company acquired 44 buildings in 38 transactions totaling 2.1 million square feet for $756 million at a weighted average cap rate of 5.3%, exceeding the $700 million high end of the Company's most recent acquisitions guidance. In the fourth quarter, the Company acquired 19 buildings in 16 transactions for $298 million, adding to the Company's targeted clusters in eight markets including Nashville, Denver, Los Angeles and Austin. During 2021, the Company's joint venture partner, TIAA, funded $90 million in 12 buildings. For the full year, the Company sold 17 medical office buildings totaling 905,000 square feet for $188 million at a weighted average cap rate of 4.9%. The Company currently has 14 buildings under letter of intent to purchase for approximately $300 million that are expected to close in the first half of 2022. Approximately half of this volume is expected to be acquired through the joint venture with TIAA. The Company also has approximately $100 million under letter of intent to sell. Healthcare Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust that integrates owning, managing, financing and developing income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States. As of September 30, 2021, the Company was invested in 245 real estate properties in 24 states totaling 17.4 million square feet and had an enterprise value of approximately $6.1 billion, defined as equity market capitalization plus the principal amount of debt less cash. The Company provided leasing and property management services to 13.8 million square feet nationwide.

08:11 EST Vaccinex says Phase 1b KEYNOTE B84 combination study passes interim analysis - Vaccinex (VCNX) reported interim safety data in the Phase Ib "safety run-in" segment of the KEYNOTE B84 combination study of Keytruda (MRK) and pepinemab in patients with advanced, recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The Phase 2 segment of the study is now expected to begin enrollment and is expected to accelerate patient accrual. The Phase Ib "safety run-in" segment of the trial was intended to evaluate the safety and tolerability of pepinemab in combination with Keytruda to determine a recommended Phase 2 dose for the dose expansion phase of the study enrolling patients with R/M HNSCC. The interim safety analysis was completed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board and signals initiation of the Phase 2 expansion segment. he Phase 2 "expansion" segment is now expected to proceed to enroll up to 62 subjects across 19 U.S. trial sites. The primary objective of this segment is to evaluate Objective Response Rate per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1 of the combination in immunotherapy naive patients with advanced R/M HNSCC.

08:10 EST ATIF Holdings' NFT art auction platform enters alpha testing phase - ATIF Holdings announced that the internal tests shows that its NFT art auction platform has been performing smoothly and has entered the alpha testing phase which are currently testing and evaluating the quality of the software and readiness for beta testing. ATIF's NFT platform, once launched, will provide an efficient and secure auction and trading marketplace for digital art assets, ensuring the scarcity and originality of NFT works. There will be a series of digital products on the marketplace, including but not limited to digital artworks, collectibles, digital signatures of celebrities and personal creations.

08:08 EST Adverum Biotechnologies granted Orphan Drug Designation by FDA for ADVM-062 - Adverum Biotechnologies announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has granted Orphan Drug Designation to ADVM-062, a novel gene therapy product candidate being developed as a potential single intravitreal administration for blue cone monochromacy by delivering a functional copy of the OPN1LW gene. "We are excited to introduce ADVM-062, which builds on our ophthalmology and gene therapy expertise to address the significant unmet medical needs of patients living with blue cone monochromacy. We are pleased the FDA has recognized the patient need by granting Orphan Drug Designation and we look forward to advancing ADVM-062 towards the clinic and generating important data," stated Laurent Fischer, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Adverum Biotechnologies. Anticipated Milestones for ADVM-062: Plan to present preclinical data supporting proof of concept of ADVM-062 in 1H2022. Plan to submit an Investigational New Drug application by year-end 2022.

08:06 EST Fulcrum Therapeutics appoints Rajavelu as Chief Financial Officer - Fulcrum Therapeutics (FULC) announced the appointment of Esther Rajavelu as Chief Financial Officer. Rajavelu will be responsible for overseeing Fulcrum's financial operations, including financial planning, reporting, accounting, and investor relations. Rajavelu was most recently a senior equities research analyst at UBS Securities (UBS), covering small and mid-cap biotechnology companies.

08:06 EST Aveo enters trial collaboration, supply agreement with Merck KGaA - AVEO Oncology (AVEO) announced that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (MKGAY) to evaluate ficlatuzumab in combination with ERBITUX, an EGFR-targeted antibody, in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Ficlatuzumab is AVEO's investigational potent humanized immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody that targets hepatocyte growth factor. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will provide cetuximab clinical drug supply in all countries outside of the U.S. and Canada for AVEO's future registrational study, which will assess ficlatuzumab with cetuximab in HPV negative R/M HNSCC. AVEO will serve as the study sponsor and will be responsible for costs associated with the trial execution. In June 2021, the Company announced positive results from a randomized confirmatory Phase 2 study of ficlatuzumab alone or in combination with cetuximab in patients with pan-refractory metastatic HNSCC. Of note, patients with HPV negative disease, a subgroup normally associated with poorer outcomes, who received the ficlatuzumab and cetuximab combination demonstrated both a superior overall response rate and median progression free survival over single agent ficlatuzumab. The Company expects to commence manufacturing of ficlatuzumab clinical supply in the second quarter of 2022, subject to availability of key raw materials and manufacturing supplies also used in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing, with the initiation of a registrational study now anticipated in the first half of 2023. The Company expects to continue to discuss potential ficlatuzumab pivotal study designs with the FDA and to continue ongoing partnership dialogues.

