Stockwinners Market Radar for June 15, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:26 EDT Lockheed Martin awarded $503.23M government contract - Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is awarded $503,228,000 for a not-to-exceed modification to a previously issued firm-fixed-price delivery order 0584 placed against basic ordering agreement. This modification provides for air vehicle initial spares, to include F-35Lightning II deployment spares packages, afloat spares packages, and associated consumables required to support the air vehicle delivery schedules for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and non-Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (24.4 percent); El Segundo, California; Owego, New York; Samlesbury, United Kingdom; Cheltenham, United Kingdom; Nashua, New Hampshire; Torrance, California; Orlando, Florida; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; San Diego, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Melbourne, Florida; Irvine, California; N. Amityville, New York; Windsor Locks, Connecticut; Baltimore, Maryland; Papendrect, The Netherlands; Rolling Meadows, Illinois; and Alpharetta, Georgia, and is expected to be completed in December 2023. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement and non-DoD participant funds in the amount of $503,228,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force; Marine Corps; Navy; and non-DoD participants. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

18:01 EDT Corporacion America Airport reports April passenger traffic up 6.9% - Corporacion America Airport reports total passenger traffic in May 2018 increased by 6.9% compared to the same period of 2017, primarily reflecting growth of 6.7% in Argentina, 6.4% in Brazil, 17.2% in Peru and 11.0% in Ecuador.

17:30 EDT Elliott Associates lowers stake in CDK Global to 3.2% from 4.0%

17:18 EDT Nvidia to replace Time Warner in S&P 100 at open on June 20

17:15 EDT Stonepine Capital reports 6.2% passive stake in Alphatec

17:03 EDT Ayrton Capital reports 4.99% passive stake in Trovagene

17:01 EDT KYPCo seeks requests for proposal from prospective coal buyers - Kentucky Power Company, an American Electric Power company, is seeking requests for proposal from prospective coal buyers. KYPCo, on behalf of itself and as agent for Wheeling Power Company, has up to 400,000 tons of coal for sale during third-quarter 2018 and fourth-quarter 2018. Deliveries will take place by FOB barge beginning July 2018 and ending December 2018. Specifications for the coal are listed in Exhibit A "Coal Specifications" of the RFP. All bids must meet the proposed Agreement and AEP Coal Sales Order Terms and Conditions. Bidders requesting changes must clearly mark and return those changes with their submittal.

16:46 EDT Titan International names David Martin CFO - The board of directors of Titan International announced they have named David A. Martin as the company's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective June 14, 2018. In such capacity, Martin assumed the additional role of the company's principal financial officer. Martin will report directly to the company's President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul G. Reitz.

16:40 EDT Deckers Brands names Steve Fasching CFO - Deckers Brands announced the appointment of Steve Fasching to Chief Financial Officer effective July 16, 2018. Fasching previously served as the company's Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Planning & Investor Relations. He succeeds Tom George, who will transition concurrent with Fasching's appointment. Fasching held senior finance-related roles at Princess Cruises prior to joining Deckers in August 2011 as Vice President, Strategic Financial Planning.

16:35 EDT Christopher & Banks receives listing standards notice from NYSE - Christopher & Banks announced that the company received a continued listing standards notice from the New York Stock Exchange because the company's 30-day trading average closing price is less than $1.00 and the company's average market capitalization over a consecutive 30 trading-day period was less than $50M and its reported stockholders' equity was slightly less than $50M. The company intends to submit a plan to the NYSE by July 29, demonstrating how it intends to regain conformity with each of the continued listed standards within the applicable cure period provided under the NYSE rules.

16:29 EDT MAK Capital One reports 5% passive stake in Maxwell

16:25 EDT Select Bancorp to join Russell 3000 Index - Select Bancorp will be added to the Russell 3000 Index at the conclusion of the Russell US Indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on June 25, 2018. FTSE Russell, a leading global index, data and analytics provider, posted its official preliminary lists of companies set to enter or leave the US broad-market Russell 3000 Index and the Russell Microcap Index when the Russell US Indexes complete their annual rebalance after US equity markets close on Friday, June 22.

16:17 EDT Washington Gas proposes continuation of STRIDE plan in Maryland - Washington Gas, a WGL Company, filed a 5-year plan with the Maryland Public Service Commission to continue progress in the Company's Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement initiative to replace aging pipelines in its natural gas system throughout the state. STRIDE allows Washington Gas to recover its costs as investments are made, enabling the acceleration of natural gas infrastructure replacement. The new plan proposes to replace 120 miles of pipeline and 14,400 services in Maryland between 2019 and 2023. Washington Gas is currently in the final year of the first phase of its 22-year STRIDE program to enhance safety and improve reliability across its Maryland system by continuing the accelerated replacement of its distribution and transmission systems. The Maryland General Assembly enacted STRIDE law in 2013. Washington Gas filed its first plan in late 2013, which was approved in 2014.

16:11 EDT Anworth Mortgage names Joseph McAdams CEO - Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation announced that its board of directors has appointed Joseph E. McAdams as its Chief Executive Officer effective September 30, 2018. Lloyd McAdams, Anworth's Founder, chairman of the board of directors, and current Chief Executive Officer, will remain chairman of the board of the directors.

16:06 EDT Decisionpoint Systems acquires Royce Digital Systems - Decisionpoint Systems announced that it has acquired Royce Digital Systems. Decisionpoint has acquired Royce to serve customers, deepen its expertise in other vertical markets, specifically healthcare, and provide a regional presence across California to better service customers in that area. The acquisition will add to Decisionpoint's mobile and wireless offerings to include Royce's expertise in printers, consumables and control offerings; and, these broader service offerings will also "open the door" to subscription-based recurring services revenue opportunities for the future.

16:06 EDT DryShips announces agreements to sell two older Panamaxes for $18.8M - DryShips announced that it has entered into agreements with unaffiliated buyers, for the sale of two of its older Panamax drybulk carriers, built in 2002, for an aggregate gross sales price of $18.8M. The vessels are scheduled for delivery to their buyers during the third quarter of 2018.

15:57 EDT Time Warner trading resumes

15:53 EDT PG&E rises to highs of day, up 60c to $40.46

15:42 EDT 1Globe Capital reports 6.35% passive stake in Proteostasis

14:26 EDT JetBlue says Puerto Rico service back to pre-hurricane levels six months early - JetBlue announced the return of its full flight schedule on the island of Puerto Rico after last year's hurricanes. "JetBlue's return of capacity, which coincides with its 16th anniversary of service in San Juan, came six months earlier than originally planned, given the improved demand for travel to Puerto Rico as the island continues to recover from Hurricane Maria and welcomes new visitors," the company stated.

14:03 EDT TransCanada launches binding open season for Marketlink - TransCanada Corporation launched an open season to solicit binding commitments from interested parties for transportation of crude oil on the Marketlink Pipeline System from Cushing, Oklahoma to markets on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

13:29 EDT Mohawk exec Thiers sells 10,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Mohawk Industries president of Flooring Europe and Rest of World Bernard Thiers disclosed the sale of 10,000 common shares of the company at a price of $212.5995 per share.

