Stockwinners Market Radar for December 27, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:20 EDT Eldorado Gold reorganizes board, chairman steps down - Eldorado Gold announced a number of changes to its board. Jonathan Rubenstein has elected to resign as a director and Robert Gilmore has stepped down as chairman of the board, though will continue as a director, both effective as of January 1, 2018. George Albino, a seasoned and experienced economic geologist, has been appointed as independent chairman. Building on these and other recent retirements of the board, the board has reorganized. The departing directors will not be replaced, which will make for a leaner and more concentrated board, comprising 8 directors, 7 of whom are independent.

17:33 EDT Avangrid concludes review, decides to proceed with sale of Enstor Gas business - AVANGRID has completed the strategic review of its Enstor Gas Storage businesses, including the trading business, and has concluded that it will move forward with a plan to sell the businesses. Additionally, as a result of the enactment of tax reform legislation signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017, AVANGRID expects to recognize a one-time gain related to the re-measurement of deferred taxes primarily in the Renewables business, and modest going-forward financial benefit under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, due to a combination of factors.

16:50 EDT Select Medical and Dignity Health get FTC Concentra-U.S. HealthWorks approval - Select Medical Holdings Corporation and Dignity Health announced that the Federal Trade Commission granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, applicable to the proposed combination of Concentra Group Holdings, LLC, with U.S. HealthWorks, Inc., a subsidiary of Dignity Health Holdings Company. Concentra was created through a joint venture between Select Medical Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Select Medical, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe XII, L.P., and other minority equity holders including Cressey & Company. As previously announced, Concentra and Dignity signed a definitive agreement to combine Concentra with U.S. HealthWorks. Subject to certain closing conditions, the transaction will occur through an equity purchase and contribution agreement, whereby Concentra will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of stock of U.S. HealthWorks from DHHC. Following the closing of the transaction, Dignity Health will own a 20% equity interest in the combined entity holding Concentra and U.S. HealthWorks. The early termination of the HSR waiting period satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the transaction. The transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, remains subject to the other closing conditions set forth in the Purchase Agreement.

16:24 EDT Revolution Lighting down 3.3% afterhours at $3.20 following Q4 guidance cut

16:08 EDT Digirad Corp to sell MDSS service contracts to Phillips North America for $8M - Digirad Corp announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with Philips North America to sell its Medical Device Sales and Service. or MDSS, business unit service contracts.Total consideration under the Agreement is $8M. The MDSS business unit provided post warranty contract maintenance services for large diagnostic imaging equipment, primarily in the upper mid-west region of the United States, for Philips products. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close on January 31, 2018. The company expects to apply the net proceeds from the sale to its existing line of credit with Comerica. As part of the agreement, Digirad and Philips agreed to extend its prior consolidated service agreement to continue to provide installation and warranty services sold in the same upper mid-west region through January 31, 2018.

16:07 EDT Royal Gold temporarily suspends Mount Milligan mine operations - Royal Gold announced that, due to a lack of sufficient water resources, mill processing operations at the Mount Milligan mine in British Columbia, Canada have been temporarily suspended. Centerra reports that there will be adequate fresh water available to restart mill processing operations at partial capacity by the end of January 2018 and at full capacity after the spring melt, typically in April. Calendar year-to-date Centerra reports that Mount Milligan has produced approximately 225,000 ounces of payable gold and approximately 54 million pounds of payable copper, slightly below full year guidance. Royal Gold has a streaming interest on 35% of the gold and 18.75% of the copper from Mount Milligan. Due to the timing of shipments and deliveries of gold and copper, the impact of this shutdown is likely to be reflected in Royal Gold's mid-calendar 2018 results. Centerra reports that the water shortage at Mount Milligan has been exacerbated by unanticipated extremely cold temperatures, which has resulted in a greater than expected loss of water volumes in the tailings storage facility due to ice formation. In the fourth quarter of calendar 2017, Centerra noted that it sought to mitigate the water shortfall by drilling additional water wells to draw water from nearby aquifers located on the property. While such wells were partially successful, Centerra reports that the additional water obtained was not sufficient to offset the loss of water volumes noted above.

