Stockwinners Market Radar for January 05, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:11 EST Cathie Wood's ARK Investment bought 168.7K shares of Intellia Therapeutics today

19:29 EST LGI Homes reports 1,004 home closings in December - LGI Home announced it closed 1,004 homes in December, a total of 2,526 home closings in the fourth quarter and a record 10,442 home closings for the full year 2021.

17:58 EST Bitcoin extends decline to one-month low of $43,000

17:31 EST Granite selected for $90M construction project in California - Granite announced that it has been selected by the California Department of Transportation as the Construction Manager/General Contractor for the approximately $90M State Route 70 Binney Junction Roadway Rehabilitation and Complete Streets CM/GC project. In the first phase of this project, valued at $1.3 million, Granite will work closely with Caltrans and project designers on the design, constructability, and cost estimating portions of the project. The Construction Management portion of the Binney Junction project is expected to begin in Q1, 2022 and the General Contractor phase is expected to begin in Q1, 2023.

17:22 EST Innovative Industrial Properties provides Q4 operating update - The company states: "As of January 5, 2022, IIP owned 103 properties located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington, representing a total of approximately 7.7 million rentable square feet. As of January 5, 2022, IIP had invested approximately $1.7B across its portfolio and had committed an additional approximately $316.1 million to reimburse certain tenants and sellers for completion of construction and improvements at IIP's properties. These statistics do not include an $18.5M loan from IIP to a developer for construction of a regulated cannabis cultivation and processing facility in California and up to $55.0M that may be funded between June 15, 2022 and July 31, 2022 pursuant to IIP's lease with a tenant at one of IIP's Pennsylvania properties, as the tenant at that property may not elect to have IIP disburse those funds and pay IIP the corresponding base rent on those funds. From October 1, 2021 through today, IIP made 29 acquisitions for properties located in California, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, and executed one lease amendment to provide an additional improvement allowance at a property located in Massachusetts. In these transactions, IIP established new tenant relationships with Gold Flora, LLC, Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. and Southwest Alternative Care, LLC, while expanding existing relationships with Columbia Care Inc., Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., LivWell Holdings, Inc. and Temescal Wellness of Massachusetts, LLC."

17:11 EST Toast COO sells $33.1M in common stock - In a regulatory filing, Toast disclosed that its COO Aman Narang sold 1.03M shares of common stock on January 3rd in a total transaction size of $33.1M, reducing his stake by about 38%.

17:02 EST Corsair Gaming acquires majority ownership in Taiwan-based iDisplay - Corsair Gaming acquired a 51% stake in iDisplay Technology, a provider of electronic development and design specializing in display technology. Taiwan-based iDisplay, founded in 1998, is a developer of consumer electronics, smart home controls, and streaming consoles. Corsair, through its Elgato subsidiary, partnered with iDisplay in 2015 to develop the Stream Deck studio control platform. s.

16:54 EST Riot Blockchain reports December production, provides operations update - Riot Blockchain announced production and operations update for December 2021, including a further increase in estimated self-mining hash rate capacity for 2022, updates to the status of miner shipments and deployment, updates on the 400 MW infrastructure expansion at the company's Whinstone facility in Rockdale, Texas. In December, Riot produced 425 BTC, an increase of approximately 334%, as compared to the December 2020 production of 98 BTC. In Q4 2021, Riot produced 1,355 BTC, increasing approximately 349%, as compared to Q4 2020 production of 302 BTC. In 2021, Riot produced 3,812 BTC, increasing approximately 269%, as compared to 2020 production of 1,033. As of December 31, 2021, Riot held approximately 4,889 BTC, all produced by the company's self-mining operations. Riot currently has a deployed fleet of approximately 29,593 miners, with a hash rate capacity of 3.1 EH/s. In December 2021, Riot executed additional purchase orders totaling $301M with Bitmain Technologies for an additional 27,000 of their latest miner model S19XP - 140 TH/s -, with an anticipated delivery and deployment schedule set for July through December. As a result, the company anticipates having approximately 120,150 Antminers in operation, utilizing approximately 370 MW of energy, by Q4. Because of these purchase orders, Riot is increasing its 2022 estimated hash rate capacity by 3.8 EH/s to 12.8 EH/s, representing a 42% increase over the company's previous estimate of 9.0 EH/s. The increase in the estimated hash rate to 12.8 EH/s does not include any potential incremental hash rate production benefits associated with Riot's in-process build-out of 200 MW of immersion-cooled infrastructure at the Whinstone Facility.By Q4 2022, Riot anticipates a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 12.8 EH/s. Upon full deployment of all currently contracted miners, the company's total self-mining fleet will consume approximately 370 MW of energy.

16:51 EST Lithium Americas reports Millennial Lithium shareholder approval of transaction - Lithium Americas Corp. announced that approximately 98% of Millennial Lithium Corp. shareholders and warrantholders voted in favor to approve the acquisition by Lithium Americas of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Millennial by way of a statutory plan of arrangement, as previously announced on November 17, 2021. Approval from Millennial shareholders and warrantholders is a pivotal step in the Transaction, and the parties are now in a position to proceed with the final court order and then closing of the Transaction, with closing expected to occur on or about January 25, 2022.

16:35 EST AMC Networks acquires Sentai Holdings, terms undisclosed - AMC Networks announced it has completed the acquisition of Houston-based Sentai Holdings, a global supplier of anime content and official anime merchandise, with brands including the anime-focused HIDIVE direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service. The acquisition includes all of the member interests from Cool Japan Fund, a public-private Japanese investment fund. Sentai has its content available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Amazon Prime, among others. AMC Networks has forecast its targeted streaming portfolio will have exceeded 9M paid subscribers by year-end 2021, with 20M-25M paid subscribers by 2025.

16:32 EST Sutro Biopharma reports interim data from dose-expansion cohort of STRO-002 - Sutro Biopharma provided a clinical update from the company's ongoing, fully enrolled, dose-expansion Phase 1 study of STRO-002, a folate receptor alpha-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. "These interim data in the dose-expansion cohort showing deep responders in ovarian cancer patients treated with STRO-002 are compelling," said Dr. R. Wendel Naumann, Professor & Director of Gynecologic Oncology Research, Associate Medical Director of Clinical Trials at Levine Cancer Institute, and an investigator on the STRO-002 study. "Patients entered the study with progressive disease and were a heavily pre-treated population and had experienced up to three lines of prior treatment. The interim data show that STRO-002 could potentially improve the lives of an underserved ovarian cancer patient population." The dose-expansion cohort for ovarian cancer enrolled 44 patients who had experienced up to three prior lines of therapy. As of the interim data cutoff date of Nov. 8, 2021, 43 patients had been randomized into dose levels starting at 4.3 mg/kg and 5.2 mg/kg, and one patient had not yet been dosed. 81% of the patients were platinum-resistant, and 63% and 65% of the patients had been treated previously with bevacizumab and PARP inhibitors, respectively. Of the 43 patients, 33 had at least one post-baseline scan and, therefore, were evaluable for RECIST v1.1 responses. The company noted that a 33% objective response rate was observed in 33 RECIST evaluable patients across all FolRalpha expression levels and both dose levels. In addition, dose response was observed, with a 47% ORR in 17 patients who started at the 5.2 mg/kg dose level.

16:30 EST Cricut CFO Marty Petersen stepping down March 31, Kimball Shill to succeed - Cricut CFO Marty Petersen will retire effective September 30, and will transition out of the CFO role as of March 31. Kimball Shill, Executive VP of Operations, has been named his successor. Petersen joined Cricut in 2012 as CFO. Petersen will remain at the company as Executive VP and Senior Advisor through September 30, to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities. Shill will assume the role of CFO effective April 1. Shill joined Cricut in 2019 as Senior VP of Operations and Quality. In 2020 he was promoted to Executive VP of Operations.

16:19 EST Nanobiotix enrolls first patient in NANORAY-312 trial - Nanobiotix announced that the first patient has been enrolled in NANORAY-312, a global, open-label, two-arm, randomized, Investigator's Choice phase III registration study that is designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of radiotherapy-activated NBTXR3 with or without cetuximab versus radiotherapy with or without cetuximab in high-risk, chemotherapy-ineligible elderly patients with locally-advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

16:19 EST RealReal reports December GMV $153M, up 40% y/y, to resume quarterly updates - The RealReal provided a business update. December gross merchandise value, GMV, was approximately $153M, an increase of 40% and 49% compared to the same periods in 2020 and 2019, respectively. December average order value, AOV, was approximately $518, an increase of 10% and 4% compared to the same periods in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Watches, Women's Shoes and Women's Apparel were the fastest growing categories in December. The RealReal believed that disclosing monthly GMV and AOV provided additional transparency regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business. Consistent with SEC guidance regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company provided monthly GMV and AOV through the end of 2021. The company plans to return to a more typical quarterly and annual guidance cadence in 2022 and will no longer provide monthly business updates going forward.

16:18 EST SomaLogic, Illumina to develop NGS-based proteomics products - SomaLogic (SLGC) announced a worldwide strategic collaboration with Illumina (ILMN). The multi-year partnership agreement will bring together genomics and proteomics technology platforms in a commercial partnership. In partnership, the companies will develop co-exclusive, co-branded, next-generation sequencing-based proteomics products. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

16:13 EST Myomo amends Beijing Ryzur JV agreement - Myomo announced the entry into an amended and restated joint venture agreement with Beijing Ryzur Medical Investment Co., Ltd. and Wuxi Chinaleaf Rehabilitation Industry Equity Investment Fund, and the signing of a Technology License Agreement and a Trademark License Agreement with Jiangxi Myomo Medical Assistive Appliance Co. The Amended JV Agreement, the Technology License Agreement and the Trademark License Agreement are each effective December 29, 2021. The original Joint Venture Agreement was entered into on January 21, 2021. Under the Amended JV Agreement, Myomo will continue to own a 19.9% stake in the JV Company. Ryzur Medical will have a 65.1% ownership stake and Chinaleaf 15%. Among other provisions, the Amended JV Agreement provides for certain rights for Ryzur Medical as majority shareholder and fixes the per-unit price at which the JV Company will purchase MyoPro Control System units as part of its guaranteed annual minimum payment obligation, which remains unchanged at a minimum of $10.75 million in total over 10 years. Under the Technology License Agreement, the JV Company is licensing Myomo's intellectual property for an upfront license fee of $2.7 million, of which $0.2 million is payable within 30 days of the Effective Date, and the remaining $2.5 million is payable within 30 days of Myomo's capital contribution of $0.2 million to the JV Company, which is expected to be made immediately following receipt of the Initial Payment. The technology transfer to the JV Company will begin after receipt of the full license fee, which is expected before the end of the first quarter of 2022.

16:12 EST Berkeley Lights begins search for new CEO, as current CEO Eric Hobbs transitions - Berkeley Lights announced that Eric D. Hobbs, Ph.D. will transition from his role as chief executive officer, CEO, and member of the board of directors to president of the Antibody Therapeutics business line. The Company is initiating a search for a new CEO as it continues to execute on its business strategy, including the successful addition of services to its portfolio of product offerings. Dr. Hobbs will continue to serve in his role as CEO and member of the board of directors until the appointment of his successor.

16:09 EST Chembio Diagnostics appoints Larry Steenvoorden as CFO - Chembio Diagnostics announced the appointment of Larry Steenvoorden as CFO effective immediately. Steenvoorden served as a senior director at Accordion Partners, providing CFO advisory services to private equity backed companies for the past four years.

16:06 EST Datadog announces strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services - Datadog (DDOG) announced a global strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AMZN). As part of this collaboration, AWS and Datadog will work together to develop and deliver tighter product alignment in the future.

16:02 EST Primo Water acquires Belgium-based Sip/Well - Primo Water has acquired Sip-Well, a distributor of water solutions in Belgium. SipWell offers cooler models as well as a unique bottle design to more than 20,000 customers. SipWell has been operating in Belgium since 1993 and has a centrally positioned water source and production site with significant capacity to grow.

16:01 EST Hasbro names Chris Cocks CEO - Hasbro announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Chris Cocks as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective February 25, 2022. Cocks currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming division, a global leader in tabletop and digital gaming. He will succeed Interim CEO, Rich Stoddart, who was appointed following the October passing of Hasbro's longtime CEO Brian Goldner. Stoddart, who has served as a Hasbro independent director since 2014, will become Chair of the Board, effective February 25, 2022. Tracy Leinbach, current Chair of the Board, said: "Chris's appointment marks the culmination of an extensive and thoughtful candidate review and selection process led by the Board. In Chris, we have chosen a leader uniquely positioned to execute and evolve Hasbro's Brand Blueprint strategy while continuing to generate growth and deliver strong shareholder returns. Chris's extensive omni-channel experience and proven track record make him the ideal leader for Hasbro as it continues to become the world's leading play and entertainment company. On behalf of the Board, we thank Rich for serving as Interim CEO during a difficult time for the Hasbro family and are delighted he will serve as Chair of our Board."

