Stockwinners Market Radar for July 22, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:50 EDT Entera Bio reports 'highly encouraging' oral PTH market survey results - Entera Bio announced the results from two primary market research studies of clinicians who treat osteoporosis patients. The studies were conducted by a third-party firm with a goal of gaining a better understanding of the perceived value and potential market penetration of an orally-delivered parathyroid hormone product in the treatment of osteoporosis. The survey populations were comprised of clinicians who frequently prescribe osteoporosis products including endocrinologists, gynecologists, orthopedists, and general practitioners, with over 70% of their osteoporosis patients having moderate to severe osteoporosis. One study surveyed clinicians in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and the second surveyed clinicians in Japan. In the two studies, physicians were presented with a description of an oral PTH product that provides similar efficacy and safety of injectable PTH without the need for daily subcutaneous injections. The responses to the prospect of prescribing an oral PTH were overwhelmingly positive, driven by expected improvements in patient compliance, ease of administration, and without injection site discomfort. Physicians also considered reduced costs to patients and payers to be important features. Entera's EB613 oral PTH is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of osteoporosis, a multi-billion dollar global market. "We are very pleased with the data from this important global market survey which very clearly validates the value proposition of our lead drug candidate, EB613. Due to the high cost, inconvenience, and pain associated with injectable osteoanabolic products, which are currently the standard of care for treating moderate to severe osteoporosis, it is estimated that only 5% of patients with severe osteoporosis actually receive treatment for their disease," stated Entera CEO Adam Gridley. "The results of this market analysis confirm Entera's view that an oral PTH tablet meets an unmet physician and patient need and can potentially grow the number of patients receiving treatment. Remarkably, approximately 45% of the participating physicians indicated the oral PTH would be their first line treatment choice for their patients with severe osteoporosis."

18:33 EDT Tesla says demand 'not a problem'

18:15 EDT Tesla asks miners to increase nickel output for batteries

18:09 EDT Microsoft sees Q1 operating expenses $10.7B-$10.8B - Expects transactional sales weakness to continue. Sees CapEx spending in-line with prior quarter.

18:03 EDT G1 Therapeutics signs license agreement for lerociclib including $20M payment - G1 Therapeutics announced a license agreement for lerociclib to EQRx, a biopharmaceutical company. EQRx gains exclusive rights for lerociclib in the U.S., Europe, Japan and all other global markets, excluding the Asia-Pacific region except Japan. G1 will receive an upfront cash payment of $20M and will be eligible to receive development and commercial milestone payments of up to $290M, plus tiered royalties ranging from mid-single digits to mid-teens based on annual net sales of lerociclib. Discovered and developed by G1, lerociclib has demonstrated clinical proof-of-concept and a differentiated profile in a Phase 1/2 trial in patients with ER+, HER2- breast cancer. Earlier this year, G1 licensed development and commercialization rights in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan to Genor Biopharma. Lerociclib is a differentiated oral CDK4/6 inhibitor being developed for use in combination with other targeted therapies in certain types of breast and lung cancer

17:53 EDT Microsoft says 'material growth' in large Azure contracts

17:42 EDT Tesla CEO 'confident' about self-driving technology being complete by year-end - Says "confident" about self-driving technology being complete by end of the year. Says achieving first full year of profitability "extremely difficult." Says will have three new factories in place within the next 12-18 months.

17:37 EDT Lockheed Martin awarded $702.88M Army contract modification - Lockheed Martin was awarded a $702.88M modification to a contract for procurement of Hellfire missiles. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of September 30, 2023. FY10, FY11, FY18, FY19 and FY20 other procurement funds in the amount of $702.75M were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity.

17:32 EDT Aecom, Jacobs and Leidos awarded on $14B Air Force maintenance contract - Aecom (ACM), Jacobs (J), Leidos (LDOS) and others have been awarded a maximum $14B multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, or IDIQ, contract for Aircraft Maintenance Enterprise Solutions, a strategic sourcing vehicle for Air Force-wide contracted aircraft maintenance. The contractors will provide all organizational-level maintenance services for all aircraft listed in each individual task order performance work statement, which can include any aircraft platform. Because this is an IDIQ, the location of performance is not known at this time and will be cited on individual task orders. Generally, work will be performed at government facilities and is expected to be completed Sept. 14, 2030. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with 19 offers received. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Installation Contracting Center is the contracting activity.

17:01 EDT Landstar raises dividend to 21c from 18.5c - Landstar announced that that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 21c per share payable on August 28, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 10, 2020. This quarterly dividend includes a $0.025 per share increase, or 13.5%, over the amount of the company's regular quarterly dividend declared following each of the prior four quarters. The $0.025 per share increase is the largest increase in the Company's regularly scheduled quarterly dividend in the Company's history. It is currently the intention of the Board to pay dividends on a quarterly basis going forward.

16:56 EDT Carriage Services boosts quarterly dividend 17% to 8.75c per share - Carriage Services announced that its Board of Directors on July 22, 2020 declared the quarterly dividend of 8.75c per share payable on September 1 to common share record holders as of August 10, 2020.

16:49 EDT Snap introduces Long Snap & Trim! for Spectacles - "OS users can now take advantage of the following features: Long Snap: Now save 11-60 seconds of continuous video as a single Snap instead of two or more individual Snaps. To capture a Long Snap on Spectacles, press the button more than once - keep in mind each button press will extend recording for 10 seconds. Once your Snap is imported, you can apply creative tools to the entire video! ...Trim: Trim your Spectacles video to get the shot you love! Swipe up to Memories, choose the Snap you'd like to trim down, edit the Snap, and cut it to the length you'd like. You can choose to save your new Snap as a copy so the original, longer video won't be affected!...*Spectacles 3 can record up to 60 seconds of continuous video. First-Generation Spectacles and Spectacles 2 (Nico, Veronica, Original) can record up to 30 seconds of continuous video," said Snap's Spectacles unit. Reference Link

16:46 EDT Chipotle sees less frequent delivery promotions

16:38 EDT Discover says share repurchase program remains suspended - The company suspended its share repurchase program in March in response to the economic environment at that time. The share repurchase program remains suspended. Shares of common stock outstanding were flat to the prior quarter.

16:33 EDT Sanofi begins shipping flu vaccines in U.S. for 2020-2021 season - Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, has shipped the first of its influenza vaccine doses to health care providers in the U.S. to help protect Americans of all ages for the upcoming 2020-2021 flu season. Shipments will continue through the beginning of November in alignment with customer requests and in time for the start of vaccination efforts. To respond to the expected increased demand, Sanofi has increased its influenza vaccines production and market distribution compared to last year.

16:32 EDT ConocoPhillips acquires additional Montney acreage from Kelt Exploration - ConocoPhillips announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire additional Montney acreage in Canada from Kelt Exploration for cash consideration of approximately $375M before customary adjustments, plus the assumption of approximately $30M in financing obligations for associated partially owned infrastructure. This acquisition is 140,000 net acres in the liquids-rich Inga-Fireweed asset Montney zone, which is directly adjacent to the company's existing Montney position. The transaction increases the company's Montney acreage position to 295,000 net acres with 100% working interest. Separately, the company announced that it initiated production from its Montney development in the first quarter of 2020. Production continues to ramp up from the company's first multi-well pad.

16:31 EDT Tesla: Exited Q2 with Model Y production running at installed capacity - Tesla said: "We are installing additional machinery at the Fremont Factory, which is expected to increase total Model 3 / Model Y capacity from 400,000 to 500,000 units per year... Construction for Model Y lines in the Shanghai factory is progressing as planned, with first deliveries expected in 2021."

16:29 EDT Tesla: Business has shown strong resilience during these unprecedented times - Tesla said in its Q2 shareholder letter that "Our business has shown strong resilience during these unprecedented times. Despite the closure of our main factory in Fremont for nearly half the quarter, we posted our fourth sequential GAAP profit in Q2 2020, while generating positive free cash flow of $418M."

16:26 EDT Las Vegas Sands reports unrestricted cash balances $3.02B at June 30 - The company has access to $3.94B available for borrowing under U.S., SCL and Singapore revolving credit facilities, net of outstanding letters of credit. As of June 30, total debt outstanding, excluding finance leases, was $13.82B.

16:25 EDT Las Vegas Sands to continue CapEx programs in Macao and Singapore

16:23 EDT Tesla: Capacity installed to exceed 500,000 deliveries this year

16:21 EDT Synchrony names Bill Parker to board of directors - Synchrony (SYF), a premier consumer financial services company, today announced P.W. "Bill" Parker, former chief risk officer of U.S. Bancorp (USB), has been elected to Synchrony's board of directors, effective immediately. Parker retired from U.S. Bancorp as the chief risk officer following 34 years of service at the company.

16:18 EDT Morgan Stanley's Hotsuki sells 190,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Morgan Stanley chief risk officer Keishi Hotsuki disclosed the sale of 190,000 common shares of the company on July 20 at a price of $52 per share.

16:18 EDT Trinity Industries: Prepared to take further actions to reduce cost structure

16:17 EDT Trinity Industries sees $70M in annualized savings from cost reductions - Trinity currently anticipates that the structural and cyclical administrative cost reductions completed and identified will generate approximately $70 million in future annualized cost savings. "As the Company continues to reposition the organization to better support Trinity's rail-focused strategy and drive innovation and platform efficiency, we anticipate identifying further cost savings opportunities, which could lead to additional restructuring charges. In connection with the Company's previously communicated pension termination plan, the plan is now expected to be fully settled by the end of 2020. The Company expects to recognize a pre-tax pensionsettlement charge in the fourth quarter of 2020 totaling between $155 million to $185 million, which includes the non-cash charge for the recognition of all pre-tax actuarial losses accumulated inAccumulated Other Comprehensive Loss, and a potential additional cash contribution that is not expected to exceed $15 million to settle all of the Pension Plan's obligations."