08:04 EST Daxor awarded new patent for blood volume guidance technology - Daxor Corporation announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued the company a new patent that protects a proprietary clinical guidance system for volume management utilizing unique volume metrics combined with treatment pathways.

08:04 EST HF Foods Group acquires Great Wall Group in cash, stock transaction - HF Foods Group announced it has completed the acquisition of the business operations of Great Wall Seafood Supply Inc., Great Wall Restaurant Supplier Inc. and First Mart. The Great Wall Group is one of the largest frozen seafood suppliers servicing the Asian/Chinese restaurant market in the nation and generates combined annual revenue of approximately $170 million pre-pandemic and about $200 million assuming revenue remains steady with its most recent quarter. Specifically, the Great Wall Group has had a dominant presence in the Midwest, Southwest, and Southern regions since its inception in 1996. The Great Wall Group works with vendors globally, from regions such as China, Canada, South America, and New Zealand, with thousands of cargo containers transported annually. The transaction, structured as an asset purchase, was completed on December 30, 2021, for mixed consideration of cash and stock.

08:02 EST GrowGeneration acquires assets of Mobile Media and MMI for $9.4M - GrowGeneration announced it has acquired the assets of Mobile Media and MMI Agriculture an Ellenville, NY based mobile shelving manufacturing and warehouse facility. Transaction terms were $9.4M in cash and stock, inclusive of inventory, fixed assets, and goodwill. MMI generated over $14.0M in revenue in 2021. MMI is a manufacturer of high-density mobile shelving systems, commonly referred to as "benching," to a variety of industries including agriculture, retail, commercial, and government, offering a complete turnkey solution, specializing in design, custom manufacturing, shelving systems, and installation across the United States.

08:02 EST Clear Secure acquires Whyline in an all-cash transaction - Clear Secure announced it has acquired Whyline, provider of virtual queuing and appointment technology, in an all-cash transaction. Founded in 2015, Whyline helps organizations across industries manage customer flows through the use of virtual queuing. Using Whyline's mobile app or webflow, users can see the live wait-times, enter into the queue remotely or pre-book their appointment, and let the software wait on their behalf.

07:55 EST CareLinx by Sharecare selected as benefit program for 1.5M Medicare members - Sharecare announced that more than 400 Medicare Advantage plans - including several of the nation's largest payors - are exclusively leveraging its home health platform and network of caregivers, CareLinx by Sharecare, to scale in-home care supplemental benefit programs in 2022. Representing year-over-year growth of more than 1000% in terms of plan penetration, CareLinx by Sharecare is now available as a free in-home personal care benefit to more than 1.5M Medicare Advantage members through their health plan - a four-fold increase in covered lives over 2021.

07:47 EST Aleafia Health provides update on negotiation of convertible debt - Aleafia Health is providing a corporate update regarding its outstanding listed unsecured convertible debentures, issued on June 27, 2019 and maturing on June 27, 2022. The Company has initiated negotiations with debenture holders with a view of amending the Convertible Debt to achieve an outcome that is beneficial to all the Company's stakeholders. As negotiations are underway, the Company has opted to not make an interest payment due on December 31, 2021. Under the terms of the Convertible Debt, there is no event of default as a result of this non-payment for 30 calendar days from the interest payment due date. Moreover, by Extraordinary Resolution, or otherwise by resolution by holders of more than fifty percent of the principal amount of Convertible Debt, an event of default may be waived. There can be no assurance that the current negotiations will result in a transaction or, if a transaction is undertaken, that it will be successfully concluded in a timely manner.

07:46 EST Pyxis Tankers announces sale of two small tankers - Pyxis Tankers announced that it has agreed to sell the Northsea Alpha and Northsea Beta, two 2010 built 8,600 dwt product tankers for an aggregate sale price of $8.9M. Completion of the vessel sales, which are subject to customary closing conditions, should occur between late January, 2022 and late February, 2022. After the repayment of the outstanding indebtedness securing these vessels and the payment of various transaction costs, the Company expects to receive aggregate net cash proceeds of approximately $2.8M, which would be used for working capital purposes. Valentios Valentis, Chairman and CEO commented: "The sale of these non-core assets underscores our strategic focus on the eco-MR product tanker sector, reduces outstanding debt and improves balance sheet liquidity. Moving forward, we will have a fleet of five MRs with an average age of 8.3 years. Upon completion of the dispositions, our total debt should be approximately $77.35 million at a weighted average interest rate of less than 4% per annum with the next bank loan maturity scheduled in 3.5 years."

07:45 EST Vision Marine Technologies partners with Octillion Power Systems - Vision Marine Technologies has partnered with Octillion Power Systems to develop a customized high voltage 35 KW high density battery exclusively for use within the recreational boating market. Under the terms of the agreement, Octillion will manufacture a new advanced electric battery system to power its E-Motion outboard powertrain. "Vision will have a highly efficient and unique product to utilize in conjunction with our E-Motion fully electric powertrain, " said Alexandre Mongeon, co-founder and CEO of Vision Marine. "There is currently a two year delivery backlog of performance batteries in the boating industry. The Octillion agreement will allow Vision Marine to continue to scale production and secure the quantities of high density electric battery systems required in conjunction with the commencement of sales of our E-Motion outboard powertrains." Management estimates 70,000 pontoons are expected to be sold in the United States in 2022, and approximately 380,000 outboard motors.