15:05 EST Sotherly Hotels CEO 'pleased' with preliminary operating results for Q4 - Sotherly Hotels reported preliminary operating results for the company's twelve wholly-owned properties, or "actual" portfolio metrics, that does not include the participating condominium hotel rooms of the Hyde Resort & Residences and the Hyde Beach House. Preliminary actual portfolio occupancy in Q4 was 54.1%, ADR was 152.88 and RevPAR was 82.08, the company reported. "We're pleased with these preliminary results for the quarter, which display the continued improvement in operating fundamentals on a monthly basis. Despite ongoing disruption caused by new COVID variants, we believe our industry is in a sustained recovery and believe our portfolio is well positioned to outperform our peers," commented Dave Folsom, the company's President and CEO.

14:48 EST Verizon says 5G Ultra Wideband coming to 100M people in U.S. this month - Verizon announced that "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" as of this month. "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. As 5G Ultra Wideband becomes available to more and more people and businesses, it will allow our customers to do more amazing things. We've already proven our success with Fios broadband in the Northeast, and now we will give millions more consumers and business owners around the country a real choice in how they get their internet," said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon. The company added: "Today's news also accelerates Verizon's wireless broadband expansion, opening up choice for people and businesses in cities around the country. With the addition of C-band later this month, millions more homes and businesses will be covered by Verizon's wireless home broadband service. 5G Home and 5G Business Internet enables customers to take advantage of all the speed and security of 5G with a simple, easy set-up and without annual contracts and other complications."

13:47 EST North American rail traffic fell 8.4% in week ended January 1 - The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 1, as well as volumes for December. U.S. railroads originated 1,135,835 carloads in December, up 3.1%, or 33,918 carloads, from December 2020. U.S. railroads also originated 1,224,780 containers and trailers in December, down 8.2%, or 109,729 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in December were 2,360,615, down 3.1%, or 75,811 carloads and intermodal units from December 2020. "For most categories, rail traffic in 2021 was substantially higher than in 2020," said AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray. "On the carload side, chemicals set a new annual record and grain had its best year since 2008. Coal carloads were up substantially because of sharply higher natural gas prices, while carloads of motor vehicles suffered as microchip shortages forced automakers to cut output. For intermodal, a record-setting first half gave way to a lower second half as supply chain challenges persisted. Still, 2021 was the second-best U.S. intermodal year ever, behind only 2018." Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 395,371 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.3% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending January 1, were 205,836 carloads, up 1.7% compared with the same week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 189,535 containers and trailers, down 13.7% compared to 2020. Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 395,371 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.3% compared with the same week last year. North American rail volume for the week ending January 1, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 279,411 carloads, down 3.4% compared with the same week last year, and 248,188 intermodal units, down 13.5% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 527,599 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.4%. North American rail volume for the first 52 weeks of 2021 was 35,585,222 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.5% compared with 2020. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), FreightCar America (RAIL),Trinity Industries (TRN) and Greenbrier (GBX). Reference Link

13:17 EST Luminar, Volvo Cars announce plans for next gen SUV to be revealed in 2022 - Luminar and Volvo Cars revealed at CES in Las Vegas the launch plans for the all electric next generation SUV. "Luminar's vision is to democratize next-generation safety and autonomy, and we're already seeing this become a reality with the first vehicle launching on Volvo's new platform," said Austin Russell, Founder and CEO. "With Luminar as standard on every vehicle, their next SUV has the opportunity to be the safest vehicle ever produced, while also being the first to enable true autonomy and at highway speed." The first introduction of Volvo Cars' Ride Pilot, an unsupervised autonomous driving capability for highways, will be introduced to customers in the state of California first once it has been verified as safe for use and planned to be available as an add-on subscription, the companies said in a statement. As part of this verification process, Volvo Cars has applied for a testing permit with the California Department of Transportation and intends to begin testing on highways in the middle of the year.

13:02 EST Automated Logic acquires Integrated Control Systems, terms not disclosed - Automated Logic Contracting Services has acquired the business of Integrated Control Systems Inc, an independent Automated Logic controls contractor with offices in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Automated Logic is a part of Carrier Global Corporation. ICSI is a total solutions provider of automated building controls for a wide range of customer segments including schools, colleges and universities, government and commercial offices, data centers and healthcare facilities. ICSI became an Automated Logic dealer in 1996 and excels in providing control and automation system solutions that exceed customer expectations for quality, responsiveness and value. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

12:19 EST BrightDrop signs electric van pact with Walmart, expands FedEx collaboration - BrightDrop, an electric delivery spinoff of General Motors (GM), announced it is adding Walmart (WMT) to its growing roster of customers, and expanding its relationship with FedEx (FDX). Walmart signed an agreement to reserve 5,000 of BrightDrop's EV600 and smaller EV410 electric delivery vans to support the retail giant's growing last mile delivery network and goal of operating a zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040. FedEx has signed an agreement with BrightDrop reserving priority production for 2,000 electric delivery vans over the next few years. This agreement adds to FedEx's initial reservation of 500 BrightDrop EVs announced last year. In addition, FedEx is working on a plan to add up to 20,000 more in the years to follow, subject to further negotiations and execution of a definitive purchase agreement. FedEx also unveiled plans to expand its testing of BrightDrop's EP1 electrified container to 10 markets beginning in 2022. Reference Link

12:09 EST Ubisoft's 'Rainbow Six Extraction' to launch on Xbox Game Pass on day one - Microsoft (MSFT) said that Ubisoft's (UBSFY) upcoming shooter "Rainbow Six Extraction" will launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on January 20 and will release day one with Xbox Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud. "Sharing in our commitment to bring fans new and exciting games on day one, Ubisoft also announced today their intent to bring Ubisoft+ to Xbox platforms in the future," Microsoft added. "This will be a great addition for fans who will have even more ways to access the games and experiences they love on Xbox." Reference Link

12:04 EST Sony's PlayStation confirms PSVR2, new 'Horizon' VR title - Hideaki Nishino, senior VP of Platform Experience at Sony's PlayStation, confirmed the name of the next generation virtual reality system for the PlayStation 5 console: PlayStation VR2, as well as the new VR controller, known as PlayStation VR2 Sense controller. "PlayStation VR2 takes VR gaming to a whole new level, enabling a greater sense of presence and allowing players to escape into game worlds like never before," Nishino said. "With the headset on and controllers in hand, players will feel a heightened range of sensations unlike any other - thanks to the creativity of the game worlds being built by our world class developers, and the latest technology incorporated into the hardware." Nishino also revealed that a new game in Sony's "Horizon" franchise called "Horizon Call of the Mountain" will be coming to PSVR2. "This original game is being built specifically for PS VR2 and will open the doors for players to go deeper into the world of Horizon," he said. Reference Link

12:00 EST BlackSky falls -10.5% - BlackSky is down -10.5%, or -52c to $4.43.

12:00 EST Sequans rises 15.9% - Sequans is up 15.9%, or 77c to $5.61.

12:00 EST Vertical Aerospace rises 41.2% - Vertical Aerospace is up 41.2%, or $2.89 to $9.90.

11:34 EST MoneyGram announces minority investment in Coinme - MoneyGram International announced that the Company has completed a strategic minority investment in Coinme, a cryptocurrency cash exchange in the U.S. This venture, which gives the Company an approximate 4% ownership stake in Coinme, closes out Coinme's Series A financing. MoneyGram announced its original partnership with Coinme in May 2021 to create a crypto-to-cash model by building a bridge to connect bitcoin to local fiat currency. The partnership further expanded access to bitcoin by creating thousands of new point-of-sale locations to buy and sell bitcoin. MoneyGram and Coinme have additional initiatives in the pipeline that are expected to continue to increase the value of the partnership. Coinme was founded in 2014 and currently operates in 48 states with plans to expand internationally in the near future.

11:04 EST Onica announces deployment relationship with AWS on EMS - Onica by Rackspace Technology announced its deployment relationship with AWS on Emissions Monitoring and Surveillance. EMS is a new solution to help facility engineers, operations general managers, and environmental teams see direct measurements of emissions so they can quickly act, driving down per-unit-volume carbon intensity, reducing equipment failures and safety incidents, retaining product volume, and curtailing environmental impacts through Leak Detection and Repair

10:46 EST Park Aerospace announces business partner agreement with ArianeGroup - Park Aerospace announced that it has entered into a Business Partner Agreement with ArianeGroup SAS of Les Mureaux, France. Under the Business Partner Agreement, ArianeGroup SAS appointed Park as its exclusive North American distributor of ArianeGroup's RAYCARB C2 B NG proprietary product, which is used to produce ablative composite materials for rocketry and missile systems.

10:18 EST AT&T CEO: 'Our best days are yet to come'

10:16 EST Meridian Bioscience announces FDA clearance for Curian Campy assay - Meridian Bioscience announced that the Curian Campy assay has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance. The Curian Campy assay is a rapid, qualitative fluorescent immunoassay for the detection of a Campylobacter-specific antigen including C. jejuni, C. coli, C. upsaliensis, and C. lari in human fecal specimens, the company said in a statement. "Curian Campy follows last year's successful launch of our Curian HpSA assay and is the next step in expanding our Curian test menu for gastrointestinal infections," stated Wes Lindsey, Ph.D., Vice President Global Research and Development - Diagnostics.

10:05 EST Hasbro, Creative Kids enter partnership for new Play-Doh compounds - Creative Kids is pleased to announce a new partnership with Hasbro to produce a variety of new Play-Doh branded products in 2022. Through this multi-year, multi-national licensing agreement, Creative Kids and Hasbro will introduce a full line of Play-Doh toys with new twists in the Air Dry & Modeling Clay compounds space. The partnership is a close collaboration between both Creative Kids' and Hasbro's product development and marketing teams. Together, the brands are working on a multitude of compounds new to Play-Doh products, including modeling clay and other assortments to offer new creative play experiences. The first products will launch in Spring 2022 for all distribution channels and will be supported by a dynamic marketing campaign

10:03 EST IZEA awarded contract expansion by global Fortune 20 technology company - IZEA Worldwide announced that it was awarded a multi-million dollar contract expansion by a Global Fortune 20 technology company. The new award builds upon a string of contracts the company has committed to IZEA throughout 2021. IZEA will be executing influencer marketing campaigns across multiple social media platforms throughout 2022 as part of the contract.

10:01 EST Cytek Biosciences expands Fremont headquarters, tripling manufacturing capacity - Cytek Biosciences announced that it has opened a new facility in Fremont, California - tripling its current manufacturing capacity in order to meet growing global demand for cell analysis solutions. In addition to the new Fremont location, Cytek has also opened new offices in Seattle, Washington, which are dedicated to key R&D initiatives and customer application support, the company said in a statement. The Fremont facility is approximately 100 thousand square feet, is located about one mile from the original headquarters and became fully operational in October 2021. "This new facility supports our commitment to develop tools that will advance the next generation of cell analysis and become the partner of choice for players throughout the life sciences field," said Dr. Wenbin Jiang, CEO of Cytek Biosciences. "Our team successfully transferred all manufacturing processes to the new facility without skipping a beat in our production schedule."

10:00 EST Salesforce falls -5.7% - Salesforce is down -5.7%, or -$14.17 to $234.06.

10:00 EST Wayfair falls -6.7% - Wayfair is down -6.7%, or -$12.39 to $173.89.

10:00 EST NexTier Oilfield rises 9.0% - NexTier Oilfield is up 9.0%, or 44c to $5.34.

09:47 EST Nielsen falls -6.5% - Nielsen is down -6.5%, or -$1.39 to $20.00.

09:47 EST Azure Power falls -6.3% - Azure Power is down -6.3%, or -$1.12 to $16.63.

09:47 EST Crescent Point Energy rises 6.3% - Crescent Point Energy is up 6.3%, or 36c to $6.03.

09:32 EST TerrAscend appoints Ziad Ghanem as president, COO - TerrAscend announced the appointment of Ziad Ghanem as President and COO, effective immediately. Mr. Ghanem brings nearly two decades of experience in large-scale healthcare services, cannabis, pharmacy, and retail operations to TerrAscend where he will manage and oversee all operations. Most recently, Mr. Ghanem served as President of all markets at Parallel, a privately held, vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operators in the U.S.

09:28 EST iSun awarded $29.3M contract for solar canopies - iSun announced that it has been selected to design and deliver an expected total of 1,780 off-grid solar canopies to be located at EV charging stations.

09:22 EST Zosano Pharma announces publication of Phase 1 trial data on influenza vaccine - Zosano Pharma Corporation announced the publication of Phase 1 clinical trial data in an article titled, "Immunogenicity and Safety of Inactivated Influenza Split-Virion Vaccine Administered via a Transdermal Microneedle System" in the Journal of Vaccines and Immunology. The data demonstrated that a low dose of a trivalent influenza vaccine administered via its transdermal microneedle system produced antibody levels that met EMEA's three guidelines for influenza vaccine efficacy and was generally well tolerated. The single-center, randomized Phase 1 study enrolled 90 subjects between the ages of 18 to 40 years to receive a trivalent influenza vaccine containing strains A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and B. Volunteers were randomized to receive the vaccine either via a transdermal microneedle system patch worn for 5 minutes, the same patch worn for 15 minutes, or by intramuscular injection. Antibody levels were measured at Day 21 and compared to EMEA guidelines to assess immunogenicity of the treatment groups. All three EMEA criteria, including seroconversion rate, mean increase in hemagglutinin inhibition titer, and percentage of seroprotected subjects, were met for all three influenza strains in all treatment groups. Additionally, on day 21, most study participants considered microneedle patch application and removal to be less painful than intramuscular injection, and most considered the patch to be their first choice for mode of administration. The transdermal microneedle patch was generally well tolerated.