16:15 EDT Chipotle Q2 digital sales grew 216% year over year to $829.3M - The company said, "Digital sales grew 216.3% year over year to $829.3 million, the Company's highest ever quarterly level, and represented 60.7% of sales. Driving increased digital awareness via advertising, new delivery partnerships with Uber Eats and Grubhub, as well as expanding our digital capabilities into Canada are attracting new customers and helping reduce friction while increasing convenient access. Notably, partnering with all the major third-party delivery aggregators has led to an increase in orders, a reduction in delivery time and cancellations, and an improvement in overall customer ratings. Even with in-restaurant dining opening back up, our digital sales momentum remains strong in July with a mix of nearly 50%."

16:14 EDT Las Vegas Sands CEO says early stages of the recovery process underway - "I am pleased to say that the early stages of the recovery process from the Covid-19 pandemic in each of our markets is now underway," said Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO. "Our greatest priority during this period of the recovery remains our deep commitment to supporting our team members and to helping those in need in each of our local communities of Macao, Singapore and Las Vegas. We remain optimistic about an eventual recovery of travel and tourism spending across our markets, as well as our future growth prospects. We are fortunate that our financial strength will enable us to continue to execute our previously announced capital expenditure programs in both Macao and Singapore, while continuing to pursue growth opportunities in new markets."

16:12 EDT Align launches ADAPT program for Invisalign and iTero doctors - Align Technology announced the global launch of the Align Digital and Practice Transformation, ADAPT, service for Invisalign and iTero doctors. ADAPT is an expert and independent fee based business consulting service offered by Align to optimize practices' operational workflow and processes to enhance patients' experiences and customer and staff satisfaction, which will in turn translate into higher growth and greater efficiencies for orthodontic practices. The goal of ADAPT is to support digital practice transformation for Invisalign doctors and their staff. ADAPT is the first independent service offering for doctors offered by Align and was developed based on years of data-based insights from practices using Invisalign and iTero and tested through an extensive global pilot. Pilot practices saw strong growth and practice transformation during pilot periods in each key business region.

16:11 EDT Princess Cruises extends pause of select global ship operations until Dec. 15 - Due to the continued progression of COVID-19 and related decisions of various government, health authorities, and airlines regarding travel restrictions, Princess Cruises is extending its pause in cruise operations impacting the following voyages: All cruises sailing in and out of Australia on Majestic Princess, Regal Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess, and Sun Princess through October 31, 2020. All sailings in Asia, Caribbean, California Coast, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama Canal, South America & Antarctica, Japan, and Tahiti/South Pacific through December 15, 2020. "We share in our guests' disappointment in cancelling these cruises," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. "We look forward to the days when we can return to travel and the happiness it brings to all who cruise." Guests currently booked on these cancelled voyages who have paid Princess in full will have the option to receive a refundable Future Cruise Credit equivalent to 100% of the cruise fare paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 25% of the cruise fare. For guests who have not paid in full, Princess will Double the Deposit, providing a refundable FCC for the money currently on deposit plus a matching bonus FCC that can be used on any voyage through May 1, 2022. The matching bonus FCC is non-refundable, will not exceed the base cruise fare amount of the currently booked cruise, and will have a minimum value of $100 per person.

16:10 EDT Ring Energy anticipates continuing to be cash flow positive - The company said: "Our goals have not changed - 1) Remain cash flow positive. We have been cash flow positive for three consecutive quarters (4th quarter 2019 through 2nd quarter 2020) and anticipate that continuing; 2) Maintain low operating costs. Our staff has done a tremendous job of working with our suppliers and vendors, lowering costs wherever possible and improving efficiencies, and 3) Strive to show gains in our annual production while reducing our debt. We look forward to resuming our drilling and development program. The results and returns on the new horizontal wells we have drilled speak for themselves. We are confident in our ability, with 18-20 new wells, of not only showing increased annual production in 2021, but in improving our balance sheet. We will be monitoring this closely and will update everyone when we feel that prices have stabilized enough to begin our drilling program."

16:10 EDT Kinder Morgan raises quarterly dividend 5% to 26.25c per share - Kinder Morgan, Inc.'s board of directors approved a cash dividend of $0.2625 per share for the second quarter ($1.05 annualized), payable on August 17, 2020, to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 3, 2020. This dividend represents a 5 percent increase over the second quarter 2019.

16:09 EDT Ring Energy sees Q2 net estimated production approx. 495,000 BOE - Ring Energy released its operations update for the second quarter of 2020. On March 9, 2020, management stated in a release that the Company had ceased all drilling activity due to the drop in commodity prices. On the Company's 1st quarter 2020 conference call, management reconfirmed that decision due to the continued volatility in the marketplace and the large differential in pricing between the NYSE WTI spot price and the actual price received. In addition, starting the last week of April, essentially all production, other than that associated with Ring's Delaware Basin property, was curtailed. The curtailments continued until early June, when, with commodity prices improving and price differentials decreasing, the Company began to ramp up production, returning to near April levels by the end of the quarter. In the first two weeks of July, the Company has seen production approaching 9,000 net Barrels of Oil Equivalent Per Day and anticipates on-going improvement. In the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company has drilled four new horizontal wells on its NWS asset. In addition, the Company performed 13 conversions from ESP to rod pumps. As a result, net estimated production for the second quarter of 2020 was approximately 495,000 Barrel of Oil Equivalents, or an average of 5,500 BOEPD. June 2020 average net production was approximately 6,968 BOEPD. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, net estimated production was approximately 1,486,000 BOEs, as compared to net production of 1,545,130 BOEs for the six months ended June 30, 2019. Kelly Hoffman, Ring's CEO, stated "The 2nd quarter was one of extreme volatility and uncertainty. The commodity hedges we have in place for 2020 afforded us the flexibility to curtail essentially all of our production, except that associated with our Delaware asset, from the end of April to early June. As commodity prices improved, we began ramping production back up at the end of the 2nd quarter, continuing into early 3rd quarter, and are now seeing our average daily production return to pre-curtailment levels."

16:08 EDT Whirlpool COVID-19 response plan on track to deliver over $500M in cost takeout

16:06 EDT Microsoft reports Q4 Productivity and Business Processes revenue up 8% cc - Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $11.8B and increased 6%, up 8% in constant currency. Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 5%, up 7% in constant currency, driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 19%, up 22% in constant currency. Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 6%, up 7% in constant currency, and Office 365 Consumer subscribers increased to 42.7 million. LinkedIn revenue increased 10%, up 11% in constant currency. Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 13%, up 15% in constant currency, driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 38%, up 40% in constant currency.

16:05 EDT Montage Resources lowers FY CapEx view to $120M-$140M from $130M-$150M - Given the results from its persistent focus on cost and efficiency gains, the company is lowering its full year 2020 capital expenditure guidance range to $120-$140 million, from its previously announced range of $130-$150 million, with no projected impact on its full year 2020 production.

16:04 EDT Montage Resources divesting wellhead gathering infrastructure for $25M - Montage Resources Corporation announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with an international third-party to sell its non-core wellhead gathering infrastructure in the Ohio Utica condensate development area. Under the terms of the Letter of Intent, the company will receive a cash payment of $25M from the Third-Party in exchange for its existing non-core Ohio Utica wellhead gas and liquids gathering infrastructure within the defined area, with the transaction expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2020

16:02 EDT Central Valley Community completed 1,077 PPP loans in Q2 - "During the second quarter significant resources were allocated to processing SBA Paycheck Protection Program loan applications and meeting with individual clients to evaluate the impacts of the pandemic on their businesses. This included completing 1,077 PPP loans totaling $211,575,000 and assisting 288 clients with our loan deferral program, all in an effort to diligently support clients throughout our territory," stated James M. Ford, President & CEO of Central Valley Community Bancorp and Central Valley Community Bank. "Our Company remains cautiously optimistic following the re-opening and subsequent closing of certain business sectors due to changing pandemic patterns."

15:26 EDT AMD jumps after announcing Ryzen 4000 Series desktop processors - Shares of AMD (AMD) have jumped during Wednesday trading after the company announced earlier what it calls "the world's first and most advanced 7nm x86 desktop processors with built-in graphics for consumer and commercial PC markets." The AMD Ryzen 4000 Series Desktop Processors with Radeon Graphics and the AMD Athlon 3000 Series Desktop Processors with Radeon Graphics "feature the most advanced processor core technology on the market combined with the best graphics performance available in a desktop processor," according to AMD's press release this morning. Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, client business unit, AMD, added: "Today, in association with our longstanding PC partners, we are excited to launch the AMD Ryzen 4000 Series Desktop Processors. The ultimate desktop processors with built-in graphics delivering amazing performance for work or play." The Ryzen 4000 G-Series Desktop Processors are expected to be available in systems from OEM partners including Lenovo (LNVGY) and HP (HPQ) starting in Q3 2020. The Ryzen PRO 4000 Series Desktop Processors will be available from SIs at launch on July 21st and are expected in systems from OEM partners starting later this fall. The Ryzen 4000 G-Series, Athlon 3000 G-Series, Ryzen PRO 4000 Series and Athlon PRO 3000 Series Desktop Processors are exclusively available from SIs and OEM partners. In afternoon trading, AMD shares are up 8.5% to $61.83.

