Stockwinners Market Radar for September 22, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:05 EDT Cathie Wood's ARK Investment bought 1.64M shares of Ginkgo Bioworks today

18:35 EDT FedEx sees no cash restructuring charges from FY23 cost reduction - Says demand levels of late August expected to continue through 2022.

17:51 EDT Roku hires Fox Entertainment's Charlie Collier - Roku ( ROKU) announced that three senior executives have been named as presidents of the company's media, devices, and consumer experience business areas. Media industry veteran Charlie Collier will be joining Roku as President, Roku Media, effective in late October, based in New York. Under Collier's leadership, Roku Media will reinforce Roku's commitment to serving advertisers, content partners, and consumers across Roku's market-leading streaming platform. In addition, Mustafa Ozgen and Gidon Katz are being elevated from their current senior vice president roles at Roku. Ozgen will now serve as President, Devices, and Katz will now serve as President, Consumer Experience. Collier, Ozgen, and Katz will report to Anthony Wood, Roku Founder and CEO.

17:39 EDT Raytheon Technologies awarded $985.35M Air Force contract - Raytheon has been awarded a $985.35M cost-plus-fixed-fee, with performance incentives, task order for the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, or HACM. The task order provides for the HACM weapon system design, development and initial delivery through the performance of model-based critical design review, qualification, integration, manufacturing and testing. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by March 2027. This award is the result of a limited sources competition with three sources. FY22 research and development funds in the amount of $100M are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is the contracting activity.

17:32 EDT Ballard Power receives order from Siemens Mobility to power passenger trains - The company states: "Ballard Power S announced an order for 14 x 200 kW fuel cell modules from Siemens Mobility GmbH, a leading supplier in the development of alternative drives, to power a fleet of seven Mireo Plus H passenger trains. Delivery of the 14 fuel cell modules is expected to start in 2023 with the fleet planned to be in service in Berlin-Brandenburg region in late 2024. In addition to the initial order of 14 fuel cell modules, Siemens Mobility also signed a letter of intent with Ballard for the supply of 200 fuel cell modules totaling 40 MW over the next six years, including a firm commitment on 100 of the fuel cell modules totaling 20MW. The modules will be used for Siemen's Mireo Plus H trains."

17:13 EDT Ennis appoints COO and Chief Revenue Officer - Ennis has appointed Wade Brewer to the position of COO and Terry Pennington has been appointed as Chief Revenue Officer. Brewer brings a total of 38 years of print industry experience to the COO position. He has served as Ennis' Director of Manufacturing since 2021 and before that, held the title of Business Unit Director for nine years, helping manage all of the company's 50+ production facilities. Brewer started his printing career in 1984 at Transkirt as a Senior Product Manager. Brewer has also previously held management positions at Ward Kraft, Cenveo, and PrintXcel. Pennington served in various senior and executive management roles in the printing sector for 26 years before joining Ennis in 2006. Pennington was initially responsible for 15 Ennis printing facilities until 2010 when he assumed Vice President of Sales.

17:03 EDT Carvana in $2B line of credit extension deal with Ally till September 2023 - On September 22, Carvana (CVNA) and Ally Financial (ALLY) entered into a Third Amended and Restated Inventory Financing and Security Agreement to, among other things, extend the duration of the line of credit until September 22, 2023 at $2.2B, including a $200M participation from Deutsche Bank , New York Branch .On September 22, the Company and Ally also entered into a separate Inventory Financing and Security Agreement to finance the Company's used vehicle inventory. The line of credit under the 18-Month Floor Plan Facility is up to $2B, which becomes available following the maturity and repayment of the 12-Month Floor Plan Facility, and its maturity date is March 22, 2024.

16:51 EDT Point72 Asset Management reports 5.3% passive stake in Reata Pharmaceuticals - Point72 Asset Management disclosed a 5.3% stake in Reata Pharmaceuticals, which represents over 1.66M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

16:51 EDT Green Plains Partners announces executive leadership appointments - Green Plains announced changes to its executive leadership team. Patrich Simpkins transitions from CFO to Chief Transformation Officer, Jim Stark transitions from Executive VP to CFO of Green Plains and Green Plains Partners, Jamie Herbert joins the company as Chief Human Resources Officer, and Grant Kadavy joins the company as Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations. Patrich Simpkins will develop and lead the Office of Transformation as the Chief Transformation Officer. Simpkins has served as CFO since 2019, having previously served as Chief Development Officer from 2014 until 2019, and as Chief Risk Officer from 2014 through 2016. Prior to joining Green Plains in 2012, Simpkins held senior management positions with SensorLogic, TXU Corporation, Duke Energy and Louis Dreyfus Energy. Jim Stark rejoined Green Plains in January 2022 after serving as Vice President, Investor Relations at Darling Ingredients since 2019. Prior to that, Stark led Investor Relations and Media Relations at Green Plains for over 10 years. Herbert comes from Capstone IT. Grant Kadavy, Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations, held various executive positions at Darigold, including Chief Growth and Risk Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer, between 2016 and 2022. Prior to that, he spent almost 20 years with Cargill in various leadership positions including President of Cargill Americas and General Director of Cargill Mexico. Simpkins and Stark will transition into their new roles Oct. 1. Kadavy and Mr. Herbert will join Green Plains in early October.

16:49 EDT Boeing to pay $200M to settle SEC charges related to 737 MAX - The SEC stated in a press relealse: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged The Boeing Company and its former CEO, Dennis A. Muilenburg, with making materially misleading public statements following crashes of Boeing airplanes in 2018 and 2019. The crashes involved Boeing's 737 MAX airplane and a flight control function called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). According to the SEC's orders, after the first crash, Boeing and Muilenburg knew that MCAS posed an ongoing airplane safety issue, but nevertheless assured the public that the 737 MAX airplane was "as safe as any that has ever flown the skies." Later, following the second crash, Boeing and Muilenburg assured the public that there were no slips or gaps in the certification process with respect to MCAS, despite being aware of contrary information... The SEC's orders against Boeing and Muilenburg find that they negligently violated the antifraud provisions of federal securities laws. Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, Boeing and Muilenburg consented to cease-and-desist orders that include penalties of $200 million and $1 million, respectively. A Fair Fund will be established for the benefit of harmed investors pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002." Reference Link

16:47 EDT Director of HealthEquity Sacks sells $1.8M in company shares - Director of HealthEquity Sacks Ian Sacks disclosed that he had sold 25,000 shares of company stock at $72.28 per share on September 20, for a total transaction amount of $1,806,925.

16:39 EDT APA Corp. engages GHD for emissions data verification - APA Corporation announced its engagement of GHD, a privately-owned global professional services company specializing in the implementation and verification of sustainability projects. GHD is an international, employee-owned network of environmental, engineering, design and construction professionals. Founded in Australia in 1928, the firm comprises more than 10,000 employees with multi-disciplinary expertise that work in 200 offices across five continents. Over the next two years, GHD will serve as an independent, third-party verifier of environmental projects emissions data, supporting the improvement of emissions reporting methods and allowing a more fulsome evaluation of how to responsibly meet growing worldwide energy demand.

16:35 EDT Gladstone Commercial acquires industrial assets in Alabama. Florida for $13.6M - Gladstone Commercial has acquired two industrial assets, totaling 116,706 square feet, in Jacksonville, Florida and Fort Payne, Alabama, for a total purchase price of $13.6M at a weighted GAAP capitalization rate of 7.45%. The Jacksonville, Florida asset was acquired in a sale/leaseback transaction with twenty years of remaining absolute NNN term. The Fort Payne, Alabama asset was purchased through an UPREIT transaction and carries 14.8 years of remaining NNN term. Both industrial assets are consistent with Gladstone Commercial's growth strategy of acquiring functional assets leased to credit-worthy tenants in strong industrial locations. .

16:34 EDT Citius collaborating with University of Pittsburgh for I/ONTAK trial in cancer - Citius Pharmaceuticals announced a collaboration with Dr. Haider Mahdi at the University of Pittsburgh in an investigator-initiated trial to evaluate I/ONTAK in combination with pembrolizumab in the treatment of recurrent or metastatic solid tumors. The study will also investigate the alteration of the immune microenvironment within tumors and peripheral blood. Secondary endpoints include the objective response, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Additionally, Citius is collaborating with an investigator-initiated study at the University of Minnesota. This Phase 1 dose-finding study to evaluate I/ONTAK prior to tisagenleucel CAR-T therapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma enrolled its first patient in May 2021.

16:32 EDT Dentsply Sirona names Glenn Coleman as CFO - Dentsply Sirona (XRAY) announced that Glenn Coleman has been appointed executive VP and CFO, effective September 26. He succeeds Barbara Bodem, who has served as interim CFO since May. Bodem will remain with the company and continue to serve as an advisor to Coleman until October 24. Coleman brings 30 years of financial management expertise to Dentsply Sirona. He joins the company from Integra Lifesciences (IART).

16:27 EDT AXT Inc. to effect 1-for-15 reverse split of common stock - Avenue Therapeutics announced that it will effect a 1-for-15 reverse split of its common stock, which will be effective for trading purposes on the Nasdaq Capital Market as of the commencement of trading on September 23. The reverse stock split was approved on July 25 by stockholders representing approximately 73% of the voting power of the outstanding voting stock of the company, with authorization to determine the final ratio having been granted to the company's board of directors. The reverse stock split is primarily intended to bring the company into compliance with Nasdaq's $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement for continued listing. The company is simultaneously effecting a reduction in the number of authorized shares of common stock from 50,000,000 to 20,000,000.

16:23 EDT BigBear.ai names Dan Jones chief products officer, Sean Rick CAO - BigBear.ai announced several senior leadership promotions that position the Company for success as a more scalable, profitable, and innovative business. Dan Jones has been promoted to Chief Products Officer, leading all product management, user experience, and engineering functions for BigBear.ai's SaaS platform and software applications. Reporting directly to BigBear.ai CEO Dr. Reggie Brothers, Jones takes over leadership of the Company's technology strategy following the departure of Brian Frutchey, former Chief Technology Officer. Frutchey will serve as an advisor to BigBear.ai in support of key Federal Defense and Intelligence customers. Previously, Jones served as BigBear.ai's Senior Vice President of Products. Sean Ricker has been promoted to the newly created position of Chief Accounting Officer, reporting to Julie Peffer, Chief Financial Officer. Ricker will develop and deploy financial strategies that strengthen BigBear.ai's financial position, streamline processes, ensure compliance, and facilitate the Company's expansion into new areas. Previously, Ricker served as BigBear.ai's Corporate Controller. Andre Hentz has been named to the newly created position of Chief Transformation Officer, consolidating the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Administrative Officer positions. In this role, Hentz will drive organizational improvements and operational efficiency to support the Company's strategic goals. He will also report to Dr. Brothers. Previously, Hentz served as BigBear.ai's Chief Administrative Officer. Tony Barrett has been named President and General Manager of Federal Markets, reporting to Dr. Reggie Brothers, Chief Executive Officer. In this role, he will lead the strategy and delivery of expert consulting and innovative, AI-powered analytics, cyber operations, and digital transformation solutions for BigBear.ai's Federal customers. Additionally, Barrett will oversee the Company's Federal business development efforts to deepen customer relationships and build new ones. Previously, Barrett served as the President of BigBear.ai's Cyber and Engineering sector.

