Stockwinners Market Radar for April 06, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:14 EDT JD.com names Lei Xu as new CEO - JD.com "announces that Mr. Lei Xu, president of JD.com, has been appointed as the CEO of the Company to succeed Mr. Richard Liu. Mr. Lei Xu will also join the Company's board of directors as an executive director. All these appointments are effective immediately. Mr. Richard Liu will remain as the chairman of the Board and continue to focus on guiding the Company's long-term strategies, mentoring younger management, and contributing to the revitalization of rural areas. Mr. Lei Xu has been with JD.com for over a decade. In his most recent role as president of JD.com, he was in charge of the operation and collaborative development of various business units of the company."

19:50 EDT Berkshire Hathaway buys 11.1M shares of HP Inc. - In a regulatory filing, HP Inc. disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway bought 11.1M shares of common stock on April 4th in a total transaction size of $398.5M, boosting its stake by about 10%. Shares of HP Inc are up 7.7% afterhours following the disclosed purchase at $37.60.

18:53 EDT Rise Education receives Nasdaq notification over minimum bid price - RISE Education Cayman Ltd announced that it has received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC notifying the Company that its continued non-compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1), which requires maintenance of a minimum closing bid price of US$1.00 per share, could serve as an additional basis for the delisting of the Company's securities from Nasdaq. The Company was previously granted a 180-day grace period to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement on September 27, 2021, which expired on March 28, 2022. The Company plans to provide an update to both the Staff and the Nasdaq Hearings Panel regarding its efforts to evidence compliance with all applicable criteria for initial listing upon its business combination with Dada Auto Inc., including the higher threshold, $4.00 minimum closing bid price requirement, within the time period granted by the Staff. Following the Company's hearing before the Panel, at which the Company presented its plan to acquire an operating business and evidence compliance with the initial listing criteria applicable to the combined entity concurrent therewith, on March 9, 2022, the Panel granted the Company's request for continued listing through at least June 30, 2022, subject to the Company's satisfaction of certain conditions, including: completion of the previously announced proposed business combination with NaaS, a leading operation and technology provider serving China's electric vehicle charging market; the combined entity's compliance with all requirements for initial listing on for The Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5505; as well as the timely satisfaction of other interim milestones relating to the receipt of shareholder approval for the business combination and completion of the financial audits of both the Company and NaaS.

17:41 EDT Levi Strauss CFO says started 2022 very strong in terms of gross margin - CFO Harmit Singh states: "In terms of gross margin, we started the year very strong. We were up big time relative to last year. Our expectation for the -- on a full year basis is gross margin probably is up 20 to 40 basis points is slightly higher. That's on the back of a strong first quarter, with Russia essentially closed and China, which are high gross margin business, there's a bit of an offset, but we think we'll end the year slightly stronger than we reflected a quarter ago. SG&A, I'd say slightly worse. We said would leverage, we think flat to slightly down. And that's largely because we've had higher -- we beat our expectations in Q1, internal expectations, which is largely for the year paid on constant currency. So there's a slightly higher incentive comp accrual. Our view for the rest of the year is SG&A grows at around what the revenue growth is. And EBIT percentage still grows year-over-year, 20 to 30 basis points. So generally, we think structurally, it's a pretty sound business that we believe we will deliver as we end 2022 and step into '23." Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:32 EDT GWG Holdings receives listing non-compliance letter from Nasdaq - GWG Holdings received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market notifying the company that it was not in compliance with Listing Rule requirements as a result of not having timely filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for FY21. The company is required to submit a plan to regain compliance within 60 calendar days from the date of the Letter. If the plan is accepted by Nasdaq, then Nasdaq can grant the company up to 180 calendar days from the due date of the Form 10-K to regain compliance.

17:09 EDT North American Construction authorizes issuer bid for up to 2.1M shares - North American Construction intends to commence a normal course issuer bid to purchase, for cancellation, up to 2,113,054 common shares in the capital of the company, representing approximately 10% of the public float and approximately 7.05% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares as of March 31, when the company had 29,974,336 Common Shares issued and outstanding. Purchases of Common Shares under the NCIB may be made through the facilities of the TSX, the NYSE and alternative trading systems. The company believes that the current market price of its Common Shares does not fully reflect their underlying value and that current market conditions provide opportunities for the company to acquire Common Shares at attractive prices. The NCIB is expected to commence on or about April 11, 2022 and will terminate no later than April 10, 2023, provided that purchases may not be made on the NYSE until April 14, 2022. The company was permitted to repurchase a total of up to 2M shares under the NCIB announced on April 6, 2021, of which 85,592 Common Shares were purchased at a weighted average purchase price of $16.10 CDN per Common Share.

17:06 EDT FS Bancorp announces 10c per share special dividend, additional $10M to buyback - The Board of Directors of FS Bancorp , the holding company for 1st Security Bank of Washington announced a 10c per share special cash dividend. This special dividend in addition to our regular quarterly cash dividend of 20c per share will be paid to shareholders of record as of May 12 and payable on May 26. At the same Board meeting, FSBW's Board of Directors approved an additional $10M in share repurchases. The new share repurchase authorization supplements the current share repurchase plan approved in August 2021 that has $3.8M remaining for repurchases. Earnings per diluted share of $4.32 per share in 2021Growth in Book Value to $30.75 per share as of December 31, 2021, from $27.67 as of December 31, 2020.

17:01 EDT Paramount, RECUR partner to offer Star Trek NFT collection - Paramount Global and RECUR announced that Star Trek will be the first NFT digital collection to drop from their multi-year partnership to bring Paramount's entertainment brands and characters to the metaverse. Fans will be able to access Star Trek digital collectibles starting April 9th through Paramount.xyz, the online portal to access Paramount's iconic IP and cherished franchises in the form of NFTs. "Fans should be able to engage with our content wherever they are, including the metaverse," said Pam Kaufman, President, Consumer Products and Experiences, Paramount. "Paramount.xyz will offer one seamless digital collectable experience for fans across our key franchises, starting with Star Trek, an iconic franchise that is forward-thinking, innovative and multi-generational. We are thrilled to have a space that is accessible to everyone and allows another expression of fandom." The Star Trek collectibles will be housed in "Star Trek Continuum," an experiential hub that will be the space for this first and future seasons of Star Trek NFTs.

16:49 EDT CEPI to fund Vaxxinity Phase 3 UB-612 trial targeting COVID variants - The company states: "The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Vaxxinity announced that they will co-fund the ongoing global pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Vaxxinity's next generation UB-612 COVID-19 vaccine candidate as a heterologous - or 'mix-and-match' - booster dose. CEPI will provide up to $9.25m in funding. The Phase 3 trial, which began in the US earlier this year, is evaluating the ability of UB-612 to boost COVID-19 immunity against the original strain and multiple variants of concern including Omicron - in people aged 16 years or older, who have been previously immunized with an authorized COVID-19 vaccine. Prior to joining the trial, participants will have received a primary regimen of one of the vaccines developed by Oxford- AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinopharm, or Sinovac, all of which are being distributed by COVAX, which primarily supplies to low- and middle-income countries. Participants are being assessed for safety and immunogenicity after a single booster dose of UB-612, or a homologous booster, enabling comparisons between UB-612 and other regimens."

16:36 EDT Volaris reports March preliminary ASMs up 61.2%, RPMs up 60.4% YoY - Volaris reports its March 2022 preliminary traffic results. In March, Volaris' capacity, measured in ASMs, increased 61.2% YoY, while demand, measured in RPMs, increased 60.4% YoY; the result was a load factor of 86.5% . During the month, Volaris transported 2.5M passengers, a 61.8% YoY increase. Passenger demand RPMs in the domestic Mexican and international markets increased 45.6% and 123.0%, respectively, as compared to March 2021. In the first quarter, Volaris' capacity increased 49.8% YoY or 0.5% QoQ. Load factor increased 5.4 pp YoY, to 83.5%, driven by RPM growth of 60.1% YoY. Volaris transported 7M passengers in the quarter. Commenting on March traffic figures, Volaris' President and CEO Enrique Beltranena said: "Our strong March 2022 traffic numbers further demonstrate the overall strength in demand of our existing markets and our ability to match that demand with new capacity. Volaris continued a disciplined effort to gradually mitigate a percentage of the fuel price increase through base fares and ancillaries, while carefully maintaining healthy load factors."

16:34 EDT Axon acquires virtual reality training studio 'Foundry 45,' terms not disclosed - Axon announced the acquisition of Foundry 45, a virtual reality studio focused on developing immersive training modules for large enterprises. The acquisition, which closed on April 5, will integrate Foundry 45 into the Axon VR team.

16:25 EDT Skillsoft reports Q4 adjusted EBITDA up 24% y/y at $36M

16:22 EDT Braemar Hotels & Resorts sees Q1 occupancy of 55%, RevPAR of $328 - Braemar Hotels & Resorts reported that the company expects to report occupancy of approximately 55% for the first quarter of 2022 with an average daily rate of approximately $597 resulting in RevPAR of approximately $328. This RevPAR reflects an approximate increase of 69% compared to the first quarter of 2021 and an approximate increase of 20% compared to the first quarter of 2019. The preliminary operating information discussed above assumes the 15 hotel properties owned and included in the company's operations at March 31, 2022, were owned as of the beginning of 2019. "We continue to see accelerated performance compared to 2019. We closed on the acquisition of The Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach in mid-March. This property is going to significantly increase our reported RevPAR going forward. Assuming that we had owned the property for the entire month of March, we would have achieved a RevPAR of an unprecedented $404," said Richard Stockton, Braemar's President and CEO. He added, "Leisure demand has held up much better than anticipated, as trends in corporate transient and group bookings continue to build."

16:18 EDT Mercury Systems gets $6.9M OpenVPX order from defense contractor - Mercury Systems announced it received a $6.9M order from a leading defense prime contractor for high performance, OpenVPX digital signal processing systems for a manned airborne radar application. The order was received in the Company's fiscal 2022 third quarter and is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters. "This order underscores our customer's confidence in Mercury to supply the proven purpose-built signal processing capabilities that enable pilots to see further, giving them the decisive edge to keep them, our nation and allies safe," said Joe Plunkett, vice president and general manager, Mercury Embedded. "Our decade-plus relationship with this prime contractor exemplifies our commitment to extending customer success over the entire life of a defense program and our ability to deliver critically important upgrades years after initial deployments."

16:14 EDT Adverum proceeds with IND amendment for wet AMD trial after FDA Type C feedback - Adverum Biotechnologies announced that it has received feedback via a Type C meeting written response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration related to Adverum's planned Phase 2 trial of ADVM-022 in wet age-related macular degeneration. Adverum requested the FDA's feedback to ensure alignment with the regulatory agency ahead of filing the Investigational New Drug amendment for the Phase 2 trial. The trial is designed to evaluate the 2 X 10^11 vg/eye dose and a new, lower 6 X 10^10 vg/eye dose of ADVM-022, along with new enhanced prophylactic steroid regimens, including local steroids and a combination of local and systemic steroids. "We are extremely pleased to have feedback from the FDA regarding our clinical development plan for a Phase 2 trial of ADVM-022 in wet AMD. We are looking forward to completing the IND amendment process by mid-2022 and remain on track to initiate our Phase 2 study in the third quarter of 2022," stated Laurent Fischer, M.D., president and chief executive officer at Adverum Biotechnologies. "ADVM-022 is a single, intravitreal injection gene therapy product that we believe has the potential to provide a durable and safe treatment option that addresses the needs of wet AMD patients, caregivers, retina specialists and health systems." Expected Near-Term ADVM-022 Development Milestone Mid-2022 - Complete IND amendment process to enable initiation of Phase 2 trial of ADVM-022 in wet AMD. Third Quarter of 2022 - Plan to dose first patient in a Phase 2 trial of ADVM-022 in wet AMD.