16:00 EDT Fortress trading resumes

14:24 EDT Dominion reports unplanned outage for Sheds Station - Dominion Energy Transmission reported in a service alert posted to the company's website that its Sheds Station "has experienced an unplanned outage and will be out of service until further notice." Affected customers will be notified, the alert stated. Reference Link

13:47 EDT Hanmi Financial to raise minimum hourly wage to $15 - Hanmi Financial Corporation announced that it is increasing its hourly minimum wage by 36% to $15 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. Approximately 100 Hanmi employees, or 13% of the total workforce, will benefit from the new minimum hourly wage. With this move, Hanmi is well in excess of the minimum wage requirements in all states in which it operates, including California, where some employees will see their wages increase by as much as 36% from current levels. "Our employees are Hanmi's most important asset and today's announcement is in alignment with the Bank's core values," said C. G. Kum, president and CEO. "The recent tax reforms enacted by Congress, including significantly lower corporate tax rates, have provided an opportunity for Hanmi to review our current compensation policies and pass along some of the benefits to employees. I greatly appreciate the important role our hourly employees play in providing exceptional service for our customers and strongly believe increasing compensation for these team members will have a positive impact on our business."

13:36 EDT Nexthera reports 5.4% stake in Catalyst Biosciences - Nexthera Capital discloses a 5.4% stake in Catalyst Biosciences, which represents 311,175 shares. The regulatory filing does not allow for activism. Catalyst is up 3%, or 40c, to $14.09 in afternoon trading.

12:32 EDT PotashCorp, Agrium receive final regulatory clearance from FTC for merger - Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (POT) and Agrium (AGU) are pleased to announce that they have received clearance from the United States' Federal Trade Commission and have now obtained all regulatory approvals required to close their proposed merger of equals transaction. The transaction is expected to close effective January 1, 2018 and remains subject to customary closing conditions. With the closing of the transaction on January 1, 2018, the common shares of Nutrien are expected to commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "NTR" at the opening of market on January 2, 2018. Trading of Agrium common shares and PotashCorp common shares is expected to be suspended at the opening of market on January 2, 2018, and such shares will be delisted at the close of market on the same date. Cash entitlements in lieu of fractional Nutrien common shares will be based on the trading price of the Nutrien common shares on the TSX on the first five days of trading on such exchange. Such entitlements will be delivered as soon as practicable thereafter to former Agrium and PotashCorp shareholders who have submitted their duly completed letters of transmittal and elections forms in accordance with the procedures described in the applicable letter of transmittal and election form.

11:39 EDT SoftBank announces completion of Fortress Investment Group acquisition - SoftBank Group (SFTBF) announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Fortress Investment Group (FIG) for $3.3B in cash. As a result of the acquisition, each outstanding Fortress Class A share was converted into the right to receive $8.08 per share in cash. Fortress's common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from the NYSE.

11:03 EDT Brigade tells Kindred buyout price 'significantly undervalues' shares - Brigade Capital disclosed a 5.8% stake in Kindred Healthcare (KND) and expressed opposition to the company's proposed buyout by TPG Capital, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Humana (HUM). Representatives of Brigade intend to engage in discussions with Kindred's management and board regarding, among other things, the company's strategic alternatives and direction, and strategies to enhance shareholder value, including regarding the recently announced proposed acquisition. On December 27, Brigade delivered a letter to the board stating its opposition to the takeover and noting the "material inadequacy of the terms of the proposed transaction." Brigade's belief is that the $9.00 per share cash merger price "significantly undervalues" Kindred's common stock. The Letter notes that from the perspective of maximizing shareholder value, Brigade believes it is premature for Kindred to engage in a sale transaction. Over the past year, Brigade noted that the company "has overcome numerous challenges and calmed most of the headwinds against its business, positioning it for substantial stock price appreciation in 2018 and beyond." The activist added, "Brigade expected management to continue operating the business to enable the shareholders who have patiently supported the Issuer throughout its challenges to realize the benefits of the business improvements through their continued ownership in the going concern. Instead, Brigade stated in the Letter, that it believes management has chosen to pursue a transaction with the Consortium that severely undervalues the Issuer and ensures that the Consortium - rather than existing shareholders - will reap the benefits of the value enhancement the improved business is expected to generate. For these and the reasons stated in the Letter, Brigade advised the Issuer that it does not believe the proposed transaction is in the best interests of the Issuer's shareholders and intends to actively oppose it."