09:19 EST Del Taco launches '20 under $2' value variety menu - Del Taco Restaurants expands its value offerings with the new "20 Under $2" menu. "While other brands are getting rid of their value menus, we are expanding ours to bring our guests a wider variety of items and flavors including our Crispy Chicken Tacos and Chicken Tacos Del Carbon packed with or without our fresh house-made guacamole," said Tim Hackbardt, Del Taco's Chief Marketing Officer. "We know our guests are concerned about rising gasoline prices and overall inflation, and that's why we think this is the right menu at the right time. The Del Taco 20 Under $2 Menu has variety, freshness, flavor and quality at affordable prices you can't find anywhere else."

09:17 EST Ford reports December U.S. sales down 17.1% to 173,740 vehicles - Ford reported December total U.S. sales were down 17.1% to 173,740 vehicles and said retail sales were down 19.9% in the month versus the prior year. "Ford finished the year strong, as the only U.S. automaker hitting the half million sales mark in the fourth quarter, making Ford America's best-selling automaker. On the strong success of Mustang Mach-E, Ford jumped into second place in U.S. electric vehicle sales behind just Tesla. Last year was a foundational year for Ford in the electrified vehicle segment and this year we continue to expand, adding the F-150 Lightning and E-Transit to our electric vehicle lineup. Looking to the new year, Ford had just over 70,000 new vehicle orders in December, which will provide continued momentum into 2022," said Andrew Frick, vice president, Ford Sales U.S. and Canada.

09:15 EST Neovasc announces first patient enrollment in COSIRA-II trial - Neovasc announced enrollment of the first patient in the COSIRA-II clinical trial. COSIRA-II is a trial that will study the Neovasc Reducer, designed to reduce angina symptoms in patients with refractory angina. The results of this study will complement existing international safety and effectiveness data and support a pre-market approval application, PMA, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, for approval of the Reducer device in the United States. "We are pleased to commence COSIRA-II and grateful that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has determined the device and the procedure are eligible for reimbursement in the United States during the clinical trial," commented Fred Colen, Chief Executive Officer at Neovasc. "The coverage determination is a big win for us. COSIRA-II is a major investment for the Company."

09:13 EST Dogness International to expand product availability in top pet goods retailer - Dogness International announced that a "top pet goods retailer" will be expanding availability of Dogness Smart Pet Products in stores and online, building on Dogness' existing supplier relationship.

09:12 EST Surgalign acquires equity interest in Inteneural Networks - Surgalign announced it has acquired an equity interest in Inteneural Networks, INN, and its proprietary artificial intelligence technology for autonomously segmenting and identifying neural structures in medical images and helping identify possible pathological states. The company will also have the ability to acquire the remainder of INN's outstanding equity interests upon the achievement of certain regulatory, developmental, and revenue-based commercial milestones. "Our work with the team at INN has allowed us to fully appreciate the power of their AI technology and recognize this transaction will advance the vision of both organizations as we work to become a key player in applying AI and machine learning to healthcare," said Terry Rich, Surgalign's president and chief executive officer. Deal Rationale: "The integration of INN's innovative ML and AI technologies positions the Company as a leader in intelligent digital health. By bringing INN's intercranial capabilities to the HOLO platform, the Company can expand the applicability of HOLO into significant segments beyond spine, in particular neurosurgery," the company said. Deal Terms: On December 30, 2021, the company acquired 42% of the outstanding equity of INN for $21M, consisting of $5M in cash, promissory notes of approximately $10.6M and the Company's common stock valued at approximately $5.4M. Upon achievement of certain regulatory, developmental, and revenue-based commercial milestones, the company will have the ability to acquire the remaining 58% of INN in three equal tranches through 2027. The total consideration payable by the Company for 100% of INN's outstanding equity interests, assuming the achievement of all milestones, would be $79M. The Company will initially receive a non-exclusive royalty-free license to the INN technology. Upon the future acquisition of a majority of INN's outstanding equity interests, the license to INN's technology would become perpetual.

09:09 EST Liquid Media launches blockchain framework during 2022 Sundance Film Festival - Liquid Media Group announced the launch of its first blockchain film streaming with a slate of digital panel presentations during the upcoming hybrid 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Hosted via the Eluvio-Liquid Media blockchain framework, the original documentary film "Angst," produced by iNDIEFLIX CEO Scilla Andreen and designed to raise awareness around anxiety, will be streamed on-demand for a limited time via Eluvio's Content Fabric and Liquid's next-generation supply chain, following the festival. This global screening and NFT event will engage with global audiences. It will also provide blockchain-based community access to Angst's "Creative Coping Toolkit," which is designed to open up conversation and provide resources to help address mental health challenges in our communities. To introduce the "Angst" streaming, Liquid is planning to host a virtual panel conversation during Sundance on January 21, 2022 at 2PM MT. During the panel, Andreen will discuss the documentary and its impact, and explain the important contents of the Angst toolkit, which purchasers will access via NFT Tokens.

09:08 EST Intrado announces it has acquired Permission Click - Intrado, which is controlled by affiliates of certain funds managed by Apollo Global Management, announced that it has acquired Permission Click, a pioneer in education technology. With this acquisition, Intrado Life & Safety expands its position in K-12 education technology, adding Permission Click's digital workflow solutions to its SchoolMessenger communications suite of solutions. "We are excited to add Permission Click and its team to our Digital Workflows business, expanding our solutions with a powerful tool and advancing our leadership in the education marketplace," said Vik Krishnan, General Manager of Intrado's Digital Workflows business. "The combination of SchoolMessenger and Permission Click solutions is unique in the K-12 education market and beyond."

09:06 EST Taboola announces new, multiyear deal with McClatchy - Taboola announced a new, multiyear deal with McClatchy, a local media company that operates in 30 markets across the United States. McClatchy reaches more than 65M unique readers monthly through its digital media properties, including The Sacramento Bee, The Charlotte Observer, The Kansas City Star, The Miami Herald, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Under the deal, McClatchy will implement several Taboola products across its entire network of publishers, including Taboola Feed. In addition, McClatchy is testing Taboola Newsroom. "McClatchy's vision for creating deeper community connections and their approach to local news are noteworthy," said Adam Singolda, CEO and Founder, Taboola. "Local journalism helps communities thrive and McClatchy has both a network of well-known publishers and a reputation for quality journalism. Even more than that, I'm looking forward to working with the McClatchy team and taking a product-led approach to driving growth in years to come, specifically using editorial tech and data, as well as integrating high intent pages, to navigate users to their ultimate, personal experience."

09:05 EST Zynex files utility patent for sepsis monitor - Zynex has filed for a utility patent for its multi-parameter, noninvasive sepsis monitor. This submission follows a provisional patent application on sepsis monitoring the company filed in January 2021. Sepsis is a life-threatening medical condition characterized by the body-wide inflammatory response or reaction that presents in response to infection. The inflammatory response triggered by the immune response can cause body-wide tissue damage, even to areas not local to the initial infection. The low survival rate of patients with severe sepsis indicates that current sepsis identification strategies, tools, and methods may be lacking.

09:04 EST IAC names Christopher Halpin as CFO, effective January 26 - IAC announced the appointment of Christopher Halpin as CFO, effective January 26. Halpin will join IAC from the National Football League, where, as NFL Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, he currently oversees all strategic growth and development opportunities, including the League's digital and sports betting strategies, data and analytics, and its expansion internationally. As CFO of IAC, Halpin will report to IAC CEO Joey Levin and oversee all corporate finance, accounting, M&A, investor relations and administration functions.

09:03 EST Evolving Systems announces its pending acquisition by PartnerOne is complete - Evolving Systems announced that its previously reported pending acquisition by PartnerOne has been completed. Under the terms of the agreement, PartnerOne has acquired all of the assets of Evolving Systems' Customer Acquisition and Network Services division as well as its CVML and Loyalty business. "We see Evolving Systems as the leader in the telecommunications market because of the critical role of its offering," said Jonathan Dionne, CFO of PartnerOne. "Evolving Systems has a very strong track record of winning large enterprise accounts, a blue-chip customer list and now with the strength of PartnerOne behind it, customers will greatly benefit. We are going to invest to make sure Evolving Systems remains the market leader."

09:01 EST Castor announces deliveries of M/V Magic Callisto, M/T Wonder Bellatrix - Castor Maritime announces the deliveries of two vessels. On December 23, 2021, it took delivery of M/T Wonder Bellatrix, the 2006 Korean-built Aframax LR2 tanker it had agreed to acquire as previously announced on December 7, 2021. On January 4, 2022, it took delivery of M/V Magic Callisto, the 2012 Japanese-built Panamax dry bulk carrier it had agreed to acquire as previously announced on December 20, 2021. Both vessel acquisitions were financed in their entirety with cash on hand. New Charter Agreements: The M/V Magic Horizon, a 2010 built Panamax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $20,100. The charter commenced on December 20, 2021, and has a duration of about 100 days. The M/V Magic Venus, a 2010 built Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier, has been fixed on a time charter contract at a gross daily charter rate of $29,000. The charter commenced on December 30, 2021, and has a duration of about 25 days.

08:53 EST Hess Corp. makes two discoveries in offshore Guyana - ExxonMobil said it made two oil discoveries at Fangtooth-1 and Lau Lau-1 in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana. The Fangtooth-1 well encountered approximately 164 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. The well was drilled in 6,030 feet of water and is located approximately 11 miles northwest of the Liza field. The Lau Lau-1 well encountered approximately 315 feet of high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoirs. The well was drilled in 4,793 feet of water and is located approximately 42 miles southeast of the Liza field. These discoveries will add to the previously announced recoverable resource estimate for the block, of 10 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

08:47 EST DiaMedica Therapeutics appoints Kirsten Gruis, M.D. as CMO - DiaMedica Therapeutics announced the appointment of Kirsten Gruis, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Gruis is a board-certified neurologist with 20 years of experience in both clinical medicine and drug development in large and small biopharmaceutical companies. "We are delighted to welcome Dr. Gruis to the DiaMedica team as Chief Medical Officer," said Rick Pauls, CEO of DiaMedica. "Dr. Gruis has deep experience in neurology drug development and regulatory strategy which will be critical to the company as we advance ReMEDy2 towards pivotal data for DM199 in acute ischemic stroke. She is also a strong cultural fit with her career long focus on innovation and improving the lives of patients."

08:42 EST Taoping announces Hong Kong Data Center expansion plan - Taoping announced that it has begun an expansion project of Taoping G Cloud Hong Kong Data Center. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of January 2022. The site for this expansion is located in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. The Company plans to deploy additional general-purpose servers suitable for Ethereum in the Center. Once complete, the computing capacity of the expanded Center can be doubled, with an estimated total hash rate of 700GH/s and expected to generate about 350 Ether per month by the first quarter of 2022. "We have made good progress on digital currency business since the launch of Taoping G Cloud Hong Kong Data Center," said Jianghuai Lin, Chairman and CEO of TAOP. "The expansion of the data center is expected to meet the Company's growing demand for cloud computing resources and support growth for related business."

08:41 EST Castlight Health trading resumes

08:39 EST ICE reports 'Energy' ADV up 7% y/y in December, up 17% in Q4 - Intercontinental Exchange reported December, Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 trading volume and related revenue statistics. "Throughout 2021, and particularly during the fourth quarter, we saw consistently high volumes as customers navigated volatile gas and carbon markets, as well as interest rate uncertainty," said Ben Jackson, President of ICE. "In periods such as these, our diverse and liquid futures markets are mission critical for companies to manage their risk, and the resulting impact on end consumers." Highlights include: Energy average daily volume, ADV, up 7% y/y in December, up 17% in 4Q21 and up 2% in 2021;Total Oil ADV up 10% y/y in December, up 23% y/y in 4Q21 and up 3% in 2021.

08:39 EST Nano Dimension acquires Global Inkjet Systems - Nano Dimension announced today the acquisition of Global Inkjet Systems, GIS. GIS, based in Cambridge, UK, is a developer and supplier of high-performance control electronics, software, and ink delivery systems. Nano Dimension paid GIS shareholders $18.1M in cash. In addition, it will pay between $1.3M to $10.7M within the next 27 months, if GIS achieves certain financial performance over this period. The foundation of Nano Dimension's vision is to provide advanced, digital production technologies for Additive Manufacturing and 3D printed electronics. "The combined expertise of both Nano Dimension and GIS will enable faster product development, including the technology that is at the center of next-generation systems," the company said. GIS will continue to develop and sell its hardware and software globally while taking advantage of Nano Dimension's go-to-market resources and global reach. "This combination will enable GIS to more effectively penetrate fast-growing printing markets. Emerging AM market segments especially rely on GIS' level of precision that enables advanced industrial applications. In parallel, the merger will provide Nano Dimension with exposure to new market segments and application areas," the company added.