16:21 EDT Mosaic reports August potash revenue $576M vs. $196M in last year's August -

16:20 EDT T2 Biosystems announces commercial expansion though distributor in Baltic Region - T2 Biosystems announced the execution of a territory exclusive distribution agreement in the Baltic Region, including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Under the terms of the agreement, T2 Biosystems will sell T2Dx Instruments, along with T2Bacteria, T2Candida and T2Resistance Panels through the distributor. The execution of this exclusive distribution agreement further expands T2 Biosystems' commercialization. Epidemiology studies have shown that the Baltic region has a higher average incidence of sepsis per population than Western Europe.1 There have been national guidelines in the region to address the impact of sepsis.2 The introduction of the T2Dx Instrument and sepsis panels into these countries will allow rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes, in hours instead of days, enabling clinicians to achieve targeted therapy, faster.

16:18 EDT VICI Properties invests in Great Wold Lodge Gulf Coast Texas - VICI Properties announced that the company has agreed to provide a mezzanine loan for up to $127.0 million to Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. related to the development of Great Wolf Lodge Gulf Coast Texas, a more than $200 million family resort project in Webster, TX. The 532-room indoor water park resort was officially announced today during a groundbreaking event and is expected to start welcoming guests in mid-to-late 2024. The mezzanine loan has an initial term of 3 years with two 12-month extension options subject to certain conditions. The investment is expected to be funded with cash on hand in accordance with a construction draw schedule. This transaction represents VICI Properties' third mezzanine loan investment with Great Wolf for a total capital commitment of $265.5 million as part of the Company's strategic arrangement to provide up to $300 million of mezzanine financing to support the funding of the development of Great Wolf's domestic and international indoor water park resort pipeline.

16:17 EDT Guidewire announces $400M share repurchase program - Guidewire announced that its board of directors approved a share repurchase program with authorization to purchase up to $400M of its outstanding shares of Common Stock, effective immediately. Repurchases under the program may be made in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, with the amount and timing of repurchases to be determined at Guidewire's discretion, depending on market conditions and corporate needs. Open market repurchases will be structured to occur in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including within the pricing and volume requirements of Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Guidewire may also, from time to time, enter into Rule 10b5-1 plans to facilitate repurchases of its shares under this authorization. This program does not obligate Guidewire to acquire any particular amount of Common Stock, and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time at the discretion of Guidewire's board of directors. Guidewire expects to fund repurchases with existing cash and cash equivalents, working capital or cash flows from operations. As of July 31, 2022, Guidewire had cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $1.2 billion.

16:16 EDT TechnipFMC awarded 'significant' subsea contract for Shell development - TechnipFMC (FTI) has been awarded a significant engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract by Shell plc (SHEL) for the Jackdaw development, located in the United Kingdom North Sea. The contract covers pipelay for a 30 kilometer tieback from the new Jackdaw platform to Shell's Shearwater platform, as well as an associated riser, spoolpieces, subsea structures, and umbilicals. The tieback will use pipe-in-pipe technology, which is designed for high pressure, high temperature use. Jonathan Landes, President, Subsea at TechnipFMC, commented, "We're excited to embark on this significant project together in the UK North Sea. Our strong technical record and our ability to design, engineer, construct and install were key to our success in winning this award." For TechnipFMC, a "significant" contract is between $75M and $250M.

16:11 EDT Imax acquires streaming technology company Ssimwave - Imax has acquired Ssimwave, a provider of AI-driven video quality solutions for media and entertainment companies. Through its patented technology, Ontario-based Ssimwave enables streaming and broadcast providers on any device for on-demand and live video. Media companies currently partnering with Ssimwave to optimize video include Disney, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery. The acquisition is expected to be accretive in 2023 and have minimal financial impact in 2022. Imax will work with Ssimwave in the near term to further grow its business and product suite, including international expansion. Longer-term, Imax's technology and post-production teams will work with Ssimwave's engineering team to develop new solutions for delivering Imax-quality video experiences across platforms, around the world. Imax acquired Ssimwave for $18.5M in cash and $2.5M in stock with additional earnout consideration of $4M, subject to achieving certain operating performance and financial objectives.

16:07 EDT Vinci Partners' Impact and Return Strategy announces investment in Efficopar - Vinci Partners Investments announced that "Vinci Impacto e Retorno IV", or "VIR IV" the impact family of funds managed by Vinci Partners' Private Equity strategy, entered into an agreement to acquire a minority stake with co-control governance in Efficopar, a Brazilian small-and-medium sized enterprises specializing in water and sanitation efficiency services. VIR IV has a unique strategy in Brazil, with a dual mandate to generate favorable market returns and an impact, through the acquisition of minority holdings in Brazilian SMEs that exhibit a potential for growth and clear and measurable environmental, social and governance goals. This transaction marks VIR IV's sixth investment, as it reaches over 50% gross allocation of the Fund's R$1B in total capital commitments in less than two years since its first investment. Founded in 2020 through the acquisition of B&B, an 18-year-old business, Efficopar is mainly focused on providing business-to-business services to large water and sewage utilities throughout Brazil. The Company expanded its services portfolio in 2021 by incorporating additional services such as the collection, monitoring and telemetry of operational data, and adding industries, hospitals, and shopping centers to its client portfolio.

16:02 EDT Titan Medical publishes patent application for single access RAS systems - Titan Medical announced the publication of international patent application No. PCT/CA2022/050392, which the company anticipates pursuing in the United States and other key markets under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT. The patent application generally discloses dexterous endoscope technologies for use with RAS systems that are designed to provide a robust workspace field of view greater than those provided by prior endoscope technologies, which are designed to capture only a portion of a surgical site. Technology described in the patent application could be utilized in a variety of single access RAS systems, including those designed to support three instruments that are simultaneously positionable within an insertion conduit.

15:45 EDT Freshpet trading resumes

15:34 EDT Rain Therapeutics trading resumes

15:30 EDT Freshpet trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:25 EDT Cano Health resumes, up 34% after report of takeover interest - Shares of Cano Health (CANO) are up $2.16, or 34%, to $8.47 after The Wall Street Journal said the company is being looked at as possible takeover candidate by Humana (HUM) and others.

15:22 EDT Steakholder Foods says 'not aware of any material negative developments' - Steakholder Foods responded to the company's recent trading performance. Arik Kaufman, CEO of the company, commented: "Members of the company's management are closely following the recent developments in connection with the company's current trading price. The company is not aware of any material negative developments that have not been disclosed to the public, and our operations, including both research and development, and commercialization efforts, are proceeding in accordance with our work plan."

15:07 EDT PlayUp to list on Nasdaq via business combination deal with IG Acquisition - PlayUp Limited, a global online betting operator, and IG Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, announced earlier today that they have entered into a business combination agreement and accompanying scheme implementation deed pursuant to which PlayUp will list on the Nasdaq via a newly-formed Irish company. The transaction values PlayUp at $350M. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Concurrent with the signing of the business combination agreement, the newly-formed Irish company has entered into a $70M standby equity purchase agreement with YA II PN, Ltd., a fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global, to provide additional liquidity to the combined company following the closing of the transaction, subject to customary conditions for facilities of this type. PlayUp holds online betting licenses in multiple jurisdictions and currently operates in Australia, New Zealand, India and several regulated states in the U.S. "PlayUp intends to continue to aggressively pursue its expansion strategy in the U.S. and around the globe," the company stated. "Currently, there is no platform that allows consumers to access every type of betting product through one single sign on. Generally, industry competitors have chosen to focus on one product or another. IGAC and PlayUp have the same shared vision: to bring the global online betting industry the most comprehensive suite of traditional and innovative betting products from all over the globe together into one app. The transaction is expected to provide PlayUp with access to fresh capital to continue expanding its vision of a true single destination for the future of online betting," said Christian Goode, CEO of IGAC. "PlayUp believes this transaction will enable us to continue investing in our proprietary technology and deliver on our aspirations to be the unrivaled entertainment and betting platform of the future. We envision a world where our players can enhance their experience betting on the products they already love plus interact with the next generation of immersive betting products that embrace newer technologies such as AR and VR," said Daniel Simic, CEO of PlayUp Limited.

14:38 EDT FedEx backs FY23 capital spending view $6.3B - FedEx expects to repurchase $1.5B of FedEx common stock during fiscal 2023. The company expects to repurchase $1B of FedEx common stock during the second quarter.

14:36 EDT FedEx raises rates an average of 6.9% effective January 2, 2023 - Effective January 2, 2023, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Home Delivery rates will increase by an average of 6.9%. FedEx Freight rates will increase by an average of 6.9%-7.9% dependent on the customer's transportation rate scale.

14:34 EDT FedEx sees generating total cost savings of $2.2B-$2.7B in FY23 - In order to align fiscal 2023 costs with demand due to a weaker-than-expected business environment, FedEx said it is prioritizing actions to quickly reduce costs. In fiscal 2023, the company expects to generate total cost savings of $2.2-2.7 billion, including reduction in variable incentive compensation, compared to the company's prior plan. In the first quarter, the company realized approximately $300 million of these savings and expects to realize approximately $700 million in savings in the second quarter. Expected cost savings in fiscal 2023 will consist of: $1.5-1.7 billion at FedEx Express, including reducing flight frequencies and temporarily parking aircraft; $350-500 million at FedEx Ground, including closing select sort operations, suspending certain Sunday operations, and other linehaul expense actions; and $350-500 million across shared and allocated overhead expenses, including reducing vendor utilization, deferring certain projects, and closing certain FedEx Office and corporate office locations.

12:54 EDT Trupanion continues to see elevated loss ratio - Trupanion, at the Jefferies Pet Care and Wellness Conference, said the company previously expected to make progress on the loss ratio this quarter, but that "We're not going to. We're going to continue to have an elevated loss ratio." The company sees adjusted operating margin for the full year in the 13%-14% range, and is targeting getting back to 14%-15%, but Q4 will "be more in the 13%-14% range." The company sees getting back to margin expansion next year.

12:38 EDT Altair intends to vote against Avalara's proposed sale to Vista Equity Partners - Altair US, LLC, a pre-IPO angel investor in Avalara and one of the company's largest shareholders, released a presentation describing it intends to reject the company's proposed sale to Vista Equity Partners. The proposed sale is subject to a vote of shareholders at the upcoming Special Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on October 14, 2022. As outlined in the presentation, Altair believes that: "The timing of the transaction is wrong: The Board decided to seek a sale of the Company during a time when macroeconomic factors like rising interest rates, inflation, supply chain disruptions and concerns over consumer spending have rattled the equity markets... The sale process was flawed: The sale process appears to have been a spur-of-the-moment decision, driven by the desires of opportunistic acquirers and guidance from a financial advisor, Goldman Sachs, who was highly incentivized to pursue and close a transaction... The price is inadequate: The bad timing and deeply flawed process resulted in a price that we believe is insufficient to compensate Avalara shareholders for forfeiting their claim on the Company's future earnings and prospects."