10:26 EDT Battleground: Analysts diverge on Callaway Golf after Topgolf investment - Following the announcement that Callaway Golf (ELY) invested an additional $20M in Topgolf, DA Davidson analyst Andrew Burns raised his price target for Callaway shares as he believes the latter is showing "substantial appreciation" from the previous round of financing. However, his peer at Compass Point recommended investors sell Callaway and cut his price target on the stock. RAISED TOPGOLF STAKE: On December 26, Topgolf announced that it had completed a private placement led by Fidelity Management, in which Callaway invested an additional $20M. The additional investment increased the company's investment in Topgolf to $70.5M on a cost basis. Callaway estimates that it now owns approximately 14% of Topgolf. The company estimates that the fair value of its Topgolf shares is currently approximately $290M. The fair value estimate is based solely upon the valuations and pricing in connection with the Fidelity investment, and assumes that all Topgolf common shares and all series of preferred shares would be valued equivalently. TARGET RAISED ON TOPGOLF VALUE: Noting that Callaway joined the Fidelity-led investment round, DA Davidson's Burns raised his price target for Callaway Golf to $18 from $17. The analyst argued that the updated valuation for Topgolf shows "substantial appreciation" from the previous round of financing, while pointing out that additional funding likely means an initial public offering is not imminent. Burns believes the news should still be a positive catalyst for Callaway's shareholders as Topgolf continues to appreciate in value and its growth trajectory appears intact. The analyst reiterated a Buy rating on Callaway shares as he sees its product momentum, improving profitability, recent acquisitions and potential additional Topgolf appreciation driving share price outperformance in the coming quarters. SELL CALLAWAY: Meanwhile, Compass Point analyst Casey Alexander downgraded Callaway Golf to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target on the shares to $13.50 from $14.50 after the company disclosed the additional investment in Topgolf. His peer at Raymond James also argued in a research note of his own that investors may be disappointed by Topgolf's value. Analyst Dan Wewer noted that while Callaway's current Topgolf ownership of $290M reflects a value of around $3.00 per share, the sell-side has been estimating its value per share of Topgolf in the $3.00-$4.00 range. Wewer reiterated a Market Perform rating on Callaway shares. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Callaway have dropped almost 3% to $14.66.

09:54 EDT Banro Corporation to be delisted from NYSE American, TSX - Banro announces that the company has received notice that the Continued Listings Committee of the Toronto Stock Exchange, or TSX, has determined to delist the company's common shares from the TSX effective at the close of market on January 22, 2018. The company does not intend to appeal the decision. The company's common shares remain suspended from trading on the TSX due to the cease trade order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission on November 20, 2017. The company also announces that it has received notice that NYSE Regulation has determined to commence proceedings pursuant to Section 1003(a)(iv) of the NYSE American Company Guide to delist the company's common shares from NYSE American. In reaching its delisting determination, NYSE Regulation noted the uncertainty as to the timing and outcome of the restructuring proceedings commenced by the company and its Barbados based subsidiaries under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act as well as the ultimate effect of this process on the value of the company's common shares. Trading of the company's common shares on NYSE American was suspended on December 22, 2017 and such suspension remains in effect.

09:24 EDT Fortress trading halted, news pending

09:16 EDT Gigamon announces completion of Elliott takeover - Gigamon announced the completion of its acquisition by Elliott Management. As a result of the completion of the transaction, shareholders will receive $38.50 per share in cash and Gigamon common stock will no longer be listed for trading on the NYSE.