16:10 EDT Erytech Pharma announces results from eryaspase trial - Erytech Pharma announced the results from the NOPHO sponsored Phase 2 trial of eryaspase in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, patients are now published in the British Journal of Haematology. The Phase 2 NOR-GRASPALL-2016 trial evaluated the safety and pharmacological profile of eryaspase in ALL patients who had previously experienced hypersensitivity reactions to pegylated asparaginase therapy. The trial was conducted by the Nordic Society of Pediatric Haematology and Oncology, or NOPHO, at 21 clinical sites in the Nordic and Baltic countries of Europe and enrolled 55 patients. Primary objectives of the trial were asparaginase enzyme activity and safety. Both endpoints were met. Eryaspase demonstrated sustained asparaginase enzyme activity above the threshold of greater than100 U/L at trough levels 14 days after first infusion in 92.5% of patients. Eryaspase was generally well tolerated when added to chemotherapy and almost all patients were able to receive the intended courses of asparaginase. Of the 55 patients, only two patients had severe allergic reaction and withdrew eryaspase treatment.

16:08 EDT Talaris shares COVID data from kidney transplant patients treated with FCR001 - Talaris Therapeutics shared new data on COVID-19 outcomes among living donor kidney transplant LDKT patients treated in the Company's Phase 2 trial of investigational cell therapy product FCR001 . The data were presented in a poster at the 2022 Cutting Edge of Transplantation CEoT meeting organized by the American Society of Transplantation.As previously reported, 26 of 37 LDKT recipients of FCR001 from the Company's Phase 2 study achieved durable chimerism and were able to discontinue and remain off all IS for the duration of follow-up, with a median follow-up of over six years. A retrospective chart review of patients in the Phase 2 study was conducted by researchers at Northwestern University, who examined COVID-19 infection rates, effects of COVID-19 infection, and evidence of antibody response to vaccination. Of the 28 patients for whom data were available, 23 were durably chimeric and all of these patients were able to discontinue chronic immunosuppression. The remaining 5 patients were not durably chimeric and remained on chronic IS."Based on published literature*, kidney transplant recipients are at increased risk of COVID-19-related complications in part because the use of chronic immunosuppression often impairs the immune system's ability to fight viral infection or respond to vaccination. We were encouraged to see, among patients who were tolerized with FCR001 in our Phase 2 study, evidence of immunocompetence, both in the mild disease course experienced by those infected with COVID-19 and in the generation of antibodies post-vaccination," said Suzanne Ildstad, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Talaris. "The low rate of COVID-19 infection in the patients who were off immunosuppression and fully vaccinated is also intriguing. "

16:07 EDT Domo announces integration with Microsoft 365 and Teams - Domo "announced integrations with Microsoft 365 and Teams to make it easier than ever to seamlessly collaborate and leverage data using the technology business people work in every day. With Domo's mission to transform business by putting data to work for everyone, these new integrations allow customers to easily scale the power of data by embedding data insights and apps right where the work gets done-in Word docs, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, Outlook Emails and Teams Channels-in a way that is accessible, intuitive and always up to date."

15:15 EDT Dropbox updates Backup along with updates to Dropbox Shop for digital creators - The Dropbox Team, said in part, in a blog post, earlier: "As digital ecosystems have become increasingly complex-with content scattered across a sea of browser tabs and apps-creators, solopreneurs, and distributed teams need a better way to organize everything and keep work moving. That's why Dropbox has been focused on building and improving capabilities that support all of your cloud content and workflows...Secure your digital life with Dropbox Backup: The newest iteration of Dropbox Backup is designed to take away those headaches. Building on our popular backup functionality, Backup has been upgraded with new features our users have been asking for, including a new restoration flow, settings to manage your backups on your computer, and more... .Launch your digital business with Dropbox Shop: With the rise of the creator economy, more people are turning their passion into a business. Last year, we launched Dropbox Shop in private beta, and now we're introducing updates to the experience. Available today in open beta, Shop lets content creators sell and share their digital content-right from Dropbox. Move work forward with HelloSign Templates, PDF Editing, and DocSend Dashboard Analytics...With HelloSign Templates, you can streamline eSignature requests by turning your most frequently used documents into templates directly from your Dropbox account. Create, save, and send Templates right from Dropbox to spend less time formatting those high-volume documents-such as NDAs, offer letters, SOWs or contracts-that you frequently send to different recipients." Reference Link

14:46 EDT MasterCard announces 5-year global partnership, capital investment in Zeta - Zeta, which is described as "a banking tech unicorn and provider of next-gen credit card processing to banks and fintechs," and Mastercard announced a 5-year global partnership. As part of the agreement, the firms will go-to-market jointly to launch credit cards with issuers worldwide on Zeta's cloud-native and fully API-ready credit processing stack. Mastercard has underscored the partnership by making a financial investment in Zeta, the company announced. "As people shop and bank online more than ever before, Mastercard is partnering with Zeta to provide issuing banks and fintech innovators with modern credit card processing capabilities at scale that will maximize the safety, security and convenience of e-commerce, online banking, and contactless transactions. By deploying Zeta's credit processing stack, issuers will have an opportunity to grow their user base, drive higher usage and enter new geographical markets, all while accelerating the cashless revolution around the world," said Sandeep Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. Reference Link

14:02 EDT Frontier Group remains 'committed' to combination with Spirit Airlines - In a regulatory filing, Frontier Group (ULCC) disclosed a letter sent to employees of Frontier Group Holdings, which states in part: "As you may have seen, this afternoon JetBlue Airways announced its unsolicited proposal to acquire Spirit Airlines. We remain committed to our combination with Spirit and are confident that the proposed transaction is in the best interest of consumers and Team Frontier. Together, we would create America's most competitive airline, offering more ultra-low fares to more travelers in more destinations across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. Nothing changes today as a result of this news. Our agreement to combine with Spirit remains in place. In terms of next steps, Spirit has indicated it will review JetBlue's proposal and our Board of Directors will evaluate the proposal as well. As the situation develops, we will determine the best course of action for Frontier. We will continue to provide updates as appropriate. Most importantly, this news has no impact on our business or our operations."

13:37 EDT North American rail traffic fell 0.5% for the week ending April 2 - The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 2. Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 502,194 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.7% compared with the same week last year. Six of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2021. They included coal, up 4,155 carloads, to 63,932; chemicals, up 2,204 carloads, to 35,109; and farm products excl. grain, and food, up 1,889 carloads, to 17,347. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2021 included grain, down 3,528 carloads, to 22,166; metallic ores and metals, down 1,989 carloads, to 21,082; and miscellaneous carloads, down 1,916 carloads, to 8,127. North American rail volume for the week ending April 2, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 333,927 carloads, up 2.8% compared with the same week last year, and 359,728 intermodal units, down 3.5% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 693,655 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.5%. 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), Greenbrier (GBX),Trinity Industries (TRN), Wabtec (WAB) and FreightCar America (RAIL). Reference Link

12:34 EDT Amazon's Zappos.com names Scott Schaefer as CEO - Amazon's Zappos.com announced the appointment of Scott Schaefer to CEO. Schaefer has been acting CEO since December 2021. Prior to serving as acting CEO, he served as Vice President of Finance. "I am thrilled and honored to continue my journey at Zappos as Chief Executive Officer," said Scott Schaefer. "My genuine passion for and deep understanding of our business allows me to get a quick start in creating an unmatched experience for our brand partners, surprising and delighting our customers, continuing our long history of leading compassionately and, as a financier at heart, strengthening our business's financial position."

12:00 EDT Nextdoor falls -13.1% - Nextdoor is down -13.1%, or -84c to $5.59.

12:00 EDT Energy Vault falls -17.8% - Energy Vault is down -17.8%, or -$3.85 to $17.79.

12:00 EDT Tufin rises 43.0% - Tufin is up 43.0%, or $3.88 to $12.91.

11:43 EDT Insight appoints Sumana Nallapati as CIO - Insight Enterprises (NSIT) announced the appointment of Sumana Nallapati as chief information officer. Nallapati will report to Insight CEO Joyce Mullen and be responsible for leading a global team of information technology professionals focused on expanding the company's digital capabilities and enhancing Insight's client experience. Nallapati most recently served as senior vice president of operations and chief digital officer at Everbridge (EVBG).

11:04 EDT Bruker acquires IonSense, terms not disclosed - IonSense announces that it has been acquired by Bruker Corporation. The deal provides IonSense with the financial investments to ramp up development of the DART ionization source technology and increase efforts in developing applications in the applied markets, including food analysis and forensics. DART is an ionization source that, uniquely, analyzes a variety of particles without needing any sample chromatography prior to MS analysis. This removes a time-consuming step, so users can rapidly identify samples, including many that do not ionize well using other methods, at the point of need.

10:59 EDT Porsche announces $75M investment in e-fuel manufacturer HIF Global - Porsche is investing $75M in HIF Global. In return, the sports car manufacturer is acquiring a long-term stake in HIF Global, a holding company of internationally active project developers of eFuel production facilities. Among other projects, the Santiago de Chile-based company is building the Haru Oni eFuel pilot plant in Punta Arenas. Initiated by Porsche and implemented with partners including Siemens Energy and ExxonMobil, production of eFuels from hydrogen and CO2 using wind energy is expected to start there in mid-2022. These electricity-based synthetic fuels enable nearly-CO2-neutral operation of combustion engines. With its investment in HIF Global Porsche is participating in an international financing round alongside the Chilean company Andes Mining & Energy and the American companies EIG, Baker Hughes Company and Gemstone Investments. In total, an amount in the low nine-figure USD range is flowing into HIF Global. AME remains the majority shareholder of HIF Global. The additional capital will be used to develop industrial eFuel facilities in Chile, the US and Australia, which have large supplies of renewable energy. The sports car manufacturer initially plans to use the eFuel from Chile in motorsport flagship projects. In the future, it is also conceivable that they will be used to fuel the company's own vehicles with combustion engines during initial fuelling at the factory, and at Porsche Experience Centers. Porsche's transaction to acquire a stake in HIF Global is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities. Reference Link

10:52 EDT Ameresco, Landlease partner for $102M clean energy modernization project - Ameresco announced a partnership with Hickam Communities, owned and managed by Lendlease, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii for a $102M energy conservation project and accompanying 25-year O&M service agreement to assure the performance and savings. The project, which brings in additional private capital without the need of congressional appropriations, will provide holistic energy solutions to modernize over 2,500 privatized military housing units, and is expected to generate $13M in annual cost savings that would be used to pay for the improvements, financing costs, and operations and maintenance services over the 25-year performance period. This project further demonstrates the success of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative.