14:32 EDT FCC reaches settlements with radio group owners over political files - The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau reached settlements with six major radio group owners that will ensure timely compliance with rules requiring that radio stations upload to their online public inspection files records of requests for the purchase of political broadcast time. The six group owners are: Alpha Media USA LLC; Beasley Media Group Licenses, LLC (BBGI); Cumulus Media New Holdings Inc. (CMLS); Entercom License, LLC (ETM); iHeartMedia, Inc. (IHRT); and Salem Media Group (SALM). Collectively, these companies own and operate 1,884 commercial radio stations across the country. Section 315(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires stations to place information about each request for the purchase of broadcast time for all candidate-sponsored advertisements and certain issue advertisements in their political files for public inspection "as soon as possible." Similarly, Section 73.1943(c) of the Commission's rules requires information to be made available for public inspection "as soon as possible," barring any unusual circumstances. These provisions are intended to ensure that the public has timely access to important information about political advertisements, such as the identity of the sponsoring organization. Additionally, it is crucial that stations maintain political files that are complete and up to date because the information in them directly affects, among other things, the statutory rights of opposing candidates to request equal opportunities. The Media Bureau determined that the six group owners repeatedly failed to comply with their political file obligations in the past. The six group owners committed to adopting internal reforms and were able to demonstrate they had come into substantial compliance during the first quarter of 2020. Pursuant to the Consent Decrees, each of the companies will, among other things, implement strict compliance plans at each of their stations and submit detailed compliance reports to the Media Bureau through at least December 2021, confirming all information was timely uploaded to their online political files. Reference Link

13:28 EDT Marriott shares higher after saying 'encouraged' by recent activity in China - Shares of Marriott International are up 1% or 88c per share to $90.84 on Wednesday, after earlier announcing the opening of its 800th property in Asia Pacific, the JW Marriott Nara in Japan. The opening marks the entry of the JW Marriott brand into Japan. The company also expects the EDITION and Aloft brands to debut in Japan before the end of the year. Across the Asia Pacific region throughout 2020, the Moxy brand anticipates its first hotel opening in China. "We remain confident in the resilience of travel, our owners and franchisees, guests and associates as well as the future prospects of lodging in Asia Pacific, our second largest market," said Craig S. Smith, Group President, Asia Pacific for Marriott International."We are encouraged by recent trends, especially in China, where demand has been driven primarily by domestic tourism, and we will continue to focus on strengthening our footprint in this important, growing market."

13:05 EDT Dish says it and Apollo in litigation over Cox stations pact - International private equity firm, Apollo Global Management (APO), blacked out DISH (DISH) customers' access to its local channels in 10 markets. "We don't understand why Apollo is choosing to put customers in the middle of its negotiations, especially during a global pandemic when customers need access to local news and programming," said Andy LeCuyer, DISH senior vice president of programming. "We have offered to apply our current agreement - with higher rates - to keep their channels available and avoid any service interruption while we continue to negotiate, but they refused, demanding a 40-percent increase to rates agreed to last year. We want to come to a long-term agreement that is fair for our customers." DISH and Apollo have ongoing litigation about whether DISH's carriage agreement for the Cox stations was prematurely terminated when Apollo acquired those stations. In January, the Cook County (Illinois) Circuit Court entered a temporary restraining order that enjoined Apollo from interfering with DISH's right to retransmit the Cox stations under the original Cox agreement. The case was later transferred to federal court and, earlier today, the federal court dissolved the temporary restraining order.

12:40 EDT Biogen trades higher after Q2 report, CFO departure - Shares of big cap biotech player Biogen (BIIB) are trading higher on Wednesday after reporting second quarter results earlier on Wednesday. Biogen reported Q2 adjusted earnings per share of $10.26 on revenue of $3.68, both beating analysts' estimates of $8.04 and $3.44B respectively. Multiple sclerosis revenues, including $208M in royalties on the sales of Ocrevus, decreased 2% versus the prior year to $2.335B, while Spiranza revenues increased 1% versus the prior year to $495M. The company also noted that biosimilars revenues decreased 7% versus the prior year to $172M. Total multiple sclerosis drug sales were roughly $2.13B down 3.5%, though Tecfidera revenue was better than expected at $1.18B and increased 3%. Analysts expected $1.11B, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams. CEO COMMENTARY: "In the second quarter, Biogen continued to deliver strong financial results. We are pleased o have completed the BLA submission for aducanumab and look forward to the prospect of launching the first therapy to reduce clinical decline in Alzheimer's disease," said Michel Vounatsos, Biogen's Chief Executive Officer. 2020 FINANCIAL VIEW: Biogen provided an update to its full year 2020 financial guidance, and now sees adjusted EPS of $34.00-$36.00 and revenue of approximately $13.8B-$14.2B, compared to the prior guidance of $31.50-$33.50 and $14B-$14.3B, respectively. Analysts currently expect EPS of $32.96 on revenue of $13.94B. CFO CHANGE MYSTERY: Biogen announced the appointment of Michael McDonnell as Executive Vice President and CFO, effective August 15. McDonnell, who succeeds Jeffrey Capello, joins Biogen from IQVIA (IQV), where he served as EVP and CFO. At Biogen, McDonnell will lead the global finance function and operations, the company's shared services center, information technology and investor relations. Biogen said in a statement. Mizuho analyst Salim Syed said in a research note out Tuesday night that the departure of Capello was "probably more bad than good for the stock," and called the departure's timing odd. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Biogen are up $1.1% to $283.28 in afternoon trading.

12:02 EDT Genentech says Archway study data supports 'favorable' benefit-risk profile - Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced detailed results from the Phase III Archway study evaluating its investigational Port Delivery System with ranibizumab for the treatment of neovascular or "wet" age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the U.S. In Archway, 98.4% of PDS patients were able to go six months without needing additional treatment and achieved vision outcomes equivalent to patients receiving monthly ranibizumab eye injections, a current standard of care. In the study, PDS was generally well-tolerated, with a favorable benefit-risk profile. PDS is a permanent refillable eye implant, approximately the size of a grain of rice, which continuously delivers a customized formulation of ranibizumab over a period of months. PDS is the first nAMD therapy to achieve positive Phase III results for this extended length of time between treatments. These new data will be discussed virtually during the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists on Sunday, July 26, 2020. A recorded presentation of these data is now available to ASRS attendees through the meeting web portal. "Based on the Archway results, PDS could potentially reduce the number of treatments from as many as 12 per year to two per year for neovascular AMD patients, without sacrificing efficacy," said Carl Regillo, M.D., Chief of Retina Service at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and an Archway study investigator. "While effective therapies exist for this condition, I know from clinical experience that it can be difficult for patients and caregivers to commit to frequent treatments, and patients who are not treated frequently enough may be at risk of losing vision." Patients in Archway received either PDS refilled every six months with a customized formulation of ranibizumab or monthly ranibizumab 0.5 mg eye injections. Patients in the study had received prior treatment with anti-VEGF therapy and were confirmed anti-VEGF responders. The primary endpoint of the study measured the change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity averaged over Week 36 and Week 40. In the PDS arm, patients gained an average of 0.2 eye chart letters in visual acuity from baseline, with 98.4% of patients maintaining the fixed six-month refill schedule within the first refill period. Patients treated monthly with ranibizumab injections gained an average of 0.5 letters in visual acuity from baseline. According to pre-specified study criteria, PDS was shown to be non-inferior and equivalent to monthly ranibizumab injections. In addition, PDS controlled retinal thickness as effectively as monthly ranibizumab, with patients in both arms achieving a mean change in center point thickness within 10 mum from baseline. Safety data from the study support a favorable benefit-risk profile for PDS. The PDS implant insertion surgery and refill-exchange procedures were generally well-tolerated by patients and the systemic safety of PDS was comparable to monthly ranibizumab injections.

12:00 EDT At Home Group rises 15.8% - At Home Group is up 15.8%, or $1.08 to $7.95.

11:46 EDT Amazon.com to create over 700 full-time jobs with El Paso fulfillment center - Amazon.com announced plans to open its first fulfillment center in El Paso, Texas. The new fulfillment center, which is anticipated to launch in 2021, will create over 700 new, full-time jobs with industry leading pay and comprehensive benefits starting on day one. In the new 625,000 square-foot fulfillment center, Amazon employees will work alongside Amazon robotics to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. The site, which is anticipated to launch in 2021, will create over 700 new, full-time jobs.

11:06 EDT WideOpenWest up 3% after report of exploring options - WideOpenWest shares are up 15c, or 3%, to $5.44 after Bloomberg said TMT Finance reported that the company hired Bank of America earlier this year to explore potential options.

10:55 EDT United Airlines has deferred all new aircraft deliveries due in 2022 - United said it will still take some new jets that are 100% financed this year and in 2021.

10:50 EDT United Airlines: Demand stalled at end of June amid COVID resurgence in U.S.

10:45 EDT United Airlines: International revenue will recover after domestic - Borders will open "some day" and United is in a place to capitalize, CCO Andrew Nocella said.

10:42 EDT United President Hart: Planning to be smaller team, airline on October 1

10:36 EDT United Airlines CEO: Q2 historic 'for all the wrong reasons'

10:35 EDT United CEO: 'I think we'll look back on Q2 as an extraordinary 3-month period' - Comments taken from Q2 earnings conference call.