08:36 EST ABVC BioPharma selects additional Vitargus Phase II study sites - ABVC BioPharma announced two clinical sites in Thailand have been selected to participate in the Phase II clinical study of Vitargus, the first bio-degradable vitreous substitute intended to facilitate retina re-attachment surgery. The new sites, located at the Ramathibodi Hospital at Mahidol University and the Srinagarind Hospital at Khon Kaen University, will join two planned Australian sites already selected to participate in the study. The Company expects the Thailand Food and Drug Administration and the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration to approve the study sites and principal investigators in Q1 of 2022 with first patient enrollments beginning during Q2 of 2022. Early clinical studies indicate that Vitargus(R) has unique properties that eliminate the need for post-surgery patient face-down positioning and significantly improves recovery period patient comfort and visual acuity compared to existing products. The objective of the Phase II study, "A Prospective Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Clinical Investigation of the Safety and Effectiveness of the ABV-1701 Ocular Endotamponade," is to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Vitargus as compared to SF6 Gas OE, now commonly used for retina re-attachment. The incident of retinal detachment in Thailand is about 3% by the age of 851, compared to the incident of retinal detachment in Australia, which affects about 1% of the population.

08:35 EST Visteon showcases suite of electrification electronics at CES 2022 - Visteon will showcase its suite of electrification electronics designed to support the global growth of electric vehicles and the electrification trends of OEM customers at CES 2022. As the global mobility industry undergoes a once-in-a-century electric transformation, Visteon is evolving its electrification electronics capabilities to include a variety of intelligent systems for battery management and integrated power electronics.

08:33 EST VBI Vaccines doses 1st patient in 2nd study of HBV, amid Brii Bio collaboration - VBI Vaccines announced that the first patient has been dosed in a second Phase 2a/2b clinical study evaluating VBI-2601 , an immunotherapeutic candidate targeting chronic hepatitis B virus, HBV. This newly announced Phase 2 study will assess VBI-2601 as an add-on therapy to the standard-of-care, nucleos, tide, reverse transcriptase inhibitor and pegylated interferon therapy, which currently has a functional cure rate of approximately 9%1. A functional cure for chronic HBV infection is defined as achievement of undetectable HBV surface antigen levels and sustained suppression of HBV DNA. As previously announced in April 2021, VBI-2601 is also being assessed in an additional Phase 2 study as part of a combination regimen with BRII-835 , an investigational small interfering ribonucleic acid targeting HBV. "Our commitment to the fight against hepatitis B includes a focus on both prevention and treatment of the disease," said Jeff Baxter, VBI's President and CEO. "More than 290 million people are chronically infected with HBV worldwide and, together with our partners, we are working hard to provide more patients with improved therapeutic options. This effort includes the assessment of new investigational treatment regimens, as in the ongoing combination study of VBI-2601 and an siRNA candidate, as well as ways to potentially improve upon functional cure rates achieved with the current standard of care, as with this newly announced Phase 2 study. We believe a multi-pronged approach is critical for driving innovation in the treatment of chronic HBV, and we look forward to sharing data from these two Phase 2 studies in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, respectively." Brii Biosciences is the sponsor of this newly announced Phase 2a/2b study and, with the support of VBI, has led the design and implementation of this study as well as the ongoing Phase 2 combination study.

08:33 EST Castlight Health and Vera Whole Health to combine - Castlight Health and Vera Whole Health, a provider of advanced primary care, announced an agreement under which the companies will combine. The combined company will integrate Castlight's technology with Vera's purpose-built clinics, health care professionals and strategic partnerships with local providers. The transaction, unanimously approved by Castlight's board, is valued at an equity value of approximately $370M and will be structured as an all cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Castlight. Vera will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Castlight Class A common stock and Class B common stock for $2.05 in cash per share, representing a 25% premium to the closing price as of January 4th. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice funds, Vera's majority equity holder, have committed to invest up to $338M to support the combination, and Anthem, a health company and long-time strategic customer of Castlight, will make an investment in the combined company. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, the tender of a majority of Castlight's outstanding shares of common stock, and other customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, Castlight will become a privately held company and shares of Castlight's Class B common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. The parties anticipate that the combination will be completed in 1Q22.

08:33 EST Visteon unveils fourth-generation SmartCore domain controller - Visteon debuted its fourth-generation SmartCore cockpit domain controller at CES 2022, showcasing a solution designed to enable global automakers to deliver a more connected, personalized and safe driving experience. The modern intelligent cockpit experience includes traditional cluster information display, safety inputs, as well as Android Automotive infotainment ranging from maps and parking to charging locations along with enjoyable entertainment experiences for passenger displays. Visteon's fourth-generation SmartCore cockpit domain controller brings all of this information together seamlessly across multiple displays in the cockpit, and can deliver feature upgrades wirelessly over-the-air, eliminating the need to replace hardware to further extend the platform's lifecycle.

08:31 EST Encompass Health, Saint Alphonsus Health announce JV in Idaho - Encompass Health and Saint Alphonsus Health System are pleased to announce a new joint venture agreement in Idaho. The new joint venture includes the following locations: Saint Alphonsus home health & hospice locations in Boise, Idaho, and the Encompass Health home health and hospice locations in Boise and Nampa, Idaho. The transaction closed on January 1, 2022.

08:31 EST Hexo appoints Curtis Solsvig as acting CFO - HEXO Corp announced the appointment of William Todd Montour to the Company's Board of Directors following the resignation of Jason Ewart, effective immediately. Will Montour co-founded Redecan, which before HEXO's recent acquisition was Canada's largest privately-owned licensed cannabis producer. The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Curtis Solsvig as acting-Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. He has over 30 years of senior management and consulting experience with companies including Lily, Restoration Hardware, Borders Books and Atari.

08:29 EST DZS, Irby Utilities work to help 4-County Electric Power - DZS announced the continued successful expansion of a major rural broadband transformation project being deployed by electric cooperative 4-County Electric Power Association in East Central Mississippi in conjunction with DZS strategic partner Irby Utilitie, a subsidiary of Sonepar USA. Now in its second year of buildout, 4-County has moved beyond its successful pilot of DZS technology and Irby Utilities broadband network planning and deployment expertise to the expansion of its FASTnet Fiber program to its membership across nine counties. Irby Utilities is now helping 4-County plan for and rapidly deploying a range of DZS technologies that include DZS Velocity Broadband Access solutions and DZS Helix Edge Access solutions. Jay Hilbert, chief revenue officer, DZS said, "We believe 4-County is a powerful example to other electric cooperatives of how they too can find success in deploying gigabit+ broadband to their members by leveraging available government stimulus funds and grants as well as unparalleled expertise of DZS and Irby Utilities."

08:27 EST Innospec secures China approval for Iselux surfactants - Innospec announces that Iselux has been approved for use in China, the world's second largest personal care market. Available in liquid and solid form, Iselux is a highly versatile, clear, mild and natural surfactant which delivers superior lather, skin feel and cleansing performance in more than 3,000 body, hair and other personal care products. With the China approval secured, for the first time Iselux is now available for worldwide cosmetic and personal care use by Innospec's customers. Innospec technologies like Iselux directly address growing long-term consumer demand for clean beauty without any compromise in product performance. Innospec recently announced plans for over $70MM of organic growth investments to be made through 2023 to support the increased demand outlook for its premium personal and home care technologies.

08:25 EST Longeveron initiates Phase 2a trial of Lomecel-B for Alzheimer's Disease - Longeveron announced the initiation of its Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating Lomecel-B as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The first patient has consented to participate in the trial and patient screening has begun. This Phase 2a study is intended to build on encouraging preliminary Phase 1 data that were announced in 2021. Additionally, the Phase 2a trial is designed to measure brain anatomy using MRI, and include detailed assessments of the inflammatory and vascular systems thought to contribute to the worsening of AD. The study, which will be conducted at a minimum of 6 centers, is led by Mark L. Brody, MD, of Brain Matters Research, Delray Beach, Florida. Dementia resulting from AD is associated with vascular function decline and involves a pro-inflammatory state. In Longeveron's prior Phase 1 trial, Lomecel-B treatment met the primary safety endpoint, with no safety concerns - including no evidence of Alzheimer's-related imaging abnormality, known as ARIA. In addition, the levels of certain pro-vascular and anti-inflammatory biomarkers increased in the Lomecel-B treated subjects compared to placebo. The Phase 2a trial is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design investigating safety and tolerability, as well as secondary endpoints that include cognitive function and biomarkers, following single or multiple infusions of Lomecel-B compared to placebo, in individuals with mild AD. The study consists of 4 treatment arms of 12 patients each, for a total target enrollment of 48 patients.

08:24 EST Edgewise Therapeutics announces topline results from EDG-5506 study - Edgewise Therapeutics announced topline results from the BMD, or Phase 1b, portion of a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial assessing the safety, tolerability, PK and pharmacodynamics of EDG-5506, an orally administered small molecule myosin inhibitor designed to protect injury-susceptible fast skeletal muscle fibers in dystrophinopathies such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and BMD. The seven adults with BMD enrolled in the Phase 1b clinical trial were administered 20 mg oral doses of EDG-5506 or placebo. EDG-5506 was shown to be well-tolerated with no discontinuations or dose reductions. The most common adverse event, observed in all Phase 1b participants, was dizziness which was mild, transient and self-resolving. In addition to safety, a goal in the Phase 1b BMD clinical trial was to understand the relationship between dose, muscle exposure and biomarkers of muscle damage on a dystrophic background. PK data were consistent with robust target engagement, with plasma and muscle exposures exceeding pharmacologically active levels observed in multiple preclinical models of DMD. Similar to observations in the healthy volunteer portion of the clinical trial, dosing with EDG-5506 was not found to affect voluntary grip, shoulder, or hip strength. Treatment with EDG-5506 led to a significant and time-dependent decrease in key biomarkers of muscle damage when assessed by both standard laboratory assays and proteomic analysis using the SOMAscan 7,000 analyte set. Importantly, creatine kinase (CK) and fast skeletal muscle troponin were reduced by 71 percent and 83 percent, respectively, to levels near those observed in healthy volunteers when evaluated by SOMAscan. This reduction in muscle damage biomarkers supports the hypothesis that EDG-5506 meaningfully reduces damage from the excessive stress present in dystrophic muscle, thus potentially preserving muscle function and preventing disease progression in dystrophinopathies.

08:21 EST Aspira Women's Health executes agreement with Axia Women's Health - Aspira Women's Health announced that it has entered into a commercial enterprise agreement with Axia Women's Health. Axia Women's Health is a community of more than 400 providers and 150 women's health centers across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. Under the five-year agreement, Axia Women's Health providers will have the ability to conduct genetic testing in-house utilizing the proprietary Aspira Synergy Genetics platform. Aspira Synergy Genetics is a genetics-focused, novel technology transfer solution that offers custom Next Generation Sequencing, NGS, chemistry paired with proprietary cloud-based bioinformatics that were developed for the Aspira Synergy platform.

08:20 EST Profound Medical appoints Kenneth Knudson as CCO - Profound Medical announced the appointment of Kenneth Knudson, as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Knudson's mandate will be leading Profound's worldwide sales, marketing and reimbursement activities. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Perineologic, Inc., a company pioneering a new and disruptive approach to prostate cancer biopsy.

08:20 EST Identiv partners with collectID to authenticate collectible Brazil soccer shirts - Identiv expanded its partnership with collectID to enable product authentication, verification, and a connected consumer experience to collectible football jerseys via embeddable near field communication, or NFC, life-of-garment tags. 2021 Copa Do Brasil winning football team Atletico Mineiro now equips 120,000 collectible jerseys with Identiv NFC tags. The tags verify jersey authenticity and also enable an engaging experience for fans via the IoT, allowing them to digitally interact with the team. Identiv selected NFC tags featuring the highest security level based on NXP NTAG 424 DNA chips. Fear of fake products undermines consumer confidence in brands and makes it difficult to sell items on the secondary market. collectID aims to solve this problem by combining blockchain with Identiv NFC technologies and providing a complete product authentication ecosystem.

08:18 EST Cue Biopharma, LG Chem announce milestone in CUE-102 collaboration - Cue Biopharma announced that a key milestone in the selection of a clinical product candidate has been reached in their collaboration for CUE-102, an Immuno-STAT biologic, jointly developed to selectively target WT1-expressing cancers. The milestone represents significant progress for the CUE-102 program and an important achievement in generating promising preclinical activity and data to be shared with the FDA as part of an investigational New Drug filing that is planned for the first quarter of 2022. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Cue Biopharma will receive a $3 million milestone payment from LG Chem Life Sciences, the life sciences division of LG Chem Ltd. Cue Biopharma presented preclinical data on CUE-102 and interim clinical data on CUE-101, its lead oncology asset, at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's 36th Annual Meeting in November 2021.