07:44 EST MindMed completes Phase 1 clinical trial of 18-MC - Mind Medicine announced the completion of its Phase 1 clinical trial of 18-MC, the Company's non-hallucinogenic proprietary derivative of ibogaine, being developed for the treatment of indications linked to opioid use disorder. The trial was completed in December 2021 with topline results expected in early 2022.

07:42 EST Quipt Home Medical acquires At Home Health Equipment for $13.1M in cash - Quipt Home Medical announces that it has acquired At Home Health Equipment, a business with operations in Indiana. Acquisition Details: The acquisition adds to Quipt's active patient count by over 15,000, bringing Quipt's total to approximately 170,000 active patients. Under the terms of the definitive purchase agreement, Quipt acquired the business for approximately $13.1M in cash. It is expected the acquisition will increase Quipt's annual revenues by approximately $13M, and, post integration, Adjusted EBITDA by $2.9M. The non-binding letter of intent for the acquisition by Quipt of At Home Health Equipment was announced by Quipt on November 16, 2021. "This is a significant acquisition as it creates the largest single market for us in a very attractive region allowing us the ability to strengthen our overall interconnected healthcare network in the state of Indiana. Our operating engine and proven ability to integrate acquired assets allows us to continue the strong pace of closing larger strategic acquisitions during this exciting growth period," said Greg Crawford, Chairman and CEO of Quipt. "We are also excited to enter the hospice segment, with over 30% of At Home Health Equipment's revenue coming from this high growth area and we will strategically work to build this vertical out over the course of 2022."

07:40 EST PolyPid appoints Mitchel Berger to oncology advisory board - PolyPid announced the appointment of Mitchel Berger, M.D., to its Oncology Advisory Board. Dr. Berger is the Berthold and Belle N. Guggenhime Professor of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. He serves as the Director of the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center, a leader in translational research, and is the Principal Investigator of its Specialized Program of Research Excellence in neuro-oncology, funded by the National Cancer Institute. OncoPLEX utilizes PolyPid's proprietary PLEX technology to provide controlled local exposure of chemotherapy directly to the tumor site, potentially reducing local tumor recurrence, including chemotherapeutic resistant tumors, and metastasis. In September 2021, PolyPid announced positive preclinical data for its intra-tumoral OncoPLEX in animal models of GBM. The Company expects to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of OncoPLEX for brain tumors by the end of 2022.

07:39 EST Rekor Systems to pilot roadway analytics at Philadelpha Navy Yard - Rekor Systems announced that the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation will deploy the Company's Rekor One platform in support of a pilot project to analyze traffic patterns and provide analytics within the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The 1,200-acre former military base has been redeveloped into a thriving, mixed-use campus led by PIDC, Philadelphia's public-private economic development corporation and master developer of the historic shipyard. The Rekor One pilot project will kick off in the first quarter of 2022.

07:37 EST Humacyte presents first preclinical results of HAV in CABG - Humacyte announced the first preclinical results of the use of Humacyte's Human Acellular Vessel in coronary artery bypass grafting will be presented at the Advanced Therapies Week conference in Miami, Fla. at 9:20 a.m. EST on January 28, 2022. The presentation, titled "Bioengineering and the Future of Cardiac Surgery," will be made by Alan P. Kypson, M.D., FACS. Dr. Kypson is a cardiothoracic surgeon at the University of North Carolina Rex Hospital in Raleigh, N.C., and a thought leader in the field of cardiac surgery who has led the large animal preclinical development of Humacyte's vessels in CABG for more than a decade. The presentation by Dr. Kypson will include the results of the use of the HAV in a primate CABG model, including six-month outcomes. Humacyte's HAVs are engineered off-the-shelf replacement vessels that are currently being evaluated in advanced-stage clinical trials in vascular trauma, arteriovenous access for hemodialysis, and peripheral arterial disease. CABG surgery, which treats blockage of the coronary arteries to restore the blood supply to the heart muscle, is performed more than 350,000 times annually in the United States, with over 765,000 annual CABG procedures globally. Humacyte's program is designed to develop a small-diameter HAV as a potential alternative to existing vascular substitutes during CABG surgery, particularly in obese or diabetic patients, where the risks of saphenous vein harvesting are substantial.

07:36 EST Cognition Therapeutics receives grant from Micheal J. Fox Foundation - Cognition Therapeutics announced that the company has been awarded a Therapeutic Pipeline Program Grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. This grant will fund preclinical studies of two sigma-2 receptor modulators in animal models of Parkinson's disease that will be led by Cognition Therapeutics' VP of research, Mary E. Hamby, Ph.D. Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies such as dementia with Lewy bodies are associated with a build-up of alpha-synuclein oligomers that bind to neurons where they impair critical cellular processes, causing synaptic dysfunction and eventual loss. Published in vitro studies conducted by Cognition scientists found that the binding and internalization of alpha-synuclein oligomers in cultured neurons was inhibited by the addition of a -2 receptor antagonist. The studies supported by this MJFF Therapeutic Pipeline Program grant will seek to confirm and build upon the findings from Cognition's earlier preclinical research.