10:17 EDT Precipio reports prelim. Q2 pathology services revenue up approx. 50% over Q1 - Precipio, Inc. announced its preliminary unaudited revenues for its pathology services increased from $0.8M in Q1, to an estimated $1.3M in Q2, an increase of approximately 50% quarter-over-quarter. Final numbers are subject to the completion of the company's quarterly review and will be released in the company's upcoming 10-Q filing. For reference, in May 2020 Precipio reported a 27% increase in pathology services in Q1 over Q4. The company said: "In addition to our growth of pathology revenues, we are very encouraged by the reception of our HemeScreen Reagent Rental offering by office-based oncology practices. As announced in May 2020, we launched the HSRR program to create a new revenue opportunity for oncology practices to run molecular tests of various hematologic malignancies in their office laboratory."

10:11 EDT Facebook announces privacy, security features for Messenger app - Facebook announced new privacy and security features for the Messenger app. The company said, "App Lock lets you add another layer of security to your private messages and helps prevent other people from accessing them. This optional feature gives you the confidence to know that if a friend or family member needs to borrow your phone, they won't be able to access your chats. App Lock uses your device's privacy settings like fingerprint or face authentication to unlock the Messenger app, and your touch or face ID is not transmitted to or stored by Facebook. The feature is available today on iPhone and iPad and will come to Android in the next few months." Reference Link

10:04 EDT Volkswagen to offer SiriusXM with 360L in 2021 model year vehicles - SiriusXM (SIRI) and Volkswagen (VWAGY) announced that Volkswagen will begin introducing SiriusXM with 360L - SiriusXM's newest and most advanced audio entertainment platform - in most model year 2021 vehicles. For model year 2021, the majority of Volkswagen models receive the all-new third generation of Volkswagen's modular infotainment platform-MIB3. Every model that is equipped with MIB3 will offer SiriusXM with 360L, including the model year 2021 Arteon, Atlas Cross Sport, Golf GTI, Jetta, Jetta GLI, and Tiguan. The Atlas, introduced as a MY21 vehicle this spring, will incorporate MIB3 and SiriusXM with 360L as a mid-year change for MY21.5. Volkswagen owners receive a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM's top tier All Access package with the purchase or lease of equipped 2021 model year vehicles and drive off the lot immediately enjoying SiriusXM.

10:00 EDT Owens & Minor falls -9.2% - Owens & Minor is down -9.2%, or -$1.33 to $13.07.

10:00 EDT HCA Healthcare rises 9.3% - HCA Healthcare is up 9.3%, or $10.22 to $119.55.

10:00 EDT Lithia Motors rises 11.6% - Lithia Motors is up 11.6%, or $20.20 to $194.99.

09:47 EDT 500.com falls -8.4% - 500.com is down -8.4%, or -32c to $3.54.

09:47 EDT FirstEnergy falls -15.3% - FirstEnergy is down -15.3%, or -$5.25 to $29.00.

09:47 EDT ProShares Ultra Silver rises 7.2% - ProShares Ultra Silver is up 7.2%, or $2.84 to $42.05.

09:46 EDT Thermo Fisher: Qiagen offer is 'best and final offer' - Comment made earlier on the Q2 earnings conference call.

09:42 EDT FirstEnergy trading resumes

09:32 EDT Slack files complaint in EU against Microsoft's 'anti-competitive' practices - Shares are Slack Technologies (WORK) were in focus at the market open after the company filed a competition complaint against Microsoft (MSFT) before the European Commission. Slack said the complaint details Microsoft's "illegal and anti-competitive practice of abusing its market dominance to extinguish competition in breach of European Union competition law." It added that "Microsoft has illegally tied its Teams product into its market-dominant Office productivity suite, force installing it for millions, blocking its removal, and hiding the true cost to enterprise customers." It said the EU will now review the complaint and decide whether to open a formal probe into Microsoft's practices. "We're confident that we win on the merits of our product, but we can't ignore illegal behavior that deprives customers of access to the tools and solutions they want," said Jonathan Prince, Vice President of Communications and Policy at Slack. "Slack threatens Microsoft's hold on business email, the cornerstone of Office, which means Slack threatens Microsoft's lock on enterprise software." Shares of Slack fell fractionally to $32.50, while Microsoft shares were up fractionally to $209.53.

09:29 EDT Vuzix forms partnership, resale relationship with ProGlove - Vuzix announced that the company has formalized a collaborative partnership and resale relationship with ProGlove to bring together a combined product solution to address the growing need for greater efficiency and safety in industries spanning retail, transportation, logistics and manufacturing. The combined solution, consisting of ProGlove's MARK product family of wearable barcode scanners and Vuzix' latest smart glasses for business, offers enterprise users a seamless experience, secure flow of information, increased user comfort and productivity gains.

09:26 EDT L3Harris Technologies awarded $380M IDIQ army procurement contract - The Canadian Commercial Corporation, or CCC, has awarded L3Harris Technologies an eight-year, $380M indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, or IDIQ, contract to procure WESCAM MX-Series products and services in support of global U.S. Army surveillance and targeting operations. The contract enables upgrades and support for the U.S. Army's installed base of fixed-wing, aerostat and unmanned platforms while supporting expanding Foreign Military Sales requirements.

09:23 EDT Nike sees pre-tax one-time employee termination costs of $200M-$250M

09:23 EDT XBiotech achieves milestone for production of its anti-IL-1a therapy - XBiotech announced it has achieved a crucial milestone in the development of its next generation inflammation-fighting True Human antibodies. The Company is developing a new antibody to replace a previous generation True Human anti-IL-1 antibody that was sold in 2019 for $750M in cash and up to $600M in milestone payments. Under terms of the sale, XBiotech was permitted to pursue discovery of new True Human anti-IL-1 antibodies for use in all areas of medicine with the exception of dermatology. XBiotech's scientists first discovered and characterized a panel of new anti-IL-1 antibodies from a human donor earlier this year. The team has worked diligently through the COVID-19 crisis to clone the genes for the antibodies into cells that can be used for production of these novel therapeutics. The antibody products will be used in human clinical trials and ultimately commercialized. The Research and Development team has now successfully engineered a cell-based production system for the first of its new anti-IL-1 antibodies to enable the Company's drug manufacturing process at its state-of-the-art facility in Austin, Texas. The new antibody targets damaging inflammation by neutralizing interleukin-1alpha, an inflammatory substance produced by the body, which is involved in diseases such as cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular indications. The Company recently announced promising new results that were published in the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation, where antibody therapy targeting IL-1 was found to significantly reduce stroke related brain injury and neurological deficit in animals. This discovery points to a potential blockbuster therapy for the Company's new anti-IL-1 antibody product line. Given the retained right to pursue the discovery and development of new True Human antibodies targeting IL-1 outside of dermatology, this product candidate is the first in a line of new therapies being developed at XBiotech which will be pursued in major areas of medicine with unmet need.

09:20 EDT Genius Brands prepares for August retail launch for Rainbow Rangers' line - Genius Brands International announces more business updates. Recently, we have made tremendous strides in our growth and those developments are just a part of the Genius Brands' story," said Genius Brands Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward. "During this time our Kartoon Channel! team has been working on the iOS app, which will debut before month end, and securing new content. Our Global Consumer Products sales team and our International Distribution sales team have been busy negotiating and closing deals. Today, we're sharing the announcement of distribution deals stretching across four different continents, and consumer products licensing deals with products ranging from branded face masks to bicycles. These new agreements give us an even stronger platform to deliver long-term value at Genius Brands. We are working diligently to build a value machine in children's entertainment - gathering the best talents in the industry and striving to provide top-quality content. This is the best way to deliver long-term shareholder return." Genius Brands has signed a raft of broadcast and digital platform deals around the world for its animated tentpole children's series, Rainbow Rangers, currently airing in the U.S. on Nick Jr. Shanghai Senyu has also licensed the rights for Mainland China to season two of the Rainbow Rangers with an investment commitment. Shanghai Senyu currently represents season one of the series and manages the development of the consumer products program for the brand across the region. For Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, Genius Brands has signed new international content deals, including TVP in Poland, KAN in Israel, and Croatia's HRT. In the consumer products' marketplace, Genius Brands is gearing up for the August retail launch at Walmart for the Rainbow Rangers' toy line from Mattel, along with hundreds of other product SKUs coming to retail over the next 12 months. The Company is also developing its international retail program and has appointed two new licensing agents to manage Rainbow Rangers in key territories, including Tycoon and ETS Licensing For the Llama Llama brand, Genius Brands has partnered with MaskClub.com on a new initiative to feature Llama Llama branded cloth face masks. Genius Brands will be donating a percentage of the proceeds to the Save the Children organization. Additionally, for every mask purchased, MaskClub is donating a medical grade mask to First Responders Children's Foundation for distribution to paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, firefighters and medical personnel treating COVID- 19 patients. In the international marketplace, Genius Brands has appointed Centa IP as licensing agent to drive the Llama Llama business across Pac-Asia. An iOS COPPA compliant Kartoon Channel! app will be available by end of July to further enhance user experience. Additional marquis content will also be announced in the coming weeks.

09:17 EDT IBM and CBRE Group partner to provide technology support services - IBM Services (IBM) and CBRE (CBRE) are expanding their long-term relationship to provide technology support services for CBRE's clients at select data center facilities it manages. A new CBRE offering called Smart Maintenance is the latest addition to their existing suite of Converged Data Center Services. Powered by IBM Services, it leverages IBM's AI, augmented reality technologies and analytics to provide predictive and reactive hardware maintenance for CBRE's data center clients' technology assets. This agreement between IBM and CBRE was signed in IBM's Q1.