13:06 EDT Farmers & Merchants raises quarterly cash dividend 7.7% to 14c per share - The Board of Directors of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp announced that it has approved a 7.7% increase in the company's quarterly cash dividend. The new dividend has been raised to 14c per share from the previous dividend of 13c, and represents the 19th consecutive annual increase. The Q2 dividend is payable on July 20, 2018, to shareholders of record as of June 26, 2018.

13:04 EDT Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count down 3 to 1,059 rigs - Baker Hughes reports the U.S. rig count is down 3 rigs from last week to 1,059, with oil rigs up 1 to 863, gas rigs down 4 to 194 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2.

12:30 EDT Melco Resorts & Entertainment announces official opening of Morpheus - Melco Resorts & Entertainment announced the official opening of Morpheus, which the company called "the new, ultra-luxurious City of Dreams icon for Macau and Asia."

12:11 EDT American Express reports May write-off rate 2.2% vs. 2.3% last month - Reports May 30 days past due loans 1.3% vs. 1.3% last month.

12:03 EDT IBM acquires Oniqua Holdings, terms not disclosed - IBM announced it has acquired Oniqua Holdings, a global company in Maintenance Repair and Operations Inventory Optimization solutions and services focused on mining, oil & gas, transportation, utilities, manufacturing and other asset-intensive industries. This acquisition expands IBM's Asset Optimization Practice, helping clients reduce and optimize MRO Inventories, predict when critical parts and equipment might fail so proactive actions can be taken to avoid unplanned downtime. Through the acquisition of Oniqua, IBM is growing its asset optimization business with new capabilities that provide one data source around all company assets to ensure 24/7 operational efficiency. Oniqua, combined with other IBM solutions such as Maximo and Tririga, will provide consistency and data accessibility across the business with a central source of trusted information. As a result, asset-intensive businesses will not only be able to monitor and manage their assets for predictive and proactive maintenance, but also have the assurance that all critical parts are available when they are needed, minimizing operational downtime. As part of the acquisition, IBM Services will acquire from Oniqua a team of professionals with key skills in MRO inventory optimization, data engineering, data science, and predictive and prescriptive analytics. Financial terms and conditions were not released.

11:58 EDT Giga-tronics names Armand Pantalone CTO - Giga-tronics announced appointment of Armand Pantalone to the position of Chief Technology Officer taking over the role formerly held by John R. Regazzi, who will retain his position as Chief Executive Officer. The promotion of Pantalone is in recognition of the growing importance for offering complete RADAR and EW solutions to the company's business. Pantalone joined Giga-tronics in July 2016 as the Director of RADAR & EW Test Solutions.

11:50 EDT InnSuites Hospitality Trust reports resignations of COO, CFO - In a regulatory filing, InnSuites Hospitality Trust disclosed that effective June 14, James Wirth, founder of InnSuites hotels and Chairman and CEO of InnSuites Hospitality Trust, was elected by the Board of Trustees to serve in the additional position as President of the Trust. Wirth replaces Pamela Barnhill, who resigned as President and COO of the Trust effective June 14. Also on June 14, the Board of Trustees of the Trust promoted Craig Miller to the position of its Chief Financial Officer following the resignation of Adam Remis from that position. Miller previously served as Director of Finance of the Trust until becoming CFO.

11:32 EDT Cerus reports results of SPARC Phase 3 study at EHA meeting - Cerus announced that results from SPARC, the company's European Phase 3 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of INTERCEPT-treated red blood cells in thalassemia major patients, were presented at the 23rd Congress of European Hematology Association, or EHA, in Stockholm Sweden. A total of 81 patients with a mean age of 26.1 +/- 8.1 years were transfused. On an intent-to-treat basis, total mean Hb consumption in the evaluation period was 0.113 +/- 0.04 g/kg/day in the INTERCPT arm compared to 0.111 +/- 0.04 g/kg/day in the control arm. The primary efficacy endpoint was achieved, with a mean treatment difference of 0.002 g/kg/day, well below the pre-determined 15% inferiority margin. The primary safety endpoint also was achieved with no treatment emergent antibodies with confirmed specificity to INTERCEPT-treated RBCs or RBC antigens. Adverse events were balanced between Test and Control periods. There were no deaths, grade 4 adverse events, or events deemed certain or likely related to INTERCEPT-treated RBCs.

11:31 EDT AT&T expands renewable energy program with NextEra Energy - AT&T (T) said it is expanding its renewable energy program with NextEra Energy Resources (NEE). Together, AT&T and subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources will help to deliver clean energy, create jobs, boost the local economy and support a low-carbon economy. AT&T announced a new agreement to purchase 300 megawatts of wind energy. It also announced a scholarship program for students interested in pursuing careers as wind turbine technicians, one of the fastest-growing jobs in the U.S.

11:16 EDT Box Office Battle: 'Incredibles 2' seen seizing Father's Day weekend - The major release opening this weekend is Disney (DIS) and Pixar's "Incredibles 2," an animated superhero film that launched with $18.5M from Thursday previews. The film is expected to win at the box office this weekend with a domestic gross of as high as $140M, which would be a record for an animated movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Also out this weekend is Warner Bros. (TWX) comedy "Tag," starring Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, Hannibal Burress, and Jake Johnson. The film is expected to come in third this weekend with a domestic gross in the range of $12M-$15M. Warner Bros.' "Ocean's 8," which won at the box office last weekend, is anticipated to come in second a week after its release, with an expected domestic gross of around $20M-$21M. Disney's latest "Star Wars" film, "Solo: A Star Wars Story," is forecast to come in fourth with a gross of $9M-$10M, while Fox's (FOXA) superhero flick "Deadpool 2" is expected to round out the weekend with a domestic haul of about $8M. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Sony (SNE), Lionsgate (LGF.A), and Viacom (VIA, VIAB).

10:55 EDT Comcast 'welcomes' EC clearance of proposed Sky acquisition - Comcast (CMCSA) announced that the European Commission has cleared unconditionally its pre-conditional superior cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sky (SKYAY). Following the satisfaction of its pre-conditions, Comcast will publish its offer document in relation to the acquisition in due course as required by the Takeover Code. Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, said: "Comcast welcomes today's decision by the European Commission to clear the Acquisition. We are excited by the opportunities that a combination of Sky and Comcast will bring. As we have said from the outset, we will invest to grow and enhance Sky's business and be a strong steward of its valuable brand. Sky is a great British business - with us, that's the way it will always be. We now look forward to posting our offer document to give Sky shareholders the opportunity to accept our superior cash offer." Comcast expects to complete the acquisition before the end of 2018.