07:35 EST Sharecare announces leadership appointments - Sharecare announced strategic hires to further the company's goals to accelerate growth and create greater value for customers and shareholders. These new key appointments are as follows: Jaffry Mohammed, the Company's recently announced executive vice president and head of Enterprise and Provider, has been appointed Sharecare's COO. In this expanded role, he will oversee Sharecare's ongoing operational growth and end-to-end delivery of its comprehensive virtual health platform, services, and solutions. Jaffry replaces Pam Shipley who is leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities. Carrie Ratliff will assume the role of Chief Legal Officer, responsible for overseeing Sharecare's legal matters, including M&A, intellectual property, governance, compliance, and corporate. Joining Sharecare this month, Carrie's combination of legal and business expertise will support the Company's business strategy, development, and continued growth. Previously, Carrie served as senior vice president, corporate secretary at Change Healthcare where she had responsibility for management of legal activities, including compliance, securities, corporate and board governance, contracting, business development, and litigation management. Prior to Change Healthcare, Carrie was a partner at King and Spalding where she advised private and public companies on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and other general corporate matters. Atul Gupta will assume the role of executive vice president, health advocacy operations, responsible for launching and operating Sharecare's payor-independent multi-plan healthcare benefits navigation and advocacy solutions.

07:32 EST CME Group reports ADV up 26% in Q4 to 20.5M contracts - CME Group reported its full-year, Q4 and December 2021 market statistics, showing it reached a record average daily volume of 19.6M contracts during the year, an increase of 3% over 2020. ADV increased 26% in both the fourth quarter and the month of December, to 20.5M contracts and 18M contracts, respectively.

07:31 EST AVROBIO trading resumes

07:28 EST Intema provides recap of 2021 highlights, prepares for 2022 - Intema Solutions provides a brief summary of its 2021 highlights and a look ahead at 2022, which it is heading into with just as much drive, more resources and an enhanced management and operating team. 2021 Highlights: Acquisition of HypeX.gg, a first-of-its-kind social gaming platform comprising a leading esports tournament and wagering platform. Acquisition of TheSMACK.gg, an esports product and lifestyle company serving a rapidly expanding community of gamers and commercial brands. Ongoing acquisition of Livestream Gaming, a licensed server-based real-money gaming platform and a top brand in the world of esports betting. Acquisition of Team BH, Canada's second largest esports and gaming entertainment organization, with a combined following of over 7.25 million people across its primary platforms. Second closing on its $15 million financing, for total gross proceeds of over $10 million to date. Letter of intent to acquire all the outstanding shares of Parabellum Media Inc., owner of Parabellum Esports and Northern Shield Academy. Application filed with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to become a fully registered operator of Internet gaming and sports betting in Ontario, Canada's largest and most populous province. Granting of an Isle of Man online gambling license to Livestream Esports Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intema. Letter of intent signed with Wild Rose Entertainment to grant Generationz, Intema's U.S. subsidiary, a LOOT.BET sports wagering skin. Board and management team enhanced by the appointment of Art Manteris, Marc Brassard and Philip Nolan as directors and Jonathan Kowit and Jennifer Lazarus as executive marketing advisors. Further to the news release dated June 17, 2021, announcing the terms of its non-brokered private placement of a maximum of 30,000,000 subscription receipts priced at $0.50 each, the Corporation has closed on gross proceeds of over $10 million to date and expects to hold the third and final closing on or before January 20, 2021.

07:27 EST AVROBIO trading halted, news pending

07:25 EST View Inc. expects to complete financial restatements for 2019, 2020 - View, Inc. announced that the Company expects to issue its restated 2019, 2020 and Q1 2021 financial statements, as well as its Q2 2021, Q3 2021 and full year 2021 financial statements in the first quarter of 2022.

07:24 EST Renalytix, ADA announce joint program on kidney health in T2D population - The American Diabetes Association, ADA, and Renalytix announced a joint program to improve overall kidney health in patients with type 2 diabetes, T2D, in the United States. The program intends to drive early detection and risk-informed care delivery to delay disease progression, reduce dialysis starts and improve overall health of chronic kidney disease patients with diabetes nationally. ADA and Renalytix will convene experts to advise and develop a comprehensive interprofessional risk-informed Diabetes Kidney Care Pathway and Model for optimal clinical treatment and risk reduction. The ADA and Renalytix will work together to define a plan for a second phase of the program to scale and deploy the model through partnerships with multiple health systems nationally. "This program combines technology, hospital system population health engagement and leading clinical experts to drive optimized care management at the earliest possible stage of kidney disease where better outcomes and cost control can be maximized," said James McCullough, CEO of Renalytix. "For individuals with diabetes and kidney disease, this is a powerful, comprehensive and bold model to engage this devastating disease beginning in primary care and close the gaps in front-line care."

07:21 EST Viridian Therapeutics submits IND application for VRDN-002 - Viridian Therapeutics announced the submission of an investigational new drug application to the United States Food and Drug Administration for VRDN-002, a humanized monoclonal antibody that incorporates half-life extension technology and is designed to support administration as a convenient, low-volume, subcutaneous injection for the treatment of thyroid eye disease. Viridian submitted the IND for VRDN-002 in December 2021. The Company is seeking authorization to initiate a Phase 1 single ascending dose clinical trial to explore safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and target engagement of intravenous VRDN-002 in healthy volunteers. Data from this Phase1 trial aims to test the feasibility of a low-volume and/or low-frequency dosing paradigm, and are expected to be announced in mid-2022.