08:17 EST Aveo and NiKang in study and supply pact to test NKT2152, Fotivda for RCC - NiKang Therapeutics and AVEO Oncology announced that they have entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement to evaluate NKT2152, NiKang's small molecule that inhibits hypoxia inducible factor 2alpha , in combination with FOTIVDA , AVEO's oral, next-generation vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor , which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma, RCC, following two or more prior systemic therapies. The phase 2 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of NKT2152 and tivozanib in clear cell RCC, ccRCC, patients who have not responded to or relapsed from prior therapies, R/R RCC. Under the terms of the agreement, NiKang will sponsor the trial and AVEO will co- fund the trial. Both companies will provide its respective drugs at no cost. The two companies will form a Joint Development Committee to oversee this collaboration. "This collaboration with NiKang, will play an important role in the advancement of both the tivozanib and NKT2152 programs," said Michael Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer of AVEO. "The tivozanib and NKT2152 combination will build on the activity seen with VEGFR TKIs and HIF2alpha agents in ccRCC. We believe the best-in-class qualities of these two compounds provide a unique combination of efficacy and tolerability for patients with R/R ccRCC as a doublet or, potentially in the future, as part of a triple combination." The phase 2 clinical trial is expected to commence in 2022.

08:17 EST Icosavax appoints John Shiver to board of directors - Icosavax, Inc. (ICVX) announced the appointment of John Shiver, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Currently, Dr. Shiver is Chief Strategy Officer, leader of the scientific advisory board, and member of the Board of Directors at IGM ID, a wholly owned subsidiary of IGM Biosciences (IGMS).

08:15 EST CV Sciences announces new distribution agreement with GNC - CV Sciences announced a major new distribution agreement with GNC. Beginning in early 2022, consumers will be able to purchase the company's top selling ingestible products under the +PlusCBD brand in 770 GNC locations. "We are thrilled to partner with GNC, a leading global health and wellness brand, and view this agreement as a major milestone in our distribution expansion strategy as well as a strong testament to the safety and efficacy of CV Sciences' portfolio of high-quality products," said Joseph Dowling, Chief Executive Officer of CV Sciences. "This agreement is also a positive reflection of the favorable regulatory momentum that is starting to build following the recent passage of AB 45 in California, which should serve as a framework for responsible CBD legislation in other states and eventually at the federal level."

08:14 EST Twist Bioscience announces RBT-0813 neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants - Revelar Biotherapeutics and Twist Bioscience announced that RBT-0813 binds to and neutralizes the Omicron and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 in live virus studies. RBT-0813 is an innovative bispecific antibody discovered by Twist Biopharma and licensed to Revelar Biotherapeutics that targets epitopes on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Revelar continues to advance preclinical development of RBT-0813 to submit an Investigational new drug application, or IND, in the first half of 2022 to begin human clinical trials shortly thereafter. This new in vitro binding and neutralization data has been published on BioRxiv with a peer-reviewed publication of the data planned for early 2022. Binding and kinetic data were generated through Surface Plasmon Resonance, or SPR, and independently confirmed by flow cytometry. The live virus plaque-reduction data were generated independently at the Yale School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Akiko Iwasaki using live SARS-CoV-2 virus from ancestral, as well as the Omicron and Delta variants of concern isolated from patient nasopharyngeal specimens.

08:12 EST Apollo Commercial completes $3.2B of mortgage originations in 2021 - Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance announced the Company committed to $1.7 billion of mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing annual loan originations to $3.2 billion for the year. "ARI originated over $3.2 billion of mortgages in 2021, capitalizing on the strength of Apollo's global brand in the commercial real estate lending market," said Stuart Rothstein, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company. "The fourth quarter was our most active of the year and we are carrying that momentum into 2022 with a robust pipeline. ARI's origination activity expanded into several new markets and property types in 2021, demonstrating the breadth of Apollo's platform. Our ability to offer creative, flexible capital solutions as well as certainty of execution to our borrowers enables ARI to originate investments that generate attractive, risk adjusted returns for our stockholders." New Investments - During the fourth quarter of 2021, ARI originated $1.7 billion of mortgages. Funding of Previously Closed Loans - During the fourth quarter of 2021, ARI funded $145.0 million for loans closed prior to the quarter. Loan Repayments - During the fourth quarter of 2021, ARI received $0.9 billion from loan repayments.

08:11 EST Lockheed Martin, Amazon.com, Cisco partner on NASA's Orion spacecraft - Lockheed Martin (LMT), Amazon (AMZN) and Cisco (CSCO) have teamed up to integrate unique human-machine interface technologies into NASA's Orion spacecraft, providing an opportunity to learn how future astronauts could benefit from far-field voice technology, AI and tablet-based video collaboration. The Callisto technology demonstration will be integrated into NASA's Orion spacecraft for the agency's Artemis I uncrewed mission around the Moon and back to Earth. Callisto uses Amazon Alexa and Webex by Cisco to test and demonstrate commercial technology for deep space voice, video and whiteboarding communications. Lockheed Martin, which designed and built the Orion spacecraft for NASA, is leading the development and integration of the payload.

08:11 EST Rain Therapeutics, Roche to collaborate on trial of milademetan combination - Rain Therapeutics (RAIN) announced a clinical supply agreement with Roche (RHHBY) for the supply of the anti-Programmed Death Ligand-1 monoclonal antibody, atezolizumab. Clinical trials are planned to evaluate milademetan, an oral mouse double minute 2 inhibitor, in combination with atezolizumab for the treatment of patients in genetically selected populations. Under this agreement, Rain is the sponsor of the anticipated clinical trials, and Roche will supply atezolizumab. An initial Phase 1 clinical trial is planned to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of milademetan in combination with atezolizumab in patients with loss of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A and wildtype p53 advanced solid tumors. CDKN2A encodes for the tumor suppressor p14ARF, an inhibitor of MDM2, and the loss of CDKN2A may lead to MDM2-dependent cancers. Rain anticipates the start of the Phase 1 clinical trial in the second half of 2022. Subsequent Phase 2 clinical trials evaluating the combination of milademetan and atezolizumab may span various additional tumor types.

08:10 EST Beyond Meat, KFC to debut Beyond Fried Chicken on January 10 - Kentucky Fried Chicken and Beyond Meat are kicking off the new year with a Kentucky Fried Miracle as the highly-anticipated plant-based Beyond Fried Chicken makes its nationwide debut. Beginning Monday, January 10, KFC restaurants across the U.S. will offer Beyond Fried Chicken for a limited time, while supplies last. The plant-based Beyond Fried Chicken was developed by Beyond Meat exclusively for KFC.

08:09 EST EDAP provides corporate update on US Focal One installation growth - EDAP provided an update on recent Focal One placements and the initiation of treatments at select new customer sites in the US. During the company's third quarter 2021 conference call in November, EDAP announced that it had sold a Focal One device to the University of California at San Diego, UCSD, during the fourth quarter. The sale to UCSD is now the third Focal One placement into the prestigious UC healthcare system, following previously announced sales to UC San Francisco and UC Irvine. In addition, the company is today announcing that additional Focal One installations have occurred during the fourth quarter to five prestigious academic and integrated health network reference centers. These include Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Cedars-Sinai Health System in Los Angeles, Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Duke University in North Carolina and Prisma Health in South Carolina.

08:08 EST BlackBerry, Pateo announce strategic collaboration - BlackBerry and Pateo, an Internet of Vehicles technology service & product provider in China, announced a strategic collaboration that will see BlackBerry IVY integrated into PATEO's intelligent Digital Cockpit solution to develop data-driven in-vehicle services and drive new business opportunities in the Chinese market. As part of the agreement, the two companies will work with a leading Chinese automobile manufacturer to set up a pilot project on the automaker's all-electric model lineup. The expanded relationship is built on an existing collaboration between the two sides that leverages BlackBerry QNX technology alongside Pateo's integration expertise to deploy advanced solutions for the Digital Cockpit market in China.

08:07 EST CIM Commercial Trust announces reduction in management fee - CIM Commercial Trust Corporation announced that CIM Group, the manager to CMCT, has agreed to a fee waiver that is expected to reduce CMCT's management fee by approximately 55%, resulting in $21c per share of annualized cost savings. The agreement is effective January 1. "This new fee structure more closely aligns our manager with the success of the common stockholders of CIM Commercial," said David Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of CIM Commercial Trust. "Management intends to recommend to the Board that CIM Commercial use substantially all of the cost savings achieved by the lower management fee to reward common stockholders through a dividend increase starting in the first quarter. With the new fee structure, the company is now well-positioned for growth. We have an attractive portfolio with a significant same store growth opportunity. In addition, we will continue to leverage the resources of CIM Group's large scale vertically integrated real asset platform to source and execute on attractive acquisitions to create value for shareholders."

08:06 EST Shoals Technologies, Luminace announce strategic agreement - Luminace and Shoals Technologies Group announced a strategic agreement to pursue distributed renewable energy generation and EV charging solutions across the U.S. The companies will collaborate on the deployment of renewable energy and EV projects, providing all development, operational and technical solutions. "We are excited to collaborate with Luminace and join forces to bring our customers an unprecedented level of efficiency in the implementation of solar and eMobility projects," said Jason Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer of Shoals. "Together we will leverage our innovative technology and Luminace's operational expertise to accelerate the adoption of renewables and EV charging infrastructure across the U.S."

08:05 EST BorgWarner sells Water Valley, Mississippi facility to Atar Capital - BorgWarner has sold its Water Valley, Mississippi facility to Atar Capital. The sale is consistent with Project Charging Forward, BorgWarner's accelerated electrification strategy which the company announced in March 2021. Outlined in this strategy is a target to dispose of $3B-$4B in annual revenues from its combustion portfolio by 2025 with approximately $1B of that targeted to be executed by late 2022. The Water Valley sale encompasses the manufacturing facility and the associated solenoid, transmission control module and stop/start accumulator system business located there. Full year sales of the Water Valley business for 2021 are expected to be approximately $180M. The transaction was completed on December 31, 2021. The consideration consisted of $42M in cash and notes and up to $30M in potential earn out payments. The company expects to incur a U.S. GAAP loss on the sale, which is not expected to be material.

08:05 EST Amazon, Stellantis announce multi-year agreements for in-vehicle experience - Amazon (AMZN) and Stellantis (STLA), a global automaker and mobility provider, announced a series of global, multi-year agreements that will transform the in-vehicle experience for millions of Stellantis customers . Stellantis will accelerate its shift to becoming a sustainable mobility tech company through this relationship, which involves Amazon Devices, Amazon Web Services, or AWS and Amazon Last Mile. Stellantis and Amazon will collaborate to deploy Amazon's technology and software expertise across Stellantis' organization, including vehicle development, building connected in-vehicle experiences, and training the next generation of automotive software engineers. Together, the two companies will create a suite of software-based products and services that integrate with customers' digital lives and add regular over-the-air software updates. The collaboration brings together Amazon's leadership and innovation in digital experiences, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning with Stellantis' automotive engineering excellence and portfolio of 14 iconic vehicle brands. Stellantis outlined its software strategy during its Software Day program in December 2021. The collaboration will focus on several areas.

08:04 EST Sientra announces acquisition of fat grafting technology from AuraGen - Sientra announced that it entered into a definitive agreement on December 31, 2021 to acquire substantially all of the assets related to AuraGen Aesthetic's novel fat grafting technology, the AuraGen 1-2-3 with AuraClens. The AuraGen system, developed by leading researchers and plastic surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital, is FDA 510k-cleared for processing a patient's own fat for aesthetic body contouring in a broad range of aesthetic specialties.Ron Menezes, Sientra's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "AuraGen's transformative fat grafting system will provide us with a unique platform to not only grow our total market share within breast procedures, but also allow us to significantly increase our total addressable market by expanding into other areas of the body, including the face, potentially replacing currently available procedures using synthetic fillers with a procedure that uses the patient's own tissue." Under the terms of the transaction, Sientra will acquire substantially all of the assets owned or controlled by AuraGen relating to its fat grafting technology for an upfront payment of $1M in cash and 3.9M shares of common stock. Additionally, the agreement includes milestone payments of $3M in cash due on the 12-month anniversary of signing, and up to $8.5M payable in cash, stock, or a combination of both, based upon reaching agreed clinical endpoints.

08:04 EST Blueprint Medicines announces CEO and leadership transition plan - Blueprint Medicines' Board of Directors has appointed Kate Haviland to succeed Jeff Albers as CEO, effective April 4. At that time, Albers will transition from his current role as Chairman, President and CEO to Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Haviland will transition from her current role as COO to President and CEO. In addition, Haviland will be appointed to serve on the company's Board of Directors, effective April 4. Christina Rossi has been promoted from Chief Commercial Officer to COO. In her new role, Rossi will retain leadership of global commercial strategy and operations, and expand her oversight to include portfolio strategy and program management, corporate development, and corporate affairs, effective April 4. Haviland joined Blueprint Medicines in January 2016 as Chief Business Officer and has served as COO since January 2019. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Haviland held leadership roles as Vice President, Rare Diseases and Oncology Program Leadership at Idera Pharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial Development at Sarepta Therapeutics, Executive Director of Commercial Development at PTC Therapeutics, and roles in both corporate development and project management at Genzyme. Albers has agreed to serve as Executive Chairman through the end of 2022, with continued service as Chairman thereafter.