09:05 EDT Actinium Pharmaceuticals updates progress on Phase 3 trial of Iomab-B - Actinium Pharmaceuticals reported that the Independent Data Monitoring Committee for the Pivotal Phase 3 SIERRA Trial of Iomab-B completed its review of the data available from the trial at time of analysis. The DMC recommended that the trial continue to enroll patients as planned. The SIERRA Trial is a 150 patient, pivotal study that is comparing Iomab-B followed by a bone marrow transplant to physician's choice of salvage chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia - AML - that are age 55 and above. The primary endpoint of the trial is durable Complete Remission at 6 months. Enrollment activity for the SIERRA trial has continued to build. In 2018, Actinium expects to open the SIERRA trial at 5-7 additional clinical trial sites including sites in Canada where the company received clearance to initiate the trial from Health Canada in 2017. In addition, Actinium will amend the protocol of the SIERRA trial to expand the salvage chemotherapy regimens available in the control arm of the study. Iomab-B was featured at a PeerView CME-Certified event on December 8 to several hundred physician attendees. The company expects to follow-up on the interest generated from this event in order to support the objectives of the SIERRA trial and also to prepare Iomab-B for commercialization. The company manufactured additional antibody at commercial scale in 2017, and has sufficient quantities to account for the current trial and the planned potential label expansion initiatives in 2018. The SIERRA trial is expected to complete patient enrollment by the end of 2018 which is in line with prior guidance from the company.

09:02 EDT Teva announces exclusive launch of generic Reyataz in the U.S. - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced the exclusive launch of a generic version of Reyataz capsules in the U.S. Atazanavir sulfate capsules are a protease inhibitor indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection for patients 6 years and older weighing at least 15 kg. With nearly 600 generic medicines available, Teva has the largest portfolio of FDA-approved generic products on the market and holds the leading position in first-to-file opportunities, with over 100 pending first-to-files in the U.S. Currently, one in seven generic prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. is filled with a Teva generic product. Reyataz had annual sales of approximately $402M in the U.S., according to IMS data as of October 2017.

08:50 EDT Workhorse Group announces intention to spin off SureFly - Workhorse Group has announced its intention to spin off its aviation division, which includes its SureFly personal helicopter, into a separate publicly traded company named SureFly. SureFly will encompass all SureFly aerial technology and expertise, including property related to the personal helicopter, but it will not own the assets related to the package express-related HorseFly drone, which will be retained by Workhorse. Workhorse expects to grant SureFly a royalty-free, perpetual license to utilize the HorseFly drone except with respect to deliveries implemented from a ground-based vehicle focused on package express. At the time of the spin off, Workhorse expects to enter into a transition services agreement with SureFly to provide certain engineering and accounting services not anticipated to be provided immediately by employees of SureFly. SureFly is currently an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Workhorse. In conjunction with the overall spin-off plan, Workhorse expects to retain a portion of SureFly common stock and will distribute a portion of such common stock pursuant to a dividend to existing Workhorse shareholders. Third party investors, bringing new capital, will likely constitute the balance of the ownership of SureFly. In connection with the anticipated spin off, Workhorse entered into a note purchase agreement with a group of existing, U.S.-based Workhorse investors. Under the terms of the note purchase agreement, Workhorse will issue notes with an aggregate principal amount of $5.75M at a purchase price equal to $5M. The notes are non-convertible, but are expected to be exchanged, ultimately, into new convertible preferred stock, and warrants to purchase shares of common stock of SureFly. The preferred stock will be convertible into shares of SureFly common stock based on a pre-money valuation of approximately $33M. The warrants will be exercisable into a number of shares of common stock equal to 30% of the shares issuable upon conversion of the convertible preferred stock and have an exercise price equal to 125% of the conversion price on the convertible preferred stock. The anticipated spin off transaction will be subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals, the execution of inter-company agreements, arrangement of adequate debt and equity financing, the effectiveness of a registration statement, final approval by Workhorse's board of directors, and other customary conditions. The spin off will not require a shareholder vote and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, but there can be no assurance regarding the ultimate timing of the spin off or that the spin off will ultimately occur.