07:20 EST Vaxxinity appoints Pesile as SVP, Finance & Accounting, Horning to board - Vaxxinity (VAXX) announced the appointment of Jason Pesile, MBA, CPA, as Senior Vice President, SVP, Finance & Accounting. The Company also announced today the appointment of George Hornig, Chairman of Xometry, to its Board of Directors. Hornig will be the new independent director to chair the Audit Committee, with current Board members Greg Blatt and Peter Diamandis moving to chair the Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee, respectively. Pesile is a seasoned finance executive with 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical space and most recently served as Vice President Finance, Corporate Controller at BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals (BYSI). Hornig is currently Chairman of Xometry (XMTR), an AI-driven platform for on-demand manufacturing of industrial parts, and Co-Chairman of Healthwell Acquisition (HWEL), a special purpose acquisition company.

07:19 EST Novartis confirms CAFC upholds validity of Gilenya dosage regimen patent - Novartis announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or CAFC, issued its decision upholding the validity of US Patent No. 9,187,405 covering a dosing regimen for Gilenya. "In August 2020, the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Delaware issued a favorable decision in the Gilenya patent litigation and a permanent injunction was granted against HEC Pharma until the expiration of the '405 patent in December 2027, including pediatric exclusivity. HEC Pharma was the only remaining Abbreviated New Drug Application, or ANDA, filer challenging this patent. This decision confirms the validity of the patent and allows that injunction to remain in place. Previously, Novartis entered into settlement agreements with a number of ANDA filers. Those ANDA filers will not be able to launch a generic version of Gilenya, if approved by the FDA, before an agreed upon date that is prior to the expiration of the dosage regimen patent in December 2027. The potential generic entry date and other terms of the settlement agreement are confidential. With this decision, Novartis confirms that it expects no generic versions of Gilenya in the US market for at least the next two years," the company said.

07:17 EST OneWater Marine completes floorplan financing expansion - OneWater Marine announced it has entered into the Seventh Amended and Restated Inventory Financing Facility with Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance LLC, to increase the inventory-based line of credit to $500 million, up from $392.5 million, and extend the term through December 1, 2023. The Facility is expected to provide sufficient inventory financing capacity for the next two years. Borrowings under the Facility bear interest at the Adjusted 30-Day Average SOFR plus a spread based on type and inventory aging. The Facility also includes certain financial and non-financial covenants, consistent with the previous facility, including provisions that the funded debt to EBITDA ratio must not exceed 2.00 to 1.00, and that the Company's fixed charge coverage ratio on a consolidated basis must be at least 1.00 to 1.50.

07:16 EST Compass Pathways announces results from phase I study on COMP360 - COMPASS Pathways shared results of a phase I study showing the feasibility of administering COMP360 psilocybin to up to six healthy participants simultaneously, with 1:1 support. The study was peer-reviewed and published in The Journal of Psychopharmacology as "The effects of psilocybin on cognitive and emotional functions in healthy participants: results from a phase I, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving simultaneous psilocybin administration and preparation." The results also showed there were no short or long term detrimental effects on thinking patterns or processing of emotions. The study looked at the effects of two doses of COMP360 psilocybin, compared with placebo, in 89 healthy male and female adult volunteers. The investigational drug was administered simultaneously to up to six participants, who all received 1:1 psychological support from trained therapists throughout the session. There were no serious adverse events and COMP360 psilocybin was found to be well-tolerated with no clinically-relevant negative effects on cognitive function. Dr Guy Goodwin, Chief Medical Officer, COMPASS Pathways, said: "We are looking forward to meeting with the FDA early in the year to finalize plans for our phase III program, which we expect to begin in the third quarter 2022."

07:14 EST Main Street announces new portfolio investment - Main Street Capital announced that it recently completed a new portfolio investment in a leading retailer of luxury goods in the United States to finance a management led buyout of the Company. Main Street, along with its co-investor, partnered with the Company's senior management team to facilitate the transaction, with Main Street funding $47.4M in a combination of first lien, senior secured term debt and a direct equity investment. In addition, Main Street and its co-investor are providing the Company with a revolving credit facility to support its future growth initiatives and working capital needs.

07:13 EST Genocea announces R&D collaboration, option agreement with Janssen Biotech - Genocea Biosciences (GNCA) has entered into an R&D collaboration and option agreement with Janssen Biotech (JNJ) to explore the immunogenicity of neoantigens and the role and impact of Inhibigens in the context of vaccine therapies for cancer. The agreement was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Under the collaboration, Genocea will use its ATLAS platform to characterize Janssen-identified antigens as well as assess approaches that could mitigate the impact of Inhibigens. Genocea will receive a technology access fee and full R&D funding for its work under the collaboration. The agreement includes an option for Janssen to negotiate a future strategic partnership to develop non-personalized vaccine products using Genocea's ATLAS platform and expertise on Inhibigens.

07:11 EST Prospect Capital says preferred stock offerings exceeded $450M - Prospect Capital Corporation announced that Prospect's preferred stock offerings have exceeded $450M in aggregate liquidation preference issuances since the initial closing in the quarter ending December 31, 2020. Preferred Capital Securities is a securities broker dealer and the dealer manager for the ongoing offering of the Series A1, M1, and M2 Preferred Stock.