10:43 EDT European Commission clears Comcast's proposed acquisition of Sky - The European Commission has approved unconditionally under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Sky (SKYAY) by Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK). The Commission concluded the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe.Comcast and Sky are mainly active in different markets in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the UK and Spain. They compete with each other only to a limited extent, mainly in the acquisition of TV content and in the wholesale supply of basic pay-TV channels.The Commission found that the proposed transaction would lead to only a limited increase in Sky's existing share of the markets for the acquisition of TV content, as well as in the market for the wholesale supply of TV channels in the relevant Member States.Given that the merging companies are mainly active at different levels of the market, the Commission's assessment focused on whether, as a result of the proposed transaction: Comcast would be able to prevent or significantly limit access by Sky's competitors to its films and other TV content or to its TV channels. The Commission concluded that these possible concerns were not founded. This is because pay-TV distributors would continue to have access to content from Comcast's competitors and multiple alternative channels with comparable programming and audiences in the relevant Member States.Sky would have the incentive to cease purchasing content from Comcast's competitors. The Commission found that this was unlikely as it would reduce the quality of Sky's product offering. Sky could prevent competing channels from accessing its platform. The investigation found that the merged companies' ability to shut out Comcast's rivals was significantly mitigated by existing regulations in the UK, Germany and Austria. In addition, competitors that could have been targeted for exclusion are either contractually protected for a sufficient period of time or are not dependent on Sky's retail platform in the relevant Member States.Based on the results of its market investigation, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns...Comcast's offer to acquire Sky comes as a counter-bid to an offer by Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX, FOXA). Twenty-First Century Fox and Comcast are competing against each other to take control over Sky. On 7 April 2017 the Commission also cleared unconditionally Twenty-First Century Fox's offer for Sky. Reference Link

10:34 EDT Walgreens to move 1,800 positions to new Chicago office - Walgreens announced it plans to open a new office in Chicago where it anticipates 1,800 people will be based. The new office space will include approximately 200,000 square feet in The Old Post Office building, 433 W. Van Buren St. The 1,800 people expected to work at the new space over time will include approximately 1,300 positions that will relocate to the City of Chicago. This will be the largest number of corporate employees Walgreens has ever had based in Chicago. Walgreens Boots Alliance will remain headquartered in north suburban Deerfield, Ill., where approximately 3,200 employees are expected to continue to work. When renovations are complete, the new office space in The Old Post Office building will serve as an additional office location for Walgreens. Digital and IT operations employees supporting the Walgreens business, as well as some Walgreens Boots Alliance global IT personnel, will be located in the new office space. The space expands the company's Technology Center of Excellence launched last year that further combines the company's retail pharmacy technology teams with digital, mobile and e-commerce teams who currently work in the City. As part of the new space, Walgreens will relocate its digital office currently in the Sullivan Center at 36 S. Wabash Ave. to The Old Post Office building. The new office at The Old Post Office is anticipated to open in fall 2019.

10:00 EDT LG Display falls -7.3% - LG Display is down -7.3%, or -75c to $9.52.

10:00 EDT Genco Shipping falls -9.0% - Genco Shipping is down -9.0%, or -$1.63 to $16.54.

10:00 EDT Braskem rises 19.0% - Braskem is up 19.0%, or $4.13 to $25.89.

09:59 EDT Innsuites Hospitality Trust trading halted, news pending

09:48 EDT The Intersection: Crypto and Wall Street This Week - As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week's top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap compiled by The Fly. 1. CFTC SUBPOENAS EXCHANGES: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has subpoenaed several bitcoin exchanges for comprehensive trading data to assist an investigation over whether manipulation has distorted prices in markets linked to cryptocurrencies, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. CME Group (CME), which launched bitcoin futures in December and derived their final value from prices at exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Kraken, had asked the exchanges to share reams of trading data, but they declined saying the demand was intrusive. The CFTC was frustrated CME didn't have in place agreements that would compel bitcoin markets to share data tied to the contracts and subpoenaed the exchanges. 2. SEC SAYS ETHER TRADES NOT SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS: William Hinman, the SEC's director, division of corporation finance, said Thursday, "'Can a digital asset that was originally offered in a securities offering ever be later sold in a manner that does not constitute an offering of a security?' In cases where the digital asset represents a set of rights that gives the holder a financial interest in an enterprise, the answer is likely 'no.' In these cases, calling the transaction an initial coin offering, or 'ICO,' or a sale of a 'token,' will not take it out of the purview of the U.S. securities laws. But what about cases where there is no longer any central enterprise being invested in or where the digital asset is sold only to be used to purchase a good or service available through the network on which it was created? I believe in these cases the answer is a qualified 'yes.'...And putting aside the fundraising that accompanied the creation of Ether, based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions." 3. S. KOREAN CRYPTO EXCHANGE HACKED: South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail lost over $40M in altcoins belonging to users following an apparent hack, TechCrunch reported. The hackers took $19.5M-worth of NPXS tokens issued by payment project Pundi X's ICO, $13.8M from Aston X, an ICO project focused on decentralizing documents, $5.8M in tokens for Dent, a mobile data ICO, and over $1.1M Tron, a project originating from China. 4. WELLS FARGO BANS CRYPTO CREDIT CARD PURCHASES: Wells Fargo (WFC) has banned cryptocurrency purchase on its credit cards as it "will continue to evaluate the issue as the market evolves," Bloomberg reported Monday. The bank joins Citigroup (C), JPMorgan (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), which limited cryptocurrency purchases on credit cards in February citing market volatility and credit risks. 5. BANKS UNLIKELY TO USE DISTRIBUTED LEDGERS FOR NOW: Banks are unlikely to use distributed ledgers to process cross-border payments currently due to scalability and privacy issues, Reuters reported Friday. Several banks have tested or deployed xCurrent, a system Ripple developed for international payments that uses "bi-directional messaging" and can eventually plug into distributed ledgers, however the technology itself "is not a distributed ledger." CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Cryptocurrency revenues have been pointed to as reasons to be bullish on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) in select research. Overstock (OSTK), DPW Holdings (DPW), Kodak (KODK), Seven Stars Cloud (SSC), Riot Blockchain (RIOT), Pareteum (TEUM) and Social Reality (SRAX) are other stocks that have been touted, or promoted themselves, as a way to play the crypto theme. PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin dropped about 14.2% this week to $6,513 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk. WANT BITCOIN NEWS ALERTS?: To receive alerts on stories relating to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Fly subscribers can enter "Bitcoin" into the "Add symbols" box of their portfolios.

09:47 EDT Braskem rises 18.0% - Braskem is up 18.0%, or $3.91 to $25.67.

09:46 EDT Mack-Cali Realty announces departure of Vice Chairman Rudin - Mack-Cali Realty announced the departure of Mitchell Rudin ,who served as Chief Executive Officer from June 2015 until he was appointed Vice Chairman of the company in April 2017. Rudin will be leaving Mack-Cali to pursue other opportunities, the company stated.