10:41 EDT Star Bulk Carriers signs joint LOI to develop iron ore Green Corridor - Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (SBLK) announced the signing of a joint letter of intent to establish a consortium to assess the development of an iron ore Green Corridor between Australia and East Asia, led by the Global Maritime Forum and along with its partners BHP (BHP), Rio Tinto (RIO), and Oldendorff Carriers GmbH & Co. KG. "Focusing on the feasibility of decarbonizing specific trade routes of the world is an indispensable step to create the foundation for the maritime energy transition," says Charis Plakantonaki, Chief Strategy Officer of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. "Consistent with our vision to lead in the industry's efforts to phase out GHG emissions, Star Bulk is committed to partnering up with other frontrunners to enable progress in this multi- dimensional, yet so critical for our future, challenge."

10:34 EDT Dole introduces Dole Exotics division, BE Exotic brand - Dole is pleased to confirm that both "Dole Exotics", a new specialist division and its "BE Exotic" consumer brand has been officially introduced at Fruit Logistica 2022. The company said, "Dole has long recognised the unfulfilled potential of the category and most specifically that of avocados and mangoes. By creating a bespoke unit dedicated to the growing, procurement, ripening and marketing of exotics, our clear intent is to bring to bear the collective reach, resources and expertise typically associated with DOLE(R) Bananas and Pineapples to deliver a real point of difference to exotic fruits on the retail shelves of Europe and beyond. Complementing group production with third party sourcing, Dole Exotics will offer the security associated with its vertically integrated supply chain, a streamlined route to market and the in-house capacity to assure best agronomic and sustainable practices from farm to fork. In the marketplace, our existing business, Total Exotics, and our wider European exotics infrastructure will be integrated into the new division with local experts leveraging existing key retail relationships, providing customised value-add and category management services alongside innovative branding, packaging, and promotional solutions to drive the category forward." To that end, Dole Exotics will also introduce its new Avocado and Mango concept, "BE Exotic" in Berlin.

10:26 EDT Nielsen holder WindAcre will seek to block proposed takeover - WindAcre Partnership, which owns a 9.61% stake in Nielsen, said this morning in a regulatory filing that it will oppose the company's proposed takeover by a private equity consortium led by Evergreen Coast Capital, an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management, and Brookfield Business Partners. The firm said it will take steps to attempt to block the transaction. Such steps may include purchasing securities of Nielsen, voting against the transaction, communicating with other shareholders or third parties, and proposing corporate resolutions, WindAcre explained. The firm believes Nielsen's minority shareholders should have the power to restrict the ability of one or more future controlling shareholders holding less than 75% of the company's shares from de-listing the company from the New York Stock Exchange. "As it stands today, without the special resolution we are proposing, one or more shareholders owning 50% of the shares plus one could replace the entire Board of the Company and unilaterally procure the de-listing of the Company from the New York Stock Exchange, leaving what could be a very significant minority of shareholders holding un-listed shares," WindAcre said about its resolution for vote at Nielsen's next annual general meeting.

10:06 EDT Venator announces favorable $75M Superior Court of Delaware judgment - Venator Materials (VNTR) announced that the Superior Court of Delaware granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of Venator for $75M and rejected Tronox's (TROX) counterclaim for damages. "The lawsuit arose from Tronox's refusal to pay a $75 million 'Break Fee' from an agreement wherein the conditions for payment were met in 2019. The Superior Court decisions are subject to appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court, however Venator will seek interest from May 2019," the company stated.

10:04 EDT Jacobs to provide professional engineering services to Singapore's PUB - Jacobs was appointed by PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, to provide professional engineering services for the development of the new greasy waste and food waste treatment facilities to maximize energy and resource recovery at the Changi Water Reclamation Plant. To be co-located with the CWRP, the new facilities will boost Singapore's waste treatment capabilities while harnessing synergies from co-digesting greasy waste, food waste and used water sludge - a by-product of the water reclamation process - to increase biogas yield. The additional biogas can be used for electricity generation to power CWRP, thereby reducing its carbon footprint. Jacobs will provide preliminary and detailed design and engineering services for the new GWTF, as well as site supervision during construction, testing and commissioning of the project. Jacobs will also conduct the preliminary design study for the FWTF and will review additional modification works to the existing facilities at CWRP to support the co-digestion process.

10:03 EDT GlaxoSmithKline announces results from observational study of COVID-19 - According to a new study conducted by GSK, people age 50 or older in the US who have had COVID-19 may be at greater risk of developing shingles - a painful rash - compared to those who haven't been diagnosed with COVID-19. This research was published in the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Key findings include: In this retrospective cohort study, people aged 50 or older who contracted COVID-19 were 15% more likely to develop shingles compared to controls who were never diagnosed with COVID-19. Risk of shingles was elevated for up to six months after a COVID-19 diagnosis. Those hospitalized for COVID-19 were 21% more likely to develop shingles. The study observed adults aged 50 years and older using claims data from two large US databases and matched persons with and without COVID-19 using various known shingles risk factors. Anyone vaccinated against either shingles or COVID-19 was excluded from the cohorts. Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is caused by a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus - the same virus that causes chickenpox - which lays dormant in the body after the initial infection. Nearly all adults over age 50 carry the virus that causes shingles. Natural age-related decline of the immune system can allow VZV to resurface, causing shingles. People with a suppressed or compromised immune system are also at increased risk of developing shingles. The study authors, as well as case report publications, suggest that COVID-19 could trigger shingles by disrupting immune cells, allowing VZV to reactivate. More research is needed to confirm this hypothesis. Shingles typically presents as a painful rash on one side of the face or body. Most people who get the disease experience acute pain, often described as aching or burning, which can cause significant disruptions to a person's day-to-day activities for up to several weeks.

10:01 EDT Izea awarded $2M contract expansion by Fortune 500 company - IZEA Worldwide has been awarded a $2M contract with a leading retailer. IZEA will be providing the retailer with managed influencer marketing services. The annual contract award is an expansion of a previously existing relationship with the company. This new contract follows IZEA's recently announced record-breaking first quarter for Managed Services bookings, when IZEA secured contract expansions and new deals totaling $12.1M, an increase of 88% year over year. "Team IZEA is off to a strong start to Q2, continuing the strong sales momentum that we have seen over the past several quarters," said Ted Murphy, IZEA's Founder and CEO.

10:00 EDT Central European Equity falls -11.0% - Central European Equity is down -11.0%, or -$1.39 to $11.23.

10:00 EDT BigBear.ai rises 20.9% - BigBear.ai is up 20.9%, or $2.16 to $12.50.

10:00 EDT Ultrapetrol rises 95060.0% - Ultrapetrol is up 95060.0%, or $47.53 to $47.58.

09:53 EDT Integrated Media Technology enters distribution agreement with KMF Malaysiawe - Integrated Media Technology announces that on April 6, 2022 World Integrated Supply Ecosystem entered into a distribution agreement with KMF Malaysiawe to sell and distribute Halal products in France initially and then to Germany and United Kingdom. The distribution service agreement is for a period of 3 year. KMF shall promote, market and sell the Halal products on an indent basis for WISE. WISE will purchase the Halal products for distribution in Europe and use the existing KMF distribution infrastructure and network including warehousing. The parties agree on a profit share arrangement and to develop the European market.

09:52 EDT Venator Materials trading halted, news pending

09:49 EDT IO Biotech Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:47 EDT Energy Vault falls -8.6% - Energy Vault is down -8.6%, or -$1.86 to $19.78.

09:47 EDT Tufin rises 42.0% - Tufin is up 42.0%, or $3.79 to $12.82.

09:47 EDT Ultrapetrol rises 95060.0% - Ultrapetrol is up 95060.0%, or $47.53 to $47.58.

09:44 EDT Pinterest bans climate misinformation from posts and ads - Pinterest will prohibit ads and posts that feature climate misinformation, the company said on Wednesday. "As part of our Community guidelines on misinformation and disinformation, our climate misinformation policy removes content that may harm the public's well-being, safety or trust, including: Content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change, the human influence on climate change, or that climate change is backed by scientific consensus. False or misleading content about climate change solutions that contradict well-established scientific consensus. Content that misrepresents scientific data, including by omission or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate science and experts. Harmful false or misleading content about public safety emergencies including natural disasters and extreme weather events." "Pinterest believes in cultivating a space that's trusted and truthful for those using our platform. This bold move is an expansion of our broader misinformation guidelines, which we first developed in 2017 to address public health misinformation, and have since updated to address new and emerging issues as they come to the forefront. The expanded climate misinformation policy is yet another step in Pinterest's journey to combat misinformation and create a safe space online," said Sarah Bromma, Pinterest's Head of Policy. Reference Link

09:36 EDT Disney's ESPN signs NFT deal with Autograph - ESPN, an indirect subsidiary of Disney, and Autograph, the Web3 brand co-founded by Tom Brady, announced a multiyear deal for ESPN's first NFT. The collaboration kicks off with a NFT collection based on Man in the Arena: Tom Brady, the 10-part ESPN+ documentary series produced by Religion of Sports, a media company in which Brady is also a co-founder. The collection consists of three ESPN zine covers illustrating Brady's career, wins and achievements. Brady will also be signing fifty NFTs from the collection. A second collection themed as "Back in the Arena" will drop in conjunction with the debut of the series' tenth episode on ESPN+, the companies said in a statement.

09:34 EDT Truist Securities to relocate headquarters to The Battery Atlanta - Truist Financial Corporation and Braves Development Company announced that Truist Securities, Truist's full-service corporate and investment bank, will relocate its national headquarters to a new Class A building to be constructed in The Battery Atlanta, adjacent to Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. The 250,000-square-foot building, that will be designed and built to a LEED standard, will be home to approximately 1,000 Truist Securities teammates, feature a state-of-the-art trading floor and be located immediately behind Truist Park-approximately 300 feet from home plate. Truist Securities will occupy approximately half of the building, giving Truist the option to house other Truist teams and expand its business presence over time. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2022 with the building expected to open in 2024.

09:32 EDT Inspira Technologies enters distribution agreement with Bepex - Inspira Technologies announced the execution of a summary distribution agreement with Bepex that includes the potential future deployment of Inspira's ART systems, designed to prevent the need for invasive mechanical ventilation. Bepex, a leading Israeli medical technology companies, imports, markets and services medical equipment for global medical device companies such as Hamilton and LivaNova. As part of the collaboration with Bepex, the first systems are slated for deployment at the largest medical centers in Israel. Inspira's summary distribution agreement with Bepex is expected to be followed by a more comprehensive agreement. To date, this latest summary agreement follows three prior summary distribution agreements previously executed by Inspira, which jointly target approximately $386M in the U.S. and European markets, all subject to regulatory approvals. The agreement with Bepex has an initial term of seven years, subject to the completion of product development and relevant regulatory approvals.

09:29 EDT Chesapeake Utilities chairman sells $347.5K in common stock - In a regulatory filing last night, Chesapeake Utilities disclosed that its board chairman John Schimkaitis sold 2.5K shares of common stock on April 1st in a total transaction size of $347.5K.