12:17 EDT A-Mark Precious Metals announces $1.1M settlement with CFTC - A-Mark Precious Metals announced that it and its subsidiary, Goldline, Inc., have reached a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, to fully resolve the CFTC's investigation into certain retail precious metal transactions engaged in by Goldline from April 2018 to June 2021. Pursuant to the settlement, the companies agreed to pay a fine of $450,000 and disgorgement of approximately $628,000. A-Mark and Goldline entered into the settlement without admitting or denying the CFTC's allegations and findings. "We are pleased that the matter has been resolved amicably. The settlement, which has no material financial impact on our operations, will enable us to put this matter behind us and allow Goldline to focus on its growth within our Direct-to-Consumer segment," said Steven Reiner, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets & Investor Relations of A-Mark.

12:00 EDT Rubicon Technologies falls -12.0% - Rubicon Technologies is down -12.0%, or -41c to $3.01.

12:00 EDT ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Natural Gas rises 7.2% - ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Natural Gas is up 7.2%, or 96c to $14.27.

12:00 EDT Ampex Corp rises 15.4% - Ampex Corp is up 15.4%, or $1.46 to $10.91.

11:26 EDT Lennar: Q3 cancellation rate 'slightly above' historical average

11:13 EDT Credit Suisse down 4% after report says U.S. market exit under consideration - Shares of Credit Suisse trading in New York are down 18c, or 4%, to $4.82 following the report from Reuters.

11:10 EDT Lennar: Focused on bringing down production costs

11:07 EDT Henry Ford Health of offer Galleri multi-cancer early detection blood test - Henry Ford Health and GRAIL announced Henry Ford Health as the first healthcare provider in Michigan to offer Galleri, GRAIL's Multi-Cancer Early Detection blood test. Henry Ford is among an early group of healthcare providers in the U.S. to offer this MCED test.

11:06 EDT Invitae announces publication of study data in JAMA Network Open - Invitae released a new study in JAMA Network Open, underscoring the clinical utility of the American Society of Breast Surgeons guidelines recommending universal genetic testing for patients with breast cancer, and showing universal testing improves patient outcomes. Building on a previous study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the current study is the first clinical outcomes study of a cohort of unselected patients with breast cancer who underwent universal germline genetic testing. Our data show that genetic information aids patients and their physicians in implementing effective precision treatments and personalized management for their cancer. The data confirm the clinical utility of universal germline testing for all patients regardless of cancer type, age, stage or family history as cited in landmark studies published in JAMA Oncology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology by Invitae and Mayo Clinic. In the study, clinicians were asked to assess changes to clinical management as a result of germline genetic testing results for 952 patients. Clinical recommendations were changed for 68% of patients who did not meet the criteria for testing according to previous non-universal guidelines, but were found to have pathogenic variants in cancer predisposition genes. For those with pathogenic variants that did fall within criteria according to previous guidelines, genetic testing impacted management with one or more changes to recommendations reported for 84% of patients. Clinicians considered testing beneficial for two-thirds of patients with pathogenic variants and for one-third of patients with either negative results or variants of uncertain significance. ASBrS recommended universal germline genetic testing has the potential to impact millions, as breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, affecting greater than7 million worldwide with more than 2 million new cases expected to be diagnosed each year according to the American Cancer Society. Approximately 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 39 women will die from breast cancer. Prior to the ASBrS guidelines, only about 25% of patients with breast cancer in the U.S. were getting genetic testing.

10:55 EDT ELBM Stock trading halted, news pending

10:36 EDT Entegris sees sales growth CAGR of 9% 2022-2025 - Sees 2025 sales approximately $5.2B, with EBITDA growth CAGR for 2022-2025 of 12% and a 32% margin in 2025. Sees greater than $6.00 EPS in 2025. Key assumptions include 40% flow-through to EBITDA. Comments taken from the company's Investor and Analyst Update.

10:32 EDT Visa, Finastra announce Banking as a Service collaboration - Finastra and Visa announced a Banking as a Service, or BaaS, collaboration to co-develop new functionality on Finastra's Payments Hub solutions and implement Visa Direct, which provides access to more than two billion accounts through push to account offerings. "This BaaS partnership will allow banks to offer their customers greater choice in how to route cross-border payments, with banks essentially embedding Visa products. We are excited to partner on this proposition with Visa as it provides a very attractive solution for banks seeking to help increase overall customer satisfaction and loyalty through a transparent and cost-effective digital payments option," said Barry Rodrigues, EVP Payments Business Unit at Finastra.

10:07 EDT Faraday Future says efforts to raise capital impacted by misinformation campaign - The company said, "Faraday Future Intelligent Electric board of directors, along with its advisors, continues to pursue financing alternatives with multiple parties to support the production of its FF 91. Unfortunately, efforts to raise capital have been impacted by a misinformation campaign of completely baseless allegations that certain directors are conspiring to pursue an unnecessary bankruptcy for their own personal gain. The Company hired an independent law firm to conduct a thorough independent external investigation with respect to these allegations. The independent investigation, led by a former prosecutor, found that these false allegations were without merit. These unfounded allegations have nevertheless continued against certain of the Company's officers and directors. Threats that began with lawsuits have escalated to threats of physical violence and even death threats. Faraday takes these threats seriously and is referring them to the appropriate law enforcement authorities, including state and local police, the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and international authorities. The Company will cooperate with law enforcement in investigating and support any prosecution of any person found to be involved in any threat or act of violence to the fullest extent of the law. The Company takes threats against its directors, officers and employees seriously and will undertake all efforts to protect such parties from any and all such inappropriate, uninformed, and unacceptable conduct. Any party involved in making or encouraging such threats will be brought to justice."

10:00 EDT FactSet falls -7.0% - FactSet is down -7.0%, or -$30.21 to $400.24.

10:00 EDT Chimera falls -9.7% - Chimera is down -9.7%, or -73c to $6.83.

10:00 EDT Tetra Technologies rises 7.4% - Tetra Technologies is up 7.4%, or 29c to $4.20.

09:52 EDT ShiftPixy trading resumes

09:48 EDT Chimera falls -7.0% - Chimera is down -7.0%, or -53c to $7.03.

09:48 EDT AMTD Digital rises 5.5% - AMTD Digital is up 5.5%, or $4.03 to $76.93.

09:47 EDT ShiftPixy trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:43 EDT Knightscope announces contract with commercial real estate broker - Knightscope announces that one of the largest commercial real estate services companies in the world has reached an agreement to engage Knightscope's K5 Autonomous Security Robot patrols for a prominent Chicago skyscraper. This is Knightscope's first contract in Chicago and the state of Illinois.

09:39 EDT Biomea Fusion presents translational data on BMF-219 - Biomea Fusion presented "Oral long-acting menin inhibitor normalizes type 2 diabetes in two rat models" at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting. The presentation highlighted BMF-219's ability to improve pancreatic beta cell area and function in two preclinical rat models of diabetes. This data showed BMF-219's robust and prolonged glycemic control, insulin sensitization, and reduction of weight and lipid levels in preclinical rat models. In addition, and for the first time, Biomea Fusion presented data showing an increase in beta cell function based on HOMA-B determination in the two rat models and an increase in beta-cell area in the ZDF rat model and an increase in beta cell mass in an ex-vivo human donor beta-cell islet model. This data provides further support for the potential of BMF-219 as a long-acting, disease modifying treatment for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a multi-factorial disease that typically requires daily treatment with multiple agents with various mechanisms of action to achieve glycemic control. The global burden of diabetes has been rapidly increasing with over 400 million people currently struggling with diabetes globally. The data presented at EASD shows that BMF-219 was superior to pioglitazone in an oral glucose tolerance test, an assessment of glucose metabolism and processing, in the STZ beta cell ablation model during the treatment period. In this model, BMF-219 but not active comparator, pioglitazone, restored non-fasting glucose levels to near normal baseline by treatment day eight and significantly reduced blood glucose levels vs. vehicle and pioglitazone during the OGTT in STZ rats at day 15, suggesting that BMF-219 rapidly induced pancreatic beta cell regrowth and function. Furthermore, BMF-219 administration resulted in a near doubling of HOOMA-B value compared to vehicle control and pioglitazone in the STZ rat model. In the other gold standard type 2 diabetes model, ZDF rats treated with BMF-219 exhibited an increase in beta cell mass and function while on BMF-219 and for two weeks after BMF-219 was removed. ZDF rats treated with vehicle and pioglitazone saw a reduction in IHC-Insulin staining, a proxy for beta cell mass of -33% and -28%, respectively, while rats treated with BMF-219 saw an increase of +2%. Two weeks after BMF-219 treatment, the ZDF rats continued to see a normalization of their HOMA-B score, with approximately 350% improvement compared to vehicle treated ZDF rats, which remained highly diabetic with poor beta cell function. In the ZDF model, BMF-219 and pioglitazone showed similar glycemic control during an OGTT while drug was present but only BMF-219 treated rats saw weight loss during treatment with BMF-219 and maintained glycemic control two weeks after washout, indicating prolonged glycemic control. In addition to OGTT, blood glucose, insulin, C-peptide, Hemoglobin A1C, lipemic levels, and weight were also assessed.

09:35 EDT Verizon to build private 5G network in aircraft hangar on JBPHH - Verizon (VZ) announced an $11.5M Tranche 2 award from the U.S. Department of Defense to construct a private 5G network inside an aircraft maintenance hangar on Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. The design will allow military leaders to leverage the high-speed, high-bandwidth and low-latency of Verizon 5G, providing on-base personnel with the ability to explore how enhanced wireless coverage can help increase operational efficiencies. Ericsson (ERIC) will serve as a partner to Verizon on the Tranche 2 award work, bringing their Ericsson Private 5G solution which offers a core and radio access network to the test site.

09:31 EDT Inpixon to reduce employee headcount by 20% - Inpixon announced that it is implementing a layoff which will reduce its employee headcount by approximately 20% in connection with an initiative to reduce operating expenses. "Over the last few years Inpixon has pursued an aggressive M&A strategy, investing in cutting edge and innovative technologies, positioning itself as an industry leader with a full-stack Indoor Intelligence solution," stated Nadir Ali, CEO of Inpixon. "We believe this strategy has helped to improve and strengthen our overall financial position, however, we have to be mindful of the current economic environment. We recognize that it is imperative to take steps to conserve cash resources and to ensure that our efforts are focused on objectives that we believe will have the greatest opportunity to bring the company closer to cash flow positive and to achieving profitability. In addition to the layoff implementation, Inpixon has also taken efforts to minimize special projects that were anticipated to have a longer path to revenue generation and to streamline other operating expenses where possible. Inpixon has made significant strides in the growth of our business, and we are confident in our ability to be successful in achieving our goals. We believe this reduction in headcount, along with the other cost saving initiatives are necessary and prudent given the global economic uncertainties and that they will ultimately enable us to better meet customer and shareholder needs. In addition to maintaining our focus on strong organic growth, we continue to explore a variety of key strategic initiatives and will provide updates when appropriate. We believe this reorganization, designed to improved profitability, will support ongoing strategic discussions, while positioning us for long-term success."