09:32 EDT Kitov Pharmaceuticals reports 'positive' results in NT219 study - Kitov Pharma announced "positive" results in a pre-clinical study testing NT219, a first-in-class small molecule targeting IRS1/2 and STAT3, two signal proteins that are part of an anti-cancer drug resistance mechanism. The study, conducted by Kitov's majority-owned subsidiary, TyrNovo Ltd., evaluated NT219 in combination with gemcitabine in a patient-derived xenograft model of pancreatic cancer and was conducted in accordance with guidance from the U.S. FDA. The results support the planned submission of the Investigational New Drug Application for NT219. NT219 was tested at three dose levels in combination with gemcitabine vs. gemcitabine alone. A clear dose response effect was observed among treatment arms with statistically significant differences among groups. In addition, the study confirmed previous findings that demonstrated the beneficial effect of the combination of NT219 with gemcitabine vs. gemcitabine alone.

09:14 EDT Ramco appoints Michael Fitzmaurice as CFO - Ramco announced the appointment of Michael Fitzmaurice as Executive Vice President, CFO and Secretary, effective June 18. Fitzmaurice will play a key role in the establishment and execution of the company's strategic plan and oversee all financial aspects of the company, including capital markets, financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, internal audit, information technology, and treasury.

09:11 EDT Capital Product announces new period charters for four product tankers - Capital Product Partners (CPLP) announced that it has secured new time charter employment for four of its vessels. The M/T 'Alexandros II', the M/T 'Aristotelis II', the M/T 'Aris II' and the M/T 'Ayrton II', have secured employment with Petroleo Brasileiro for two years at a gross daily rate of $14,700. Petrobras (PBR) has the option to extend the respective time charters for an additional eleven months at $14,850 per day. The new charters are subject to vetting inspections of each vessel and are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2018. As a result of the above employments, the Partnership's charter coverage for 2018 has increased to 70%.

09:05 EDT Bank of America reports May default rate 2.98% vs. 2.96% last month - Reports 30-plus day delinquency rate 1.55% vs. 1.63% last month.

09:02 EDT MGM Growth raises quarterly dividend to 43c per unit - On an annualized basis, this dividend of $1.72 represents an increase of 4c per share per year, a 2.4% increase over the prior annual rate of $1.68. This is the 4th dividend increase since MGP's initial public offering in April 2016. The dividends will be payable on July 16 to unit holders and shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 29, as applicable.

08:58 EDT Universal Display down 3.5% after Journal says Apple keeping focus on LCD - After The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple (AAPL) will continue to focus on liquid-crystal displays, or LCD, in its iPhone lineup into next year, shares of Universal Display (OLED), a supplier of technology and materials used to make OLED displays, is down $3.45, or 3.5%, to $95.15 in pre-market trading.

08:56 EDT Dorian LPG trading resumes

08:47 EDT Dorian LPG board unanimously declines LPG'S unsolicited proposal - Dorian LPG announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously declined an unsolicited, conditional proposal from BW LPG Ltd. to combine with Dorian in a stock-for-stock transaction. After a thorough review, conducted in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the Board of Directors unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of Dorian and its shareholders. The Board noted that: BW LPG's proposal undervalues Dorian on both an absolute- and relative-value basis; Fails to recognize the value of Dorian's younger, more fuel-efficient ships; Fails to recognize Dorian's superior commercial performance; Forces shareholders to accept equity in a more highly-leveraged combined company; and Proposes a dual listing that is unlikely to benefit Dorian shareholders. The Board believes that Dorian's current strategy is working and that Dorian's younger, more fuel-efficient fleet with lower leverage protects the company at the bottom of the industry cycle and positions it best for long-term growth and success. Dorian has retained Evercore as financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Seward & Kissel LLP as legal advisors, in connection with the proposal.

08:36 EDT Bristol-Myers announces CNDA approval of Opdivo for NSCLC treatment - Bristol-Myers announced that the China National Drug Administration, or CNDA, has approved Opdivo for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, after prior platinum-based chemotherapy in adult patients without EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations. This is China's first and only PD-1 inhibitor and is the only Immuno-Oncology agent to demonstrate a survival benefit compared with chemotherapy, based on data from the pivotal Phase 3 CheckMate -078 trial, in which 90% of the patients enrolled were Chinese. The approval is based on results from the Phase 3 CheckMate -078 trial of Opdivo versus chemotherapy among patients with previously treated NSCLC, findings from which were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in April. In November 2017, the trial was stopped early because the independent data monitoring committee concluded that Opdivo demonstrated superior overall survival compared with chemotherapy. The application later received priority review by the Center for Drug Evaluation in China.

08:34 EDT Medtronic receives FDA approval for IN.PACT Admiral Drug-Coated Balloons - Medtronic announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for 200mm and 250mm lengths of the IN.PACT Admiral Drug-Coated Balloon to treat long superficial femoral artery lesions in patients with peripheral artery disease. Complex lesions, including those over 150mm, are commonly encountered in clinical practice and remain a significant treatment challenge for physicians. In April of this year, IN.PACT Admiral received approval to treat SFA lesions up to 360mm in length. Approval was based on clinical data from the complex lesion imaging cohorts of the IN.PACT Global Study, including long lesion, in-stent restenosis, and chronic total occlusion groups with lesion lengths greater than180mm. Across these groups, a total of 227 subjects with mean lesion lengths of 28.7 +/- 7.1 cm were analyzed. Data showed a one-year patency rate of 89.1% by Kaplan Meier estimate at day 360, and a clinically-driven target revascularization rate of 7.1%.

08:16 EDT Teva announces change in ENFORCE program after endpoint unlikely to be met - Teva announced a change in the clinical development program of fremanezumab in chronic cluster headache. The ENFORCE Phase III clinical development program includes a chronic cluster headache study, an episodic cluster headache study, and a long-term safety study. A pre-specified futility analysis of the chronic cluster headache study revealed that the primary endpoint of mean change from baseline in the monthly average number of cluster headache attacks during the 12-week treatment period is unlikely to be met. There were no safety concerns observed with fremanezumab treatment in the trial. Based on the study meeting the futility criteria, the Company will discontinue the trial for chronic cluster headache. Chronic Cluster Headache patients who participate in the long-term safety study, will discontinue their participation in the long-term safety study as well. The episodic cluster headache study is not affected and continues as planned. Fremanezumab is currently under review by the FDA, with an action date of September 16 and by the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, as a quarterly or monthly injection for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults.

08:12 EDT SJW's board rejects California Water's tender offer to acquire all shares - SJW announced that its board, following a careful and thorough review in consultation with SJW Group's management as well as legal and financial advisors consistent with its fiduciary duties, unanimously rejected the highly-conditional unsolicited tender offer made by California Water Service Group (CWT) to acquire all outstanding shares of SJW Group at a price of $68.25 per share in cash. The board recommends that SJW Group shareholders not tender their shares into Cal Water's offer and reaffirms its recommendation that SJW Group stockholders vote for the signed, definitive merger agreement with Connecticut Water Service (CTWS). In its review of Cal Water's tender offer, SJW Group's board also took into consideration the impact the offer would have on SJW Group's and its subsidiaries' credit ratings and related cost of capital. SJW Group's board also believes that Cal Water's tender offer, in addition to being "inadequate in its own right", would deny SJW Group's stockholders the opportunity to share in the value creation and "numerous benefits" expected to arise from the merger with Connecticut Water. The board believes that SJW Group's merger with Connecticut Water will deliver significant immediate and long-term value to SJW Group's stockholders.