09:14 EDT Perspecta awarded $34M program for U.S. Army munitions management - Perspecta has received an award to continue work on the U.S. Army's Total Ammunition Management Information System. This award, which represents follow-on work for the company, has a one-year base period with four, single-year option periods and a potential value of $34M. TAMIS provides the Army with a mechanism for ammunition management activities by calculating ammunition requirements for training, combat and sustainment. Perspecta has been supporting the TAMIS program since 2014.

09:13 EDT Teradyne sees Q4 sales down 35%-40% from Q3 - Comments taken from Q2 earnings conference call.

09:10 EDT Astellas Pharma awarded NIH grant to study ASP8062 - Astellas Pharma announced it has been awarded a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. to help fund two phase 1 clinical studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ASP8062, an oral small molecule GABAB receptor Positive Allosteric Modulator, as an add-on maintenance therapy for Opioid Use Disorder.

09:08 EDT Navient says reduced education loan operating expenses 21% year-over-year - Says new contracts drove revenue resiliency year-over-year despite unprecedented disruption. Says provided immediate payment relief to 6M borrowers impacted by COVID-19. Says increased primary liquidity by $659M in the quarter to $2.4B.

09:07 EDT Liquid Media engage Invoke, Arkitek/Creative for streaming platform - Liquid Media Group announced the engagement of two renowned digital agencies, Invoke and Arkitek/Creative, to drive the transformation of its streaming platform. These firms have built their reputations serving the who's who of the entertainment world. Notably, Invoke created Hootsuite, the industry-changing social media management platform, which is now used by over 800 Fortune 1000 companies, has a current user base upwards of 15 million and an estimated valuation of $1B.

09:03 EDT KeyCorp sees long-term ROTCE 16%-19%, cash efficiency ratio 54%-56% - Long-term, KeyCorp sees positive operating leverage.

09:02 EDT Cardlytics announces launch of My Wells Fargo Deals - Cardlytics (CDLX) announces the launch of My Wells Fargo Deals (WFC), a new rewards and loyalty program for the fourth largest bank in the U.S. Through My Wells Fargo Deals, customers can activate offers to earn cash back on everyday purchases, with targeted digital marketing designed to drive incremental in-store and online sales for merchant partners. With insights into more than $3T in annual consumer spend, the Cardlytics launch of My Wells Fargo Deals significantly increases the platform's scale and ability to reach bank customers in a secure, brand safe channel. This annual consumer spend represents one out of every two credit and debit transactions in the U.S.

08:58 EDT Thermo Fisher sees accretion from QIAGEN deal slightly more favorable than noted - Thermo Fisher (TMO) management said it sees accretion from the QIAGEN (QGEN) acquisition "slightly more favorable than previously articulated in March." Comments taken from Q2 earnings conference call.

08:51 EDT Blink Charging awarded grant from Virginia Clean Cities - Blink Charging in association with Virginia Clean Cities has been awarded a grant to deploy 200 Blink Fast Level 2 - 19.2 kW charging stations across the mid-atlantic region, including locations in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, DC. The three year project, part of the Mid-Atlantic Electrification Partnership, is expected to commence in October 2020 with the identification of suitable EV charging locations. The objective of the Mid-Atlantic Electrification Partnership is to provide a regional ecosystem enabling the use of all sizes of electric vehicles for fleets, transportation network companies and consumers. This ecosystem project will connect the region's cities, employing multiple EV and infrastructure sub-projects, and will include multimodal hubs such as airports, seaports, mass transit hubs, and logistics centers, while also addressing underserved neighborhoods and the corridors between and within them. This project supports inter- and intra-city trips for commercial and government entities, consumers, ridesharing fleets serving social service centers, airports and other passenger destinations; schools; and trucks serving large distribution centers, as well as charging for employees and visitors at these facilities.

08:47 EDT Toll Brothers, JD Capital USA announce JV to develop Texas rental community - Toll Brothers, through its Toll Brothers Apartment Living rental subsidiary, and JD Capital USA have announced the formation of a new joint venture to develop Ferro, a 379-unit luxury apartment community in Downtown Plano. The joint venture has secured a $46M construction loan facility from Santander Bank, N.A. The debt and equity financing were arranged by Toll Brothers' in-house Finance Department. Toll Brothers Apartment Living will manage the development of Ferro. Ferro, located at 11th Street and K Avenue, is within a 10-minute walk to Downtown Plano and will be steps away from a new Dallas Area Rapid Transit station. The station will provide convenient light-rail access to job centers in Plano, Richardson and Downtown Dallas as well as access to the new Silver line with access to DFW airport, Addison and Carrolton. Major employers in the City of Plano include Bank of America, Capital One Finance, Ericsson North America, Fannie Mae, FedEx, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, JP Morgan Chase, Medical City Plano, PepsiCo, Texas Health Plano, and Toyota North America. The North Central Expressway/US 75 corridor, just south of the site in Richardson, has tens of millions of square feet of office space occupied by top tier employers. Nearby employers in Richardson, including Raytheon, State Farm, Geico, Inogen, Real Page, and Blue Cross Blue Shield: all are within one train stop. The Property is also convenient to other major employment networks in Dallas, Allen, and Frisco via direct access to US 75 and President George Bush Turnpike, which provides residents an efficient commute by car to employment centers in all directions.

08:42 EDT Ziopharm appoints James Huang to board of directors - Ziopharm Oncology announced the appointment of James Huang to the Company's Board of Directors. Huang is currently a Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers China and has founded and financed several innovative life sciences companies. He is also Founding Partner of Panacea Venture, which formed TriArm Therapeutics, the funding partner for Ziopharm's joint venture, Eden BioCell.

08:38 EDT Ultragenyx announces U.S. commercial launch of Dojolvi - Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical announced that Dojolvi is now commercially available. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Dojolvi on June 30, 2020 as a source of calories and fatty acids for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with molecularly confirmed long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders, a group of rare, lifelong, and life-threatening genetic disorders in which the body is unable to convert long-chain fatty acids into energy.

08:37 EDT Andina Acquisition, EMMAC sign non-binding LOI for business combination - Andina Acquisition Corp. III and EMMAC Life Sciences Limited announced that they have signed a non-binding letter of intent relating to a business combination, pursuant to which EMMAC would become a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ Stock Market with EMMAC's shareholders rolling over all of their equity in EMMAC into the combined public company. As consideration for the transaction, it is anticipated that the current EMMAC shareholders would collectively own a majority of the equity of the combined public company. EMMAC is Europe's largest independent cannabis company, bringing together cutting-edge scientific research with the latest innovations in medical cannabis cultivation, extraction and production. The company is a trusted cannabis partner for the medical and wellness communities and leader in the production and supply of medical cannabis, wellness CBD, hemp, and other derivative products with large scale, low-cost, cultivation, EU-GMP manufacturing and processing, import / distribution network across all critical European markets. EMMAC has established pharmaceutical and medical cannabis manufacturing credibility and a direct-to-patient pharmacy license, multiple take-or-pay contracts for wholesale cannabis, and a strong portfolio of wellness brands and wellness products. EMMAC is also the first European cannabis company to sell and export product to Israel and will be launching white-label CBD products in the US. EMMAC has an extensive research platform spanning genetics, technology, and medical/clinical programs with Imperial College London and other leading European research centers. EMMAC's wealth of experience, combined with a network of supply and distribution partnerships throughout Europe, mean that it is uniquely positioned to meet the rapidly growing demands of the market, led by regulatory change and the increasing demand for access to premium quality cannabis product. As contemplated by the LOI, EMMAC's executive team, led by Chairman Lorne Abony, CEO Antonio Costanzo, CFO Thomas Ellen, and COO Tom Rooke, would continue leading the combined company. These executives and their management team have extensive experience operating in highly regulated industries across key sectors. In total, EMMAC has approximately 130 employees, including 17 Ph.D's. Completion of the business combination is subject to, among other matters, the completion of due diligence, the negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement for the business combination, satisfaction of the conditions negotiated therein and approval of the transaction by Andina stockholders. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that a definitive agreement will be entered into or the proposed transaction will be consummated on the terms or timeframe currently contemplated, or at all. Any transaction would be subject to the approval of the two companies' boards and shareholder approvals, as well as other customary conditions.

08:35 EDT New York Times appoints COO Meredith Kopit Levien as CEO - New York Times announced that its COO, Meredith Kopit Levien, will succeed Mark Thompson as president and CEO, effective September 8. Ms. Kopit Levien will join The Times Company's board and Mr. Thompson will step down as an officer and director of The Times Company.

08:33 EDT Jaguar Health subsidiary receiving preclinical services from NIAID - Jaguar Health said in a release, "Jaguar Health announced that the 28-day preclinical toxicology and safety study in rats began yesterday to support development of lechlemer, the second generation, plant-based anti-secretory drug candidate of Napo Pharmaceuticals, Jaguar's wholly owned subsidiary, for the symptomatic relief of diarrhea from cholera. As previously announced, Napo Pharmaceuticals is receiving preclinical services from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, to support lechlemer development. Under NIAID's suite of preclinical services, NIAID-funded contractors are conducting the 28-day rat study. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health. The Company believes that lechlemer, which has the same mechanism of action as crofelemer and is significantly less costly to produce, may support efforts to receive a priority review voucher from the FDA for a cholera indication. Priority review vouchers are granted by the FDA to drug developers as an incentive to develop treatments for neglected diseases and rare pediatric diseases. Additionally, the Company believes lechlemer represents a long-term pipeline opportunity as a second-generation anti-secretory agent, on a global basis, for multiple gastrointestinal diseases - especially in resource-constrained countries where cost of goods is a factor, in part, because requirements often exist in such regions for drug prices to decrease annually."