09:27 EDT Dolphin Entertainment's Midnight Theatre celebrates opening week - Midnight Theatre, a major investment of Dolphin Entertainment, launched its first season with a bang this week, kicking off with Peacock's premier of new romantic comedy Meet Cute on Tuesday. Future programming will include talent from the Broadway stage, comedy, music, DJs and other unique special events - including a showcase Magic Tonight on September 24 and British singer/songwriter Raye on November 7

09:24 EDT Cosmos Health signs agreement with Virax Biolabs - Cosmos Holdings (COSM) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Virax Biolabs (VRAX), to become the distributor of Monkeypox Virus Real-Time PCR Detection Kits. Cosmos will have exclusive distribution rights for Greece and Cyprus, with the opportunity to distribute the test kits across Europe on a non-exclusive basis.

09:21 EDT H&R Block announces Round Up, Credit Score Monitoring for Spruce app - H&R Block announces two new and enhanced features, Round Up and Credit Score Monitoring, adding to a robust product feature set designed to help improve customers' financial health. Spruce makes it easy for customers to turn spare change into savings with the addition of its new Round Up feature. This optional feature allows customers to automatically round up transactions to the next dollar amount and deposit the spare change into their savings account. When customers opt-in to Round Up through the Spruce app, they can see how spare change quickly adds up and helps build savings. Spruce has enhanced the credit score monitoring feature, adding new capabilities that allow users to take a deeper look into factors impacting their credit score. To activate the feature, customers visit the credit tab in the app to complete a simple activation process. After that, they'll gain access to view their FICO score any time.

09:18 EDT Ford names Doug Field chief advanced product development, technology officer - Ford announced it is accelerating the Ford+ plan with leadership changes. Doug Field is named chief advanced product development and technology officer. In this expanded role, Field will continue to oversee EV products, software and digital systems development, and advanced driver assistance, while also taking on design and vehicle hardware engineering. Lisa Drake, vice president, EV industrialization, will now also be responsible for manufacturing engineering as Ford scales to a run rate of 2M EVs per year by the end of 2026. Chuck Gray, who has been vice president, EV technology, is named vice president, vehicle hardware engineering. Both Drake and Gray report to Field, as does Anthony Lo, Ford's chief design officer. At the same time, Ford is transforming its global supply chain management capability to support efficient and reliable sourcing of components, internal development of key technologies and capabilities, and cost and quality execution. John Lawler, Ford's chief financial officer, will lead Ford's global supply chain organization on an interim basis until a chief supply chain officer is selected. Jonathan Jennings, vice president, supply chain, will also take additional responsibility for supplier technical assistance and quality. He will report to Lawler. As previously announced, Hau Thai-Tang, chief industrial platform officer, will retire October 1 after a more-than-34-year career with Ford. Ford also announced that Dave Filipe, vice president, vehicle hardware modules, will retire effective December 1 after 28 years with Ford.

09:16 EDT New York State to standardize on C3 AI Energy Management - As part of a major sustainability effort, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul has issued an executive order mandating that NY state agencies use the NY Power Authority's NY Energy Manager application, a system developed and deployed with C3 AI, the leading enterprise AI software application company.

09:14 EDT Elys Game Technology announces expanded partnership with Wright Bet in Ohio - Elys Game Technology announced that the partnership with Wright Bet in Ohio has surpassed 50 "Type C" retail host locations that have agreed to install Elys' sports wagering solution, exceeding the company's initial expectations for the first month. Elys has submitted its Type C application and is currently following OCCC protocols to complete outstanding items. The launch of sports wagering in the state of Ohio is subject to regulatory approval, and all required licenses must be approved by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

09:10 EDT Liquid Media's DCU enters multi-year agreement with Screenvision Media - Liquid Media announces that its subsidiary, Digital Cinema United, DCU, a leading worldwide technical content services company, has entered into a multi-year service agreement with Screenvision Media. Under the Agreement, DCU will manage the distribution of advertising content at select Screenvision Media exhibitor partner theatres. Additionally, Digital Cinema United will install its cloud-based electronic delivery platform, DCU Connect, across over 650 US theatres and manage content delivery for Screenvision Media's advertising content. It will replace the physical delivery of USB drives. Liquid Media CEO, Josh Jackson, stated, "This agreement strengthens our footprint within Screenvision's vast network of over 2,000 theaters. Delivering innovation to the industry through our DCU Connect technology, Liquid remains committed to executing on its growth initiatives across all subsidiaries as we continue to build long-term shareholder value."

09:09 EDT AgriFORCE announces purchase agreement with Stronghold Power Systems - AgriFORCE Growing Systems announced it has entered into a three-way agreement with Stronghold Power Systems, SPSI, and Stronghold Engineering, SEI, whereby AgriFORCE will acquire and the Parties will jointly develop a 34-acre property, which will serve as the first Coachella Campus for AgriFORCE's proprietary and state-of-the-art controlled environment agriculture, CEA, facilities. The agreement represents a collaboration between AgriFORCE, SEI and SPSI, in the City of Coachella. At full operational optimization, each new facility is expected to generate in excess of $40M of annualized, high-margin IP royalty and leasing fees to the Company. The purchase price for the land is $2.8M of AgriFORCE common stock and $1.5M of cash at the time of property transfer, which is expected during the first quarter of 2023. Troy McClellan, President of AgriFORCE Solutions, stated "AgriFORCE is thrilled to collaborate with Stronghold Engineering and Stronghold Power Systems to acquire this strategic property to develop our Coachella Campus. This collaboration enables us to advance deployment of our proprietary IP to deliver cutting edge agricultural facilities and operating procedures, allowing the production of better crops. We believe that once completed, this development will bring enhanced agriculture, job opportunities, as well as community engagement activities, illustrating our commitment to positively transform farm, food, and family every day, everywhere."

09:07 EDT Affirm and Amazon introduce pay-over-time option to customers in Canada - Affirm (AFRM) announced the expansion of its relationship with Amazon (AMZN) to Canada, bringing increased payment flexibility and transparency to customers shopping on Amazon.ca. This payment option will be available during checkout to all eligible customers in both English and French within the next month.

09:07 EDT United Maritime initiates additional $3M stock buyback plan - United Maritime Corporation completed the buyback of approximately 1.86 million shares, representing approximately 20% of the Company's outstanding common shares, at an average price of $1.6095, fully utilizing its previously announced share buyback plan. In addition, the Company's Board of Directors has authorized an additional share buyback plan, where it may repurchase up to an additional $3 million of its outstanding common shares in the open market. This Plan represents up to an additional 26% of United's market capitalization as of September 21, 2022.

09:06 EDT Affirm and Amazon introduce pay-over-time option to customers in Canada - Affirm (AFRM) announced the expansion of its relationship with Amazon (AMZN) to Canada, bringing increased payment flexibility and transparency to customers shopping on Amazon.ca. This payment option will be available during checkout to all eligible customers in both English and French within the next month.

09:05 EDT Veracyte announces VANDAAM trial data published in journal - Veracyte announced that data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute demonstrate that the company's Decipher Prostate Genomic Classifier may help identify African American men with early, localized prostate cancer who are most likely to harbor more aggressive disease. The data, from the prospective, multi-site VANDAAM Phase 2 clinical study, suggest that the genomic test may offer a robust improvement over clinical factors alone in risk-stratifying prostate cancer among African American men, which may help reduce disparities in prostate cancer outcomes. The VANDAAM trial enrolled men with low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer as classified by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines for Prostate Cancer. For the current analysis, researchers identified a clinically balanced cohort of 226 men from the study and performed genomic analysis using the Decipher Prostate classifier to generate Decipher risk scores. Results show that a higher proportion of African American men with NCCN low and favorable intermediate risk prostate cancer had higher Decipher scores as compared to non-African American men. Men who self-identified as African American were more than twice as likely as non-African American men to have their cancer re-classified from NCCN low or intermediate risk based on a high Decipher score. In addition, the data show that younger African American men had higher Decipher scores, whereas in non-African American men, higher risk of metastasis scores were observed in older men.

09:04 EDT CohBar announces 1-for-30 reverse stock split - CohBar announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 1-for-30 reverse stock split of the company's common stock. The reverse stock split will become effective at 12:01am ET on September 23, 2022 and begin trading on a split-adjusted basis at the market open on September 23, 2022 with the new CUSIP number 19249J 307. The company is implementing the reverse stock split to enable it to regain compliance with the Nasdaq $1.00 minimum bid price requirement. The reverse stock split was approved by the company's stockholders at the company's 2022 Annual Meeting, held on June 15, 2022, in a range not to exceed 1-for-30. As a result of the reverse stock split, every 30 shares of the company's common stock issued and outstanding will be automatically reclassified into one share of common stock. No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse split. Stockholders will be entitled to a cash payment in lieu of any fractional shares. All outstanding stock options, warrants, and equity incentive plans will be proportionately affected. The exercise prices of the outstanding stock options, warrants, and equity incentive plans will be adjusted in accordance with their respective terms. The reverse stock split will affect all stockholders uniformly and will not affect any stockholder's ownership percentage of CohBar's shares, with the exception of those stockholders receiving cash in lieu of fractional shares. Concurrent with the approval of the reverse stock split, the shareholders also approved an effective increase in the number of authorized shares of the company's common stock. Subsequent to the reverse stock split and adjusting for the effective increase in authorized shares, there will be approximately 12,000,000 shares of common stock authorized for issuance.

09:03 EDT CBAK Energy Technology wins $28M battery order from European customer - CBAK Energy Technology has received an order from a leading European provider of heating, cooling and renewable energy systems for a supply of lithium-ion batteries worth EUR28.4M, or $27.8M. On May 13, CBAK Energy received an order worth EUR28.2M or $29.3M from the same Customer. The company expects to deliver an approximlately EUR17.1M of batteries to the customer in 2022 and the rest in 2023. The customer has a global presence with annual sales of billions of Euros. CBAK Energy has been supplying batteries to the customer since 2020.

09:02 EDT CBAK Energy Technology wins $28M battery order from European customer - CBAK Energy Technology has received an order from a leading European provider of heating, cooling and renewable energy systems for a supply of lithium-ion batteries worth EUR28.4M, or $27.8M. On May 13, CBAK Energy received an order worth EUR28.2M or $29.3M from the same Customer. The company expects to deliver an approximlately EUR17.1M of batteries to the customer in 2022 and the rest in 2023. The customer has a global presence with annual sales of billions of Euros. CBAK Energy has been supplying batteries to the customer since 2020.