08:09 EDT Blueprint Medicines announces updated data from Phase 1 EXPLORER trial - Blueprint Medicines announced updated data from its ongoing Phase 1 EXPLORER clinical trial of avapritinib, a potent and highly selective KIT and PDGFRA inhibitor in development for patients with systemic mastocytosis. The updated results confirm and improve upon data previously presented for avapritinib in patients with advanced SM, demonstrating profound and durable clinical activity and favorable tolerability. Advanced SM is a proliferative mast cell disorder associated with severe constitutional symptoms, progressive organ damage and reduced survival. The updated data from the EXPLORER clinical trial showed an overall response rate of 83%, as of the data cutoff date of April 30, 2018. Responses were durable and continuing, with a duration of response observed up to 22 months. Seventy-nine percent of responders remained on treatment as of the data cutoff date. All evaluable patients showed marked decreases on one or more objective measures of mast cell burden regardless of advanced SM subtype, previous treatment or dose level. The data will be presented today in a poster presentation at the 23rd Congress of the European Hematology Association in Stockholm, Sweden. Based on the compelling clinical data from the EXPLORER trial and feedback from regulatory authorities, Blueprint Medicines plans to rapidly advance development of avapritinib in a broad population of patients with SM. The Company plans to initiate PATHFINDER, an open-label, single-arm Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with advanced SM, by the middle of 2018. In addition, the Company plans to initiate PIONEER, a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with indolent and smoldering SM, by the end of 2018. Blueprint Medicines believes these clinical trials may support registration of avapritinib in their respective SM patient populations, based on feedback from the U.S. FDA.

08:07 EDT SJW Corp. board unanimously rejects California Water Service's cash tender offer

08:06 EDT Post Holdings sees $5M-$7M impact to adj. EBITDA from Michael Foods plant fire - Post Holdings previously reported a fire took place at its Michael Foods precooked egg facility in Klingerstown, PA, and, unrelated, a water boil order was issued by the municipal water association servicing its Michael Foods Lenox, IA precooked egg facility. The cause of the fire at Klingerstown continues to be investigated with repairs to the roof and electrical infrastructure currently in process. The plant continues to operate, with additional production anticipated to return on June 19. Remaining oven production is expected to be brought back into service by mid-July, with the plant returning to full production then. The Lenox facility restarted partial operations on June 7, with full production levels reached on June 11. While underlying egg product demand remains strong, this disruption has resulted in modest service level issues and lost sales revenue. Post management estimates the financial impact of both incidents, inclusive of expenses and margin on lost sales revenue, to be between $5-$7 million to Adjusted EBITDA, which will be reflected in Post's financial results in its third quarter of fiscal 2018. The financial impact of each incident is expected to be insured to the extent each incident exceeds $2.5 million, with recovery occurring in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 or in early fiscal 2019.

08:04 EDT LyondellBasell, Odebrecht S.A. enter exclusive talks regarding Braskem - LyondellBasell (LYB) and Odebrecht S.A., the controlling shareholder of Braskem (BAK), in a joint statement announced the companies have entered into exclusive discussions regarding a potential transaction between LyondellBasell and Braskem. The companies jointly stated: "Both LyondellBasell and Braskem share a strong culture of operational excellence and legacies of value-creating innovation. We believe that the potential combination of LyondellBasell's and Braskem's complementary strengths, product portfolios and operational footprints would create significant value for our shareholders, customers and employees. Braskem's board of directors and management have been informed of the existence of these discussions. The discussions are preliminary and no agreements have been reached. Among other things, the parties will need to complete appropriate diligence, negotiate definitive agreements and obtain corporate approvals. There can be no assurance the discussions will result in a transaction or on what terms any transaction may occur. LyondellBasell and Odebrecht S.A. do not intend to make any further comment unless and until the discussions conclude or are required by applicable law."

08:03 EDT LyondellBasell, Odebrecht S.A. enter exclusive talks regarding Braskem -

08:01 EDT Alaska Air reports May traffic up 7.4%, capacity up 8.8% - Alaska Air Group reported May operational results on a consolidated basis, for its mainline operations flown by subsidiaries Alaska Airlines and for its regional flying operated by subsidiary Horizon Air Industries and third-party regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and Peninsula Airlines. On a combined basis for all operations, Air Group reported a 7.4% increase in traffic on an 8.8% increase in capacity compared to May 2017. Load factor decreased 1.1 points to 85.4%.

07:48 EDT Maxar Technologies settles appraisal litigation with former DigitalGlobe holders - Maxar Technologies announces that it has entered into an agreement to settle all pending litigation with the former holders of 80,000 shares of DigitalGlobe Series A Convertible Preferred Stock. Under the agreement, the former holders of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock of DigitalGlobe will receive (i) 2,206,464 common shares of Maxar and (ii) a payment in cash for the interest that has accrued on the merger consideration from the closing of the merger. "We are pleased to have reached a resolution with our preferred shareholders," said Howard Lance, CEO of Maxar. "Our outlook for debt and leverage ratio levels in 2018, as well as cash flows and EPS, all of which were provided in conjunction with our first quarter earnings release on May 9, 2018, are not impacted by this agreement."

07:36 EDT Intelsat partners with Globo to demonstrate 8K video in Brazil for the World Cup - Intelsa will partner with Globo to demonstrate live 8K video transmissions in Brazil for the 2018 World Cup. Beginning June 15 and running through July 15, content will be broadcast as part of an exhibition at the famous Museu de Amanha, Rio de Janeiro's innovative science museum. Video in 8K has double the resolution of 4K and 16 times the resolution of full HD, watching the World Cup match in 7680 x 4320 pixels compared to the typical 1920 x 1080 pixels available in HD video. The 8K signal will be transmitted as a 200 Mbps video stream at the International Broadcast Center in Moscow and transported to Tokyo. It will then be carried to Intelsat via the Intelsat point of presence in New York. The signal will be transmitted on the IntelsatOne terrestrial network to Intelsat's teleport in Atlanta, Georgia, where it will be re-encoded at 90 Mbps using a special NTT 8K HEVC real-time encoder. Once the video is compressed, it will be modulated by a Newtec MDM-6100 modem in DVB-S2 and then uplinked to Intelsat 14, the company's emerging HD video neighborhood in Latin America known for its HD and 4K content distribution.

07:34 EDT SandRidge says Midstates offered more favorable form of confidentiality pact

07:31 EDT Qualcomm extends cash offer for NXP Semiconductors to June 22 - Qualcomm (QCOM) announced that Qualcomm River Holdings B.V., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, has extended the offering period of its previously announced cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares of NXP Semiconductors (NXPI). The tender offer is being made pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, dated as of October 27, 2016, by and between Qualcomm River Holdings B.V. and NXP, as amended. The tender offer is now scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 22, 2018, unless extended or earlier terminated, in either case pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement.

07:30 EDT Alliance Data reports May net charge offs 6.4% vs. 6.3% last month - Reports May delinquency rate 5.4% vs. 5.3% last month.