07:11 EST Nevro: UnitedHealth to provide coverage for company's treatment of PDN - Nevro (NVRO) announced that UnitedHealthcare (UNH) will provide coverage for the company's high-frequency 10 kHz Therapy for the treatment of PDN for dates of service on or after March 1, 2022. Under its policy, UnitedHealthcare considers Nevro's U.S. FDA approved high-frequency spinal cord stimulator to be proven and medically necessary for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy when specified criteria are met.

07:10 EST Evelo Biosciences announces key 2022 strategic priorities, catalysts - Evelo Biosciences announced its strategic priorities and upcoming catalysts for 2022. In 2022 the Company will focus on: Advancing EDP1815 towards Phase 3 development in psoriasis; Progressing EDP1815 in a global Phase 2 clinical trial in atopic dermatitis; Advancing the next wave clinical candidates EDP1867 and EDP2939, the Company's first microbial extracellular vesicle; Continuing investment in Evelo's SINTAX platform, including scaling manufacturing capabilities, and expanding research and discovery across multiple areas of biology and disease; Building development and pre-commercial capabilities to capture the breadth of the SINTAX platform. The Company expects the following catalysts over the next 12-18 months: 1Q 2022 - Clinical data from Part B of the EDP1815 Phase 2 trial in mild and moderate psoriasis and Initiation of dosing of patients in the EDP1815 Phase 2 trial in mild, moderate, and severe atopic dermatitis. 1H 2022 - Data from EDP1867 Phase 1b trial in patients with atopic dermatitis and Interim safety and futility analysis of 375 patients from EDP1815 Phase 2/3 COVID-19 TACTIC-E trial. 2H 2022 - Initiation of clinical development of EDP2939 in inflammation. 1H 2023 - Topline data from EDP1815 Phase 2 trial in mild, moderate, and severe atopic dermatitis

07:09 EST Concert Pharmaceuticals completes enrollment in THRIVE-AA2 trial - Concert Pharmaceuticals announced that it has completed patient enrollment in THRIVE-AA2, the second Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CTP-543, an oral Janus kinase, or JAK, inhibitor, in adult patients with moderate to severe alopecia areata. The THRIVE-AA clinical program includes two international Phase 3 studies, THRIVE-AA1 and THRIVE-AA2. Enrollment in the THRIVE-AA1 trial was completed in October 2021, and topline data is expected in the second quarter of 2022. Topline data from the THRIVE-AA2 trial is expected in the third quarter of 2022.

07:08 EST TCR2 Therapeutics, Arbor establish collaboration for TRuc-T cell therapies - TCR2 Therapeutics and Arbor Biotechnologies announced that the two companies have entered into a strategic research collaboration and non-exclusive license agreement focused on the further development of a defined set of allogeneic TRuC-T cell therapies. The collaboration leverages Arbor's proprietary CRISPR gene-editing technology, which is tailored to address the underlying pathology of genetic diseases, and TCR2's' first-in-class TRuC platform, which has demonstrated clinical activity in multiple treatment-refractory mesothelin-expressing solid tumor indications with its lead autologous program gavo-cel. Under the terms of the agreement, Arbor will receive an upfront cash payment and is also eligible to receive additional milestone payments based upon the successful achievement of development, regulatory and commercial milestones across a selected number of programs. In addition, TCR2 will pay tiered royalties on future net sales on any products that may result from this collaboration.

07:07 EST Benson Hill to acquire ZFS Creston for $102M - Benson Hill announced the acquisition of ZFS Creston, an established food grade white flake and soy flour manufacturing operation in southwest Iowa for approximately $102M primarily financed through a new debt facility. The investment fulfills a final step in Benson Hill's ability to convert its proprietary soybeans into value-added soy protein ingredients for the underserved human and pet food categories.

07:05 EST Avrobio to deprioritize Fabry disease program for lysosomal disorder pipeline - Avrobio announced that it is shifting its portfolio priorities to focus on other clinical-stage programs and extending its cash runway into the first quarter of 2024. The company is deprioritizing its Fabry disease program due to several factors, including new clinical data showing variable engraftment patterns from the five most recently dosed Phase 2 FAB-GT patients which would significantly extend the program's development timeline, as well as an increasingly challenging market and regulatory environment for Fabry disease. "Following steady progress in 2021, we have reset our corporate priorities and will extend our cash runway to strengthen our ability to deliver on the promise of our gene therapy programs," said Geoff MacKay, president and CEO of AVROBIO. "Powered by our proprietary plato gene therapy platform, we will focus our efforts on moving value driving clinical-stage programs forward in 2022, with data updates expected for our cystinosis and Gaucher disease type 1 programs, as well as regulatory interactions anticipated across multiple programs in our pipeline. "Previously reported data from 13 patients treated across our three clinical-stage programs have shown durable engraftment out 9 to 54 months. It is the new data from the five most recently dosed Phase 2 FAB-GT patients that are discordant with these other data and show variable engraftment. In addition, the last 12 months have presented multiple challenging market and regulatory dynamics for our Fabry disease program, which would now be exacerbated by a meaningfully extended development timeline," said MacKay. "We're fully aware of the impact this difficult decision has on the patients and families whom we have had the privilege to get to know over the years, but we believe deprioritizing and halting enrollment in our Fabry disease program is the right step forward for AVROBIO and preserves our ability to continue developing therapies with the potential to address urgent unmet needs in the lysosomal disorder community."