09:25 EDT Mullen Automotive down 9% after Hindenburg calls an 'EV hustle' in short report

09:21 EDT Spruce Point names Stryker as short target, sees 35%-75% downside risk - Spruce Point Management issued a short report on Stryker, which the firm refers to as a "debt-fueled acquisition roll-up" that it sees "hitting a wall and no longer producing an attractive ROIC," or return on invested capital. Given its size, "actionable targets of size to grow Stryker are fewer, and Stryker's track record of paying rich premiums for targets is working against it," according to Spruce Point. The short-seller believes "Stryker left investors flat-footed when the pandemic hit by not warning investors that its true exposure to elective procedures was 50% of sales." The firm also alleges that "Stryker has long suffered from inventory management issues, and has never made good on promises to rationalize its operational and global manufacturing footprint." Valuing Stryker at multiples closer to the industry average leads the firm to see 35%-75% downside risk to $67.00-$174.50 per share, Spruce Points added. In pre-market trading, Stryker shares are down $11.77, or 4%, to $256.73. Reference Link

09:20 EDT Tyler Technologies selected by state of Mississippi for NLS solution - Tyler Technologies announced it has signed a five-year agreement with the state of Mississippi for Tyler's NIC Licensing Solution, or NLS, the government licensing platform designed specifically for the cannabis industry. The licensing platform features patient/caregiver registration, practitioner registration, agent credentialing, and business licensing across all business types. It also provides a single unified platform for all cannabis licensing needs within the state.

09:17 EDT Sienna Senior Living CFO Karen Hon to depart, David Hung to succeed - Sienna Senior Living announced that Karen Hon, SVP and CFO, has decided to leave the Company, effective April 18, 2022, to pursue other leadership opportunities. During the interim period, she will work with the Sienna management team to ensure that the transition is seamless. Effective April 19, 2022, Sienna has appointed David Hung as EVP and CFO. Hung has been a member of the Sienna leadership team for close to seven years, having led multiple areas within the finance and corporate services function, serving most recently as CIO and EVP, Corporate Services.

09:17 EDT Aurora Innovation opens three new terminals in El Paso, Fort Worth and Houston - Aurora is expanding its commercial footprint along the U.S. Interstate system to connect the country's most voluminous trucking lanes and expand Aurora's commercial offering. Aurora is now autonomously hauling goods for FedEx, Werner, and Uber Freight customers day and night across multiple high volume freight corridors in Texas. To support this expansion, it has opened three new terminals in El Paso, Fort Worth, and Houston.

09:13 EDT Advent signs technology assessment, sales and development pact with Hyundai - Advent Technologies announced the signing of a technology assessment, sales, and development agreement with Hyundai. Advent and Hyundai aim to deliver green energy solutions to current high carbon applications, using fuel cell technology. Under the agreement, Hyundai will provide catalysts to Advent for evaluation in its proprietary Membrane Electrode Assemblies, or MEAs, while Advent intends to support Hyundai in fulfilling its fuel cell project needs, through developing inks and structures using IFAT catalysts, which will then be evaluated by IFAT. Following evaluation, Hyundai will determine whether IFAT or standard catalysts will be used for this project. Supplying MEAs throughout the development/commercialization cycle for testing, evaluation, and optimization under conditions set by Hyundai. Assisting Hyundai with the use and specifications of MEAs as well as their implementation into Hyundai's designs. Following the completion of the first phase of the project, the companies will collaborate closely to set out specific product requirements, collaborative product goals, as well as milestones for achieving established goals and plans for phase 2, which shall also include Advent's stack cooling technology.

09:10 EDT Deel selects Recruiter.com as Talent Marketplace partner - Recruiter.com announced that Recruiter.com would be one of a select few companies included in Deel's exclusive new Talent Marketplace. Only open to clients, Deel's Talent Marketplace helps match companies with the right talent partner to source qualified candidates. Deel and Recruiter.com entered their initial partnership in December of 2021. The partnership allows customers of Recruiter.com to hire and pay their international employees quickly and compliantly.

09:09 EDT CoStar Group acquires France-based real estate news service, Business Immo - CoStar Group announced the acquisition of "France's premier commercial real estate news service, Business Immo," said the statement. Business Immo was founded in 2004 and has grown rapidly as an online property news source with national coverage of the French commercial real estate market. The acquisition of Business Immo is an important addition to CoStar Group's growing global news team, which offers daily coverage across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and through Hotel News Now, CoStar's international hospitality industry news service. With over 235,000 subscribers and 19,000 articles published in 2021, CoStar news is one of the largest national and international real estate news networks in the world. CoStar journalists recently received eight awards, including three gold medals, from the National Association of Real Estate Editors, the largest real estate journalism organization in the United States. "The acquisition of Business Immo adds yet another high-quality asset to our expanding international presence," said Andrew C. Florance, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CoStar Group.

09:05 EDT Citizens Financial names Ben Vinzant as Chief Data and Analytics Officer - Citizens Financial Group has named Ben Vinzant as Chief Data and Analytics Officer, effective June 27. Vinzant will join Citizens from JPMorgan Chase, where he most recently served as Managing Director, Head of Sales Science. During that time, he was responsible for integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning nto sales channels, leading the customer relationship management tools and technology as the product owner for Salesforce@JPMC. Vinzant will report to Beth Johnson, Chief Experience Officer of Citizens. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Vinzant spent more than a decade at Wells Fargo where he led enterprise insights in a variety of data management disciplines. "Citizens has made strong progress advancing our data and analytics strategy - a critical foundation to deliver products and services that meet our customers' evolving and highly personalized needs," said Johnson. "We are excited by the opportunity we have to create a holistic data ecosystem and believe Ben will help us build a best-in-class data function to drive business value and position Citizens as an industry leader in data strategies."

09:04 EDT Sprout Social announces $100,000 annual contribution to Howard University - Sprout Social announced a $100,000 annual contribution to the Howard University School of Business for the creation and management of their Center for Digital Business, as well as related business education offerings and programming, over the next two years. This contribution will help support the hiring of the Center's Director, develop course curriculum, and provide Sprout technology to aid in student and faculty research.

08:55 EDT Agrify, Greenlight Cannabis enter partnership for vertical farming unit adoption - Agrify Corporation announced that it has signed an agreement with Greenlight Cannabis to provide premium grow solutions and related services for Greenlight's cultivation facilities. With 28 locations and growing across 5 states, Greenlight is a prominent multi-state operator in the United States and provides consumers with high-quality and unique medical cannabis experiences.Under the terms of the Agreement, Agrify will install its latest generation Vertical Farming Units in Greenlight's state-of-the-art cultivation center of excellence, to produce superior yields, consistency, and quality, in grow facilities across multiple States. Following operational acceptance, the Agreement is expected to be expanded to include a full facility build-out for Greenlight's cultivation operations in strategic current locations followed by future locations as Greenlight expands geographically. The initial Agreement also includes horticulture and customer success training, ongoing technical and monitoring support, recurring SaaS revenue for use of the Agrify Insights cultivation software, and operations consulting.

08:46 EDT Iteris selected by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute - Iteris announced its selection by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute for a smart mobility and safety initiative, representing growing demand for Iteris' smart mobility infrastructure management technologies from public transportation agencies, research institutes and automotive OEMs. Iteris Selected by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute for Smart Mobility and Safety Initiative The three-year, $20 million project sees Iteris join public and private partners including Continental, Ford, Toyota, Qualcomm, the City of Ann Arbor and Purdue University. Half of the program funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration's Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment program, with the remainder provided by the participants as a shared funding program, ATCMTD funds model programs that lead to the "installation and operation of advanced transportation technologies to improve safety, efficiency, system performance and infrastructure return on investment." Under the terms of the agreement, Iteris will equip more than 20 signalized intersections in Ann Arbor, Michigan with its industry-leading vehicle-to-everything (V2X)-enabled detection technology as part of UMTRI's connected vehicle and smart intersections program.

08:42 EDT MamaMancini's secures new product placements with tier-1 retailers - MamaMancini's announced that it has secured new customer authorizations, both in terms of new locations and expansion of existing placements, at tier-1 nationwide retailers to begin shipment in late April 2022. The new customer authorizations include four new items at BJ's Club Stores (BJ), five items in a test with two new Albertsons Safeway (ACI) divisions on the West Coast, several new items with Stew Leonard Stores - well known high volume outlets in Connecticut and New York Metro, and several distributor accounts for the Company's T&L Creative Salads subsidiary as well as two new divisions of Aldi for the Company's Olive Branch subsidiary. "The Company expects to see a very substantial increase in sales beginning in the first quarter ending April 30th, 2022, as compared to the same year-ago quarter," said Carl Wolf, Chairman and CEO of MamaMancini's. "I look forward to continued operational execution in the months ahead as we continue to expand our national distribution networking, creating sustainable value for my fellow shareholders."

08:39 EDT CNS Pharmaceuticals granted approval in France for study of Berubicin in GBM - CNS Pharmaceuticals has received approval from the National Agency for the Safety of Medicine and Health Products Competent Authority and from the People Protection Ethics Committee in France for the company's potentially pivotal study of Berubicin for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme - GBM -, one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer. Berubicin is a novel anthracycline currently being evaluated in a potentially pivotal global study evaluating its efficacy and safety in the treatment of GBM. Approximately 243 patients with GBM after failure of standard first line therapy will be randomized to receive Berubicin or lomustine for the evaluation of Overall Survival, the primary endpoint of the study. A futility analysis will be performed after approximately 30 to 50% of all planned patients have completed the primary endpoint at 6 months. The FDA recently granted CNS Pharmaceuticals Fast Track Designation for Berubicin. The company also received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA which may provide seven years of marketing exclusivity upon approval of an NDA.

08:38 EDT Advanced Human Imaging concludes formal agreements with Vertica Health - Advanced Human Imaging is pleased to update shareholders of the completion of the Master Services Agreement with South Africa based digital health platform VERTICA. The parties have executed the standard AHI MSA which entails the legal and contractual terms in which AHI agrees to grant Vertica the right to use AHI's licensed Software Development Kits for IOS and Android platforms for body circumference measurements, face scan measurements and related intellectual property once integrated into the Vertica application/platform. The MSA incorporates the following information and guidelines: commercial undertakings, software development kit, end-user license, technology support, data processing agreement, fee schedule and professional services, including implementation support and training services, which are to be provided by AHI within the agreement with Vertica. The initial term of the MSA is for one year from commencement and will automatically extend for subsequent consecutive periods each of equivalent length to the initial term. Early termination procedures are included for either party to the MSA. The financial impact of this MSA on AHI cannot be currently quantified and there are no minimum order requirements contained in the agreement.

08:36 EDT HeartCore Enterprises announces launch of Go IPO - HeartCore Enterprises announced the launch of Go IPO, its latest consulting service offering. Go IPO is an initial public offering consulting service for Japanese companies interested in listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In recent years, an increasing number of foreign companies have chosen to list on Nasdaq due to increased access to capital, expansion of their capital markets footprint into the U.S. and listing speed. Following HeartCore's February 2022 IPO and Nasdaq listing, the Company expanded its consulting service offering to companies from Japan that are interested in seeking a Nasdaq listing.

08:35 EDT Biofrontera Inc. sees Q1 product revenue $9.5M-$10M - Biofrontera announced preliminary, unaudited product revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Product revenues for the first quarter of 2022 are anticipated to be in the range of approximately $9.5M to $10M, representing an increase of approximately 102% to 113% compared with the first quarter of 2021. "Our sales success is a testament to the market's growing preference for our products and the ability of our sales team to further penetrate high-value customer accounts. Having just closed our strongest revenue quarter post-pandemic, and our second strongest quarter on record, we are well-positioned for a productive year ahead as we continue to make strides with advancing our pipeline and patent strategy, strengthening our financial position and increasing our market share through sustained growth in the U.S. dermatology market," commented Erica Monaco, CEO of Biofrontera Inc.