08:55 EDT enVVeno Medical announces development of enVVe for CVI - enVVeno Medical Corporation announced the development of a non-surgical transcatheter based replacement venous valve called enVVe, for the treatment of Chronic Venous Insufficiency of the deep veins of the leg. Preliminary bench testing and animal testing for enVVe have already been successfully completed and the Company has filed an application seeking approval to begin first-in-human testing, which it expects to receive by the end of 2022. The Company's surgical replacement venous valve, called the VenoValve, is currently being evaluated in the SAVVE U.S. pivotal trial. As previously announced, enVVeno will host a conference call and webcast today, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 4:30 PM ET. The enVVe first-in-human trial, which will take place in Colombia, will be known as the Transcatheter Anti-reflux, Venous Valve Endoprosthesis FIH study. The initial phase of the TAVVE-FIH study will seek to enroll 3 to 5 patients across multiple sites. Several parameters will be evaluated over the course of the study including safety and technical success of the enVVe venous valve delivery system, and the safety and clinical performance of the enVVe venous valve. With its potential appeal to a broader patient population, enVVeno estimates the total U.S. market for enVVe to be approximately 3.5 million patients. The Company recently reported cash and cash equivalents of $47.2 million at the end of the second quarter of 2022. The budget for the TAVVE-FIH study has already been included in the Company's financial guidance, which includes cash resources expected to fund operations through the end of 2024.

08:46 EDT Gilead joins effort to improve viral hepatitis management in Vietnam,Philippines - Gilead Sciences announced a new public-private initiative with the Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam a collaboration between Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. This multi-year initiative will have a phased approach to help address barriers that limit viral hepatitis diagnosis and care at primary healthcare facilities in Vietnam and the Philippines, two countries with high burdens of hepatitis B and C. Gilead and HAIVN will work together with a multi-stakeholder coalition, involving national ministries of health, academic stakeholders including the University of Philippines-Manila , provincial hospitals and primary healthcare centers to support this pilot program. The focus of the program will be on person-centered approaches in training non-specialist community-based healthcare providers in prevention and management of viral hepatitis, incorporating education, screening, diagnosis and linkage to care for hepatitis B and C into routine patient visits for at-risk populations. Gilead and HAIVN will also aim to strengthen primary healthcare systems including the referrals and counter-referral systems to enhance coordination between specialist and primary care. The two organizations will make the outcomes and learnings from the initiative public to contribute towards better understanding of adequate public health approaches to improve person-centered, community-based management of viral hepatitis.

08:42 EDT Gladstone Capital announces investment in Salt & Straw - Gladstone Capital Corporation announced that it has completed a debt investment in support of Enlightened Hospitality Investments and KarpReilly's investment in Salt & Straw. Gladstone Capital's funding will help the Company add locations across the U.S. and continue the strong growth trajectory of its delivery and e-commerce businesses.

08:41 EDT AptarGroup announces exclusive collaboration with Fluidda - Nanopharm, an Aptar Pharma company and leader in contract research and development services for orally inhaled and nasal drug products announced an exclusive collaboration with Fluidda, a leader in the field of Functional Respiratory Imaging. The companies will leverage their respective proprietary technology platforms to help accelerate U.S. Food & Drug Administration approvals for orally inhaled generic product via the alternative bioequivalence pathway. Nanopharm was acquired by Aptar in 2019, as part of the company's strategy to expand its services offerings and partner with pharmaceutical companies earlier in the drug development process. Photo: Aptar and FluiddaNanopharm has pioneered the development of the alternative bioequivalence regulatory pathway for U.S. FDA approval of generic OIDPs for Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease using its proprietary in vitro and in silico service platform, SmartTrack . Fluidda's proprietary in silico platform FRI delivers quantitative predictions of regional drug deposition in disease state lungs using Computational Fluid Dynamics . The FRI platform provides critical information to help understand the availability and activity of the drug at the site of action in the lungs, when complemented by Nanopharm's local lung physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model platform and its in vitro data.

08:39 EDT Clearmind applies for patent to treat obesity, metabolic syndrome - Clearmind Medicine (CMNDF) announced it has filed a provisional patent application related to metabolic syndromes including obesity. The patent application is another result of the company's ongoing collaboration with SciSparc (SPRC), a specialty clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focusing on the development of therapies to treat disorders of the central nervous system, and with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The patent application is the third application resulting from the collaboration with SciSparc, referring to the proprietary combination of Clearmind's MEAI, a novel proprietary psychedelic treatment for various addictions, and SciSparc's Palmitoylethanolamide, the active ingredient of its proprietary CannAmide, which is used for treating obesity and its related metabolic disorders. "Food addiction and obesity are an epidemic raging in the United States and around the world, yet there are few safe and effective anti-obesity treatments on the market," said Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani, Clearmind's Chief Executive Officer. "In pre-clinical studies MEAI has shown great potential in its ability to treat different addictions. Certain metabolic syndromes Can be associated to addictive behaviors, and we believe combining MEAI with SciSparc's CannAmid may create a valuable tool for treating these conditions."

08:37 EDT Luna Innovations announces new $14.2M supply contract with Intuitive Surgical - Luna Innovations (LUNA) announced a new, $14.2M contract with its long-standing partner Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). This new agreement provides for the supply of critical photonic subsystems manufactured by Luna and incorporated into Intuitive's next generation robotic surgical systems.

08:35 EDT Albireo Pharma announces $115M royalty monetization agreement with Sagard - Albireo Pharma entered into a royalty monetization agreement with Sagard Healthcare Partners for a total of $115M upfront in return for a mid-single digit average royalty rate on Bylvay global annual net revenues. "With this agreement, we are significantly strengthening our balance sheet, providing us flexibility, and extending our cash runway beyond at least the topline data readout of our BOLD study in biliary atresia in 2024," said Ron Cooper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Albireo. "These additional resources allow us to build Bylvay into a billion-dollar product and advance the development of our early asset pipeline." Sagard will provide the $115M of funding. The agreement provides Albireo with a buy-out option at 1.3x invested capital in the first three years, rising to 1.45x in the fourth year, 1.65x in the fifth year, and 2.0x thereafter, net of royalties paid. The agreement grants a first lien security interest on Albireo's worldwide annual consolidated net revenues relating to Bylvay and associated additional collateral, and does not provide for liens on Albireo's intellectual property. For the commitment to provide this cash payment, Sagard will receive a 12.5% royalty rate on Albireo's worldwide Bylvay annual net revenues for revenues up to $250M; the royalty rate reduces to 5% for annual net revenues above $250M, and further reduces to 1% on annual net revenues exceeding $350M if the FDA approves Bylvay in biliary atresia, providing a mid-single digit average royalty rate based on current sales forecasts. The total royalties are capped at 1.6x invested capital if repaid by December 31, 2028, and 2.0x thereafter. Upon achievement of the cap amount, the royalty agreement will terminate.

08:33 EDT The Very Good Food Company products available on Canadian on-line platform - The Very Good Food Company announced that seven of its best-selling Very Good Butchers products have become available for sale online in a Variety Pack with a major, membership-only wholesale chain. The arrangement significantly increases the availability of Very Good's natural, plant-based food products for Canadian consumers. The Variety Pack contains two packages of each product.

08:33 EDT Aspen Group to surrender Arizona approval for pre-licensure RN program - In a regulatory filing, Aspen Group disclosed that on September 20, Aspen University and the Arizona State Board of Nursing entered into a consent agreement under which Aspen agreed to voluntarily surrender its program approval for its pre-licensure registered nursing program in Phoenix, Arizona. "Aspen sought the agreement after concluding that it was unable to meet the minimum 80% NCLEX first-time pass rates for calendar year 2022, which is a requirement of an earlier consent agreement that Aspen and the Board signed in March 2022. Aspen did so to minimize uncertainty for its students. Aspen had suspended admissions to its Arizona program in January 2022. Under the terms of the Consent Agreement, Aspen will continue its current Arizona nursing program for all current students and provide regular reports to the Board of Nursing about the program. It remains accountable to the Board to ensure that its current students receive expected instruction and learning opportunities. Once all currently enrolled students in the program have either completed the program or ceased enrollment, or within two years, whichever is sooner, Aspen's program approval will be automatically voluntarily surrendered for a minimum period of two years. Having entered into this agreement with the Arizona State Board of Nursing, Aspen will suspend new enrollments and complete instruction of its program for currently enrolled Core nursing students in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas," the filing stated.

08:31 EDT Eastman Chemical signs supply agreement for recycling facility in France - Eastman and Interzero announced a long-term supply agreement for Eastman's molecular recycling facility in Normandy, France. Interzero will provide up to 20,000 metric tons per year of hard-to-recycle PET household packaging waste that would otherwise be incinerated. Headquartered in Germany, Interzero is a service provider of circular solutions in Europe and is strongly connected to its sister company ALBA Group ASIA. Eastman's planned molecular recycling facility in France will become the world's largest material-to-material molecular recycling plant. Once complete, the facility will recycle approximately 160,000 tons of hard-to-recycle polyester waste annually. The project is expected to be operational in 2025.

08:26 EDT Edgio sets all-time traffic record, cites Amazon Thursday Night Football - Edgio (EGIO) announced the completion of its most successful week of enabling streaming, culminating in a record-setting day of traffic to support Amazon's (AMZN) Thursday Night Football last Thursday night. "This past week highlights the value that Edgio brings to the streaming industry," said Bob Lyons, Edgio CEO. "After many months of planning and preparing with our client, we saw 160% increase on Thursday from the prior day peak traffic, which was the highest we have ever delivered during a live event. Not only were we able to support the massive traffic peaks, but it was done all with the quality you would expect from what third-party benchmark firm, Perfops, currently ranks as the #1 most performant CDN in the world."

08:25 EDT Ensysce Biosciences announces initiation of second human abuse potential study - Ensysce Biosciences announced the initiation of PF614-104, 'A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo and Active-Controlled, Crossover Study to Evaluate the Oral Abuse Potential of PF614 Compared with Oxycodone Immediate-Release Tablets, and Placebo in Non-Dependent Recreational Opioid Users.' The study is being conducted by Dr. Brad Vince, from Dr. Vince Clinical Research, at one of the most innovative and technologically advanced clinical pharmacology units, newly constructed and recently opened in Overland Park, Kansas. This study is designed to test and confirm that PF614 will have less potential for drug liking versus immediate release oxycodone at equivalent drug dosages. The PF614-104 study will examine the desirability of three doses of PF614 versus a current marketed equivalent and placebo in recreational drug users. Eligible subjects will receive five treatments in a randomized, double-blind, crossover manner. The primary outcome measure will be 'Drug Liking' and the key secondary endpoint will be 'Take Drug Again.'

08:24 EDT Engine Gaming extends expiring convertible debentures - Engine Gaming and Media announced that is has extended convertible debentures that were due to expire in October and November 2022 with an aggregate principal amount of $1,250,000. The original convertible debentures had an annual interest rate of 10% per annum and a conversion price of $8.90 per share. In place of the expiring convertible debentures, the Company has issued a new convertible debenture with an aggregate principal amount of $1,250,000 which expires on August 31, 2025, carries an annual interest rate of 7% per annum and is convertible into common shares of the Company at a conversion price of $1.10 per share.