08:02 EST Ultragenyx, GeneTx provide preliminary update on Phase 1/2 study of GTX-102 - GeneTx Biotherapeutics and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical announced that the first four patients in the Phase 1/2 study have received multiple doses of GTX-102 and regular assessments for safety. To date three have also received a preliminary assessment of clinical response. There have been no treatment-related serious adverse events of any type nor adverse events related to lower extremity weakness observed in these patients, and initial assessments have shown early signs of clinical activity. The data safety monitoring board, DSMB, met to discuss the assessments for the first two patients in Cohort 4 and recommended that dose escalation may proceed as planned and the study may enroll the remaining four patients in this cohort. Since then, both patients in Cohort 4 met the criteria to increase their doses and have each escalated to the 5 mg dose, and Cohort 4 has been expanded and an additional patient has received their first dose. The DSMB for Cohort 5 is expected to meet soon and confirm whether enrollment for the remaining four patients in that group may commence. Data on full Cohorts 4 and 5 in the Canada/U.K. arm of the study is anticipated in mid 2022 after completing Day 128 of the protocol.

07:48 EST Draganfly unveils latest Vital Intelligence Smart Vital Kiosk - Draganfly announced the release of the Company's new Vital Intelligence Smart Vital Kiosk. Powered by Draganfly's groundbreaking AI Vital Intelligence platform, the Kiosk can screen, with voluntary consent, temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation in seconds. The system does not register any personal data of the individual being screened. Draganfly's Smart Vital system is part of the Company's Vital Intelligence health and safety solution, which is able to screen, detect, assess, protect and provide continuous action against the potential threat of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

07:48 EST SilverSun subsidiary acquires Acumatica division of Dynamic Tech Services - SilverSun Technologies announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, SWK Technologies, has acquired the Acumatica division of Dynamic Tech Services, an Atlanta-based reseller of Acumatica ERP software solutions.

07:40 EST Crinetics appoints Rogerio Vivaldi Coelho to board of directors - Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (CRNX) announced the appointment of Rogerio Vivaldi Coelho, M.D., M.B.A. to the company's board of directors. Dr. Vivaldi is currently the president and chief executive officer of Sigilon Therapeutics (SGTX), where he also serves as a member of the company's board of directors.

07:40 EST DocGo awarded two new mobile health contracts in Nevada - DocGo announced the award of two new contracts to Ambulnz by DocGo in the state of Nevada. The mobile health contracts include COVID-19 testing, COVID-19 vaccine programs, and at-home monoclonal antibody infusion treatments to eligible patients across the state of Nevada. These contracts were awarded to several companies; the combined value of DocGo's award is estimated at $55M over the next three years. In the coming weeks, trained DocGo clinicians will be able to facilitate these services across Nevada.

07:39 EST Hut 8 Mining reports 5,518 self mined Bitcoin in reserve as of December 31 - Hut 8 Mining provided a corporate update. For December 2021, 276 Bitcoin were mined, resulting in an average production rate of 8.9 Bitcoin per day; 100% of the self-mined Bitcoin for the month of December were deposited into custody; total Bitcoin balance held in reserve is 5,518 as of December 31, 2021, a 97% increase from the prior year-end; and Installed operating capacity currently sits at 2.0 EH/s, a 125% increase in hashrate from December 31, 2020. Operations Updates for December 2021: purchased 2,505 MicroBT M30S machines in Medicine Hat, Alberta, which added incremental hashrate of 228 PH/s during the month of December; installed 2,782 more efficient MicroBT M30S and M31S+ machines at the company's site in Drumheller, Alberta; electrical upgrades are ongoing at the Medicine Hat site, on track to contribute an additional 450 PH/s in February 2022; the company expects to have the North Bay site powered up in mid-Q1 2022 and fully operational at 35 MW by the end of Q1 2022, contributing approximately 850 PH/s of additional hashrate to operations, which is expected to bring our total hashrate across all three sites to 3.35 EH/s by the end of Q1 2022. On December 30, 2021, Hut 8 Holdings, a wholly owned operating subsidiary of the company, entered into a $30M senior secured equipment financing term loan with Trinity Capital. The loan is repayable over its 3-year term and carries a 9.5% interest rate.

07:38 EST PetVivo enters distribution agreement with VetCove for SPRYNG device - PetVivo Holdings announced that VetCove has agreed to distribute PetVivo's therapeutic product, SPRYNG with OsteoCushion Technology. VetCove owns and operates a licensed veterinarian ordering/purchasing platform used by over 13,000 veterinary hospitals to compare prices and purchase medications, food and veterinary supplies from multiple vendors at once.

07:37 EST Aramark in strategic pact with Patient Engagement Advisors - Aramark announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Patient Engagement Advisors, PEA, whose technology platform connects patients with transition specialists to help them navigate social determinants of health issues and solve for patient needs that extend through post-discharge care..."We are excited to join with Aramark and believe this is the right fit for our organization," said Jeff L. Moreland, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Patient Engagement Advisors. "Now, with Aramark's scale, we can offer increased value to our hospital and health system partners."

07:36 EST InMed issues annual letter to shareholders on 2021 review, 2022 outlook - InMed Pharmaceuticals issued the following letter from President and CEO Eric Adams. "Dear Shareholders, Colleagues, and Business Partners... Building on a very strong 2021, we are looking forward to 2022 with the continued advancement of our pharmaceutical drug development programs and, with our acquisition of BayMedica, transitioning to becoming a leading B2B supplier of rare cannabinoids to the consumer health and wellness sector... We continue to make significant strides with our IntegraSyn program and hit several milestones throughout 2021... Our goal is to optimize this platform for large-scale, pharmaceutical-grade Good Manufacturing Practice production of rare cannabinoids, with the potential to integrate with BayMedica's biosynthesis or chemical synthesis manufacturing approaches... We've made great strides with our INM-755 program over the past year. Our top-line results from our second Phase 1 clinical study... set the groundwork to move forward to a Phase 2 efficacy trial... The Phase 2 study will be enrolling and treating EB patients at thirteen targeted sites across multiple countries throughout 2022... Throughout 2021, we continued to advance INM-088 towards human clinical trials for glaucoma. Our team conducted important preclinical studies that validated the use of cannabinol for glaucoma... InMed's preclinical studies were recently published in a leading international journal... In addition, we have completed several dose-ranging studies and conducted topline clinical study design work with a leading clinical research organization. Key next steps for this program include seeking regulatory authority input into our proposed preclinical data package and preliminary clinical trial designs... As of September 30th, 2021, our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments stood at $15.4 million, significantly up from $6.1 million at September 30th, 2020... Following the acquisition of BayMedica, our primary and immediate focus is completing the integration of the two companies and expediting commercial activities. We look forward to launching several new non-intoxicating rare cannabinoids in early 2022, including CBDV and THCV."

07:35 EST UGI and Vertimass in pact to produce renewable fuels in the U.S. and Europe - UGI announced that it has entered into a 15-year agreement with California-based technology developer, Vertimass, to utilize their catalytic technology to produce renewable fuels from renewable-ethanol in the U.S. and Europe...UGI expects to invest either solely, jointly with Vertimass or in partnership with third parties to build and operate multiple production facilities over the next 15 years in locations across the U.S. and Europe, significantly increasing the supply of renewable-propane and SAF. UGI anticipates a total investment of roughly $500M for the bolt-on production facilities over a 15-year period, including potential third party investment, with total production target from these aggregated facilities of approximately 1 billion gallons of combined renewable fuels per annum. The goal is to have the first production facility onstream in fiscal year 2024 with an annual production target of approximately 50 million gallons of combined renewable fuels. Charles Wyman, Vertimass President and Chief Executive Officer, continued "Vertimass is extremely excited to work with UGI to commercialize our breakthrough technology. UGI and Vertimass have built strong relationships over the last year, which we believe will cement success." Bill Shopoff, Vertimass Chair, noted "Together we will take advantage of this unique low-cost technology to transform ethanol facilities and produce renewable fuels that will cover UGI's global footprint, as well as enable the production of SAF."

07:33 EST AlloVir receives RMAT designation for posoleucel from FDA - AlloVir announced that the FDA has granted its lead multi-virus specific T cell, or VST, therapy, posoleucel, Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy, or RMAT, designation for the treatment of adenovirus, or AdV, infection following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HCT). The designation is based on positive results from the Phase 2 CHARMS study.

07:32 EST InflaRx initiates Phase III clinical program with vilobelimab in HS - InflaRx announced the initiation of the Phase III program with vilobelimab in hidradenitis suppurativa patients with active draining tunnels. The new primary endpoint, called modified HiSCR, as suggested by the FDA, will include measuring the reduction of all three types of lesions - inflammatory nodules, abscesses and draining tunnels. InflaRx completed a Type A meeting with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in September 2021 to align on the Phase III HS study design. The FDA response was supportive of a pivotal study program that focuses on patients with active draining tunnels and a new primary efficacy endpoint that includes measuring the reduction of all three lesions - inflammatory nodules, abscesses and draining tunnels. InflaRx incorporated the FDA's input and submitted the Phase III protocol to the Agency in late November 2021. The FDA had no comments during the 30-day review period; so, InflaRx will now begin the study, including bringing on clinical sites. Enrollment is slated to start in Q2 2022. InflaRx will host a virtual R&D event on Thursday, February 3rd, beginning at 8:30 AM EST/2:30 PM CET. The Company will provide an update on vilobelimab development in HS, including details on the Phase III program. To participate in the conference call, participants may pre-register here and will receive a dedicated link and dial-in details to easily and quickly access the call.

07:24 EST MSRD collaborates, invests $5M in Mindset Pharma - The McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development, MSRD, a member of the global Otsuka (OTSKY) family of pharmaceutical companies, and Mindset Pharma (MSSTF) announce a collaboration that will support the development of psychedelic medicines. MSRD has made a strategic investment to support the discovery and development of novel chemical entity assets of Mindset, a drug discovery and development company focused on creating optimized and patentable next-generation psychedelic medicines to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders with unmet medical needs. MSRD will financially and operationally support the development of two families of Mindset's novel medical psychedelic compounds through Phase 1a and Phase 1b clinical trials. MSRD has made an upfront cash payment of $5M to Mindset and under the terms of the agreement, MSRD and Mindset may agree to expand the collaboration to continue to develop the compounds as pharmaceutical products. In addition, Mindset has granted MSRD a right of first refusal with respect to any asset sale, exclusive licensing or collaboration opportunities pertaining to the drugs and a right of first negotiation with respect to a merger, acquisition or asset sale related to Mindset, both in exchange for the upfront payment, further collaboration, and funding of the development of Mindset's novel compounds. MSRD also has the ability to potentially receive single-digit percentage royalty payments under certain circumstances when the right of first refusal is not consummated or the agreement is terminated.

07:21 EST Can-Fite BioPharma provides update, raised additional $10M in December - Can-Fite BioPharma issued a Letter to Shareholders from its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Pnina Fishman. "Beginning in the first quarter of 2022, we expect several significant and value-driving events during the calendar year. We are building upon the solid progress achieved in 2021 which included the completion of a 400-patient Phase III psoriasis study, the design, preparation, and clearance to commence our Phase III liver cancer and Phase II NASH studies, as well as several inventions and patents...Should the topline results confirm Piclidenoson's efficacy at 16 weeks as compared to placebo, we believe this would be a significant value-driving event. Piclidenoson has already been out-licensed to distribution partners in some European countries, Canada, South Korea, and China through agreements that include milestones payments, and we believe that positive results would trigger high interest in Piclidenoson in other major healthcare markets in which we are currently talking with potential partners. Following 32 weeks of treatment, if Piclidenoson proves non-inferior to Otezla, we believe this would be a significant event in the psoriasis treatment market, as Piclidenoson and Otezla are both oral drugs in a market dominated by injection-based biologics. We believe it is Otezla's oral dosing advantage that has led to the drug capturing robust market share and being acquired by Amgen for $13B in 2019...Phase IIb NASH Study Expected to Commence Patient Enrollment in Q1 2022 - The study will enroll 140 patients with biopsy-confirmed NASH with a primary endpoint to evaluate the efficacy of Namodenoson as compared to placebo, as determined by a histological endpoint. Patients will be randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to oral doses of Namodenoson 25 mg or placebo every 12 hours for 36 weeks. There is currently no FDA approved treatment for NASH, an urgent unmet need that is a leading cause of liver transplants. Patient Enrollment Expected to Commence in Pivotal Phase III Liver Cancer Study H1 2022 - In December, we announced that a prior Phase II liver cancer study patient who continues to be treated with Namodenoson has survived five years and cleared all cancer lesions...We enter 2022 with a strong balance sheet, having raised $10M in December in addition to the $13.3M we reported at the end of Q3 2021. While our advanced clinical trials addressing multi-billion markets in psoriasis, liver cancer, and NASH are expected to be our main drivers, we also expect continued development and potential value events from our out-licensing of Piclidenoson to treat osteoarthritis in the veterinary market, as well as development of CF602 in the treatment of erectile dysfunction, and our preclinical work with cannabinoids.