07:18 EDT Canada Goose up 13.5% to $52.02 after Q4 results, FY19 guidance

07:12 EDT GI Partners enters pact with Amag Pharmaceuticals to acquire Cord Blood Registry - California Cryobank, the world's leading donor sperm and donor egg bank, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement for GI Partners, a private equity investment firm, to acquire the company from leading healthcare investors Longitude Capital and NovaQuest Capital. In a separate transaction, GI Partners has also entered into a definitive agreement with AMAG Pharmaceuticals to acquire Cord Blood Registry, the world's largest stem cell collection and storage company. Following the close of both transactions, California Cryobank and CBR will join together in a newly combined entity that will operate under the California Cryobank Life Sciences platform, bringing together best-in-class organizations to provide enhanced domestic and international expansion opportunities in both the donor reproductive tissue and newborn stem cell industries.

07:07 EDT Alnylam to present additional results from APOLLO study of patisiran at EAN - Alnylam announced that additional results from the APOLLO Phase 3 study of patisiran, an investigational RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis, will be presented at the 4th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, or EAN. In addition, Alnylam and collaborators will give encore presentations of results from the Phase 1 and Phase 1/2 OLE studies of givosiran, an investigational RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of patients with Acute Hepatic Porphyrias with recurrent attacks.

07:06 EDT EU passenger car registrations up 0.8% in May - In May, the EU passenger car market flattened out after showing robust growth in April. Registrations of new cars were only 0.8% higher than in May 2017, counting 1,398,913 units in total, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Spain and the United Kingdom saw growth in May, while Germany and Italy saw their demand for cars decline, said the ACEA. Publicly traded automakers include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY).

07:05 EDT Kratos Defense awarded $2.6M contract for Pilot Phase 2 program - Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced today that its Kratos RT Logic subsidiary won an award for the Pilot Phase 2 program. This effort will implement a proof-of-concept system enabling an enterprise solution to increase the capacity and resiliency of wideband satellite communications. Kratos' system will enable government satellite users to roam, similar to the way cell phone users roam through multiple cellular networks. This will be demonstrated with a Flexible Modem Interface that enables secure communication across multiple operator networks, in multiple frequency bands, utilizing diverse waveforms and modems. It will show implementation of critical command and control capabilities allowing an existing U.S. government terminal to switch to different satellites if the main satellite is compromised, enhancing resiliency through path diversity and enabling global service connectivity to multiple available networks. Under the terms of the award, Kratos will also demonstrate a prototype government network operating center function that responds to user requirements and service provider capabilities. The function interfaces to SATCOM gateways and remote terminals, provides situational awareness, and successfully mitigates threats. Kratos is supported on this effort by a world-class team of satellite operators to execute the program, including Intelsat General, SES Government Solutions, and INMARSAT. The program is sponsored by the Space and Missile Systems Center, MILSATCOM Systems Directorate, Advanced Concepts Division.

07:03 EDT Aclaris Therapeutics appoints David Gordon as CMO - Aclaris Therapeutics (ACRS) announced the expansion of its executive leadership team with the appointment of David Gordon as CMO. Gordon will report to president and CEO Neal Walker, and will lead Aclaris' clinical research and medical affairs functions. Christopher Powala, chief regulatory and development officer, has added Elaine Morefield to his team as director, product quality. Product quality was Morefield's area of focus for more than eight years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prior to joining Aclaris, Gordon was SVP and head of dermatology research and development at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

07:02 EDT Ritchie Bros. sells C$95M+ of equipment in June Edmonton auction - With its third Edmonton auction of the year, Ritchie Bros. sold close to 7,300 equipment items for over C$95M, up 32% from last year's June sale. The June 12-14, 2018 auction attracted more than 9,550 people from 50+ countries, including 7,000+ online bidders. Approximately 90% of the equipment in the auction was sold to Canadian buyers, with buyers from Alberta purchasing 59%, while international buyers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, and the Netherlands purchased 10% of the equipment. Approximately 67% of the equipment in the auction was sold to online buyers.

06:53 EDT Canada Goose sees FY19 wholesale revenue growth in the mid-single-digits - Key assumptions underlying the fiscal 2019 outlook are as follows: Wholesale revenue growth in the mid-single-digits on a percentage basis; Five new retail stores in operation by the onset of the peak winter selling season; Six retail stores in operation in off-peak periods in the first half of the year, compared to two in fiscal 2018; SG&A growth investments in infrastructure and people including IT and the establishment of a country office in China to lead market development efforts; SG&A fees to operating partners on DTC sales in China; Capital expenditures of $65M including investments in new retail stores, IT and manufacturing capacity; Weighted average diluted shares outstanding of 112.1M; Effective annual tax rate approximately in-line with fiscal 2018.

06:49 EDT Kennametal announces CFO van Gaalen to retire in September - Kennametal announced that VP and CFO Jan Kees van Gaalen will retire from the company in September. "Jan Kees has served the company well as CFO since 2015," said President and CEO Christopher Rossi. "He was instrumental in helping improve the company's cost structure and driving the current strategy of simplification, growth and modernization while providing focus on strong operating cashflows, a conservative balance sheet and investment grade ratings." Van Gaalen joined the company in September 2015 and has served as VP and CFO since that time. The company has engaged an external firm to assist in the search for a successor candidate.

06:45 EDT Canada Goose opens three new stores in North America - Canada Goose announced the next phase of its global retail expansion, opening three stores this fall in Short Hills, N.J., Montreal, Quebec and Vancouver, British Columbia. The stores are a celebration of the company's commitment to craftsmanship and a curated showcase of the brand's archives. The brand will open its fourth U.S. store at The Mall at Short Hills, the preeminent fashion destination in the suburban metropolitan New York area, known for its luxury tenants. The Montreal store will be located on world-renowned Ste-Catherine Street in the heart of the city's shopping and entertainment district for locals and tourists alike. In Vancouver, the Canada Goose store will open in the CF Pacific Centre, the city's leading luxury shopping destination. The stores are set to open ahead of the 2018 holiday shopping season.

06:35 EDT Donald Trump approves tariffs on roughly $50B of Chinese goods, WSJ reports - President Donald Trump has approved tariffs on roughly $50B of Chinese goods ramping up its trade dispute with Beijing over China's alleged pressure on U.S. firms to transfer technology to Chinese partners, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. It is not clear when the tariffs will go into effect, but the U.S. Trade Representative's Office is planning to announce goods subject to the tariffs on Friday and Beijing has announced that it had prepared its own $50B list of U.S. goods subject to tariffs, especially aircraft and soybeans. Publicly traded stocks in the metals space include US Steel (X), AK Steel (AKS), Nucor (NUE), Steel Dynamics (STLD), Alcoa (AA), Century Aluminum (CENX), and Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF). Reference Link

06:31 EDT DPW Holdings' DPL unit to form joint venture with QPAGOS - DPW Holdings announced that Digital Power Lending, its wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture to be called Innovative e-Payment Solutions with QPAGOS, a provider of consumer payment and financial services in Mexico, to launch a network of 1,000 self-service kiosks starting in California over the next 12 months. It is the joint venture's intent that the self-service kiosks will feature consumer payments with an ability to enter into transactions with over 10,000 vendors, utilities and service providers actively accepting payments (domestic and international) as well as mobile top up service, money transfers, cryptocurrency purchases and payments and micro lending transactions. Currently, there are less than 1,800 active kiosks to date throughout the United States that provide similar services including the ability to purchase cryptocurrency. QPAGOS has established a solid presence in the Mexican market through 700 kiosks deployed with over 140 payment services integrated. In 2017, QPAGOS processed over $8M in transactions including utility and entertainment service payments as well as transportation, national lottery, cryptocurrency and other transactions. QPAGOS and DPL intend to leverage QPAGOS' experience and expertise to develop a network of over 10,000 kiosks throughout the United States by 2023.