08:33 EDT Nauticus Robotics appoints Donnelly Bohan as COO - Nauticus Robotics announced the appointment of Donnelly Bohan as the Company's new COO, effective April 4, 2022. Bohan was most recently at Leidos, where for five years she served as Vice President, Division Manager of Leidos' Maritime Solutions Division globally, ultimately serving as Vice President, Division Manager - Mission Operations and Infrastructure Protection Division.

08:32 EDT Phunware appoints Olive as EVP, General Counsel, CLO - Phunware announced that Christopher Olive, a transactional and regulatory attorney with more than two decades of legal experience, has been hired as the Company's Executive Vice President, EVP, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, CLO, effective April 1, 2022. Prior to joining Phunware, Chris was a partner for 15 years at Bracewell LLP in Dallas, Texas.

08:32 EDT Republic First Bancorp receives notice of filing delinquency from Nasdaq - Republic First Bancorp received written notification from The NASDAQ Stock Market on April 1, 2022 that the Company is no longer in compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules since the Company has not yet filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) requires Nasdaq-listed companies to timely file all periodic reports. The Company has up to 60 days to either cure the deficiency or to submit a plan to Nasdaq showing how it intends to regain compliance. If the plan is accepted, Nasdaq can grant an extension of the grace period for shares of the Company's common stock to remain listed for up to 180 calendar days from the Annual Report's due date to regain compliance. This notice from Nasdaq has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market. As previously reported by the Company in its Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2022, and in its Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Commission on April 1, 2022, the Company was unable to file the 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 within the prescribed period because the Company's audit committee intends to engage independent legal counsel to conduct an investigation concerning certain previously disclosed related party transactions and related matters that are the subject of pending litigation involving the Company. The Company expects to file the Annual Report as soon as practicable.

08:31 EDT Meta Materials announces expanded organizational structure - Meta Materials announced an expanded organizational structure and product development model designed to support the Company's innovation, growth, and productivity ambitions as a focused advanced materials and semiconductor solutions provider in the coming decade. Central to this initiative, META also announced that Dr. John "Yiannis" Antoniades has joined the Company as Executive Vice President, Head of Engineering and Electro-Optical & Infrared Systems, based in a new U.S. office in Maryland, which is planned to open in a few weeks. Antoniades brings over 35 years of experience in the system, hardware, and software development of advanced technology systems for a wide variety of applications, and he has demonstrated leadership in the academic, government and private sectors. As Head of Engineering, he will be responsible for building and leading a team to drive product engineering and META's growing portfolio of technologies to become more vertically integrated in high growth use cases, such as smart cities, 5G, automotive and metaverse applications. He joins META from Vlepsis, Inc., a company he founded in 2017 to commercialize the world's first gigapixel camera system developed initially for the US DoD.

08:27 EDT Dorman Products announces 385 new products - Dorman Products is announcing the release of 385 new products, including 71 new-to-the-aftermarket parts that advance the company's mission of giving repair professionals and vehicle owners greater freedom to fix a wide range of cars and trucks. This month's new product releases include a Dorman OE FIX intake manifold runner control designed to fit almost 3M Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram vehicles. This Dorman OE FIX kit features a new IMRC motor and a pre-assembled, longer wire harness with an OE-style connector. The kit also includes a quality O-ring seal, retainer zip tie, and the new mounting stud and bolt needed to install the extended wire harness retainer. Dorman also continues its steady growth in complex electronic products. This month's new releases include a parking assist sensor designed to match the fit and function of the original sensor installed on 8M popular late-model Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep vehicles. Three new aftermarket-exclusive third brake light assemblies join Dorman's aftermarket-leading line of more than 135 direct replacements in this part category. Designed to fit a combined more than 2 million late-model Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Jeep SUVs, the new light assemblies are engineered to match the fit, function and performance of the factory-installed versions, and to meet inspection requirements in states that require a center high mount brake light.

08:25 EDT Akoya Biosciences to showcase new data on PhenoCycler-Fusion at AACR 2022 - Akoya Biosciences will be presented during the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR, 2022 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 8 to 13. First, the company will showcase the industry's first 100-plex dataset for deep spatial phenotyping at single cell resolution, across an entire tissue sample. Second, they will preview a new universal chemistry to enable accelerated validation of biomarkers discovered using deep spatial phenotyping. The company will showcase how a panel of 100+ markers mapped across whole slides, at single-cell resolution, can give insights into tumor-immune biology. In addition to the speed of imaging, the system has a proprietary file compression algorithm that can reduce file sizes from terabytes to gigabytes. The company will also preview its new universal chemistry for rapid biomarker validation.

08:24 EDT Codex DNA to showcase SOLA enzymatic DNA synthesis technology - Codex DNA announced its speaker lineup for presentations at SynBioBeta's Built with Biology Global Conference, which is being held in Oakland, Calif., on April 12-14, 2022. Codex DNA will be showcasing its proprietary short oligo ligation assembly enzymatic DNA synthesis technology and its BioXp products for end-to-end automated workflows at booth #11. Codex DNA's unique SOLA approach addresses many of the challenges facing existing EDS methods related to build length, cost, fidelity, and scalability into synthetic biology workflows. Unlike alternative technologies that employ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, which incorporates one DNA letter at a time, the streamlined SOLA process generates high-quality synthetic DNA from a universal, pre-manufactured library of short DNA oligos. The short oligos provide the building blocks needed to efficiently assemble complex synthetic genes and mRNA templates using Codex DNA's industry-standard Gibson Assembly method on the automated BioXp system. Together, the SOLA technology and BioXp system have the potential to significantly reduce timelines for constructing synthetic DNA, RNA, and proteins for numerous downstream applications including vaccine development, therapeutics development, diagnostics, precision medicine, and DNA data storage.

08:22 EDT DraftKings adds baseball personality Jared Carrabis to media talent lineup - DraftKings announced the latest addition to their media portfolio, popular baseball personality and content creator Jared Carrabis. Carrabis will join DraftKings in creating weekly baseball-focused podcasts and a wide array of engaging content based on podcast topics for all baseball fans to enjoy. Starting April 7, 2022 on DraftKings' YouTube channel, Carrabis will deliver extensive baseball knowledge, hot takes on all things baseball, the latest news from his hometown team, special guest interviews and more with the debut of two podcasts: "Baseball is Dead" and "Jared Carrabis." "We're thrilled to add Jared Carrabis to our growing portfolio of content creators. He brings credibility as a subject matter expert while striking an authentic tone that resonates with sports fans," said DraftKings Vice President of Programming Stacie McCollum. "We continue to expand the DraftKings content experience by building a platform for independent voices and emerging talent such as Carrabis."

08:21 EDT Titan Aircraft Investments, Amerijet International announce lease agreements - Titan Aircraft Investments, the joint venture between Titan Aviation Holdings and Bain Capital Credit, announced the placement of three Boeing 757-200SF converted freighters on long-term dry leases with Amerijet International Inc. to support its network in Central America and the Caribbean. Titan Aviation Holdings, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide, will manage these assets.

08:20 EDT GreenBox completes acquisition of Transact Europe for $28M - GreenBox announced that after a rigorous regulatory approval process it has completed its acquisition of Transact Europe Holdings for approximately $28M. The purchase price is substantiated by the value of Transact Europe's business volume, strategic licenses, systems and personnel. By acquiring TEU, GreenBox can now deliver to European merchants the "distinct advantage of speedier payments, more competitive rates, swift onboarding, and expertise in higher risk verticals," the company said. Several key strategic initiatives are ready to deploy to unleash the synergies and usher in robust growth. By adding card present transactions, TEU can superbly target the retail segment. Incorporating alternative payment methods with partners in Europe will expand acceptance to include other regional card issuers. The addition of banking and foreign exchange capabilities also provides value-add solutions for clients as well as another driver of revenue for GreenBox. "This acquisition is a momentous triumph for us, representing the most significant asset to date for GreenBox, allowing us to propel forward as a significant player in the European and global marketplace," said Ben Errez, Chairman of GreenBox POS. "GreenBox and TEU are a natural complement to each other with TEU's licenses and infrastructure combined with GreenBox's suite of customized blockchain payment solutions, global strategy and technology creating a powerful synergy that we believe will quickly scale in the European market in which non-cash payments account for over 100 billion transactions and exceed 160 trillion euros per year. Furthermore, our combined infrastructure paves the way for expansion into other digital payments markets and countries around the world. As a result, we expect to see momentous gains in processing volume leading to stronger revenue contribution and long-term sustainable value our shareholders expect. "

08:18 EDT Global Crossing Airlines, OSM Aviation enter pilot training partnership - Global Crossing Airlines and OSM Aviation Academy announce a new partnership which will give GlobalX access to a pipeline of pilot students planning to transition to the airline. The program, named XDirect, will partner to develop a 2 year advanced training program that will place graduate pilots into GlobalX as First Officers who are line-ready for our Airbus A320 family fleet. The program graduates will have enhanced Airline industry training such as CRM and FAA Part 121 training philosophy and requirements. The program has been developed to allow new pilots to train the way that GlobalX does from day one in conjunction with the requirements of FAA commercial and ATP licenses, ensuring a consistent training transition. The partnership will allow GlobalX long term access to highly qualified pilots when they reach the minimum required ATP hours, after successfully completing their Commercial and Instructors Certificates.

08:15 EDT Donerail in letter to Turtle Beach shareholders says time for a board 'reset' - The Donerail Group , a shareholder of of Turtle Beach beneficially owns approximately 8.5% of the outstanding shares of Turtle Beach, issued the below letter to shareholders: Since nominating an experienced, diverse, and accomplished full slate of six independent director candidates for election to the Company's Board of Directors at the Company's 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders , we have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response we have received from shareholders indicating their desire for change... Since Juergen Stark became the public company CEO of Turtle Beach, shares have underperformed the industry peer set by over 150%, EBITDA margins have been cut in half and growth has slowed to a halt...While we look forward to beginning our work unlocking value on behalf of all shareholders, the Company seems steadfast on whitewashing its past errors, and continues to focus on misrepresenting the past engagement between us and the Board. Shareholders that we have heard from have had enough. We believe the current Board needs a reset," said Donerail Group, in part.