07:05 EST Color Star to make Color World avatars available as NFT - Color Star Technology that all avatars within their entertainment metaverse platform Color World will be available online as NFT, with permanent rights available for purchase by its global users. The NFT products launched online will include all avatars in Color World. Users purchasing this NFT product will not only get exclusive rights to the avatars but also a 3D-printed figurine. This NFT product launched by Color World realized the novel combination of virtual and physical forms. The NFT products launched by Color Star are expected to be available on major NFT trading platforms, as well as within Color World, for global users.

07:04 EST Procept BioRobotics appoints Mary Garrett to board of directors - PROCEPT BioRobotics Corporation announced the appointment of Mary Garrett to its Board of Directors. Garrett most recently served on the board of Hillrom Corporation which was acquired by Baxter International Inc. in December 2021. With the appointment of Ms. Garrett, the Board of Directors of PROCEPT BioRobotics Corporation increased the number of directors on the Board to nine members.

07:03 EST ProQR Therapeutics announces last patient visit in Phase 2/3 trial of sepofarsen - ProQR Therapeutics announced that the last patient completed their last visit in the Phase 2/3 Illuminate trial of sepofarsen for CEP290-mediated Leber Congenital Amaurosis 10 due to the p.Cys998X mutation, also known as c.2991+1655Agreater thanG. The Illuminate trial completed enrollment in January 2021 following randomization of 36 patients aged 8 years or older to receive either sepofarsen at the target registration dose, a low dose, or sham treatment. The primary endpoint for Illuminate is mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity at Month 12. The Illuminate trial was initiated based on data from a Phase 1/2 study, which indicated that at Month 12, patients treated with sepofarsen had an improvement in visual acuity, as measured by BCVA. In a subset of patients who were treated at the target registration dose, the mean change from baseline for BCVA at Month 12 was -0.93 logMAR, equivalent to approximately 9 lines improvement on the ETDRS chart. In the Phase 1/2 study, concordant improvements in measures of full-field stimulus testing and mobility were also observed, which are secondary endpoints in the Illuminate trial.

07:02 EST S&P Global acquires The Climate Service, terms not disclosed - S&P Global and The Climate Service announced that S&P Global has acquired The Climate Service. Based in Durham, North Carolina The Climate Service, Inc. was founded in 2017. Since then, The Climate Service has won multiple awards for its innovative approach to analyzing climate risks, including winner of the 2021 ESG Investing Best Specialist ESG Data Provider award, New Wave Leader 2020 by Forrester and World Changing Ideas by Fast Company.

06:49 EST Spire Global appoints Tim Braswell as Chief People Officer - Spire Global (SPIR) announced that it has appointed Tim Braswell as Chief People Officer. Braswell will report to Peter Platzer, Founder and CEO of Spire. As Chief People Officer, Braswell will oversee all aspects of Spire's global human resources activities, including recruitment, talent development, employee systems, and health and wellness program management. Spire employs a diverse team of over 375 employees from more than 40 countries. Mr. Braswell will work closely with Spire management to cultivate an inclusive culture of growth and learning as the Company continues to grow rapidly. Braswell most recently spent eight years with MetLife (MET), where he served as Senior HR Partner for C-suite leaders of global finance, risk management, internal audit, legal affairs and compliance. Prior to this role, he was Chief HR Officer for MetLife's joint venture with PNB in India, based in Mumbai. In that capacity, Braswell led a significant amount of change across the organization in collaboration with the CEO and the company's Board of Directors. Prior to his time at MetLife, Braswell held senior HR positions in the US, Japan and the Latin America region at Merck (MRK).

06:33 EST XPO Logistics president Troy Cooper stepping down post spin-off - XPO Logistics announced that Troy Cooper has stepped down from his role as president, effective December 27, 2021. Cooper will continue working with the company as a senior advisor through June 30. "With the spin-off of GXO earlier this year, and in light of the progress we've made transforming XPO into a pure-play transportation company, Troy and I agreed this was a natural time for him to step down," said Brad Jacobs, chairman and CEO.

06:09 EST AMC CEO: New Year's resolution is to refinance high-interest debt - AMC CEO Adam Aron said via Twitter: "MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION FOR AMC. In 2020 and early 2021, AMC took on debt at high interest rates to survive. If we can, in 2022 I'd like to refinance some of our debt to reduce our interest expense, push out some debt maturities by several years and loosen covenants. WITH AN IMPROVING FINANCIAL POSITION, one of our 2022 goals is to strengthen our balance sheet. There is no guarantee of success, but we will try very hard to get this done. We are always thinking of creative ways to make AMC's future more secure." Reference Link

06:04 EST Canaan enters agreements with multiple crypto mining firms - Canaan announced that it has entered into strategic collaboration agreements with multiple crypto mining firms for joint-mining business in Kazakhstan. On December 22, 2021, the company launched the last batch of mining machines online under its first phase of deployment in Kazakhstan. As of December 31, 2021, the company had an aggregate of 10,300 AvalonMiner units in mining operations in the country. The company continues to deploy additional computing power according to its mining business expansion plan.