08:35 EDT Gigamon trading halted, news dissemination

08:34 EDT Sarepta says eteplirsen-treated DMD patients experience less pulmonary decline - Sarepta Therapeutics announced that the pulmonary function results from eteplirsen-treated Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients in Study 201/202 compared to natural history were published in the December 20, 2017 online edition of The Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases. A statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in pulmonary decline as measured by forced vital capacity percent predicted was observed for eteplirsen-treated patients as compared to natural history data published in the scientific literature. In eteplirsen-treated patients, the mean FVC%p decreased from 97.7% to 85.3% over 216 weeks, a decrease of 2.8% per study year. In an age-adjusted mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of FVC%p, an annual decrease of 2.3% was observed for eteplirsen-treated patients compared to an annual decrease of 4.1% observed in a natural history cohort with a similar age range from the United Dystrophinopathy Project. "Patients treated with eteplirsen in Study 201/202 experienced significantly less deterioration of respiratory muscle function than natural history would predict," said Douglas Ingram, Sarepta's president and chief executive officer. "The results included both ambulant and non-ambulant patients who received eteplirsen. Our mission is to develop and bring to the community precision genetic therapies that can improve the lives of those suffering from DMD, a cruel degenerative disease."

08:15 EDT Diffusion Pharmaceuticals begins Phasse 3 clinical trial with TSC in GBM - Diffusion Pharmaceuticals announced that a Phase 3 clinical trial using its lead small molecule trans sodium crocetinate in patients with newly-diagnosed inoperable glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer, is now open for enrollment. The trial, which has been named INTACT, follows a previous Phase 2 GBM study in which the inoperable patient subgroup showed a nearly four-fold increase in survival compared with historical controls when TSC was added to their treatment regimen. TSC's innovative mechanism of action affects the tumor micro-environment, making treatment-resistant cancer cells more susceptible to the tumor-killing power of conventional radiation therapy and chemotherapy by re-oxygenation of the hypoxic portion of the tumor. The company believes that a largely intact GBM tumor vasculature with limited surgical resection is conducive to TSC's tumor re-oxygenation properties, and that this contributed to the survival increase in the Phase 2 GBM inoperable patient subgroup. The trial will screen 300 patients and enroll 264 in an effort to ensure that results from 236 patients will be available for analysis. Enrolled patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio into treatment and control groups. Patients in the treatment group will receive standard of care temozolomide and RT plus an intravenous bolus of TSC administered shortly before their SOC treatments. Patients in the control group will receive SOC alone. The study will compare overall survival at two years between patients in the two groups. Up to 100 clinical sites in the U.S. and Europe are expected to participate. The Company projects that enrollment will be completed by early 2019, with interim safety and efficacy data possible in 2020 and trial completion in 2021. Further site initiation is on-going, with first patient enrollment targeted for January 2018.

08:10 EDT Anika Therapeutics receives FDA 510(k) clearance for HA-based bone void filler - Anika Therapeutics announced that its HA-based bone void filler received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is indicated for filling bone voids or defects of the skeletal system, which are not intrinsic to the stability of the bone, created during surgery or resulting from traumatic injury. The bone void filler, which is composed of a synthetic, biocompatible bone graft substitute material, is injected into a void, hardens at body temperature, and is then resorbed and replaced by the growth of new bone during the healing process. Over one million musculoskeletal procedures performed in the U.S. involve bone void filling, also known as bone grafting,, and such procedures are most commonly required for spinal fusion, trauma, and revision total joint replacement procedures. We estimate the current market size for treating tibial plateau fractures, stress fractures around joints, and decompression of necrosed bone to be around $300M.

08:07 EDT Athenex granted PIM designation from UK MHRA for Oraxol - Athenex announced that the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency granted a Promising Innovative Medicine designation for Oraxol in the treatment of paclitaxel-responsive cancers. Oraxol is an innovative development in the treatment of cancer, in that it is an oral formulation of paclitaxel, a very effective and commonly used chemotherapy treatment for many cancers. The existing marketed form of paclitaxel can only be administered intravenously. It cannot be absorbed orally because it is is excreted by gastrointestinal cells via the P-glycoprotein pump before it can be absorbed. Athenex had enabled oral administration of paclitaxel by combining HM30181A with oral paclitaxel, which was initially discovered by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals and licensed to Athenex in the establishment of a strategic partnership. Oraxol is currently in Phase III studies being managed by Athenex. The PIM designation follows the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board's first interim analysis of the Oraxol 001 Phase III Clinical Trial, where they unanimously recommended continuation of the study and encouraged rapid recruitment toward the scheduled second interim analysis, which Athenex previously announced on October 5, 2017. The recommendation was based on a positive overall response rate and particularly