08:14 EDT Mayfair Gold advances regional exploration at Fenn-Gib project - Mayfair Gold is pleased to report on progress with the Company's regional exploration program at the 100%-controlled Fenn-Gib Project. Located in the Timmins region of Northeast Ontario, Fenn-Gib hosts a NI 43-101 pit-constrained Indicated Resource of 2.08M gold ounces with disseminated gold mineralization striking east-west on the Pipestone Fault over 1.25 kilometers and up to 300 meters wide at the west end. Regional exploration is focused on both the Fenn-Gib North Block. which straddles the Pipestone Fault mineralized corridor, and the South Block, which straddles the Destor-Porcupine Fault. The strategically located North and South blocks are separated by approx. 3 km. Mayfair Gold President and CEO Patrick Evans commented: "Immediately after acquiring Fenn-Gib at the end of 2020, planning commenced for regional exploration beyond the 80,000 m infill and expansion drill program at the Fenn-Gib deposit. Mayfair completed the first ever heliborne, high-resolution triaxial MAG survey at 75 m spaced flight lines over both the North and South Blocks in April 2021. A comprehensive North Block follow-up surface work program took place over the summer of 2021 while SRK Consulting completed a regional-scale structural geology interpretation of the aeromagnetic data. Based on the very encouraging results, planning started for maiden regional drill programs on both the North and South blocks." The North block 2022 program commenced in January with ground geophysics over the priority Talisman and Horseshoe targets. Drilling at the Talisman Target, located approx. 350 m west of the Fenn-Gib deposit, commenced on March 3, 2022. To date, approx. 2,000 m of drilling has been completed in seven holes. On completion of drilling at Talisman, the rig will be moved to the Horseshoe Target, located approx. 500 m northwest of Fenn-Gib, where eight holes are initially planned. The South block 2022 program also commenced in January with line cutting at 50 m to 100 m spacings across the 7 km strike along the Destor-Porcupine Fault. A total of 84.4 km of line cutting has been completed, which has been followed up with a 54.5 line-km Induced Polarization geophysical survey across priority gold targets. Mobilization of a fifth drill rig is underway and drilling of the first South Block targets is expected to commence in late April.

08:13 EDT Applied Molecular Transport appoints Banard to board of directors - Applied Molecular Transport (AMTI) announced the appointment of Charlene Banard to its Board of Directors. Banard will also become a member of the company's Audit Committee. Banard is the chief technical officer of Atara Biotherapeutics (ATRA).

08:12 EDT Bionano Genomics announces publication of new study using OGM - Bionano Genomics announced the publication of a new study using OGM in combination with multiple other cytogenetic methods and a new single-cell analysis method as a comprehensive molecular strategy to characterize the genomic variation in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, B-ALL. In this study, from the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, researchers used a combination of methods to characterize genetic variation in samples from 12 subjects with B-ALL. Multiple analysis methods, including karyotyping, FISH, MLPA, RT-PCR, OGM, and single-cell sequencing with a custom ALL genetic panel, were used to characterize aneuploidy, structural variants, copy number variants, gene fusions, and single nucleotide variants. Differences in mutational burden between B-ALL subtypes were identified. Conventional understanding suggests that cancer development, including B-ALL, can result from an accumulation of genetic changes that lead to unchecked cell growth. As observed in this study, genetic variants associated with cancer development include SNVs, CNVs, and SVs. Different methods are required to characterize the full spectrum of genetic variations present in a sample. This study illustrated how OGM can provide information on SVs occurring across a window of sizes that could help bridge sequencing with traditional cytogenetics.

08:11 EDT Rhythm Pharmaceuticals announces modifications for EMANATE, DAYBREAK trials - Rhythm Pharmaceuticals announced modifications intended to optimize its Phase 3 EMANATE and ongoing Phase 2 DAYBREAK trials to focus on rare patient populations, which the Company believes have the highest likelihood of success. These changes are intended to optimize the design of each clinical trial, with the goal of most efficiently advancing setmelanotide as a precision medicine for patients with rare genetic diseases of obesity. The EMANATE trial now includes four independent sub-studies evaluating setmelanotide, the Company's melanocortin-4 receptor agonist, in patients with obesity due to a heterozygous variant of the POMC/PCSK1 genes, the LEPR gene, the SRC1 gene and the SH2B1 gene. Rhythm estimates that patients with rare variants in these genes represent a potential addressable U.S. population of approximately 53,000, based on internal genetic sequencing data. The Company also announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in the EMANATE trial. Recent feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicated that additional clinical trials to support potential registration for non-rare patient populations would likely be required. As a result, Rhythm eliminated a fifth sub-study, intended to evaluate setmelanotide in patients with a PCSK1 N221D variant. In the POMC/PCSK1 and LEPR sub-studies, the Company will focus enrollment on heterozygous variants classified as pathogenic and likely pathogenic, as initially planned. In addition, instead of enrolling across the entire spectrum of variants of uncertain significance (VUS), Rhythm will focus on patients with suspected pathogenic variants, or a subset of VUS, which are most likely to impair MC4R pathway function. Specific to the heterozygous POMC/PCSK1 and LEPR sub-studies, the variant classifications of pathogenic, likely pathogenic or suspected pathogenic within variants of uncertain significance are determined by a CLIA/CAP certified laboratory in alignment with a framework established by the American College of Medical Genetics. The Company believes patients with these variant classifications have the highest probability of response to setmelanotide based on data from the exploratory Phase 2 Basket Study. Rhythm anticipates 12-18 months to enroll approximately 400 patients in the trial. EMANATE will enroll patients with hyperphagia and obesity that began in early childhood. In each of the four sub-studies, patients will be randomized one-to-one to daily setmelanotide or placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint in each sub-study is the mean change from baseline to 52 weeks in body weight, assessed as percent change in body mass index in response to setmelanotide compared to placebo. In the Phase 2 DAYBREAK trial, Rhythm modified enrollment criteria to focus initially on rare variants associated with 10 prioritized MC4R-relevant genes, which the Company and key opinion leaders believe have the highest probability of success. The Company decided to pause the enrollment of patients with variants in additional MC4R pathway genes and will evaluate expansion of DAYBREAK to these genes based on the early clinical data from the prioritized genes. Rhythm began enrolling DAYBREAK in January 2022. DAYBREAK is a two-stage trial, beginning with a 16-week open-label stage followed, for patients who demonstrate a clinically meaningful response to setmelanotide, by a 24-week double-blind, placebo-controlled stage. The trial will now enroll approximately 100 to 200 patients with hyperphagia and severe obesity and a variant in one of 10 genes. The Company believes this two-stage design is an efficient way to assess clinically meaningful response to setmelanotide. Each genetically defined cohort can read out results independently. The Company expects that the changes to the EMANATE and DAYBREAK trials, coupled with a streamlining of the Company's planned global network of clinical trial sites, will result in meaningful cost savings. Rhythm now expects that, as a result of these and other program changes, its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund operations into at least the fourth quarter of 2023.

08:09 EDT TransUnion enhances decisioning solutions through Partner Program expansion - TransUnion announced an expansion of its go-to-market strategy for decisioning solutions by including leading decisioning platforms within its global Strategic Alliance Distribution Partner Program. The expansion was driven by TransUnion's extensive research of how to best meet long-term decisioning needs within the financial services industry. The findings uncovered a growing need for more open and flexible platforms with self-service capabilities-both of which empower business users to change custom rules, add new data sources, and update custom risk models to adapt to the market in real-time. To deliver the best service possible, TransUnion's world-class data and analytics solutions are now also available via Strategic Alliance partners for credit decisioning.

08:09 EDT Seagate and Phison Electronics announce plans to expand SSD portfolio - Seagate and Phison Electronics announced plans to expand their SSD portfolio of next-gen high-performance, high-density enterprise NVMe SSDs. The new SSDs will help enterprises lower total cost ownership TCO through increased storage density, lower power consumption, and higher performance. The companies also announced that they have entered a long-term partnership that will strengthen the development cycle and distribution of enterprise-class SSDs. The partnership will now focus on meeting the evolving global enterprise demand for higher density, faster, and smarter storage infrastructure needs that complement HDD storage to enable comprehensive enterprise applications such as hyperscale data center, high-performance computing and AI. "Phison is proud to partner with Seagate to expand our enterprise SSD product line," said Sebastien Jean, CTO of Phison Electronics. "Our leading in-house ASIC technology, coupled with engineering excellence, complements Seagate's deep industry knowledge. In a show of commitment to this partnership, in 2020 we opened a development center in Broomfield, Colorado. Together, we will deliver winning solutions for a wide range of applications including Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Storage, and 5G edge computing."Seagate and Phison will work together to strengthen the industry's enterprise-class SSD product offerings focusing on best-in-class performance, cost savings, and efficiency. Optimized for specific workloads, environments, and use cases, each new product will be engineered and customized to specifically address a customer's technical needs. Detailed product announcements from this partnership will be shared in the summer of 2022.

08:07 EDT Daxor announces new data from Duke Heart on BVA-100 test - Daxor announces new data from Duke Heart that was presented on April 2nd at the American College of Cardiology, ACC, 71st Scientific Sessions and Expo in Washington, DC. Study data showed that Daxor's BVA-100 test was able to measure the intravascular congestion of heart failure patients, a key metric that is targeted to improve their outcomes. The study titled, "Intravascular Blood Volume Analysis and Hemodynamic Measures of Vascular Compliance in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure," assessed the relationship between blood volume, resting, and stress cardiovascular pressures in worsening heart failure, HF. Patients presenting to the hospital or outpatient clinic with clinical worsening HF underwent blood volume analysis measured with Daxor's BVA-100 diagnostic blood test, right heart catheterization, provocative testing including blood pressure measurement, leg raises, breathing techniques, and patient symptoms and physical exam findings. The study results showed little to no correlation between patient symptoms, physical exam or cardiac pressures as compared to direct blood volume measures.

08:06 EDT VMware and Deloitte to launch strategic Distributed Cloud Practice - VMware and Deloitte announced the creation of the Deloitte VMware Distributed Cloud - DVDC - practice to help clients by more effectively implementing and utilizing distributed cloud architectures. The strategic DVDC practice area within Deloitte will provide advanced software engineering and multi-cloud services capabilities. VMware Cross-Cloud services, particularly VMware Tanzu, will provide a cloud-native apps platform in an ecosystem strategy aiming to enable Deloitte to deliver apps to production faster and more securely across industries such as retail, public sector, health care, financial services and automotive.

08:05 EDT PPG renews sponsorship with Tasca Racing team - PPG announced its renewed sponsorship of the Tasca Racing team for the 2022 National Hot Rod Association season.

08:04 EDT Charles River acquires San Diego-based Explora BioLabs Holdings, no terms - Charles River Laboratories International announced that it has acquired Explora BioLabs Holdings Based in San Diego, California, Explora BioLabs offers contract vivarium operation services, providing biopharmaceutical clients with turnkey in vivo vivarium facilities, management, and related services to efficiently conduct their early-stage research activities. Explora BioLabs currently operates more than 15 preclinical vivarium facilities, offering AAALAC-accredited, turnkey rental space in the Southern California, San Francisco, and Boston-Cambridge biohubs, with a planned expansion in Seattle in 2022. With over 100 employees, it also offers contract vivarium management, staffing, and regulatory solutions to manage clients' research sites. The acquisition of Explora BioLabs complements and expands the Charles River Accelerator and Development Lab operation, which is part of Charles River's Insourcing Solutions business. CRADL provides AAALAC-accredited, full-service, turnkey vivarium rental space supported by Charles River's technical, vivarium, and veterinary expertise for emerging and well-established biopharmaceutical companies and academic research institutions in key biohubs, including Boston-Cambridge, San Francisco, and China.

08:03 EDT Collegium Pharmaceutical appoints McFarlane to board of directors - Collegium Pharmaceutical announced the appointment of Neil McFarlane to its Board of Directors, effective April 6, 2022. McFarlane most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Adamas Pharmaceuticals until November 2021,.