07:20 EST Athira Pharma provides 2022 pipeline outlook - Athira Pharma provided an update on its clinical programs and outlook for 2022. Athira's 2022 Pipeline Outlook: Status and Upcoming Milestones: ACT-AD Phase 2 Study* in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease: Enrollment in ACT-AD completed in October 2021 with 77 participants with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. Athira is on track to report top-line data in the second quarter of 2022. LIFT-AD Phase 3 Study in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's Disease: Recruitment in the LIFT-AD trial is progressing well, with over 200 participants currently enrolled. Athira is increasing the study sample size by approximately 120 participants. The company anticipates enrollment completion in the third quarter of 2022 and to report top-line data in the first half of 2023. SHAPE Phase 2 Study in mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease dementia and Dementia with Lewy bodies: Athira initiated the SHAPE trial in the fourth quarter of 2021. SHAPE is a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study of ATH-1017 in participants with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease dementia or Dementia with Lewy bodies. The company expects to dose the first patient in the SHAPE Phase 2 study in the first quarter of 2022. Phase 1 Study in Healthy Volunteers: Athira submitted an Investigational New Drug application for ATH-1020 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Phase 1 study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of ATH-1020. The company expects to dose the first volunteer in the study in the first quarter of 2022.

07:18 EST OraSure annouces certain organizational changes - The Company is making certain organizational changes to focus priorities, resources, expertise, and drive improved operational performance. Under the new vertically integrated business unit structure, operations, R&D and manufacturing will now report to each of the respective business unit leaders. Key to these changes, Lisa Nibauer will become President of Diagnostics and Kathleen Weber will become President of Molecular Solutions. Ms. Nibauer joined OraSure as Executive Vice President, Business Unit Leader, Diagnostics, in May 2020. Ms. Weber has served as the Executive Vice President, Business Unit Leader for Molecular Solutions, since January 2019 and previously held various senior executive leadership roles at OraSure since joining the Company in 2012.

07:17 EST OraSure CEO Stephen Tang to depart - OraSure announced that Stephen Tang Ph.D., President and CEO, will be the leaving the Company as of March 31, 2022. In the interim, Dr. Tang will focus primarily on assisting the Board in its strategic review process and helping to ensure an orderly transition of the CEO role. Under Dr. Tang's four years as CEO, OraSure acquired four companies and launched several COVID-19 products, including InteliSwab. As a member of the Board, he will have served for 11 years, including Chairman. The Board has initiated a search for his successor as CEO. During this transition, while the CEO search is in process, the Board of Directors will be taking a more active role. For this purpose, the Board has appointed Director Eamonn Hobbs to serve as point person for the Board. Mr. Hobbs will not be a candidate for the permanent CEO position.

07:15 EST Infinity outlines strategy, sees FY22 net loss $45M-$55M - Infinity Pharmaceuticals provided an update on eganelisib clinical development plans and 2022 guidance. "Eganelisib is a unique drug for which we have presented positive results in multiple indications where checkpoint inhibitors have provided little to no patient benefit. Based on these strong data, we will be initiating a registration study in frontline TNBC in 2022 - due to the magnitude of the unmet need in this very large patient population and the magnitude of the eganelisib benefit. Eganelisb combination therapy has demonstrated tumor volume reductions of 92.8% and 85.2%, and disease control rates of 92.8% and 81.4%, in PD-L1(+) and PD-L1 (-) frontline TNBC patients, respectively, as well as improvements in progression free survival over standard of care benchmarks regardless of PD-L1 status," said Adelene Perkins, Chief Executive Officer and Chair, Infinity Pharmaceuticals. "We are aggressively advancing a registration focused study in TNBC with the goal of bringing eganelisib to patients in need as quickly as possible. We also continue to be encouraged by the overall survival benefit seen in patients with urothelial cancer, and to support the initiation of future registration trials in 2023 and beyond, we are also expanding the development of eganelisib in a platform study in additional indications where checkpoint inhibitors and other current therapies have offered little benefit," said Robert Ilaria, Jr. M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Infinity ended 2021 with approximately $81 million in cash and investment and plans to report its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 financial results in March 2022. The Company expects to end 2022 with between $25M to $35M in cash and investments based on its current operating plans, which excludes additional financing or business activities. The company expects net loss for 2022 to range between $45M to $55M.

07:13 EST Guardforce issues letter to shareholders - Guardforce issued a letter to shareholders from Terence Yap, chairman of Guardforce AI. "2021 was a pivotal year for Guardforce AI. We continued our expansion from a cash logistics business to an integrated security solutions provider and entered the U.S. capital markets. We founded Guardforce AI in 2018 to acquire Guardforce Cash Solutions Security (Thailand) Co., Ltd., or GF Cash, a secured logistics company with almost 40 years of experience delivering comprehensive services for door-to-door cash collection and delivery, supporting banks, government organizations, multinationals, blue chip companies, SMEs and retailers in Thailand. Today, we have rapidly evolved through a series of organic growth strategies and acquisitions to provide secured logistics, robotics applications and cybersecurity services in Asia and the U.S. In 2020 we introduced robotics solutions for our customers in Thailand and the Asia Pacific region with the launch of AI powered robots managed by an Intelligent Cloud Platform (ICP) for deployment to medical institutions, office buildings, business units, campuses, residential communities and apartments. As robotics revenues continue to scale during 2021, we entered two new growth markets within the Asia Pacific region via the merger of Macau GF Robotics Limited and GF Robotics Malaysia Sdn. Bhd, which is expected to close early in 2022. Both locations provide great opportunities for robotics solutions, especially in the education, hospitality, retail, and corporate sectors in this fast-growing region. Our robotics segment continued to expand with the recent proposed acquisition of SBC Global Holdings Inc in the United States. The company provides autonomous robotics solutions that drive business continuity and community health - enabling healthier, safer and more efficient offices, residential and commercial real estate, schools, airports and many other sectors. We believe the acquisition will further empower our operations and ability to deploy robotic and technology solutions in the United States and Canada. This acquisition is also expected to close early in 2022... Operationally, 2021 was marked by our entrance into the U.S. capital markets with a successful initial public offering with gross proceeds of approximately $15 million, before underwriting discounts and other offering expenses. Combined with our over $7.7 million cash balance as of June 30, 2021, we are confident our acquisition program will have sufficient capital to fund its pipeline of accretive new partnerships. The listing of our shares on the Nasdaq represents a significant milestone for Guardforce AI. We believe a Nasdaq listing will help elevate the Company's public profile, expand our shareholder base, improve liquidity and enhance shareholder value. Looking ahead, our momentum will continue to build as we focus on expanding our Robots as a Service (RaaS) platform to efficiently offer more AI value-added services for our customers. We are accelerating the development of new cybersecurity and robotics/AI applications in response to market needs and feedback from our customers. We will continue to seek strategic opportunities to acquire or partner with leading security industry companies to enhance our technology capabilities and expand our international presence. To our shareholders and all our partners, thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to another year of success in 2022."

07:11 EST Main Street invests $24.8M in Career Team Holdings - Main Street completed a new portfolio investment in Career Team Holdings to facilitate the recapitalizations of Career TEAM and Career Edge. The companies are a provider of workforce development services and learning and case management software solutions to regional workforce development boards, federally and state-funded work programs, and higher learning institutions across the country. Main Street, along with its co-investor, partnered with Iron Creek, a sector-focused private investor that Main Street has partnered with on multiple prior investments over the last decade, and the companies' existing owner and CEO to facilitate the transaction and provide growth capital, with Main Street funding $24.8M in a combination of first-lien, senior secured term debt and a minority direct equity investment. In addition, Main Street and its co-investor are providing Career TEAM with a revolving line of credit. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in North Haven, Connecticut, the companies are a career consultancy firm and software solution serving the government and education markets.

07:10 EST Moderna says1st participant dosed in mRNA EBV vaccine in Phase 1 study - Moderna announced the first participant has been dosed in the Phase 1 study of mRNA-1189, the Company's Epstein-Barr Virus, EBV, vaccine candidate. The study is known as Eclipse. "EBV is one of the most common viral infections in the world, and despite the fact that it causes infectious mononucleosis, which impacts millions of adolescents globally, no vaccine is currently available. Adolescents who develop infectious mononucleosis are frequently absent from school for weeks and even months at a time, impacting the quality of their education and their families," said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "The start of this Phase 1 study is a significant milestone as we continue to advance mRNA vaccines against latent viruses, which remain in the body for life after infection and can lead to chronic medical conditions. Moderna is committed to developing a portfolio of first-in-class vaccines against latent viruses for which there are no approved vaccines today, including vaccines against CMV, EBV and HIV. Our research team is working to bring even more vaccines against latent viruses to the clinic. We believe these vaccines could have a profound impact on quality of health for hundreds of millions of people around the world."Moderna's vaccine candidate against EBV is being developed to prevent EBV-induced IM and potentially EBV infection. Similar to Moderna's cytomegalovirus vaccine candidate , mRNA-1189 contains four mRNAs that encode EBV envelope glycoproteins , which mediate viral entry into B-cells and epithelial surface cells, the major targets of EBV infection. Currently, there is no approved vaccine for EBV or IM. Potential future indications may be the prevention of EBV reactivation in other types of conditions such as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease.

07:10 EST Canadian Solar unit to sell 150 MWac Virginia solar project to Appalachian Power - Canadian Solar announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, has completed a purchase and sale agreement with Appalachian Power for Recurrent's Firefly Energy solar project located in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. With a capacity of 150 MWac, the Firefly project will be Appalachian Power's largest solar energy acquisition to date and will help the utility meet its clean energy requirements under the Virginia Clean Economy Act. The Firefly Energy solar project will be developed and constructed by Recurrent under a Build Transfer Agreement. Once construction is completed, Appalachian Power, which serves customers in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee, will be the long-term owner of the project. Pending local and state permits and other regulatory approvals, construction of the project is expected to start in early 2023 and reach commercial operation in 2024. Recurrent received approval on its Siting Agreement for the Firefly project last month from the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors. The agreement provides $2.25M in upfront payments to Pittsylvania County in addition to long-term revenue for public services over the life of the project.

07:08 EST Connect Biopharma reports data from global phase 2b trial of CBP-201 - Connect Biopharm reported detailed "positive" data from the global phase 2b clinical trial of CBP-201 administered subcutaneously, SC, to adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, AD. The Company announced topline results from the Phase 2b trial on November 18, 2021 indicating that all three CBP-201 arms met the primary endpoint of eczema area and severity index, EASI, percent reduction from baseline at Week 16 and were statistically superior to placebo. The announcement noted that multiple key secondary endpoints were also met with CBP-201. CBP-201 was also observed with favorable safety data and, versus placebo, demonstrated a similar incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events, TEAEs, Serious Adverse Events, SAEs, and TEAEs leading to study drug discontinuation. For adverse events of special interest among patients receiving CBP-201, there were low reported incidences of injection site reactions and conjunctivitis.

07:06 EST Winner Micro licenses CEVA's bluetooth and Wi-Fi IP platforms - CEVA announced that Beijing Winner Microelectronics, a supplier of wireless communications chips for the IoT, has licensed the RivieraWaves BLE5 and Wi-Fi 6 IP platforms for its next generation of wireless connectivity SoCs targeting IoT markets including smart homes, medical monitoring, video surveillance, and industrial applications.

07:05 EST EVgo appoints Dennis Kish as COO - EVgo announced the appointment of Dennis Kish as COO, effective January. Kish will oversee all charger installation activities related to contractual commitments and public and fleet network expansion, including site development, engineering and construction, and contract management. Kish will also lead EVgo's asset management, field operations, and customer care functions. Prior to joining EVgo, Kish served in numerous leadership roles including President of Google Fiber, where he oversaw the development of distributed fiber optic networks across the country to directly serve US consumers.

07:05 EST Biohaven Pharmaceutical, Pfizer complete rimegepant, zavegepant collaboration - Biohaven Pharmaceutical (BHVN) and Pfizer (PFE) announced that the parties have completed the collaboration transaction between the two companies. The transaction agreements, including Pfizer's commercialization of rimegepant and zavegepant outside of the U.S., have become effective following the receipt of required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary conditions, and BHVN shares have been issued to Pfizer. Biohaven will continue to lead research and development globally and retain rights to the U.S. market. In connection with the closing of the equity purchase and effectiveness of the strategic transaction, Pfizer made an upfront payment to Biohaven of $500M, consisting of $150M cash and $350M in the purchase of Biohaven equity. At close, Pfizer will own 3% of Biohaven. Biohaven is also eligible to receive up to $740M in future milestones. In addition to the tiered double-digit royalties owed to Biohaven on net sales outside of the U.S., Pfizer will compensate Biohaven for a pro-rata share of certain of its sales-based milestone obligations owed to Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), and for the related royalties on net sales outside of the U.S. owed under Biohaven's license and funding agreements with BMS and Royalty Pharma.