08:05 EDT EnerJex Resources receives listing plan acceptance by NYSE American - EnerJex Resources announced that the NYSE American notified the company that it accepted the company's plan to regain compliance with the continued listing requirements of the Exchange. On October 19, 2017, the company received notice that they were not in compliance with NYSE American's continued listing standards. Specifically, the company is not in compliance with Section 1003(a)(i) of the NYSE American Company Guide since it reported losses in two of its three most recent fiscal years.The company submitted its plan of compliance on November 20, 2017, and on December 22, 2017, the Exchange notified the company that it accepted the company's plan and granted the company an extension until April 19, 2019 to regain compliance with the continued listing standards. The company will be subject to periodic review by Exchange Staff during the extension period. The company is not currently in compliance with NYSE American listing standards, but its listing is being continued pursuant to the extension.

08:03 EDT TransCanada selling retail contracts to EDF Energy Services - TransCanada has entered into an agreement to sell its outstanding U.S. retail power contracts to EDF Energy Services. This is part of the continued wind down of TransCanada's Power Marketing operations. The transaction is expected to close in 1Q18 subject to certain regulatory and other approvals.

08:02 EDT Horizon Pharma announces FDA approval to expand indication for PROCYSBI - Horizon Pharma announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an expansion to the indication for PROCYSBI delayed-release capsules to include children one year of age and older living with nephropathic cystinosis. With this update to the indication, the PROCYSBI prescribing information now includes revised guidance for physicians administering the medicine to pediatric patients, including new clinical evidence and dosing information for very young children. PROCYSBI was previously FDA-approved for adults and children as young as two years of age.The PROCYSBI labeling was updated based on a long-term, prospective, open-label study that enrolled 17 people living with nephropathic cystinosis, including 15 children between the ages of 1 and 5 years old, who had not previously been treated with cysteamine therapy. Children enrolled in the study experienced lowering of white blood cell cystine levels from poor controlled to well controlled at 12 and 18 month measurements. WBC levels are the biomarker for disease control. Additionally, they experienced measured improvements in growth milestones including weight and height. The most common adverse reactions in patients treated in clinical trials reflected in the FDA approved product labeling were vomiting, gastroenteritis/viral gastroenteritis, diarrhea, breath odor, nausea, electrolyte imbalance and headache. This study was required by the FDA as a post-marketing commitment after PROCYSBI was approved.

07:34 EDT Protalix receives ODD from European Commission for PRX-102 - Protalix BioTherapeutics announced that the European Commission granted Orphan Drug Designation for pegunigalsidase alfa, or PRX-102, for the treatment of Fabry disease.The decision by the Commission confirms the opinion previously issued by the European Medicine Agency's Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, which the company announced on November 13. Orphan drug designation for pegunigalsidase alfa qualifies the sponsor for access to the centralized marketing authorization procedure, including applications for inspections and for protocol assistance. If the orphan drug designation is maintained at the time PRX-102 is approved for marketing in the EU, the Company expects that PRX-102 will benefit from ten years of market exclusivity within the European Union.

07:32 EDT Merus says court denies Regeneron's petition to rehear panel decision - Merus (MRUS) announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Regeneron Pharmaceutical (REGN) request for a rehearing en banc to reconsider its decision affirming that Regeneron engaged in inequitable conduct before the United States Patent and Trademark Office while prosecuting U.S. Patent No. 8,502,018, entitled "Methods of Modifying Eukaryotic Cells." In March 2014, Regeneron filed a complaint against Merus alleging that it infringed one or more claims in the '018 patent. Merus filed counterclaims seeking, among other things, a declaratory judgment that Merus did not infringe the '018 patent, that the '018 patent was invalid and a declaratory judgment of unenforceability of the '018 patent on the basis that the patent was procured by inequitable conduct. Merus prevailed at the trial court on all three counterclaims. Regeneron stipulated to non-infringement and invalidity of the patent following the district court's decision on claim construction. And after a trial in June 2015, the trial court concluded that Regeneron's agents who applied for the patent made misleading statements to the United States Patent Office when obtaining the '018 patent, and that Regeneron committed inequitable conduct. On July 27, 2017, the Federal Circuit affirmed, concluding that Regeneron made "false" assertions, relied on a "misleading presentation," and withheld material information from the United States Patent Office, and further, that Regeneron's "litigation misconduct" "obfuscated its prosecution misconduct." On December 26, 2017, the full Federal Circuit denied Regeneron's request to rehear the matter