08:22 EDT Siyata Mobile receives purchase order from federal governement contractor - Siyata Mobile announced that it has received a purchase order from a federal government contractor who will provide Uniden cellular booster kits and accessories to the U.S. Navy. The order includes the Uniden U70P Cellular Booster Kits and accessories that will be utilized for numerous naval buildings with poor cell phone signal reception.

08:19 EDT American Resources' ReElement enters MOU with USA Rare Earth Magnets - American Resources Corporation announced that its majority owned subsidiary, ReElement Technologies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for offtake with USA Rare Earth Magnets, a wholly-owned subsidiary of USA Rare Earth, to supply them with recycled, high-purity rare earth oxides for their Stillwater, Oklahoma magnet manufacturing facility. Once fully-commissioned, the Stillwater facility is expected to be the first fully domestic rare earth magnet manufacturer in the United States. USARE initially acquired the neodymium iron boron permanent magnet manufacturing equipment in April of 2020. The equipment is the only scalable, sintered neo-magnet manufacturing system in the Western Hemisphere. USA Rare Earth Magnets plans to commence production in 2023. This partnership will restore the domestic supply chain for permanent magnets and will help drive the nation and electrified economy to a growth-focused and more secure supply chain. Upon commencement, ReElement Technologies will supply USA Rare Earth Magnets separated and purified rare earth oxides from its current and future facilities based out of Noblesville, Indiana. The rare earth oxides will be produced from fully domestic sources from recycled, end-of-life products such as wind turbines, electric vehicle motors, medical devices and e-waste. ReElement will handle the full logistics and recovery process of such products to separate and purify the elements back to an isolated 99.5%+ purity in an oxide format. Furthermore, ReElement will work with USA Rare Earth Magnets to capture any magnet waste material from their manufacturing process to be recovered and re-purified to go directly back into their magnet manufacturing process. USA Rare Earth Magnets will purchase such oxides from ReElement on a delivered basis to their Stillwater, Oklahoma facility, where they are currently installing and constructing their magnet technology and equipment. At the facility, they will convert the oxides to alloys and utilize such alloys in the magnet manufacturing process. The magnet equipment enables USA Rare Earth Magnets to produce magnets at commercial scale for the automotive, defense, medical and industrial applications that are in high demand in North America.

08:18 EDT Ensysce Biosciences 2nd abuse potential study of PF614 vs. Oxycodone - Ensysce Biosciences announced the initiation of PF614-104, 'A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo and Active-Controlled, Crossover Study to Evaluate the Oral Abuse Potential of PF614 Compared with Oxycodone Immediate-Release Tablets, and Placebo in Non-Dependent Recreational Opioid Users.' The study is being conducted by Dr. Brad Vince, from Dr. Vince Clinical Research , at one of the most innovative and technologically advanced clinical pharmacology units, newly constructed and recently opened in Overland Park, Kansas. This study is designed to test and confirm that PF614 will have less potential for drug liking versus immediate release oxycodone at equivalent drug dosages.

08:14 EDT Fujifilm Diosynth breaks ground on microbial manufacturing facility - FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies announced the start of the expansion of its large-scale microbial manufacturing facility located at the Billingham, UK campus. The company held a small internal ceremony at the site on 6 September 2022. To accommodate the increasing demand for FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies' microbial development and manufacturing services, the expansion will include over 1858 square meter of modular clean room space, including two primary recovery and refolding suites, two purification suites and a column packing room. The new space is designed to maximize the emerging SymphonX technology for clinical and commercial manufacturing. Once the expansion is complete in late 2023/early 2024, the manufacturing capacity of the large-scale microbial production facility will increase by 70%. This expansion is part of a previously announced GBP 400 million planned investment package at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies' UK site, to expand cell culture capabilities, viral vector and gene therapy services, and microbial production. The complete expansion is expected to create up to 350 highly-skilled jobs.

08:11 EDT Alvotech, STADA increase access to adalimumab for patients in Switzerland - Alvotech and STADA Arzneimittel announced the launch of Hukyndra, a high-concentration, low-volume, citrate-free formulation, biosimilar, in Switzerland. Hukyndra is marketed by Spirig HealthCare AG, STADA's subsidiary in Switzerland. Hukyndra is available in 80 mg/0.8 mL and 40 mg/0.4 mL presentations in a safety device for self-administration and 40 mg/0.4 mL in a pre-filled auto-inject pen, designed with the ease of patients in mind.

08:10 EDT Cinemark, D-BOX expand relationship with agreement for recliner seats - D-BOX Technologies, together with Cinemark Holdings, announces a new agreement to install D-BOX haptic recliner seats in 12 additional locations, increasing the total number of Cinemark auditoriums with D-BOX technology to nearly 300 throughout the United States.

08:09 EDT Avalara shareholder Altair issues presentation against acquisition by Vista - Avalara pre-IPO angel investor and one of the company's largest shareholders, Altair, released a presentation describing it intends to reject the company's proposed sale to Vista Equity Partners. The proposed sale is subject to a vote of shareholders at the upcoming Special Meeting of Shareholders on October 14. As outlined in the presentation, Altair believes that "the timing of the transaction is wrong:...during a time when macroeconomic factors like rising interest rates, inflation, supply chain disruptions and concerns over consumer spending have rattled the equity markets. At the same time, volatile capital markets have made financing more expensive and more difficult to obtain for acquirers. In our view, there was no urgent need to sell the company; Avalara has ample cash and a bright future with a near-term path to achieving operating profitability. The sale process was flawed: it appears to have been a spur-of-the-moment decision, driven by the desires of opportunistic acquirers and guidance from a financial advisor, Goldman Sachs, who was highly incentivized to pursue and close a transaction. The Board engaged with a very limited number of potential buyers, and..we are concerned that Vista may have been the preferred buyer all along. The price is inadequate:...Vista's offer is well below sell-side analyst price targets prior to the deal and below Avalara's historical valuation multiple".

08:09 EDT Provident Bank appoints Damiano Tulipani as SVP, CISO - Provident Bank announced that Damiano Tulipani has joined the organization as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer. In this role, Mr. Tulipani will play a critical role in providing vision, leadership, oversight, and management of the overall information and cybersecurity policies, procedures, and practices of the organization. He will also advise the Bank's Executive Leadership Team and staff on the appropriate administration of information security standards, assisting in developing plans within business units to manage risks effectively by understanding the fundamental aspects of business objectives. Prior to joining Provident, he was Vice President and Head of Cybersecurity with Investors Bank.

08:07 EDT Comscore, dentsu partner transact on advanced audiences in local TV - Comscore announced a partnership with dentsu enabling the agency network to shift local TV buying to a Comscore-based currency, which supports transactions on advanced audiences in all 210 local markets. Comscore and dentsu will conduct test buys on behalf of two clients in top 10 local markets based on impressions delivered to advanced audiences built in dentsu's proprietary audience-building platform M1, with buys planned to go live in early 2023. The partnership will expand to additional markets throughout next year. All major broadcast stations in the markets and local cable inventory will also participate in these buys.

08:06 EDT Payoneer announces Assaf Ronen joins as Chief Platform Officer - Payoneer announced that Assaf Ronen has joined as the company's first Chief Platform Officer. Starting this week, he will lead Payoneer's newly-established Platform division, which brings together Payoneer's Technology, Product, and High Value Service units into one integrated team. Payoneer's customers are entrepreneurs and SMBs in emerging markets, and the world's leading digital brands that work with them. Through the Platform division, Payoneer will continue to innovate and expand its High Value Service offerings, including B2B AP/AR, Working Capital, and Merchant Services, enhance the functionality of the Payoneer Account, and build new financial products over time for Payoneer's customers.

08:05 EDT Cerence introduces Cerence Exterior Vehicle Communication - Cerence introduced Cerence Exterior Vehicle Communication, a new suite of AI and voice-powered innovations that enables drivers to interact with their cars from the outside. The new offering is extraordinarily useful for today's car owners and will be critical for the autonomous, shared vehicles of the future. Cerence Exterior Vehicle Communication brings together the company's industry-leading technologies - speech recognition, natural language understanding, text-to-speech, speech signal enhancement, and voice biometrics - with the growing number of exterior microphones on today's cars to enable a new set of use cases.

08:04 EDT Corbus Pharmaceuticals' CRB-913 shows potential anti-obesity activity - Corbus Pharmaceuticals announced that preclinical data for CRB-913 are being presented in an oral presentation at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes 2022 Annual Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. The data show that in the diet-induced obesity mouse model, CRB-913 monotherapy demonstrated a reduction in body weight, body fat content, food consumption, liver triglycerides, and liver fat deposits as well as improvements in insulin resistance and leptinemia. Combining CRB-913 with the incretin analogues liraglutide, semaglutide, or tirzepatide demonstrated significant additive effects across all these outcomes.

08:04 EDT Boxed partners with Snowflake to provide Spresso SaaS capabilities - Boxed (BOXD) announced that its Spresso SaaS platform is now Powered by Snowflake (SNOW). Powered by Snowflake is a Snowflake Partner Network program, designed to accelerate the ability of companies and application developers to deliver differentiated applications by supporting them across all stages of the application journey in Snowflake's Data Cloud. "Our partnership with Snowflake allows our customers to seamlessly share the data needed to drive Spresso outputs. In turn, Spresso models run in the Snowflake Retail Data Cloud, returning predictive analytics and actionable insights to our mutual customers to achieve better business outcomes," said Jared Yaman, Chief Operating Officer at Boxed and Spresso Business Head. Through its Spresso platform, Boxed has been a longtime customer of Snowflake and a member of Snowflake Partner Connect, and now, the Snowflake Partner Network.

08:02 EDT Mobilicom secures $390,000 order from existing customer - Mobilicom Limited announced that the Company received a $390,000 purchase order from a leading US commercial drone manufacturer for its SkyHopper ProV, following a design win completion and customer trials last year. The order will be delivered throughout 2022.

08:01 EDT Accenture to acquire Inspirage, terms not disclosed - "RLH Equity Partners is pleased to announce that our portfolio company Inspirage LLC executed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Accenture. Inspirage provides enterprise clients with transformative implementation solutions for Oracle's cloud-based supply chain management software and related components of the enterprise resource planning ecosystem. The Company combines consulting and IP to help its clients manage their entire supply chain continuum from product ideation through delivery, with solutions that include product lifecycle management, demand planning, product and source material procurement, factory operations, delivery logistics, post-sale support, and financials. The Company serves a diverse client base of complex enterprises in the industrial manufacturing, oil & gas, high tech, consumer products, and life sciences sectors."