06:02 EST BioRestorative Therapies awarded STTR Phase I grant for $256,000 - BioRestorative Therapies announced that it has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I grant for $256,000. The funds will be used specifically to evaluate the therapeutic effects on the company's hypoxic cultured bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells after encapsulation with a PEG-peptide hydrogel. The work is being done in collaboration with Dr. Lori Setton, Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

05:37 EST UTStarcom announces update on cooperation with China Unicom Research Institute - UTStarcom announced progress with China Unicom Research Institute in their cooperative development and field testing of a disaggregated networking solution for 5G transport networks. China Unicom Research Institute is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Unicom, one of the major mobile network operators in China. As a relatively new technology, the disaggregation of hardware and software in telecommunication networks is drawing interest in the telecom industry, especially for 5G transport networks. China Unicom actively explores open networking technologies. Since 2020, the subsidiary China Unicom Research Institute has been developing its own White Box Router Network Operating System, named "CUNOS", in cooperation with UTStarcom. Under the terms of this previously announced cooperation agreement, the NOS is based on an open-source network operating system adopted and integrated for use in the intended application scenario: the access segment of the 5G transport network, which operates as IP RAN transport based on Segment Routing technology. The CUNOS platform is designed to support a variety of hardware implementations that can be based on certain Broadcom DNX series and Centec switching chips, Intel x86 and ARM CPUs, and non-redundant "pizza-box" as well as redundant chassis platforms. Initial Phase 1 features delivered in 2020 included the basic NOS framework, disaggregated architecture with ONIE support and hardware abstraction, L2/L3 forwarding, QoS, ACL, SyncE, and basic Netconf/YANG models. The recent Phase 2 development offers many new features critical for the intended use of the solution on 5G network of China Unicom, such as: SR-MPLS forwarding; EVPN over SR-MPLS support; Ti-LFA, IP-FRR/VPN FRR; Extended support of synchronization including support of IEEE1588v2 BFD OAM support and extended multivendor integration of Netconf/YANG models for implementation of multivendor platform support.

05:22 EST Allena Pharmaceuticals to explore strategic alternatives - As of December 31, the company had approximately $30M in cash and cash equivalents, and $10M of outstanding convertible debt. The company expects that its cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund the company's current operational plan through the first quarter of 2022 provided that the company is not required to repay any of its outstanding debt prior to the expiration of the interest-only period that extends through the third quarter of 2022. In light of the initial Phase 2a results for the 201 trial and anticipated additional data from the ALLN-346 program, as well as the advanced stage of the reloxaliase program, the company has initiated a process to explore a range of strategic and financing alternatives and has engaged the investment bank Stifel to act as a strategic advisor for this process. Potential strategic alternatives that may be evaluated include partnerships for either or both of the company's development candidates, a sale of one or both of the development candidates, a sale or merger of the company, or securing additional financing to enable further development of the company's programs. There can be no assurance that this strategic review process will result in the company pursuing any transaction or that any transaction, if pursued, will be completed. The company has not set a timetable for completion of this strategic review process, and the company does not intend to comment further unless or until its board of directors has approved a definitive course of action, the review process is concluded, or it is determined other disclosure is appropriate.

05:17 EST Allena Pharmaceuticals provides update on ALLN-346 program - Allena Pharmaceuticals provided a clinical and corporate update. ALLN-346 is a non-absorbed, orally administered enzyme in development for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout in the setting of advanced chronic kidney disease, or CKD. The company is conducting two Phase 2a trials of ALLN-346: Study 201, a one-week inpatient study being conducted at a clinical pharmacology unit, and Study 202, a two-week outpatient study being conducted at 20 sites across the U.S. In Study 201, patients with hyperuricemia are being randomized to receive either five capsules of ALLN-346 or matching placebo three times daily for one week. Planned enrollment in the trial consists of two cohorts, each with approximately 12 patients. Of the 11 patients in the first cohort, seven received ALLN-346 and four received placebo. The majority of these patients had Stage 2 CKD, including five of the seven subjects treated with ALLN-346. The second cohort is currently being enrolled with topline data expected in Q1 2022. Data from the first cohort demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in serum uric acid, or sUA, from baseline in patients treated with ALLN-346 compared to placebo. Consistent with the known pathophysiologic adaptation of increased intestinal elimination of uric acid in patients with impaired kidney function and the GI-based mechanism of action of ALLN-346, there was a strong correlation between the effect of ALLN-346 on sUA reduction and the level of kidney function. The positive data announced support proof of pharmacology for the gastrointestinal, or GI, mechanism of action of ALLN-346. In the first cohort, ALLN-346 was well-tolerated with no serious adverse events. The second Phase 2a trial of ALLN-346, Study 202, is a two-week, outpatient study designed to enroll hyperuricemic patients with gout and CKD. Patients are being randomized to receive either five capsules of ALLN-346 or a matching placebo three times daily, with enrollment of up to four planned cohorts, each consisting of approximately 12 patients. Cohort A is currently enrolling patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 60-89 mL/minute and cohort B is currently enrolling patients with an eGFR of 30-59 mL/minute. Topline safety and efficacy data from each of these two cohorts of Study 202 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2022. Subject to a planned protocol amendment and securing adequate additional financing in Q1 2022, Allena currently expects to open two additional cohorts during Q2 2022, consisting of patients with Stage 4 or advanced CKD and an allopurinol combination therapy cohort in Stage 3 CKD patients. Allena will be hosting a KOL webinar at 8:00 am ET to review the ALLN-346 data announcement with key opinion leaders.