06:12 EDT JPMorgan reports May net credit losses 2.56% vs. 2.63% last month - Reports May 30-plus day delinquency rate 1.11% vs. 1.17% last month.

06:10 EDT Volkswagen names Christian Schultz as CFO for Truck & Bus unit - Volkswagen (VLKAY) says Christian Schulz, who has been in charge of Corporate Development, Strategy and M&A at Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH since January 2017, will become CFO and member of the Board of Management, taking over from Matthias Grundler, who left the company in May. Having previously worked at Daimler (DDAIF), Schulz joined Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH in January 2017 as Head of Corporate Development, Strategy and M&A.

06:07 EDT Facebook: 'Clear that we need solutions beyond fact-checkers' - Tessa Lyons, Product Manager at Facebook, wrote: "False news is a money maker for spammers and a weapon of state actors and agitators around the world. This has introduced important questions for society and new responsibilities for companies like Facebook.One part of our strategy that we get asked about a lot is our partnership with third-party fact-checking organizations. They help us identify false stories so we can stop them from spreading on Facebook. Overall, we're making progress and have learned a lot. This year we expanded to more countries and started having fact-checkers review photos and videos, not just links. We're also looking for more ways to be transparent about these efforts and to have independent researchers measure our results... Over the last 18 months we've made good progress, but we're also aware of the limits of this program. Fact-checkers don't exist in all countries, and different places have different standards of journalism as well as varying levels of press freedom. Even where fact-checking organizations do exist, there aren't enough to review all potentially false claims online. It can take hours or even days to review a single claim. And most false claims aren't limited to one article - they spread to other sites. To make real progress, we have to keep improving our machine learning and trying other tactics that can work around the world. There are other challenges, too, such as how to treat opinion and satire. We strongly believe that people should be able to debate different ideas, even controversial ones. We also recognize there can be a fine line between misinformation and satire or opinion. For example, sometimes people try to call their sites 'satire' as cover for their true motivation - to spread fake stories. This can make it more difficult for fact-checkers to assess whether an article should be rated 'false' or left alone... It's clear that even as we continue to improve this program, we need solutions beyond fact-checkers. That's why we're also working on removing fake accounts, which are often responsible for misinformation. And as we make it harder for fake stories to spread and we prevent malicious sites and Pages from using our tools to make money, we will break the business models that incentivize bad actors to share it. We also continue to invest in news literacy programs to help people better judge the publishers and articles they see on Facebook. It's through the combination of all these things - and by collaborating with other companies and organizations - that we'll be able to continue to make progress on false news." Reference Link

06:05 EDT Cognizant launches $600M accelerated share repurchase - Cognizant announced that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase, or ASR, agreement with Morgan Stanley to repurchase an aggregate of $600 million of Cognizant's Class A common stock. In February 2017, the Company announced a plan to return $3.4 billion to stockholders by the end of 2018 through a combination of $2.7 billion in stock repurchases and $0.7 billion in dividends. With the ASR announced today, the company will deliver early on its commitment as to stock repurchases with the anticipated final settlement of the ASR during the third quarter of 2018.

06:03 EDT Bluebird Bio presents new data from Northstar HGB-204, HGB-207 studies - bluebird bio announced that new data from the completed Phase 1/2 Northstar (HGB-204) study in adolescents and adults with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia and any genotype, and its ongoing, Phase 3 Northstar-2 (HGB-207) multicenter clinical study of LentiGlobin investigational gene therapy in patients with TDT and non-beta0/beta0 genotypes, will be presented in an oral session on June 16 at the 23rd Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association by Franco Locatelli, M.D., Ph.D., of the IRCCS Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu of Rome, Italy. "The maturing data from HGB-204 and HGB-207 suggest that one-time treatment with LentiGlobin may address the underlying genetic cause of TDT. With our refined manufacturing process, the majority of patients with TDT and non-beta0/beta0 genotypes are transfusion-free and producing total hemoglobin at normal or near-normal levels," said David Davidson, M.D., chief medical officer, bluebird bio. "We are on track to submit a marketing authorization application in the European Union later this year, and we continue to work closely with clinical investigators and regulatory authorities to complete our ongoing clinical trials and bring this important treatment option to patients as soon as possible." "Consistently higher in vivo vector copy numbers and HbAT87Q hemoglobin levels in patients indicate that LentiGlobin manufacturing refinements have resulted in improved gene therapy characteristics and may enable sustained transfusion independence for a great majority of patients," said Professor Locatelli, the lead investigator of the Northstar-2 study. "Further, we are now seeing more than three years of data from the Northstar study indicating that LentiGlobin therapy may enable long-term transfusion independence in the majority of patients with non-beta0/beta0 genotypes. These results hold the promise to change the natural history of many patients with this severe genetic disorder of hemoglobin production."

05:57 EDT Selecta Biosciences presents data from ongoing Phase 2 trial of SEL-212 - Selecta Biosciences presented expanded data from patients receiving up to 0.15 mg/kg of SVP Rapamycin with 0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg of pegsiticase from its ongoing Phase 2 trial of SEL-212 for the treatment of chronic severe gout, designed to be the first non-immunogenic version of uricase, at the 2018 European League Against Rheumatism Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The poster was presented on June 15th at 11:45 a.m. CET. The data reported today at EULAR expand upon the data recently presented at PANLAR and consist of patients receiving three monthly doses of SEL-212, up to 0.15 mg/kg of SVP-Rapamycin in combination with 0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg of pegsiticase, followed by two monthly doses of pegsiticase alone. Approximately 81% of evaluable patients had serum uric acid control below 6 mg/dl at week 12. In a separately conducted and designed study of the only FDA-approved uricase therapy, 44% of evaluable patients had serum uric acid control below 6 mg/dl at week 16. 33% of the patient population represented by the EULAR data, and only 27% of all current patients in the SEL-212 Phase 2 trial, experienced gout flares during the first month after treatment with continued reduction of gout flare rates over months two to five. This reduced rate of gout flares appears to be substantially lower than the incidence of gout flares reported in clinical trials involving the current FDA-approved uricase.