08:27 EDT Lithia Motors increases dividend to 31c per shre - The company's board approved increasing its dividend to 31c per share. Lithia expects to pay the dividend on August 28 to shareholders of record on August 14.

08:21 EDT Provectus announces acceptance of two PV-10 melanoma cancer abstracts - Provectus announced that data from an ongoing clinical trial of investigational autolytic cancer immunotherapy PV-10 in combination with immune checkpoint blockade for the treatment of advanced cutaneous melanoma will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Virtual Congress, to be held online from September 19-21, 2020. The abstracts accepted for electronic poster presentations are entitled: "A phase 1b study of rose bengal disodium and anti-PD-1 in metastatic cutaneous melanoma: results in patients naive to immune checkpoint blockade", and "A phase 1b study of rose bengal disodium and anti-PD-1 in metastatic cutaneous melanoma: initial results in patients refractory to checkpoint blockade". An injectable pharmaceutical product, PV-10 is a proprietary formulation of the Company's current Good Manufacturing Practice rose bengal disodium. This pharmaceutical-grade RB is produced by Provectus' multi-step, quality-by-design manufacturing process to exacting, modern regulatory standards that avoids the formation of previously unknown impurities present in commercial-grade rose bengal in uncontrolled amounts. The Company's RB manufacturing process is protected by composition of matter and manufacturing patents as well as trade secrets.

08:19 EDT GoHealth opens four virtual sales centers - GoHealth announced that the company has successfully opened four virtual sales centers, and is on track to hire over 1,000 agents in preparation for the 2020 Annual Enrollment Period. During unprecedented times of uncertainty and high unemployment surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, GoHealth has fully transitioned its existing sales teams in Chicago, Salt Lake City and Charlotte to work from home, and has since opened four new virtual sites in Tampa, Columbus, Phoenix and Dallas. These locations were selected not only because of the depth of available licensed sales talent, but also the company's ability to work closely with state regulators and their vendors to expedite the licensing process for new agents and resolve prior COVID-related delays.

08:17 EDT Horizon Therapeutics reaches target enrollment for MIRROR RCT trial - Horizon Therapeutics announced that the company has reached target patient enrollment for its MIRROR randomized controlled trial, or RCT. MIRROR RCT is the largest randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the concomitant use of Krystexxa with methotrexate as an immunomodulator to help more people with chronic gout refractory to conventional therapies - also known as uncontrolled gout - achieve a complete and durable response.

08:13 EDT Twist Bioscience expands infectious disease line with 16 new synthetic controls - Twist Bioscience announced the expansion of its infectious disease product line with the addition of 16 new synthetic controls for the environmental testing, assay development, verification and ongoing validation of diagnostic tests for a broad range of common respiratory diseases. The controls launched include a control that detects the most virulent and prevalent mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, D614G. In addition, Twist added 15 positive controls for the detection of other respiratory viruses with symptoms similar or identical to those of COVID-19 including influenza H1N1 and H3N2, influenza B, rhinovirus, enterovirus and several human coronaviruses. Researchers can pair all of Twist's positive controls, including those launched today, with the Twist Respiratory Virus Research Panel for the detection of viruses that may cause respiratory symptoms identical to that of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In addition, the Twist respiratory controls can be used in qPCR and NGS-based assays serving as important negative controls in SARS-CoV-2 assays or positive controls for respiratory assays.

08:07 EDT Scynexis presents four posters highlighting clinical utility of ibrexafungerp - SCYNEXIS announced the presentation of four posters at the American Society for Microbiology Microbe 2020 held virtually from June through August. The posters, presented as part of the ASM Microbe Online 2020 Summer of Science program, now available online, highlight the potential clinical utility of ibrexafungerp. Ibrexafungerp is the first representative of a new class of antifungal agents called triterpenoids, which are broad-spectrum, fungicidal, and designated by the suffix "-fungerp". Following the successful completion of its VANISH Phase 3 program, the Company plans to submit a new drug application for ibrexafungerp as a treatment for vaginal yeast infections in the second half of this year, while advancing several late-stage programs for the treatment of life-threatening fungal infections in hospitalized patients. Poster Details: Title Treatment Outcomes of Oral Ibrexafungerp in Patients with Severe Fungal Infections, Refractory to or Intolerant of Standard of Care Antifungals: Results from the Phase 3 FURI Study Second Interim Analysis: Highlights An interim analysis of 21 patients from the Phase 3 clinical study evaluating ibrexafungerp for the treatment of patients intolerant to the standard of care treatment for Candida infections found that treatment with oral ibrexafungerp showed significant clinical benefit in 81% of patients, with 12 patients achieving a complete or partial response and 5 patients with stable disease. Title Delayed Initiation of the Novel Glucan Synthase Inhibitor, Ibrexafungerp, is Effective in a Murine Model of Invasive Candidiasis Caused by Candida Auris: Highlights An in vivo delayed initiation study of Candida auris in a murine model found that treatment with ibrexafungerp significantly improved survival and reduced fungal burden. These data further support the potential utility of ibrexafungerp as a treatment for invasive infections caused by Candida auris. Title Determination of Antifungal Activity of SCY-078, a Novel Glucan Synthase Inhibitor, against a Broad Panel of Rare Pathogenic Fungi: Highlights An in vitro study found that ibrexafungerp demonstrated potent activity against 13 different genera of rare fungal pathogens and effectiveness against 7 more, supporting its broad-spectrum activity and potential to treat a range of fungal pathogens. Title Ibrexafungerp or Caspofungin in Combination with Azoles against Clinical Isolates of Aspergillus, Including Those Resistant to Azoles: Highlights An in vitro study evaluating the efficacy of ibrexafungerp and caspofungin alone or in combination with azole treatments against 50 Aspergillus clinical isolates found that the combination of IBX or CAS with azole treatment yielded synergistic activity. These results support further investigations evaluating the potential for the use of ibrexafungerp and azoles in combination for the treatment of infections caused by Aspergillus.

08:04 EDT AzurRx BioPharma initiates Phase 2b trial of MS1819 in CF - AzurRx BioPharma announced that it has initiated its Phase 2b OPTION 2 clinical trial to investigate MS1819 in cystic fibrosis patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency with the activation of three clinical sites and initial screening of the first patient. Top line data from the study are anticipated in Q1 2021. The Phase 2b multi-center study is designed to investigate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of MS1819 in a head-to-head comparison against the current porcine enzyme replacement therapy standard of care. The primary efficacy endpoint is the coefficient of fat absorption. Planned enrollment is expected to include approximately 30 CF patients in the U.S. and Poland.

08:03 EDT Integra gets FDA clearance for specific neurosurgery indication for CUSA Clarity - Integra LifeSciences announced that it has received FDA clearance for a specific indication for neurosurgery for its CUSA Clarity Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator System. The announcement occurs on Glioblastoma Awareness Day, a day dedicated to elevating public understanding of this aggressive and difficult to treat form of cancer. While the CUSA system has been used for over 40 years in neurosurgical applications, this specific neurosurgery indication shows CUSA Clarity can be used safely and effectively in neurosurgery for resection of tumors ranging from soft to firm consistencies, which includes removal of primary and secondary malignant, and benign brain and spinal tumors, including but not limited to, meningiomas and gliomas. FDA clearance is based on a wealth of peer-reviewed clinical publications and 40 years of surgical cases involving resection of brain and spinal tumors.

07:46 EDT Spotify, Universal Music Group announce multi-year license agreement - Spotify (SPOT) and Universal Music Group, a Vivendi (VIVHY) company, announced a new, multi-year global license agreement that further aligns the companies' efforts to foster groundbreaking new features providing value for artists and great experiences for music fans. The companies said in a release, "With this new agreement, the companies advance their industry-leading partnership, reflecting a shared commitment to music's continued growth, deeper music discovery experiences and collaboration on new, state-of-the-art marketing campaigns across Spotify's platform. Additionally, as music's most innovative company and one of Spotify's earliest supporters, UMG will deepen its leading role as an early adopter of future products and provide valuable feedback to Spotify's development team."

07:44 EDT Oragenics says says study shows CoV-2 S-2P generated neutralizing antibodies - Oragenics said in a release, "the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, created stabilized pre-fusion spike protein (CoV-2 S-2P) licensed by the Company has generated neutralizing antibodies in mice during immunization against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The NIH's preclinical study shows that this spike protein, adjuvanted with the TLR-4-agonist Sigma Adjuvant System (a TLR-4 agonists that induces T cell activation), generates neutralizing antibody titers in both a pseudovirus neutralization assay and a plaque reduction neutralization titer assay. In addition, this immunization produced a balanced Th1/Th2 response."

07:32 EDT Gilat selected to extend, expand managed service cellular backhaul project - Gilat Satellite Networks announces that Gilat received an extension for an 18-month managed service cellular backhaul project from a leading Mobile Network Operator in Mexico. The leading MNO will provide 3G and 4G services over Gilat's satellite backhaul to remote regions where terrestrial means such as fiber and microwave are not available. In addition, Gilat's satellite platform will allow the mobile operator to use transportable VSATs, for disaster recovery, thus ensuring connectivity anywhere in Mexico at all times. The capacity increase of 40% will enable Gilat to provide a superior end-to-end solution for the operator to expand its service into remote villages cost-effectively.