07:06 EDT Nautilus Minerals announces resignation of chairman Russell Debney - Nautilus Minerals announces that Russell Debney has, effective December 27, resigned as chairman and director of Nautilus and as director and officer, as applicable, of each of the company's operating subsidiaries. Following Debney's resignation, the company is actively seeking the appointment of a new independent director. The company requires significant additional funding in order to complete the build and deployment of the seafloor production system to be utilized at the Solwara 1 Project by the Company and its joint venture partner, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea's nominee. Discussions with various parties including the major shareholders continue. These discussions have taken longer than expected but the Company remains positive that the discussions will be concluded soon.There can be no assurances that the company will be successful in securing the necessary additional financing transactions within the required time or at all. Failure to secure the necessary financing may result in the company undergoing various transactions including, without limitation, asset sales, joint ventures and capital restructurings.

07:05 EDT Medigus announces completion of first MUSE procedure - Medigus announced the completion of the first MUSE procedure in Israel. The procedure was performed by Dr. Wengrower, Head, Therapeutic Endoscopy Unit, and his colleagues Dr. Paz and Dr. Livovsky at the Digestive Diseases Institute, Shaare-Zedek Medical Center. Dr. Wengrower reported that the patient who had undergone the procedure felt minimal discomfort during the procedure, and was released from the hospital after two days, with no complications. The MUSE system is a single-use flexible transoral stapler that merges the latest advancement in microvisual, ultrasonic and surgical stapling. The device comes equipped with an ultrasonic sight and range finder and a micro ScoutCam CMOS camera, which enables a single physician to perform an incisionless transoral fundoplication, the procedure intended to treat the anatomical cause of gastroesophageal reflux disease. As the device requires no incisions, patients generally report greater comfort during the procedure and experience reduced hospital stays by up to 50% over invasive fundoplication procedures.

07:03 EDT VBL Therapeutics enrolls first patient in Phase 3 Study of VB-111 - VBL Therapeutics announced the study initiation and first patient in its Phase 3 pivotal registration trial, OVAL, studying its lead candidate VB-111 in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The OVAL study will be conducted in collaboration with the Gynecologic Oncology Group Foundation, Inc., a leading organization for research excellence in the field of gynecologic malignancies. The randomized, controlled, Phase 3 OVAL study in recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer has been designed to enroll up to 350 adult patients at approximately 70 clinical sites in the United States and Israel. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to VB-111 in combination with chemotherapy, or chemotherapy alone. The primary endpoint is overall survival. Additional endpoints include objective response rate, progression free survival, combined CA-125 and RECIST 1.1 response and patient reported outcome measures.

07:02 EDT AMERI Holdings backs financial target for Adjusted EBITDA profitability in 1H18 - In conjunction with the promotion of Brent Kelton to the position of CEO, the company announced the integration of its Sales and Solutions functions to achieve sharper commercial focus and drive value creation for its customers. This initiative, together with the recent completion of streamlining and integration of Ameri100's acquired companies, is expected to result in approximately $2.5Min cash savings on an annual basis in 2018. This is expected to result in a 25% reduction in Selling, Marketing, General and Administrative expenses compared to 2017. The Company reaffirms its prior financial target for Adjusted EBITDA profitability during the first-half of 2018.

07:01 EDT KKR to acquire PetVet Care Centers, terms not disclosed - PetVet Care Centers announced today that KKR is acquiring PetVet from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, L Catterton, and other existing shareholders. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. PetVet is an acquirer and operator of general practice and specialty veterinary hospitals for companion animals. The Company provides a full spectrum of veterinary services ranging from preventative and primary care to emergency critical care and surgeries. PetVet works in partnership with over 600 board certified specialists and general veterinarians across its network of 125 locally branded hospitals in 22 states. KKR is making its investment primarily through its Core Investments strategy, which represents capital targeting longer-term compounding opportunities.