07:04 EST Electric Last Mile Solutions announces product, tech exhibit at CES - Electric Last Mile Solutions announced it is hosting an exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show to be held on January 5-7, 2022. ELMS is displaying both of its ELMS all-electric commercial vehicles - the Class 1 Urban Delivery and Class 3 Urban Utility - at CES. Additionally, ELMS Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Ballon, will present the Company's digital strategy at CES. The ELMS Urban Delivery is expected to be the first and only Class 1 commercial electric vehicle available in the United States. The Urban Delivery boasts 20% more cargo space than the current leading Class 1 ICE model and targets a best-in-class payload of 2,100 pounds. The newest model of the Urban Delivery that will be on display at CES has an impressive suite of state-of-the-art safety systems including a patent pending energy absorbing front bumper system, a full suite of driver side airbags, and advanced seat belt pre-tensioners. This new model of Urban Delivery is expected to join the Urban Delivery campus model for sale to customers later this month. The ELMS Urban Utility is slated for production in the second half of 2022, and it is targeting more than 5,700 pounds of max payload and 125 miles of range. The Urban Delivery's cab-over chassis design can be configured to cover a wide variety of customer use cases including delivery, construction, landscaping, towing and refrigeration.

07:03 EST Palantir and Hyundai Heavy Industries partner for big data engineering platform - Palantir and Hyundai Heavy Industries - HHI - Group will collaborate to build a big data platform for HHI's core businesses, including shipbuilding and offshore engineering. The two parties will also consider establishing a joint venture to promote the big data platform business in the mid- to long-term. HHI Group and Palantir signed a memorandum of understanding on January 4 for the establishment of the big data platform and a joint venture. HHI Group and Palantir will jointly build a big data platform for the Group's key affiliates related to shipbuilding & offshore engineering, energy, and industrial machinery. Palantir will offer software and development personnel. Once the big data platform for each affiliate is built, the two parties plan to create a joint venture that specializes in developing and selling big data platform services. Hyundai Heavy Industries, a shipbuilding and offshore engineering affiliate of HHI Group, is working to transform itself into a smart shipyard, the first of its kind in the world, by 2030. The big data platform will also be adopted by energy affiliates, such as Hyundai Oilbank.

07:02 EST NuVasive receives FDA 510(k) clearance for expanded indications of Attrax Putty - NuVasive announced the company received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for expanded indications of use for Attrax Putty with its comprehensive thoracolumbar interbody portfolio for spine surgery. Attrax Putty is the first synthetic biologic to receive indications for use in interbody fusions of the thoracolumbar spine.

06:51 EST NRx Pharmaceuticals submits EUA to FDA for Zyesami - NRx Pharmaceuticals announced that it has submitted an application for Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, to the FDA for the use of Zyesami in patients with Critical COVID-19 who are at immediate risk of death from Respiratory Failure despite treatment with approved therapy including remdesivir and who are ineligible for enrollment into the ongoing ACTIV-3b NIH-sponsored trial.

06:47 EST Pfizer, BioNTech to partner on first mRNA-based shingles vaccine - Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) announced a new research, development and commercialization collaboration to develop a potential first mRNA-based vaccine for the prevention of shingles. The collaboration builds on the companies' success in developing the first approved and most widely used mRNA vaccine to help prevent COVID-19. This is the third collaboration between Pfizer and BioNTech in the infectious diseases field, following the influenza vaccine collaboration initiated in 2018 and the COVID-19 vaccine collaboration initiated in 2020. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will leverage a proprietary antigen technology identified by Pfizer's scientists and BioNTech's proprietary mRNA platform technology used in the companies' COVID-19 vaccine. The parties will share development costs. Clinical trials are planned to start in the second half of 2022. Pfizer will have rights to commercialize the potential vaccine on a global basis, with the exception of Germany, Turkey and certain developing countries where BioNTech will have commercialization rights. The companies will share gross profits from commercialization of any product. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will pay BioNTech $225M in upfront payments, including a cash payment of $75M and an equity investment of $150M. BioNTech is eligible to receive future regulatory and sales milestone payments of up to $200M. BioNTech will pay Pfizer $25M for the company's proprietary antigen technology.

06:32 EST Henry Schein CFO Steven Paladino to retire, Ronald South to succeed - Henry Schein announced that Steven Paladino plans to retire as Executive Vice President and CFO, effective April 29, after 35 years with the company. Ronald South, Henry Schein's Vice President, Corporate Finance since 2008 and Chief Accounting Officer since 2013, has been named his successor and will become the company's Senior Vice President and CFO, effective April 29, reporting to Stanley Bergman, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Henry Schein. Additionally, Henry Schein announced that Olga Timoshkina, who joined Henry Schein this past September as Vice President, Corporate Controller, will succeed South as Vice President, Corporate Finance and Chief Accounting Officer, reporting to South.

06:13 EST Amneal Pharmaceuticals acquires Saol Therapeutics' Baclofen franchise for $83.5M - Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Saol Therapeutics, a private specialty pharmaceutical company, announced a definitive agreement under which Amneal will acquire Saol's Baclofen franchise, including Lioresal and LYVISPAHTM as well as a pipeline product under development. The acquisition expands Amneal's commercial institutional and specialty portfolio in neurology while adding commercial infrastructure in advance of its entry into the biosimilar institutional market. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Amneal's adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share results for 2022. Lioresal is an intrathecal baclofen product delivered through an implantable intrathecal pump for use in the management of severe spasticity of cerebral or spinal origin for the institutional market. It has approximately $25M in annual net revenue. LYVISPAHTM is a baclofen oral granules specialty product recently approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of spasticity. The product is expected to launch in 2022 leveraging Amneal's neurology commercial team. Together, Amneal expects these two products to generate between $40M-$50M in combined annual net revenues by 2025. As part of the transaction, Amneal is adding Saol's experienced institutional commercial team for Lioresal that can be utilized to support future product launches, including three oncology biosimilar products, filgrastim (biosimilar for Neupogen), pegfilgrastim (biosimilar for Neulasta) and bevacizumab (biosimilar for Avastin). Amneal expects to launch all three biosimilars in 2022, subject to approval by FDA. Under the terms of the transaction, Amneal will pay approximately $83.5M of cash at close, and certain royalties based on annual net sales for certain acquired products. The transaction will be financed with cash on hand and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

06:10 EST Humanigen: Target enrollment in Phase 2/3 ACTIV-5/BET-B study achieved - Humanigen announced that target enrollment in the Phase 2/3 ACTIV-5/BET-B study has been achieved. The study, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, enrolled over 400 patients in the primary analysis population at approximately 55 recruiting clinical sites including international sites. Top-line data from ACTIV-5/BET-B expected to be announced late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2022. ACTIV-5/BET-B results will be shared with regulatory authorities in the US, UK, and EU as part of the ongoing review process.

06:08 EST High Tide to acquire Bud Room, rights to Fastendr technology for C$3.6M - High Tide announced that it is entering into a definitive agreement pursuant to which High Tide will acquire 100% of the equity interest of Bud Room, as well as assignments of the vendors' shareholder loans, for C$3.6M and acquire all rights to the customized Fastendr retail kiosk and smart locker technology and Bud Room's retail cannabis store located at 1910 St. Laurent Blvd in Ottawa, Ontario. Pending regulatory and exchange approvals, as applicable, High Tide intends to grow and diversify its revenue by licensing the self-order kiosk and smart locker technology for use by third party cannabis retailers across North America. The transaction also gives High Tide data collection and monetization opportunities from its retail portfolio and third party licensees. The transaction, which is an arm's length transaction, is subject to, among other things, receipt of required TSX Venture Exchange approval, and other customary conditions of closing, is expected to close in the coming weeks. The consideration for the 100% of equity interest acquired will be C$3.24M paid in common shares of High Tide and C$360,000 cash for the assignment of C$360,000 of the vendors' shareholder loans, all on the closing of the transaction on the basis of a deemed price per High Tide Share equal to the volume weighted average price per High Tide Share on TSXV for the 10 consecutive trading days preceding closing. from the consideration, an amount equal to $300,000 will be held in escrow for a period of twelve months by High Tide's lawyers to satisfy Bud Room's indemnity with respect to possible claims based on breaches of representation and warranties.

06:07 EST Amneal Pharmaceuticals acquires Saol Therapeutics' Baclofen franchise - Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Saol Therapeutics, a private specialty pharmaceutical company, announced a definitive agreement under which Amneal will acquire Saol's Baclofen franchise, including Lioresal and LYVISPAHTM as well as a pipeline product under development. The acquisition expands Amneal's commercial institutional and specialty portfolio in neurology while adding commercial infrastructure in advance of its entry into the biosimilar institutional market. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Amneal's adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share results for 2022. Lioresal is an intrathecal baclofen product delivered through an implantable intrathecal pump for use in the management of severe spasticity of cerebral or spinal origin for the institutional market. It has approximately $25M in annual net revenue. LYVISPAHTM is a baclofen oral granules specialty product recently approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of spasticity. The product is expected to launch in 2022 leveraging Amneal's neurology commercial team. Together, Amneal expects these two products to generate between $40M-$50M in combined annual net revenues by 2025. As part of the transaction, Amneal is adding Saol's experienced institutional commercial team for Lioresal that can be utilized to support future product launches, including three oncology biosimilar products, filgrastim (biosimilar for Neupogen), pegfilgrastim (biosimilar for Neulasta) and bevacizumab (biosimilar for Avastin). Amneal expects to launch all three biosimilars in 2022, subject to approval by FDA.

06:03 EST Quhuo completes full acquisition of Lailai workforce platform - Quhuo has entered into a definitive investment agreement to acquire the remaining 45.78% equity interest in Lailai Information Technology, its subsidiary and an on-demand workforce platform that specializes in housekeeping solutions for hotels and B&Bs, for a total consideration of approximately RMB69.1M in the form of the company's securities. Upon completion of the transaction, Quhuo will own 100% equity interest in Lailai. The company agreed to issue 9M Class A ordinary shares of the company to the selling shareholder of Lailai under a private placement. The parties expect to close the transaction in 1Q22. Lailai is an on-demand workforce platform that specializes in housekeeping solutions for hotels and B&Bs. Quhuo acquired a majority equity interest in Lailai in November 2020.

06:02 EST TuanChe to establish new EV business line, expand into manufacturing - TuanChe announced its strategic plan to establish a new electric vehicle, or EV, business line including a design, R&D and manufacturing team and expand its business into EV manufacturing. Wei Wen, chairman and CEO of TuanChe, commented: "As consumers are increasingly receptive of electric vehicles, underpinned by favorable policies, accelerated establishment of infrastructure and increasingly refined technologies in the EV industry, we are excited at our plan to announce that we will further broaden our business scope into electric vehicle manufacturing and position the Company to capitalize on future consumer demand. To better implement this expansion strategy and secure our future success in EV manufacturing, we will leverage our current innovative business model and the tremendous scale of our customer base and harness our extensive automotive consumer insights as well as our leading auto sales capabilities and sales network spanning from first tier cities to provincial counties nationwide. Through seamlessly integrating our existing platform with a top tier electric vehicle design, R&D and manufacturing team we are building, and in-depth cooperation with potential strategic partners, we believe this strategic expansion will drive significant synergistic value and ensure we secure an important stake in the EV revolution."

05:15 EST Pactiv to sell Asian carton packaging, filling machinery businesses for $335M - Pactiv Evergreen announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Evergreen Packaging, to sell its carton packaging and filling machinery businesses in China, Korea and Taiwan to SIG Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft, a subsidiary of SIG Combibloc Group Ltd, for an enterprise value of approximately $335M. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2022.

05:09 EST Mainz Biomed enters technology rights agreement for mRNA biomarkers - Mainz Biomed announced it has entered into a technology rights agreement with Socpra Sciences Sante Et Humaines S.E.C., or TTS, to access a portfolio of novel mRNA biomarkers for potential future integration into ColoAlert, the company's detection test for colorectal cancer, or CRC. Mainz is currently marketing ColoAlert in Europe through its unique business model of partnering with third-party laboratories for test kit processing versus the traditional methodology of operating a single facility. The company is also preparing to initiate ColoAlert's regulatory pathway for approval in the United States. Under the terms of the technology rights agreement, the company has the unilateral option to license the exclusive global rights to five gene expression biomarkers which have demonstrated a high degree of effectiveness in detecting CRC lesions including advanced adenomas, a type of pre-cancerous polyp often attributed to this deadly disease. In a study evaluating these biomarkers published in the online peer review journal platform MDPI, study results achieved overall sensitivities of 75% for AA and 95% for CRC, respectively, for a 96% specificity outcome. The company will now commence a clinical study in Europe to evaluate the effectiveness of these biomarkers to enhance ColoAlert's utility in terms of extending its capability to include the identification of advanced adenomas, while increasing rates of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. Given ColoAlert in its present form has already been CE-IVD marked, the timeline and process to initiate this "add-on" study is expedited, and the company is targeting the first half of 2022 to launch the clinical study. Furthermore, data generated by the study may potentially be incorporated into the company's design of ColoAlert's U.S. clinical trial for consideration by the FDA.