07:31 EDT Myriad Genetics announces election of Daniel Skovronsky to board of directors - Myriad Genetics (MYGN) announced the election of Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D. to its Board of Directors, effective immediately, expanding the Board to ten members. Additionally, Dr. Skovronsky was appointed to the Research and Product Innovation Committee of Myriad's Board. Dr. Skovronsky serves as Chief Science Officer and President of Lilly Research Laboratories at Eli Lilly and Company (LLY). He previously served as the Founder and CEO of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. which used non-invasive imaging to detect the early changes in the brain related to Alzheimer's disease. The Company also announced that Director, Vice Chair of the Board, Walter Gilbert, Ph.D., will retire from the board at the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders in December 2020. Dr. Gilbert, co-founder of Myriad, has been on the board since March 1992.

07:26 EDT XP Inc. provides data on IFA activity in Brazil - XP Inc. is providing additional information about Independent Financial Advisor channel activity in Brazil in order to clarify a few concepts and improve the overall market understanding on the subject. IFAs provide investment advisory services and we believe has significant room for growth, with hundreds of thousands branch managers all over Brazil increasingly seeking to become entrepreneurs. The company said, "XP was founded in 2001 as an IFA and is proud to have participated in the development of the financial market in Brazil. Today, our ecosystem includes close to 500 IFA offices with branches spread across the country. Over the past 24 months, XP's platform onboarded 139 new IFA offices, representing six new offices per month on average, and 5,408 new IFAs, or 225 added per month on average. During a similar period, our total AUC grew 160% from R$158B in June 2018 to R$412B in May 2020. Regarding the background of our IFA network, 87% of the IFAs added over the last 24 months are new to this profession. Additionally, approximately 30% of total came from large banks where they worked as branch managers or high-income wealth managers. Due to our DNA and focus on providing the best platform for these professionals and for our clients, we strive to constantly develop the IFA activity and we believe we are the only player in the market to invest in media to promote the profession. Moreover, we have a team of more than 500 professionals fully dedicated to assisting the IFA network and provide tailor-made tools in order to improve their productivity and performance. XP supports IFAs throughout their entire journey, from the onboarding and certification process all the way to the creation, development and growth of each office based on best practices and our expertise in this channel. We also have dedicated technology teams to provide the best solutions, such as a proprietary and exclusive application for advisors, CRM intelligence, back-office infrastructure and more. We believe that our client NPS score of 71 as of May-2020, high ratings on App Stores and the Data Folha award for best investment advisory company in Brazil in 2020 are important signs that we are moving in the right direction. We are also encouraged by our recent success on attracting and retaining clients and IFAs in our ecosystem. During the last two years, a total of 18 IFA offices, or 3.6% of our current IFA network with a consolidated AUC of approximately R$9.9B at the time of the notice of termination, left our platform. Three months after departing XP, just 11% of the funds were transferred directly from our platform to another."

07:23 EDT RedHill Biopharma submits CTAs in Brazil, Mexico for Phase 2/3 COVID-19 program - RedHill Biopharma announced that it has submitted a Clinical Trial Application with the Mexican Federal Committee for the Protection against Sanitary Risks and initiated CTA submission with the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency for the Phase 2/3 clinical study evaluating opaganib in patients hospitalized with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and pneumonia. RedHill's CTA applications for this study have already been approved in the UK and Russia and a similar application is under review in Italy, with plans to expand the study to additional countries.The multi-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel-arm, placebo-controlled Phase 2/3 study is set to enroll up to 270 patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia requiring hospitalization and treatment with supplemental oxygen. Subjects will be randomized at a 1:1 ratio to receive either opaganib or placebo, along with standard-of-care therapy. The primary endpoint of the study is to evaluate the proportion of patients requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation by Day 14. An unblinded futility interim analysis will be conducted by an independent data safety monitoring board, when approximately 100 subjects have been evaluated for the primary endpoint. Enrollment is also ongoing for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical study with opaganib in the U.S. This study is set to enroll up to 40 patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia requiring hospitalization and supplemental oxygen, with enrollment expected to be completed in August. This clinical trial is not powered for statistical significance. RedHill recently announced that results from the treatment of the first patients with severe COVID-19 with opaganib have been published. Analysis of treatment outcomes in five patients with severe COVID-19 showed substantial benefit to patients treated with opaganib under compassionate use in both clinical outcomes and inflammatory markers as compared to a retrospective matched case-control group from the same hospital. All patients in the opaganib-treated group were discharged from hospital without requiring mechanical ventilation, whereas 33% of the matched case-control group required mechanical ventilation. Median time to weaning from high-flow nasal cannula was reduced to 10 days in the opaganib-treated group, as compared to 15 days in the matched case-control group.

07:19 EDT Applied Genetic expands ongoing Phase 1/2 trial for XLRP clinical program - Applied Genetic Technologies announced next steps in the clinical development of the Company's potential treatment of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa caused by mutations in the RPGR gene following receipt of written feedback from the FDA. The revised development plan, which includes immediate expansion of the current trial in parallel with the planned Phase 2/3 trial, will be designed to evaluate sustained efficacy across multiple measures of potential benefit in patients with XLRP. In lieu of an in-person meeting likely due to limitations imposed by COVID-19, the FDA provided comprehensive written feedback regarding the design and execution of a registration trial and future regulatory submissions. The Company continues to move forward as planned with manufacturing, clinical site preparation and other activities to enable initiation of the studies as quickly as possible. AGTC is expanding its ongoing Phase 1/2 trial immediately and plans to dose approximately 20 patients in two masked dosing arms to collect additional functional data, including a mobility test added as a supplemental endpoint. The Company expects to begin dosing in Q4 2020. For late stage studies, the FDA has indicated in its written feedback, which is consistent with how others in the XLRP gene therapy space are analyzing data, that a change in visual sensitivity of 7 decibels or greater in at least 5 loci would be clinically meaningful. AGTC has previously reported visual sensitivity as a mean over an entire treated area, but believes multiple patients already evaluated in the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial would meet the FDA's definition. The Company's revised Phase 2/3 trial design is also expected to include two masked active arms in addition to a control group, with visual sensitivity as the primary endpoint and several supplemental endpoints such as the mobility test. AGTC expects to begin this trial in Q1 2021. In addition, AGTC remains on track to provide multiple data readouts for both its XLRP and ACHM clinical programs in the second half of 2020. These readouts will include data from the two higher dose groups in the XLRP Phase 1/2 trial.

07:16 EDT Replimune Group appoints Andrea Pirzkall as CMO - Replimune Group (REPL) announced the strengthening of its executive team with the appointment of Andrea Pirzkall, M.D. as Replimune's CMO effective August 31st, 2020. As CMO, Dr. Pirzkall will lead clinical development of Replimune's pipeline of next-generation oncolytic immuno-gene therapies for the treatment of cancer. Prior to joining Replimune, Dr. Pirzkall served as Executive Director of Clinical Development at BeiGene (BGNE), a publicly traded commercial-stage biotechnology company.

07:13 EDT Pfizer, BioNTech to supply U.S. government up to 600M doses of vaccine candidate - Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech SE (BNTX) announced the execution of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense to meet the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed program goal to begin delivering 300 million doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 in 2021. Under the agreement, the U.S. government will receive 100 million doses of BNT162, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, after Pfizer successfully manufactures and obtains approval or emergency use authorization from U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. government will pay the companies $1.95B upon the receipt of the first 100 million doses, following FDA authorization or approval. The U.S. government also can acquire up to an additional 500 million doses. Americans will receive the vaccine for free consistent with U.S. government's commitment for free access for COVID-19 vaccines. The BNT162 program is based on BioNTech's proprietary mRNA technology and supported by Pfizer's global vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities. The BNT162 vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical studies and are not currently approved for distribution anywhere in the world. BioNTech is the market authorization holder worldwide and will hold all trademarks for the potential product. Both collaborators are committed to developing these novel vaccines with pre-clinical and clinical data at the forefront of all their decision-making. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine development program is evaluating at least four experimental vaccines, each of which represents a unique combination of messenger RNA format and target antigen. On July 1st, Pfizer and BioNTech announced preliminary data from BNT162b1, the most advanced of the four mRNA formulations. The early data demonstrates that BNT162b1 is able to produce neutralizing antibodies in humans at or above the levels observed in the plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19, and this was shown at relatively low dose levels. Local reactions and systemic events were dose-dependent, generally mild to moderate, and transient. No serious adverse events were reported. On July 20th, the companies announced early positive update from German Phase 1/2 COVID-19 vaccine study, including first T Cell response data. Recently, two of the companies' four investigational vaccine candidates received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This designation was granted based on preliminary data from Phase 1/2 studies that are currently ongoing in the United States and Germany as well as animal immunogenicity studies. Further data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of the four vaccine candidates will enable the selection of a lead candidate and dose level for an anticipated large, global Phase 2b/3 safety and efficacy study that may begin as early as later this month, pending regulatory approval. If the ongoing studies are successful, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to be ready to seek Emergency Use Authorization or some form of regulatory approval as early as October 2020. The companies currently expect to manufacture globally up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020 and potentially more than 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021, subject to final dose selection from their clinical trial. In addition to engagements with governments, Pfizer and BioNTech have provided an expression of interest for possible supply to the COVAX Facility, a mechanism established by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and World Health Organization that aims to provide governments with early access to a large portfolio of COVID-19 candidate vaccines using a range of technology platforms, produced by multiple manufacturers across the world.

07:09 EDT Generation Bio appoints Matthew Norkunas as CFO - Generation Bio announced that Matthew Norkunas, M.D., MBA, has been appointed CFO. Norkunas most recently served as CFO at SomaLogic, a Colorado-based biotech that uses a proprietary protein scan to evaluate health and assess disease risk.

