Stockwinners Market Radar for March 20, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:12 EDT Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. U.S. prosecutors have charged a former Apple (AAPL) employee with defrauding the iPhone maker out of more than $10 million in a series of schemes, Reuters' Jonathan Stempel reported. Dhirendra Prasad faces five criminal counts after exploiting his "position of trust" as a buyer in Apple's global service supply chain to defraud the company, according to filings on Friday with the federal court in San Jose, California, the author noted. Prosecutors said that as an Apple buyer, Prasad negotiated with vendors and placed orders, with Apple making payments based on invoice amounts he entered into its purchasing system. Prasad allegedly defrauded Apple by taking kickbacks, stealing parts using false repair orders, and causing Apple to pay for items and services it never received, the publication added. 2. Walt Disney's (DIS) Shanghai resort and parks will close temporarily starting March 21 as the Chinese city reports record new COVID-19 infections, Bloomberg's Zijia Song reported. "We will continue to monitor the pandemic situation and consult local authorities, and will notify guests as soon as we have a confirmed date to resume operations," Shanghai Disney Resort said in a statement. 3. The highest inflation in decades is hitting consumers and rippling through the food industry, with at-home food costs climbing 8.6% and out-of-home costs rising 6.8% in February from a year ago, Andrew Bary wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. Investors may want to consider depressed restaurant stocks like Brinker International (EAT), Bloomin' Brands (BLMN), and Starbucks (SBUX), the author noted. Hershey (HSY) remains the class of the food industry, while slower-growth companies like Kellogg (K), General Mills (GIS), and Conagra Brands (CAG), which have dividend yields of more than 3%, amount to alternatives to bonds, Bary added. Hostess Brands (TWNK) is one of the better growth stories in the group, the publication contended, pointing out that a strong U.S. farm economy also helps Deere (DE) and Agco (AGCO). Bunge stands to benefit from wider "crush margins," or profit on turning crops like soybeans into oil, while higher food inflation tends to bolster grocers like Kroger (KR) and Albertsons (ACI) with wider margins, thanks in part to a shift to higher-profit private-label brands. 4. AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros.' "The Batman" won this weekend's box office with another $36M in its third outing for a domestic total of $300.1M and almost $600M worldwide after grossing another $49.1M overseas. The movie debuted in China to only $12.1M as at least 43% of theaters closed due to another COVID-19 surge. The Batman has been well received by critics and earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences. 5. Twitter (TWTR), Wendy's (WEN) Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE), Chevron (CVX), Coca-Kola (KO), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), JPMorgan (JPM), NextEra Energy (NEE), Procter & Gamble (PG), Prologis (PLD), Target (TGT), Union Pacific (UNP), and Verizon (VZ) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's.

19:07 EDT Sorrento reports results with universal chimeric mRNA COVID-19 vaccine - Sorrento Therapeutics announced the publication of a preprint entitled "Chimeric mRNA based COVID-19 vaccine induces protective immunity against Omicron and Delta." Compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, the omicron variant contains more than 30 additional mutations within the spike protein coding sequence, 15 of which reside in the receptor binding domain that serve to increase the affinity of the omicron spike binding to the human ACE2 receptor. These changes result in enhanced transmissibility and breakthrough cases in the presence of antibodies induced by vaccination with the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccines. During the past two years, Sorrento scientists explored various strategies to develop mRNA vaccines that can potentially provide broad and effective protection against predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern as well as potential future variants. The newly designed mRNA vaccine incorporates a mutation in the furin cleavage site that prevents the S1 subunit cleavage from the spike protein anchored on the muscle cell membrane. This modification is introduced to prevent the leakage of S1 subunit from the expressed spike protein into the blood circulation, which is known in part to potentially cause undesirable side effects in vital organ tissues following administration of the current EUA-approved mRNA vaccines. Serum collected from omicron-specific mRNA vaccine immunized animals provided superior protection against the infection of omicron strain, including the BA.1, BA.1+R346K and the more recent BA.2 sublineage that is battering many regions of the world, demonstrating this newly designed mRNA vaccine could induce potent production of Omicron-specific neutralization antibodies in vivo. Even in animals previously vaccinated with the original WA1 spike mRNA, a single booster with omicron-specific mRNA still provided excellent protection against Omicron infection. When immunized with a designer chimeric Delta RBD-Omicron mRNA vaccine, there was a significant increase in the nAb titer against the Delta variant in addition to strong nAbs against the Omicron variants. This novel designer chimeric mRNA vaccine may offer a powerful strategy to develop mRNA vaccines with universal protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its major VOCs.

15:18 EDT Athira Pharma presents study overview, baseline data from ACT-AD Phase 2 trial - Athira Pharma announced that study overview and baseline data from ACT-AD, a fully enrolled Phase 2 clinical trial of Athira's lead development candidate, fosgonimeton in study participants with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, were presented in an oral presentation at the International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease and Related Neurological Diseases taking place in Barcelona, Spain, and virtually from March 15-20, 2022. Of the 77 study participants enrolled in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the mean age is 71.4 years, with 50.6% female and 49.4% male, and an average baseline MMSE of 19.3. This includes 31 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and 46 with moderate Alzheimer's disease. The average frequency of the APOe4 gene among all study participants is in line with the general AD population. The preliminary baseline ERP P300 latency is 381 milliseconds. At a preliminary data cut, 57 patients completed the study and approximately 14 percent discontinued prior to study completion. ACT-AD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 26-week trial evaluating fosgonimeton for the treatment of mild-to-moderate AD. Eligible participants had to have a clinical diagnosis of probable AD dementia according to the NIA-AA criteria. Those enrolled, presented with mild-to-moderate AD dementia as demonstrated by a Mini-Mental State Exam score of 14 to 24 and a Clinical Dementia Rating scale global score of 1 or 2. Study participants were randomized across two dose groups and the placebo group on a 1:1:1 basis to receive daily subcutaneous injection of fosgonimeton or placebo. The primary endpoint of ACT-AD is the change in Event-Related-Potential P300 Latency, a functional, objective measure of working memory processing speed. Secondary endpoints include measures of cognition, the clinical global impression of change, and the instrumental activities of daily living. Additionally, plasma pharmacokinetics of fosgonimeton will be assessed. The ACT-AD trial completed enrollment in October 2021, with 77 participants. Topline data are anticipated in the second quarter of 2022. Upon completion of the ACT-AD double-blind period, eligible participants can enroll in an Open Label Extension study of fosgonimeton for up to an additional 26 weeks. Athira's ACT-AD trial is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AG06268. The information presented in this press release and at the AD/PD Congress is solely the responsibility of Athira and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.