08:02 EDT T. Rowe Price names Kimberly Johnson as COO, effective April 29 - T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) announced that Kimberly Johnson has been named COO, effective April 29. Johnson will report to Rob Sharps, CEO and president, and will serve on the Management Committee. Johnson joins T. Rowe Price from Fannie Mae (FNMA), where she served as executive vice president, COO, and a member of Fannie Mae's Management Committee.

08:02 EDT Erasca to host investor event on therapeutic opportunities in cancer - Erasca announced that it will host an investor event on therapeutic opportunities in cancers driven by the RAS/MAPK pathway on Tuesday, April 12 at 4:30 PM Eastern Time. The virtual event will feature presentations from: Key opinion leader Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., from MD Anderson Cancer Center, who will comment on therapeutic opportunities and Erasca's approach to targeting cancers driven by the RAS/MAPK pathway, with a particular focus on gastrointestinal cancers; Erasca, who will provide an overview of the company's pipeline and discuss its clinical development strategy targeting the RAS/MAPK pathway for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, GI cancers, hematologic malignancies, and other tumors. Erasca will also highlight the data within its 2022 AACR poster presentations that support its robust clinical development plan

07:46 EDT SOC Telemed completes acquisition by Patient Square Capital - SOC Telemed announced the completion of its previously announced transaction to be acquired by Patient Square Capital. The acquisition was previously announced on February 3, and SOC Telemed's stockholders approved the transaction at the Special Meeting of Stockholders held on April 4. Upon completion of the acquisition, SOC Telemed stockholders received $3.00 in cash per share of Class A common stock. SOC Telemed's Class A common stock and warrants to purchase shares of Class A common stock have ceased trading and are no longer listed on Nasdaq. With the closing of the transaction, SOC Telemed will now be a private company with the flexibility and resources to continue investing in its unique clinical capabilities, innovating its offering, and expanding its footprint.

07:37 EDT Hillman Solutions Corp. appoints Koehler as VP of Investor Relations, Treasury - Hillman Solutions (HLMN) has appointed Michael Koehler as Vice President, VP, of Investor Relations and Treasury. Koehler joins Hillman with over 11 years of investor relations experience across a variety of industries. Most recently, Koehler served as Vice President of Investor Relations at Phillips Edison & Company (PECO).

07:35 EDT TG Therapeutics announces presentation of ULTIMATE I & II Phase 3 trial data - TG Therapeutics announced that data from the ULTIMATE I & II Phase 3 trials evaluating ublituximab in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, RMS, were presented yesterday during an oral session at the American Academy of Neurology, AAN, annual meeting, held in Seattle, Washington. Oral Presentation Title: Relapse Rate and Time to First Relapse Were Improved With Ublituximab vs Teriflunomide in the Phase 3 ULTIMATE I and ULTIMATE II Studies in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. In ULTIMATE I and II, peripheral B-cell numbers declined rapidly after the first ublituximab infusion and remained low during treatment, which is consistent with ublituximab's mechanism of action In the Phase 3 ULTIMATE I and II trials, the primary endpoint of ARR was significantly improved at 96 weeks for patients treated with ublituximab vs teriflunomide Both the time to first confirmed relapse and the proportion of patients with a confirmed relapse during treatment were reduced with ublituximab vs teriflunomide in both studies.

07:35 EDT BioXcel Therapeutics trading halted, news pending

07:34 EDT Sphere 3D signs CCA, to purchase 1M carbon offset credits - Sphere 3D announced that the company joined other crypto and blockchain companies by signing the Crypto Climate Accord, or CCA. The company also announced that it has contracted to purchase 1M carbon offset credits delivered over the next 14 months.

07:34 EDT OpGen's Ares Genetics provides update on collaboration with Sandoz - OpGen announced that its subsidiary, Ares Genetics, which strives to become a leader in bacterial genomics and AI-powered prediction of antimicrobial resistance, AMR, is expanding its strategic collaboration with Sandoz, aimed at driving cutting-edge digital solutions in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, and to that end has extended its collaboration agreement until January 31, 2025. The extension of the existing master services agreement with Sandoz reflects both companies' recognition of the critical importance of surveillance data to inform better prescribing and use of antibiotics - a central component of the global AMR response strategy.

07:32 EDT Oragenics extends licensing, collaboration agreement with NRC - Oragenics announced it has extended a licensing and collaboration agreement with the National Research Council of Canada, or NRC, that enables Oragenics to pursue an intranasal vaccine designed to protect against future variants of coronaviruses. The NRC cell expression technologies provide Oragenics with a platform that can generate cell lines for high-yield production of spike protein antigens for existing and emerging variants of concern. This platform could allow production of cell lines within six to eight weeks of spike gene sequence availability, compared with six to nine months for traditional production of such cell lines. The NRC technologies, developed with support from the NRC's Pandemic Response Challenge program, will expedite the evaluation of future intranasal vaccine candidates in preclinical and clinical studies.

07:31 EDT Nucor confirms $15M investment in NuScale Power - Nucor (NUE) announced that it is investing $15M in NuScale Power, a developer of small modular reactor nuclear plants. Nucor has entered into an agreement to fund NuScale via a private placement in the Special Purpose Acquisition Company, Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. (SV), that intends to merge with NuScale. This capital will support the path to commercialization of NuScale's proprietary and innovative SMR technology, the NuScale Power Module.

07:23 EDT Legend Power ships 20 SmartGATE platforms in Q2 - Legend Power Systems announces that it shipped twenty of its next generation SmartGATE systems in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and is now preparing to produce fifty more systems for upcoming quarters. Legend assessed forecasted demand, supplier lead times and throughput capabilities and placed component orders for the capacity to assemble and deliver a minimum 50, Gen3 SmartGATE Platforms during upcoming quarters.

07:20 EDT Ondas completes acquisition of Ardenna assets - Ondas Holdings announced it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the assets of Ardenna, a provider of image processing and machine learning software solutions for rail infrastructure monitoring and inspections. With this acquisition, American Robotics' automated drone platform will leverage Ardenna's Rail-Inspector advanced analytics software to accelerate growth within the rail industry. As part of Ondas and American Robotics rail data solutions, Ardenna's rail track inspection analytics will be offered to rail customers by American Robotics as an automated data solution integrated with the Scout System or as a stand-alone data analytics service.

07:18 EDT Tufin to be acquired by Turn/River Capital for $570M - Turn/River Capital announced that it has successfully raised its fifth fund, Turn/River Capital V. The oversubscribed Fund V closed at its $1.35B cap with strong support from all current investors, as well as a select number of notable new investors. The amount also includes $100M from the employees of Turn/River Capital, as well as their friends and families. Also, in a separate press release, Tufin announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Turn/River Capital for $570 million.With Fund V, Turn/River will continue to execute on its strategy of investing in and scaling growing technology companies with the help of its proprietary operations team.

07:13 EDT Joint Corp. acquires North California regional developer territory for $2.4M - The Joint Corp. acquired the regional developer rights for the Northern California territory for $2.4M on April 1, 2022. The demographic modeling for the Northern California region indicates the potential for a total of 75 clinics. This includes The Joint's April 1st acquisition of the right to oversee 56 franchised clinics - 20 of which are currently operating and will continue to be franchised and 36 of which the licenses have been sold and are in active development. It also includes another 19 sites for future corporate or franchised clinic development. "The acquisition of the regional developer rights for the Northern California territory is an important development for our growth in California," said Peter D. Holt, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Joint Corp. "Within every franchise concept that utilizes a regional developer program to accelerate its growth, regional developer territory ownership will shift from time to time based on a variety of reasons - both financial and personal. At The Joint, we stand ready to evaluate such opportunities to execute the best course of action for our patients, franchisees, and shareholders. We acquired the regional developer territory rights in Northern California to increase our margin contribution within the franchise segment and will now directly support the existing and future franchised units that will remain in the territory. This acquisition also provides the opportunity to accelerate our growth of greenfield clinics within the territory."

07:11 EDT PolyPid secures $15M non-dilutive secured term loan facility - PolyPid announced that the Company has entered into a secured loan agreement for up to $15 million with Kreos Capital VI. Proceeds from the loan will be used to support global commercialization preparations for the launch of D-PLEX100 for the prevention of abdominal soft tissue surgical site infections, as well as further advancement of PolyPid's OncoPLEX development platform and general corporate purposes.

07:10 EDT Bio-Path appoints Sherwood to board of directors - Bio-Path announced the appointment of Aline Sherwood to its board of directors on March 31, 2022. Sherwood replaced Martina Molsbergen, who stepped down from the board of directors on February 14, 2022. Sherwood is Principal of Scienta Communications, an independent communications consultancy providing strategic public relations and corporate communications counsel to life sciences companies.

07:09 EDT Tufin to be acquired by Turn/River Capital for $13.00 per share in cash - Tufin announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Turn/River Capital, a software-focused investment firm, in an all-cash transaction that values Tufin at approximately $570M. Under the terms of the agreement, Tufin shareholders will receive $13.00 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 44% over Tufin's closing share price on April 5 the last full trading day prior to the transaction announcement, and a premium of approximately 54% over Tufin's one-month volume-weighted average closing price through April 5. Upon completion of the transaction, Tufin will become a private company and will partner with Turn/River to further accelerate its mission of helping enterprise customers use policy-driven automation to address the security threats of tomorrow. "Today's announcement is a testament to Tufin's leadership in security policy management for hybrid networks and cloud environments," said Ruvi Kitov, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Tufin. "Since our inception nearly 20 years ago, we have made significant strides in developing our policy-based automation solution and have become a market leader. This deal represents an important milestone for Tufin, and as a private company, we will have the opportunity to accelerate our growth through investments in our technology, people, and go-to-market. The team at Turn/River specializes in helping software companies like Tufin, and with their partnership and expertise I am confident that we will be able to achieve our long-term goals faster." The agreement includes a 30-day "go-shop" period expiring May 5, 2022, which allows the Board and its advisors to actively solicit, initiate, encourage or facilitate alternative acquisition proposals from third parties. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Tufin shareholders and receipt of regulatory approvals. Upon closing of the transaction, the Company's common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. The Company will continue to be headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ruvi Kitov, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Tufin and Reuven Harrison, CTO and Co-Founder of Tufin, have entered into voting agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their shares of Company common stock in favor of the transaction.

07:06 EDT Sellas Life achieves development milestone for approval of IND for GPS in China - SELLAS Life Sciences announced that an Investigational New Drug, IND, application to initiate the first clinical trial in China for 3D189, also known as SELLAS' galinpepimut-S, GPS, has been approved by China's National Medical Products Administration, NMPA. SELLAS' partner in China, 3D Medicines, submitted the IND, for a small Phase I clinical trial investigating safety, earlier this year. 3D Medicines expects to initiate the trial by mid-2022 and will be responsible for all expenses related to executing the trial in China. The approval of the IND by the NMPA triggered a $1M milestone payment to SELLAS, which the Company expects to receive in the second quarter of 2022. 3D Medicines' current clinical development plan provides for initiation of a Phase II clinical trial following receipt of satisfactory safety data from the Phase I study; the initiation of the Phase II study will also trigger a milestone payment to SELLAS. "We are pleased that the 3D Medicines' IND application filed earlier this year is now approved by China's NMPA which allows 3D Medicines to move forward with their planned Phase 1 clinical trial. This marks the beginning of development of GPS in China which is an important milestone for SELLAS," said Dragan Cicic, MD, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, of SELLAS.