06:02 EDT AirMedia terminates going private transaction - AirMedia entered into a termination agreement with AirMedia Holdings Ltd. and AirMedia Merger Company Limited to terminate the previously announced merger agreement in view that the going private transaction would not be completed by December 31, the termination date of the merger agreement. The parties have released each other from all liabilities and obligations with respect to the proposed transaction, and no termination fees will be payable by either party.

05:55 EDT Immersion adopts shareholder rights plan - Immersion announced that its board has adopted a limited duration stockholder rights plan. The rights will expire on December 26, 2018. The board may redeem the rights for $0.001 per right at any time before an event that causes the rights to become exercisable. As previously disclosed, Immersion recently executed a series of restructuring actions designed to sharpen the company's strategic focus and establish a more cost-efficient operating structure. In addition, on December 26, 2017, the board appointed Sharon Holt to serve as Lead Independent Director. Immersion's Chairman of the board, Carl Schlachte, who had previously served in that role, is currently serving as interim CEO. The board adopted the Rights Plan in light of the recent accumulation of meaningful positions in the company's shares by certain stockholders, to ensure that the board remains in the best position to perform its fiduciary duties and enable all of Immersion's stockholders to receive fair and equal treatment. The Rights Plan is designed to protect the interests of Immersion and its stockholders by reducing the likelihood that any person or group gains control of Immersion through open market accumulation, private transactions or other tactics without appropriately compensating the Immersion stockholders for such control and by providing the board and stockholders with sufficient time to review and make informed decisions. The Rights Plan, which was adopted by the board following evaluation and consultation with the company's advisors, is similar to plans adopted by numerous publicly-traded companies. It was not adopted in response to any specific takeover bid or other proposal to acquire control of the company. Pursuant to the Rights Plan, one preferred stock purchase right will be issued for each share of common stock held by stockholders of record on January 8, 2018. Under the Rights Plan, the rights will become exercisable only if a person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 10% or more of Immersion's common stock. In that situation, each holder of a right will be entitled to purchase, at the then-current exercise price, shares of common stock having a market value of twice the exercise price of the right. Any existing stockholder or group that has beneficial ownership of 10% or more of the Immersion's common stock will be grandfathered, but the rights will become exercisable if after the announcement of the Rights Plan such stockholder or group increases its ownership by more than 0.5% of the company's outstanding common stock. At any time after any person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 10% or more of Immersion's common stock, the board, at its option, may exchange each right in whole or in part, at an exchange ratio of one share of common stock per outstanding right. The adoption of the Rights Plan will not be a taxable event and will not have any impact on the Company's financial reporting. Additional details about the Rights Plan will be contained in a Form 8-K filed by Immersion with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 27, 2017.

05:36 EDT Gridsum signs three-year contract extension with L'Oreal - Gridsum Holding (GSUM) announced that it has signed a three-year contract extension from 2018-2020 with L'Oreal (LRLCY). Financial terms were not disclosed.

05:33 EDT Royal Dutch Shell expects U.S. tax reform to be favorable to Shell - Royal Dutch Shell plc expects the potential economic impact of the recently enacted U.S. tax reform legislation to be favorable to Shell and to its U.S. operations, primarily due to the future reduction in the U.S. corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. This change in U.S. tax legislation, effective January 1, 2018, will impact Shell's Q4 results but the analysis of the actual impact is not yet complete. Shell intends to determine and announce the actual impact including any Q4 movements, and balance sheet adjustments, as part of its Q4 results. However, on the basis of the Q3 financial statements, Shell would have incurred an estimated charge to earnings of $2B-$2.5B primarily driven by a re-measurement of its deferred tax position to reflect the lower corporate income tax rate. This charge represents a non-cash adjustment and will be reflected as an identified item.

05:30 EDT The9 receives Nasdaq letter of noncompliance - The9 announced that it received a notification letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market dated December 20 indicating that the company no longer meets the continued listing requirement of minimum Market Value of Publicly Held Shares, or MVPHS, for the Nasdaq Global Market, as set forth in the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(C), because the market value of the company's publicly held American depositary shares, or ADS, each representing one ordinary share of the Company, for the last 30 consecutive business days was below the minimum requirement of $15M.