07:50 EDT SciSparc says Clearmind files patent application related to metabolic syndromes - SciSparc (SPRC) announced that Clearmind Medicine (CMNDF) has filed a provisional patent application related to metabolic syndromes including obesity, regarding the Company's collaboration with Clearmind. The patent application is the third of the collaboration, each referring to the proprietary combination of SciSparc's Palmitoylethanolamide, the active ingredient of its proprietary CannAmide and Clearmind's MEAI, a novel proprietary psychedelic treatment for various addictions and based on research at the Hebrew University.

07:39 EDT Newmont Aaron Puna as chief technology officerAnglo American - Newmont (NEM) announced that Aaron Puna will join the Company's Executive Leadership Team as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer effective January 2023. A seasoned industry leader with experience across a diverse range of commodities, Aaron further strengthens Newmont's technical, operational and management capability. Aaron most recently served as CEO of Anglo American's copper business in Chile following a series of operating and technical positions within that organization including as Group Head of Open Pit Mining. As CEO of Anglo American (NGLOY) in Chile, he oversaw all company activities in country, including three operations and a joint venture, a workforce of over 16,500 and external stakeholder engagement.

07:36 EDT Medicenna presents preclinical data on MDNA223, MDNA413 - Medicenna Therapeutics announced presentation of data from two preclinical programs that demonstrate the anti-tumor activity of the Company's anti-PD1-IL-2 BiSKIT, aka MDNA223, and long-acting IL-4/IL-13 super-antagonist, aka MDNA413. The data are featured in two separate poster presentations at the 10th Annual Meeting of the International Cytokine & Interferon Society, which is taking place both virtually and in-person at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, in Big Island, Hawaii. Poster P110: "A Next Generation Bifunctional Superkine for Immunotherapy Encompassing the Combined Therapeutic Potency of IL-2 Super-Agonist and Anti-PD1." Poster P110 includes preclinical data from in vitro and in vivo studies of MDNA223, a next generation BiSKIT consisting of an anti-PD1 antibody linked to an IL-2 super-agonist. Anti-PD1 drugs, such as Keytruda, have been approved for a number of cancer indications. In vitro data presented at the meeting demonstrated MDNA223's potency against the PD1/PDL1 checkpoint was similar to that of a control anti-PD1 antibody while displaying increased affinity for IL-2 receptor beta and no binding to IL-2 receptor alpha. This enhanced IL-2Rbeta selectivity resulted in potent and preferential stimulation of anti-cancer CD8+ T cells over pro-tumor Treg cells. These data demonstrate the therapeutic synergy resulting from the BiSKIT's ability to concurrently target PD1 and the IL-2 receptor on the same immune cells. Poster P69: Fc-MDNA413 is a Novel Long-Acting IL-4/IL-13 Super-Antagonist that Suppresses M2a TAM Skewing and In Vivo Tumor Growth Including Synergy with an IL-2 Super-Agonist. Poster P69 includes preclinical data from in vitro and in vivo studies of Fc-MDNA413, a novel, long-acting IL-4/IL-13 Superkine. Fc-MDNA413 is designed to reverse the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments of immunologically "cold" tumors by selectively binding to the IL-13 receptor alpha-1 with high affinity and blocking signaling via the Type II IL-4 receptor expressed on tumor associated macrophages and myeloid derived suppressor cells . It consists of an IL-4/IL-13 super-antagonist fused to the Fc domain for half-life extension. Data presented at Cytokines 2022 showed Fc-MDNA413 blocking the pathways that induce M2a TAMs and MDSCs to promote cancer growth and demonstrated its potential to treat cold tumors. In vitro analyses showed that the Superkine is 300-times more selective for IL-13Ralpha1 over IL-13Ralpha compared to a fusion protein consisting of Fc domain linked to wild type IL-13. This superior binding profile enabled Fc-MDNA413 to potently inhibit IL-4/IL-13 mediated functions as measured by pSTAT6 signaling, TF-1 cell proliferation, and M2a polarization of macrophages. In murine studies, Fc-MDNA413 demonstrated sustainable serum exposure at a dose that was well tolerated and inhibited tumor growth as a single agent in melanoma and colon cancer models.

07:35 EDT Merck acquires virtual fencing, live stock management firm Vence, no terms - Merck Animal Health announced that it has signed a definitive agreement under which Merck Animal Health will acquire Vence from its founders and shareholders. Vence is an innovator in virtual fencing for rotational grazing and livestock management. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Vence, a privately held company, provides enhanced technology for producers and ranchers to track, monitor and manage the movement of cattle through a high-tech platform of virtual fencing solutions. Using a computer or smartphone, customers have the capability to manage cattle movement and facilitate rotational grazing. Vence's virtual fencing technology can reduce the need for fencing to subdivide pastures and allows producers and ranchers to manage their cattle and grass inventory, while reducing costs of labor and fencing materials. "The acquisition of Vence will broaden our portfolio with complementary products and technologies to advance animal health and well-being as well as outcomes for our customers," said Rick DeLuca, president, Merck Animal Health. "Vence is a natural fit with Merck Animal Health's growing portfolio of animal intelligence products that include identification, traceability and monitoring products. This new technology will give cow-calf producers the ability to track their cattle and the ability to move them from pasture to pasture."

07:33 EDT Phio Pharmaceuticals' PH-894 shows increased T-cell persistence - Phio Pharmaceuticals' research partner, Helmholtz Munich, presented preclinical data showing that Phio's lead clinical product PH-762, an INTASYL compound targeting PD-1, increases the T cell population expressing stem cell-like characteristics, which in doing so, is expected to improve T cell persistence in vivo, therefore, resulting in enhanced duration of anti-tumor activity. This preclinical study assessed the potential of PH-762 to downregulate PD-1 to increase the frequency of a CD8 T cell population with a stem-like associated marker profile. Results showed that PH-762 treatment reduced PD-1 surface expression in T cells compared to control and PH-762 mediated PD-1 silencing increased the population of T cells that expressed stem-like markers, including higher expression levels of certain surface markers that identify stem cell memory T cells. VP of R&D Simon Fricker said, "Increasing the frequency of this cell population by downregulating PD-1 using our PH-762 INTASYL compound is expected to enhance the population of T cells that fight cancer by increasing their proliferative activity, persistence, responsiveness and cell differentiation - characteristics that are believed to improve the immune system's capacity to kill cancer cells."

07:33 EDT Ayr Wellness introduces Lost in Translation brand in four additional states - Ayr Wellness announced the launch of Lost in Translation across four additional states in Ayr's operational footprint: Arizona, Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Lost in Translation is now available in six states, including Massachusetts and its home state of Nevada.

07:29 EDT Li Auto to host launch event for Li L8 smart SUV - Li Auto will host a launch event to unveil Li L8, the Company's six-seat, large premium smart SUV for families priced below RMB400,000, on Friday, September 30, 2022, ahead of schedule. Li L8 will arrive at the Company's retail stores nationwide during the National Day holiday in China and will commence delivery in early November.

07:15 EDT FourThought Financial enters agreement to join Focus partnership - Focus Financial Partners announced that FourThought Financial, a registered investment adviser headquartered in Venice, FL, has entered into an agreement to join the Focus partnership. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.

07:09 EDT Plus Therapeutics executes $17.6M award contract with CPRIT - Plus Therapeutics announced that it has finalized and signed a grant contract with the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas, CPRIT, for its previously announced $17.6M Product Development Research funding award. The award will cover the majority of the development costs of the Company's lead investigational targeted radiotherapeutic, Rhenium-186 NanoLiposome, for the treatment of patients with leptomeningeal metastases, LM, over a three-year period, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2022. "This award from CPRIT significantly strengthens the company's balance sheet," said Marc Hedrick M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Plus Therapeutics. "This non-dilutive funding coupled with existing cash, extends our expected cash runway through 2025. Currently, our two lead CNS cancer programs are externally funded through Phase 2 and multiple clinical milestones." The agreement provides for $17.6 million in funding from CPRIT over the three-year grant period starting on August 31st, 2022 and follows the expected increase of development costs as the ReSPECT-LM clinical trial progresses to later stages: Year 1: September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023: $3.7 million; Year 2: September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024: $6.7 million; Year 3: September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025: $7.2 million. The Company reported $18.1 million in cash as of June 30, 2022. In conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and CPRIT grants, together with cash on hand, the Company believes it has capital to fund both its currently planned overhead and development expenses through 2025.

07:08 EDT Mesa Air offers accelerated path to 1,500 hours for pilots - Mesa Airlines announced that it has purchased 29 state-of-the-art Pipistrel Alpha Trainer 2 aircraft, with the option to buy an additional 75 over the next year. The new fleet will be the backbone of the Mesa Pilot Development Program, MPD, a major initiative to close the pilot shortage gap that has been affecting the industry over the last several years. As part of the program, pilots will be provided with the opportunity to accumulate up to 1,500 flight hours required to fly a commercial aircraft at Mesa Airlines. The company is investing in the new program to alleviate the pilot shortage while giving new pilots a direct route to a long-term career. Jonathan Ornstein, Chairman and CEO of Mesa said, "The pilot shortage could become a permanent feature of the airline industry if we don't get more aviators into the system," said Ornstein. "It is basic math. If there aren't enough trained pilots, customers suffer from loss of service and high-ticket prices." The aircraft will go into operation in Inverness, Florida starting in October 2022, with expansion to Arizona over the next year. At full strength, the fleet will have capacity for up to 2,000 daily hours of flying time and is expected to accommodate more than 1,000 pilots per year."

07:07 EDT Xos announces new offering to Xos Energy Solutions - Xos announced a new offering to Xos Energy Solutions, its business unit focused on comprehensive infrastructure and consulting services: a suite of Xos DC Fast Chargers that are compatible with both passenger and commercial electric vehicles, enabling a wide range of applications. The five chargers include: a 30kW portable EV charger, a 30kW wall-mount EV charger, a 60kW EV charger, a 150kW EV charger, and a 300kW EV charger. For fleet owners and operators, the chargers can be monitored through the Xosphere fleet management platform, enabling operators to remotely observe and maintain charging profiles and schedules to optimize total cost of ownership. Additionally, Xos has secured a purchase order from Morgan Services, a Chicago-based linen and uniform rental services provider, for nine Xos DC Fast Chargers.

07:05 EDT Darden reports Q1 blended same-restaurant sales increase of 4.2% - Q1 same-restaurant sales by segment: Olive Garden 2.3 %; LongHorn Steakhouse 4.2 %; Fine Dining 7.6 %; Other Business 7.6 %.