07:06 EDT Global Eagle reaches asset purchase agreement with senior loan investors - Global Eagle (ENT) has agreed upon a definitive "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement under which substantially all of the company's assets will be acquired for total consideration of $675M by an entity established at the direction of holders of approximately 90% of the company's senior secured first-lien term loans, led by lenders managed by Apollo Global (APO), Eaton Vance (EV) Management, Arbour Lane Capital Management, Sound Point Capital, Mudrick Capital , or one or more of their respective affiliates, and certain funds and accounts under management by BlackRock (BLK). The proposed transaction will have no material impact on Global Eagle's global operations as the company continues to provide services to all of its customers in the ordinary course, before and after the transaction. The company will reduce its total debt by approximately $475M and obtain additional liquidity. CEO of Global Eagle Joshua Marks said, "While we made important progress last year managing our cash flow and reducing operating expenses, we have been particularly impacted by COVID-19-related travel restrictions and demand declines in both airline and cruise end-markets. We expect to emerge from this process with a stronger balance sheet, significantly reduced debt and substantial liquidity, well-positioned to continue supporting our global customers into the future. (...) We remain steadfast in our belief that our airline, cruise line and other customers will recover from COVID-19 and generate significant long-term demand for our services. (..)" To facilitate the sale process, Global Eagle and certain of its U.S. subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in Delaware. In connection with this in-court process, Global Eagle will be obtaining $80M in debtor-in-possession financing from the Investor Group. The acquisition is also expected to be financed by an additional investment in the business in the form of a $125M exit facility, which would include assumption or refinancing of the DIP financing. The company intends to pay vendors and partners to its affected U.S. subsidiaries in full under normal terms for goods and services provided on or after the filing date, and expects to receive approval for all of these requests.

07:04 EDT Akcea Therapeutics says TEGSEDI approved for reimbursement in Austria - Akcea Therapeutics announced that the Main Association of Austrian Social Security Institutions has granted approval for the national reimbursement of TEGSEDI for the treatment of stage 1 or stage 2 polyneuropathy in adult patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis.

07:02 EDT Lowe's to launch exclusive partnership with EGO - Lowe's announced that it is expanding its industry-leading portfolio of outdoor power brands as it launches EGO, "the number one brand in battery-powered outdoor power equipment." Beginning in December 2020, Lowe's will be the exclusive nationwide home center to offer the top-rated line of EGO's high-quality and innovative battery-powered mowers, blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, edgers, chainsaws and snowblowers. EGO products will be available online at Lowes.com and in select stores in fall 2020 and will roll out to all U.S. stores nationwide by February 2021, furthering the company's commitment to offering more sustainable products in its assortment. The battery-powered, cordless line of outdoor power equipment is capable of matching or exceeding the performance of conventional gas items, without the noise and fumes. In addition, Lowe's will begin offering select SKIL battery-powered outdoor power equipment in late 2020 including push and self-propelled mowers, leaf blowers, string and hedge trimmers, among other products and accessories.

07:01 EDT United Airlines extends mask requirements to airports - United Airlines announced that customers will be required to wear a face covering in the more than 360 airports where the airline operates around the world. This includes United customer service counters and kiosks, United Club locations, United's gates and baggage claim areas. If customers refuse to comply, they may be refused travel and banned from flying United at least while the mask requirement is in place. This will be effective for all customers traveling on and after July 24 regardless of when their ticket was purchased. United also will strengthen its mask exemption policy by only excluding children under the age of two. If a passenger believes that there are extraordinary circumstances that warrant an exception, they should contact United or speak to a representative at the airport. United will post signage throughout the airport to reinforce this new policy and employees will first give a customer a verbal reminder and offer a free mask to any customer who is not wearing one. If the customer refuses to comply, United employees will offer the customer a reminder card that outlines the company's face covering policy. Continued non-compliance could result in a refusal to transport and the customer could also be banned from flying United at a minimum while the mask requirement is in place.

06:37 EDT Alcoa's Ecolum rolling slabs selected by aluminum producer to reduce emmissions - Alcoa has reached an agreement to supply Ecolum rolling slabs to Granges, a producer of rolled aluminum products for heat exchanger applications and other targeted markets. Ecolum is part of Alcoa's Sustana line of low-carbon products that support supply chain sustainability. Granges has a long-term target to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions across its entire supply chain. Alcoa claims that its Ecolum cast products guarantee no more than 2.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide smelter emissions per metric ton of aluminum, 75% better than the industry average.

06:35 EDT SpringsWorks Therapeutics completes enrollment of Phase 3 DeFi trial - SpringWorks Therapeutics has achieved full enrollment in its Phase 3 DeFi trial evaluating nirogacestat, an investigational gamma secretase inhibitor, in adult patients with progressing desmoid tumors. SpringWorks expects to report topline results from the DeFi trial in Q2 or Q3 2021. The DeFi trial is a Phase 3 trial to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of nirogacestat in adult patients with progressing desmoid tumors. Patients have been randomized 1:1 to receive 150 mg of nirogacestat or placebo twice daily. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival and secondary endpoints include safety and tolerability measures, as well as objective response rate, changes in tumor volume assessed by MRI, and changes in patient-reported outcomes. Nirogacestat has received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for the treatment of desmoid tumors and from the European Commission for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma. The FDA also granted Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy Designations for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, unresectable, recurrent or refractory desmoid tumors or deep fibromatosis.

06:22 EDT Fulton Financial: Previous 2020 guidance withdrawn due to impact from COVID-19 - Comments taken from Q2 earnings conference call presentation slides.

06:04 EDT FirstCash says strong pipeline of additional stores leased, under construction - In its original 2020 store opening guidance, the company expected to open approximately 90 to 100 new locations this year. A total of 51 stores were opened in the first half of the year and there is a strong pipeline of additional stores leased and under construction. While currently on pace to meet the lower end of the full year target, future store openings in the second half of the year remain subject to uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including but not limited to, the ability to continue construction projects and obtain necessary licenses, permits, utility services, store equipment, supplies and adequate staffing.

05:53 EDT Luminex files for EUA for expanded NxTAG RPP to include SARS-CoV-2 - Luminex announced that it has submitted an EUA request to the FDA for a new expanded version of its NxTAG Respiratory Pathogen Panel, or RPP, to include the SARS-CoV-2 virus for high-throughput COVID-19 testing. Luminex said in a release, "The new test is a combination of the company's original NxTAG RPP, an FDA-cleared in vitro diagnostic for syndromic respiratory infection testing, and the most relevant circulating pathogen today, SARS-CoV-2. Respiratory infections such as COVID-19 and influenza can be challenging to differentiate and diagnose accurately because they feature many of the same symptoms. NxTAG RPP is a multiplex, high-throughput test designed to enable simultaneous detection of the most common respiratory pathogens for a fast, syndromic testing approach. With the addition of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the panel now includes 19 viral and 2 bacterial targets, combining the most common respiratory pathogens in one panel to help facilitate the rapid identification of various individual and co-occurring infectious pathogens. NxTAG RPP provides scalable throughput, allowing clinical labs to run up to 96 samples at a time and generate results in approximately four hours with minimal hands-on time. The test runs on Luminex's easy-to-use, compact MAGPIX System and is designed for use in high-complexity molecular laboratories."

05:43 EDT Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom announce 5G deal - Ericsson and Deutsche Telekom AG have strengthened their partnership with a new multi-year deal to deploy the service provider's 5G Radio Access Network, or RAN, across Germany. The companies said in a release, "According to the terms of the deal, several mobile sites will be upgraded to the latest 5G technology standard over the next few years using Ericsson Radio System products and solutions. The 5G deal is in addition to a multi-RAN agreement as Deutsche Telekom takes the next step following the successful joint modernization of its 2G, 3G and 4G radio networks over the past two years. The award-winning Ericsson Spectrum Sharing solution will also be deployed, allowing Deutsche Telekom to dynamically manage 4G and 5G traffic in its network through efficient use of existing spectrum, enhancing coverage, performance and mobility."

05:30 EDT Perion Network to acquire Pub Ocean for up to $22M - Perion Network signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Pub Ocean, a rapidly-growing digital publisher-focused technology company with scalable content distribution and real-time revenue analytics technology. Perion Network said in a release, "Pub Ocean offers significant and immediate synergies to ContentIQ, or CIQ, which Perion acquired in January, driving incremental revenue opportunities and enhanced profitability. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the coming days, is for an aggregate cash consideration of up to $22 million, of which $4 million will be paid upon signing, $17 million as earn-out tied to financial targets over a two-year period and $1 million for two years of retention. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive and contribute more than $25 million in revenues and $5 million in Adjusted EBITDA to Perion in the first 12 months."

05:19 EDT Q&K International subsidiary acquires lease contracts - Q&K said in a release, "Q&K International announced that one of its subsidiaries has entered into agreements dated July 22, 2020 with a rental service company and its affiliates pursuant to which it will acquire lease contracts with landlords and tenants and related fixtures, equipment and other assets for approximately 72,200 rental units in China from the Transferor. The total consideration is $130 million, less certain liabilities to be assumed by the Company pursuant to the Acquisition, payable in installments in a combination of cash and shares of the Company that are subject to lock-ups for certain periods. The Acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed by December 31. The same subsidiary of the Company has engaged a third-party contractor to manage these rental units in China, starting from July 2020 for eight years. The Company will pay the Contractor a monthly management fee as a percentage of the monthly rentals from the rental units under the Contractor's management, subject to adjustments based on certain performance indicators set forth in the agreement."