07:04 EDT Tonix Pharmaceuticals announces IND clearance of TNX-102 SL - Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has cleared the Investigational New Drug, IND, application to support a Phase 2 clinical trial with TNX-102 SL as a potential treatment for a subset of patients with Long COVID Syndrome whose symptoms overlap with fibromyalgia. Long COVID is now known officially as Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19, PASC. "We are excited to have received the FDA's IND clearance to begin clinical trials of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of Long COVID," said Seth Lederman, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Tonix Pharmaceuticals. "Over 30% of people who recover from COVID-19 continue to experience a constellation of symptoms long past the time that they have recovered from acute COVID-19 illness. The symptoms of Long COVID, which can include fatigue, multi-site pain, sleep disturbances, fevers, shortness of breath, cognitive impairment, gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety, and depression, can persist for many months and can range from mild to incapacitating. Our study will focus on testing TNX-102 SL in the treatment of patients with multi-site pain associated with Long COVID. This group of patients have symptoms that overlap with other chronic pain conditions, which as a group have been termed, 'chronic overlapping pain conditions. This type of pain syndrome is increasingly recognized as nociplastic pain, and the underlying mechanism as 'central sensitization.' Fibromyalgia is considered one of the chronic overlapping pain conditions and our experience with TNX-102 SL in fibromyalgia is the motivation for undertaking the development of TNX-102 SL in patients with Long COVID whose symptoms overlap with fibromyalgia."

07:03 EDT AirNet Technology entered into investment agreement with Unistar Group - AirNet Technology has entered into an investment agreement with Unistar Group, Herman Man Guo, chairman and CEO of the Company, and Dan Shao, Guo's spouse. Pursuant to the agreement, the company has agreed to issue 177,953,891 ordinary shares with a par value of 0.1c per share, or approximately 100% of the company's outstanding shares prior to closing of the transactions contemplated thereunder, and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 117,805,476 newly issued Shares to Unistar Group and Northern Shore Group in exchange for the delivery and transfer of 5,000 ANTMINER S19 and 2,000 INNO A11 computer servers to further expand the company's cryptocurrency business. The warrants are exercisable in three tranches if and when the market capitalization of the company equals or exceeds $500M, $1B and $1.5B, respectively. Unistar Group shall have the rights to nominate new members of the board of directors of the company as replacements for the then-existing directors of the company. The transactions contemplated under the agreement are expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.

07:02 EDT Boeing, Microsoft expand partnership in digital aviation - Boeing (BA) and Microsoft (MSFT) announced they are deepening their strategic partnership to accelerate Boeing's digital transformation. Through the expanded collaboration, Boeing will leverage the Microsoft Cloud and its AI capabilities to update its technology infrastructure and mission-critical applications with intelligent new solutions that are data driven, further opening new ways of working, operating and doing business.

06:53 EDT NuScale Power, Spring Valley announce $15M PIPE investment from Nucor - NuScale Power and Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. (SV) announced that Nucor (NUE) has committed to a $15M private investment in public equity in furtherance of the NuScale-Spring Valley business combination. This increases the total PIPE commitment for this transaction to $236M. With this additional $15M PIPE commitment from Nucor, NuScale and Spring Valley have secured $55M in additional PIPE funding since announcing their initial business combination agreement in December 2021. In March, SailingStone Capital Partners committed to a $10M PIPE investment, following the February announcement of the satisfaction of the previously disclosed contingency with respect to $30M of the PIPE commitment from Samsung C&T Corporation which ensured that, pending satisfaction of remaining closing conditions, the minimum cash threshold for the business combination can be met. Including Fluor's (FLR) $110M secondary sale to JBIC, $165M of NuScale equity has been secured in PIPE commitments or sold by Fluor at approximately $10 per share since the announcement in December. The $236M in total PIPE proceeds, along with more than $232M in Spring Valley's trust account subject to redemptions by Spring Valley's shareholders, will be used to bolster and accelerate the commercialization of NuScale's SMR technology. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter and is subject to approval by Spring Valley's shareholders as well as other customary closing conditions.

06:38 EDT Novartis announces FDA approval of Vijoice for select PROS patients - Novartis announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to Vijoice for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 2 years of age and older with severe manifestations of PIK3CA-Related Overgrowth Spectrum, or PROS, who require systemic therapy. "Vijoice is the first FDA-approved treatment for PROS, a spectrum of rare conditions characterized by overgrowths and blood vessel anomalies impacting an estimated 14 people per million. In accordance with the Accelerated Approval Program, continued approval may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit from confirmatory evidence," the company stated.

06:33 EDT Dave & Buster's to acquire Main Event for $835M, Chris Morris to be named CEO - Main Event announced that Ardent Leisure Group and RedBird Capital have entered into an agreement with Dave & Buster's to acquire Main Event. Upon closing of the transaction, Main Event's current CEO Chris Morris will be named CEO of Dave & Buster's. The transaction represents a total enterprise value of $835M and is projected to close later this year, with specific timing subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Ardent Leisure shareholders and the expiration of the waiting period under the HSR Act. Main Event will continue to operate as a distinct brand serving families of all ages under Dave & Buster's. Sheehan will return to his role as board chair following the completion of the acquisition.

06:32 EDT Dave & Buster's to acquire Main Event, Chris Morris to become CEO of D&B - Dave & Buster's announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Main Event from Ardent Leisure Group Limited and RedBird Capital Partners. Upon closing, Chris Morris, the current CEO of Main Event will be named CEO of Dave & Buster's. Main Event is a family entertainment concept with 50 locations in the U.S, including three recently acquired The Summit locations in Colorado. The all-cash transaction, which was unanimously approved by both Boards of Directors, represents a total enterprise value of $835M. The transaction is expected to close later this year, but specific timing for closing is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Ardent Leisure stockholders and regulatory review. The purchase price represents an unsynergized valuation multiple of approximately 9x Main Event's 12-month Adjusted EBITDA as of December 31, 2021 and the company expects that upon the closing of the transaction there will be approximately $20M of synergies to be achieved within the first two years from store support center consolidation and supply-chain efficiencies. The company expects the acquisition to be accretive both from an earnings and growth perspective. Dave & Buster's expects to utilize cash on hand and proceeds from committed bank financing to fund the acquisition. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and BMO Capital Markets Corp. are the joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners for the committed financing.

06:22 EDT Twitter testing edit feature, kicking off within TwitterBlue in 'coming months' - Twitter said on Tuesday: "now that everyone is asking... yes, we've been working on an edit feature since last year! no, we didn't get the idea from a poll. we're kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn't, and what's possible." Reference Link

06:09 EDT Intel suspends operations in Russia - Intel issued the following statement on the war in Ukraine: "Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia's war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace. Effective immediately, we have suspended all business operations in Russia. This follows our earlier decision to suspend all shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war, particularly the people of Ukraine and the surrounding countries and all those around the world with family, friends and loved ones in the region. We are working to support all of our employees through this difficult situation, including our 1,200 employees in Russia. We have also implemented business continuity measures to minimize disruption to our global operations."

06:06 EDT United Therapeutics' Tyvaso DPI shows safety and tolerability in PAH - United Therapeutics (UTHR) announced the publication of additional clinical and long-term safety data from the BREEZE study evaluating Tyvaso DPI - treprostinil - in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension - PAH - in the journal Pulmonary Circulation. The publication evaluated the BREEZE study and its ongoing optional extension phase, and concluded: Tyvaso DPI's delivery device, along with the clinical results from BREEZE, may facilitate the introduction of inhaled treprostinil earlier in the clinical course of PAH for appropriate patients; doses of Tyvaso DPI above the current recommended dose of nebulized Tyvaso were well tolerated, potentially allowing for titration to higher dose levels without resulting in prolonged treatment sessions; a simplified dosing regimen could potentially increase patient compliance; and Tyvaso DPI has a pharmacokinetic profile comparable to nebulized Tyvaso, such that patients will not have to use more drug than nebulized Tyvaso to get the same treprostinil blood concentration or treatment effect. Tyvaso DPI is a next-generation dry powder formulation of Tyvaso, which is currently undergoing review by the FDA. United Therapeutics has developed Tyvaso DPI under a collaboration and license agreement with MannKind (MNKD). If approved, Tyvaso DPI is expected to provide a more convenient method of administration as compared with traditional nebulized Tyvaso therapy. The BREEZE study's primary objective of the study was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of Tyvaso DPI. Top line data showing the BREEZE study met its primary objective were released in January 2021. Secondary objectives of the study included changes in six-minute walk distance, device preference and satisfaction, and patient reported PAH symptoms and impact.

06:02 EDT Iveda Solutions' products spec'd into the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project - Iveda announced that its products have been spec'd into the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project. This project is the largest national infrastructure plan consisting of ten major construction projects spanning 4,564 hectares beginning this year with completion expected in 2028. Central to the project is the expansion of the Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan. Trade zones and industrial zones will be key additions. The project will prioritize six industries -- biotechnology, cloud computing industry, aviation, international logistics, smart automobile and green energy. Taiwan developers aspire to be a major economic and trading hub in Asia, energizing the flow of people, capital and information. IvedaXpress IP cameras with its cloud management platform, IvedaAI intelligent video search platform for face recognition, object search and thermal detection, and weather and IR sensors for electric fences have been vetted and spec'd into the project. The ten construction companies contracted for the project must follow approved specifications for various products. The IvedaXpress cloud management platform that Iveda built at a Chunghwa Telecom data center will generate recurring cloud hosting revenue for five years.

05:20 EDT NextEra Energy subsidiary provides statement on eagle deaths at wind farms - NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, president and CEO and Era Energy Partners president Rebecca Kujawa issued the following statement regarding the announced agreement between the Department of Justice and ESI Energy, a NextEra Energy Resources affiliate, concerning eagle deaths at certain wind farms. "Today, ESI Energy voluntarily entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice related to the accidental fatalities of eagles at certain wind farms owned and/or operated by NextEra Energy Resources and NextEra Energy Partners. We disagree with the government's underlying enforcement policy, which under most circumstances makes building and operating a wind farm into which certain birds may accidentally fly a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) - even when the wind farm was developed and sited in a way that sought to avoid avian wildlife collisions. The reality is building any structure, driving any vehicle, or flying any airplane carries with it a possibility that accidental eagle and other bird collisions may occur as a result of that activity."

05:12 EDT Advanced general counsel Tom McGimpsey to retire, Elizabeth Vonne to succeed - Advanced Energy announced that Elizabeth Vonne has been appointed executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, reporting to Steve Kelley, president and chief executive officer. Elizabeth will replace Tom McGimpsey, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, who is retiring from the company, effective April 15.

05:04 EDT Ballard Power receives Type Approval by DNV for marine fuel cell module FCwave - Ballard Power announced it has received Europe's industry first Type Approval by DNV, a classification and certification body, for its marine fuel cell module FCwave. The company said, "The Type Approval marks an important step in commercializing Ballard's fuel cell technology for marine applications and is key to including fuel cells as part of zero-emission solutions for the marine industry. The Type Approval process is extensive, involving a series of simulations and tests which were carried out at Ballard's global Marine Center of Excellence in Hobro, Denmark, where the FCwave is developed and manufactured."