07:03 EDT Talos Energy to acquire EnVen Energy for $1.1B in cash, stock - Talos Energy announced the execution of definitive agreements to acquire EnVen Energy, a private operator in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico, for $1.1B. The strategic transaction is accretive to Talos shareholders on 2023 free cash flow per share and is immediately de-leveraging. Consideration for the transaction consists of 43.8M Talos shares and $212.5M in cash, plus the assumption of EnVen's net debt upon closing, currently estimated at approximately $50M at year-end 2022. Following the transaction, Talos shareholders will own approximately 66% of the pro forma company and EnVen's equity holders will own the remaining 34%. The transaction has been unanimously approved by each company's board. Closing is expected by year end 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. EnVen currently produces approximately 24 MBoe/d in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that is more than 80% oil-weighted, more than 90% operated and more than 95% from deepwater regions. EnVen operates numerous platforms, including five major deepwater facilities with significant open capacity and holds an acreage footprint of approximately 420,000 gross acres in core deepwater areas for future infrastructure-led development, exploitation and exploration opportunities. EnVen's infrastructure is backed by greater than $160M in restricted cash and receivables reserved against future abandonment obligations. Consideration implies a valuation of approximately 2.4x 2022 estimated hedged Adjusted EBITDA and the transaction is more than 13% accretive to Talos shareholders on 2023 free cash flow per share. Talos expects the transaction to be immediately de-leveraging at closing, with year-end 2022 leverage of less than 0.8x. Additionally, Talos will have no near-term maturities. The company expects to provide 2023 financial guidance after closing. Talos expects to generate at least $30M in annual run-rate synergies from the transaction, primarily consisting of general and administrative cost reductions. The company believes run-rate savings can be achieved in 2023 and expects additional synergies from operational cost optimization, capital high-grading and other improvements over time. The transaction, which is expected to close around year end 2022, is subject to customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and the approval of Talos and EnVen shareholders. Riverstone Holdings, which currently owns 15% of Talos, has executed a support agreement in favor of the transaction. A majority of EnVen shareholders have agreed to provide their written consents in favor of the transaction. Both Talos and EnVen boards of directors have unanimously approved the transaction.

07:03 EDT Calyxt to explore potential strategic alternatives - Calyxt announced that its Board of Directors is evaluating potential strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value. As part of the process, the Board is considering a full range of strategic alternatives, which may include financing alternatives, merger, reverse merger, other business combinations, sale of assets, licensing, or other transactions. Calyxt has retained Canaccord Genuity as its financial advisor and Sidley Austin as its legal counsel to assist in evaluating potential strategic alternatives. There can be no assurance that the evaluation of strategic alternatives will result in any strategic alternative, or any assurance as to its outcome or timing. Calyxt has not set a timetable for completion of the process and does not intend to disclose developments related to the process unless and until Calyxt executes a definitive agreement with respect thereto, or the Board otherwise determines that further disclosure is appropriate or required.

07:01 EDT Darden reports Q1 blended same-restaurant sales increase of 4.2%

06:55 EDT Accenture reports Q4 new bookings $18.4B - New bookings are $18.4B for fourth quarter and a record $71.7B for full year, a 21% increase in U.S. dollars and 25% increase in local currency over full-year fiscal 2021 new bookings.

06:54 EDT Triumph Group, Navsup enter PCA spare units agreement - Triumph Group and NAVSUP have entered into an agreement to provide Pylon Conversion Actuators, or PCA, spare units for the V-22 Osprey, a U.S. Navy tiltrotor military aircraft. The V-22 Osprey combines the functionality of a helicopter and the long-range and speed of a turboprop aircraft. The units will be designed and manufactured at TRIUMPH Geared Solutions in Park City, Utah.

06:52 EDT Hersha Hospitality announces planned leadership transition - Hersha Hospitality founder Hasu Shah intends to retire as Chairman of the Board of Trustees on December 31, after 38 years with the company. As part of the planned succession, the Board has selected CEO Jay Shah to become Executive Chairman of the Board, and President and COO Neil Shah to become President and CEO and join the Board of Trustees, both appointments to be effective as of January 1, 2023. The company will be eliminating the role of COO. Hasu and Hersha Shah founded the Company with the purchase and renovation of the Riverfront Hotel in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1984. With his sons and partners, Hasu Shah took the company public as a REIT in 1998.

06:49 EDT Pfizer to supply up to 6 million Paxlovid treatment courses for COVID-19 - Pfizer announced an agreement to supply up to six million treatment courses of its COVID-19 oral treatment, Paxlovid tablets and ritonavir tablets to Global Fund as part of its COVID-19 Response Mechanism, or C19RM. The C19RM has been the primary channel for providing grant support to low- and middle-income countries to purchase COVID-19 tests, treatments, personal protective equipment and critical elements of health systems strengthening. Paxlovid treatment courses will be available for procurement through this mechanism, subject to local regulatory approval or authorization, by the 132 grant-eligible countries determined by Global Fund based on income classification and disease burden. Pfizer expects supply to be available starting in 2022. All low- and lower-middle-income countries will pay a not-for-profit price while upper-middle-income countries will pay the price defined in Pfizer's tiered pricing approach. Additional contractual details of the agreement were not disclosed. The Global Fund agreement, along with an agreement signed with UNICEF for the supply of up to four million treatment courses for low- and middle-income countries earlier this year, is part of Pfizer's comprehensive global strategy for equitable supply and access of Paxlovid. This includes a voluntary licensing agreement with Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to enable the development and distribution of generic versions of Pfizer's oral treatment to further expand long-term global supply and access. MPP has signed sublicense agreements with 38 manufacturers, who will supply the generic versions in 95 low- and lower-middle-income countries. Courses produced by these manufacturers are expected to be available as early as Q4.

06:45 EDT Accenture board approves additional $3B share repurchase plan

06:29 EDT Novo Nordisk presents phase 3a data on insulin icodec diabetes 2 treatment - The company states: "Novo Nordisk presented new data from the phase 3a ONWARDS 2 trial, demonstrating that 37% of adults with type 2 diabetes treated with once-weekly insulin icodec achieved an HbA1c less than7.0%, without experiencing severe or clinically significant hypoglycaemia, compared with 27% of those treated with insulin degludec at 26 weeks. These results were presented at the 58th European Association for the Study of Diabetes, or EASD, Annual Meeting 20221. The trial achieved its primary endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority in reducing HbA1c at week 26 with insulin icodec compared with insulin degludec2. From a mean baseline of 8.17% and 8.10%, once-weekly insulin icodec achieved a superior reduction in estimated HbA1c of 0.93% compared with 0.71% for insulin degludec. People with diabetes in ONWARDS 2 reported significantly greater satisfaction in favour of once-weekly insulin icodec compared with insulin degludec at 26 weeks as assessed by the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire. The mean weekly insulin dose was 268 U/week for insulin icodec vs 244 U/week for insulin degludec1. The estimated mean change in body weight from baseline to week 26 was 1.40 kg for insulin icodec compared with -0.30 kg for insulin degludec. In the trial, once-weekly insulin icodec appeared to have a safe and well-tolerated profile. There was less than 1 hypoglycaemic event per patient-year exposed for insulin icodec and insulin degludec. As previously reported, no severe hypoglycaemia events were observed for people treated with insulin icodec."

06:21 EDT FTC says Bezos, Jassy, others must testify in agency's probe of Amazon - Commissioner Christine Wilson of the Federal Trade Commission, FTC, wrote an order responding to Amazon's petition to limit or quash certain civil investigative demands, CIDs. Wilson wrote the following: "Amazon.com, on behalf of itself and 17 individuals, has submitted an Omnibus Petition to Limit or Quash a series of CIDs issued by the Commission on June 30, 2022, in connection with an investigation into whether Amazon has engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in its use of recurring or negative option subscriptions to Amazon Prime and other Amazon services... These claims include that investigating FTC staff interfered with the witnesses' selection of counsel during investigational hearings; the CID to the company is unduly burdensome and vague; the schedule for testimony from individual witnesses is unduly burdensome; and CIDs issued to Jeffrey Bezos and Andrew Jassy should be quashed as unduly burdensome given their positions with the company. As set forth, we clarify the Commission's position on the rights of witnesses in investigational hearings. We do not accept that Amazon has sufficiently established as a general matter that the CIDs issued to the company or to individual witnesses present undue burdens in terms of scope or timing and we decline to limit the CID on these grounds. We do find, however, that certain "catch-all" provisions are not sufficiently particular under the Commission's Rules of Practice and we modify these. Moreover, consistent with Amazon's representations regarding issues in scheduling investigational hearings, we have set forth a protocol for efficiently establishing dates for future hearings." The individuals who were petitioning to quash include: Jeffrey Bezos, Christopher Brown, Sharon Chiarella, Dave Clark, Nahshon Davidai, Jamil Ghani, Russ Grandinetti, Greg Greeley, Doug Herrington, Benjamin Hills, Sridhar Iyer, Andrew Jassy, Neil Lindsay, Dharmesh Mehta, Katey Muus, Cem Sibay, and Gloria Smuda.

06:03 EDT KBR signs master license, engineering agreement with Giammarco-Vertrocoke - KBR announced that it has signed a master license and engineering agreement with Giammarco-Vertrocoke S.R.L. for KBR to license its carbon capture technology globally. This carbon capture technology is well proven, energy efficient, flexible and can be integrated across the value chain for blue ammonia, petrochemical, and refining industries today.

05:28 EDT PNC Financial increases prime lending rate to 6.25% - PNC announced an increase in its prime lending rate. The new rate of 6.25% is effective immediately.

05:22 EDT GSK, Spero Therapeutics enter $66M exclusive tebipenem HBr license agreement - GSK (GSK) and Spero Therapeutics (SPRO) announced they have entered into an exclusive license agreement for Spero's late-stage antibiotic asset, tebipenem HBr. Tebipenem HBr is being developed as the first oral carbapenem antibiotic for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections, or cUTI, including pyelonephritis, caused by certain bacteria. Spero expects to start a new phase 3 clinical trial in 2023, following encouraging U.S. FDA regulatory feedback on the proposed clinical trial design. GSK will receive an exclusive license to develop and commercialize tebipenem pivoxil and tebipenem pivoxil HBr in all territories, except Japan, and certain other Asian countries, territories which will be retained by Spero partner, Meiji Seika. Under the license agreement, Spero will be responsible for the execution and costs of the follow-up Phase 3 clinical trial of tebipenem HBr. GSK will be responsible for the execution and costs of additional development, including Phase III regulatory filing and commercialization activities for tebipenem HBr outside of the Meiji Seika territory. Under the terms of the license agreement, Spero will receive an upfront payment of $66M for GSK to secure rights to the medicine. In connection with the license agreement and pursuant to a stock purchase agreement between GSK and Spero, GSK has agreed to make a $9M common stock investment in Spero, purchasing 7,450,000 shares of Spero's common stock at a purchase price of approximately $1.20805 per share, not to exceed 19.99% beneficial ownership of Spero by GSK and its affiliates. The transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. The closing of the equity investment is conditioned upon the effectiveness of the license following Hart-Scott-Rodino clearance. As of June 30, Spero had cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $45.4M. Based on the previously announced restructuring and the cessation of commercialization activities for the tebipenem HBr program, along with the initial cash payment of $66M from the GSK licensing transaction, Spero believes that its current cash runway will be sufficient to fund the company beyond 2024.

05:15 EDT Fortegra receives UK Branch approval from Prudential Regulatory Authority - The Fortegra Group, a subsidiary of Tiptree, announced that its European insurer, Fortegra Europe Insurance, received UK Branch approval from the UK's Prudential Regulatory Authority, effective July 28.