05:54 EDT Affimed N.V. announces updated data of AFM13/Keytruda combination - Affimed N.V. presented new interim data from the Phase 1b dose escalation study evaluating AFM13, its lead NK cell engager candidate, at the European Hematology Association 23rd Congress in Stockholm. Dr. Eva Domingo of the Instituto Catalan de Oncologia L'Hospitalet, Barcelona, Spain, presented the poster, titled A Phase 1 Study Investigating the Combination of AFM13 and the Monoclonal Anti-PD-1 Antibody Pembrolizumab in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma after Brentuximab Vedotin Failure: Updated Safety and Efficacy Data. The poster is available on the Affimed website at: http://www.affimed.com/publications.php#posters. Assessment of 18 patients treated at the highest AFM13 dose showed best overall response rate of 89% and complete metabolic response rate of 28%. The ORR and CmR for these 18 patients compare favorably to those of anti-PD-1 monotherapy in similar patient populations. Responders included three patients who were either primary refractory to or had relapsed during front-line therapy and were refractory to all subsequent lines of therapy. The combination of AFM13 and pembrolizumab was well tolerated, with most adverse events mild to moderate in nature and manageable with standard of care measures.

05:43 EDT AbbVie reports new undetectable minimal residual disease data from Phase 3 trial - AbbVie announced the presentation of investigational data from a new analysis of undetectable minimal residual disease, or uMRD, rates from the pivotal Phase 3 MURANO trial of venetoclax, a first-in-class oral B-cell lymphoma-2, or BCL-2, inhibitor, in combination with rituximab, or VenR, in patients with relapsed or refractory, or R/R, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL. Of the 121 patients who achieved uMRD at the end of combination therapy, or EOCT, 83 percent maintained uMRD and were progression-free for a median of 13.8 months thereafter. These results will be presented in an oral session on Saturday, June 16, at 11:45 a.m. CEST during the 23rd European Hematology Association Annual Congress in Stockholm.1 Venetoclax is being developed by AbbVie and Roche. It is jointly commercialized by AbbVie and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, in the U.S. and by AbbVie outside of the U.S. CLL is a slow-growing form of leukemia, or blood cancer, in which too many immature lymphocytes are found predominantly in the blood and bone marrow.3 Undetectable minimal residual disease is an objective measure defined by the presence of less than one CLL cell in 10,000 white blood cells remaining in the blood or bone marrow following treatment.2 Prospective clinical trials have suggested that achieving undetectable minimal residual disease, also known as MRD negativity, may have a prognostic impact on response duration and survival outcomes.

05:33 EDT Atara Biotherapeutics Tab-cel achieves long-term outcomes in Phase 2 studies - Atara Biotherapeutics announced positive long-term outcomes including durable remissions and encouraging safety findings from two Phase 2 studies of tab-cel, Atara's most advanced off-the-shelf T-cell immunotherapy. These single center, open-label studies enrolled patients with Epstein-Barr virus associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, or EBV+ PTLD, following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant, or HCT, or solid organ transplant, or SOT, who failed first-line therapy. Atara and its collaborating investigators at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, or MSK, reported the Phase 2 results in a poster presentation at the 23rd Congress of the European Hematology Association, being held in Stockholm, Sweden, June 14-17, 2018. "Tab-cel demonstrated durable remissions and an encouraging safety profile after substantial follow-up time for patients with EBV-associated lymphomas who have limited treatment options and often experience poor outcomes," said Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Research and Development of Atara Biotherapeutics. "No patient who responded to tab-cel in these studies died of EBV+ PTLD after treatment with this off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy. We are progressing two tab-cel Phase 3 clinical studies to confirm the Phase 2 findings in patients with EBV+ PTLD following HCT and SOT who have failed first line therapy."

05:29 EDT Roche: long-term data confirm Gazyva/Gazyvaro extends lives of people with CLL - Roche announced data from the final analysis of the CLL11 study evaluating Gazyva/Gazyvaro-based treatment in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, or CLL, which will be presented during the Presidential Symposium at the 23rd European Hematology Association Annual Congress, 14-17 June, in Stockholm. After a follow-up of nearly five years, final results showed clinically meaningful improvements with Gazyva/Gazyvaro plus chlorambucil across multiple endpoints, including progression-free survival and overall survival, when compared head-to-head with MabThera/Rituxan plus chlorambucil. Gazyva/Gazyvaro-based treatment reduced the risk of death by 24% compared to MabThera/Rituxan-based treatment. These new data add to the growing body of evidence for the OS benefit with Gazyva/Gazyvaro in first-line CLL after the previously reported OS benefit with Gazyva/Gazyvaro combined with chlorambucil versus chlorambucil alone.

05:22 EDT Sandoz presents new long-term and switching data for biosimilars Zessly, Erelzi - Sandoz, a Novartis division, announced the presentation of two long-term, Phase III studies: one each for biosimilar Zessly and biosimilar Erelzi. Research from the 54-week REFLECTIONS B537-02 study of Zessly and the 48-week EQUIRA study of Erelzi showed that each biosimilar matched its reference biologic in terms of safety, efficacy and quality, reinforcing previously-presented findings. The research also indicated that switching from the reference medicine to the biosimilar did not affect safety, efficacy or immunogenicity. Both studies are being presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, or EULAR, in Amsterdam. "We are very pleased with these data, which reinforce what well over 10 years of science and real-world evidence in Europe have shown - that biosimilars match their reference medicines in terms of safety, efficacy and quality," said Mark Levick, MD, PhD, Global Head of Development, Biopharmaceuticals, Sandoz. "It is our hope that these studies will help healthcare providers and patients have confidence that switching to Zessly or Erelzi will continue to deliver the benefits they are receiving from their existing treatment." REFLECTIONS B537-02 is a Phase III, double-blind, parallel-group, confirmatory study of Sandoz biosimilar Zessly versus reference Remicade in combination with methotrexate in 650 biologic-naive, adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who had an inadequate response to methotrexate therapy alone. The study met its primary endpoint, a greater than or equal to 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology response at Week 14. The research demonstrated that there were no clinically-meaningful differences from 30 to 54 weeks in terms of safety, efficacy and immunogenicity between patients with rheumatoid arthritis remaining on Sandoz infliximab and reference infliximab. The same results were found when patients on reference infliximab were blindly re-randomized to switch to Sandoz infliximab or remained on reference therapy.

05:05 EDT Anadarko announces Heads of Agreement with Tokyo Gas, Centrica LNG - Anadarko Petroleum announced Mozambique LNG, the jointly owned sales entity of the Mozambique Area 1 co-venturers, has signed a Heads of Agreement, or HOA, with Tokyo Gas and Centrica LNG for the long-term supply of LNG. The co-purchasing off-take agreement calls for the delivered ex-ship supply of 2.6 million tonnes per annum, or MTPA, from the start-up of production until the early 2040s. The Anadarko-operated Mozambique LNG project will be Mozambique's first onshore LNG development, initially consisting of two LNG trains with total nameplate capacity of 12.88 MTPA to support the development of the Golfinho/Atum fields located entirely within Offshore Area 1.