Stockwinners Market Radar for June 14, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:39 EDT American Express CEO: U.S economy is really starting to come back - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Steve Squeri said American Express's delinquency numbers are lower than they've been in years. Travel bookings in May were at 95% of May 2019 levels. Restaurants are "doing great," he added, about 85% of where they were in 2019. By year end, Squeri expects there will be a full consumer recovery. Small businesses are very important customers, he noted. "We really want to be an important partner for small businesses."

18:27 EDT Correct: AdaptHealth names Stephen Griggs as CEO, effective immediately - AdaptHealth "announced that its board has appointed Stephen Griggs as CEO of the company, effective immediately. Mr. Griggs, who is also a member of the Board, joined AdaptHealth in February 2021 as Co-CEO following the company's acquisition of AeroCare Holdings, Inc., which Mr. Griggs founded and led as President and CEO. The company also announced that Luke McGee has resigned from his positions as Co-CEO of AdaptHealth and a member of the Board. A Special Committee of independent directors, established by the Board to oversee a thorough investigation of any connection between Mr. McGee's private activities and the company, retained DLA Piper, an independent law firm, to conduct this investigation. DLA Piper reported to the Special Committee on June 11, 2021 that the investigation is substantially complete and that they could state with a high degree of confidence that the company had no involvement in, or connection to, Mr. McGee's alleged conduct."

18:15 EDT Riot Blockchain CEO sells 50K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Riot Blockchain disclosed that its CEO Jason Les sold 50K shares of common stock on June 10th in a total transaction size of $1.56M, reducing his stake by about 17%.

17:57 EDT Zynex CFO Moorhead sells almost $406K in shares - Zynex CFO Daniel Moorhead sold 25,000 shares of company stock at $16.24 per share between June 10 and June 14, for a total transaction amount of $405,880.

17:36 EDT Galiano Gold CEO Greg McCunn steps down, Matt Badylak to succeed - Galiano Gold announces that Greg McCunn has stepped down as CEO and as a director of the company. The company also announces that it has appointed Matt Badylak, the company's current COO, to the position of President & CEO. Badylak has also joined the board of directors of the company. He has held a number of senior management roles in operations over his 20 years of mining experience across North America, Australia, Asia and Africa and holds a Bachelor of Science in Extractive Metallurgy & Chemistry from Murdoch University in Perth and is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

17:27 EDT Indaba Capital says Stagwell's revised offer 'inadequate' - Indaba Capital Management, which is the largest independent shareholder of MDC Partners, issued the below statement regarding the company's prospective merger with Stagwell Media. After reviewing the revised offer issued by Stagwell on June 14, Indaba plans to VOTE AGAINST the combination. Derek Schrier, Managing Partner of Indaba, commented: "Indaba believes that Stagwell's revised offer - which follows its purported best-and-final offer last week - is inadequate. In our view, this highly-caveated revised offer fails to provide MDC's shareholders with fair consideration. It appears the market shares our view based on the fact that MDC's share price moved no more than the NASDAQ today. Although Stagwell contends that it has consulted with major shareholders regarding its new offer, we have not heard from Mr. Penn, his representatives or MDC's Special Committee for more than three weeks. We consider Stagwell's apparent disregard for our feedback and views to be a major red flag in the area of corporate governance. After all, Indaba is MDC's largest independent shareholder and a long-term investor. It is important to underscore that the unsolicited feedback we have received from our fellow shareholders paints a different picture than the one Stagwell shared today. Large shareholders seem to share our concerns regarding the conflicts and fire sale terms hanging over this deal. It is not lost on them that Mr. Penn stands to benefit greatly from a transaction that deprives shareholders of fair value. We believe many shareholders support the proposed combination. With this context in mind, we contend that even supportive shareholders want to be fairly compensated beyond the 30% share consideration proposed today. If Stagwell wants to come to the table and have a good faith discussion with us, we would be willing to work towards a mutually-agreeable resolution and consider signing a voting agreement. But we will not vote to support a transaction that includes unreasonable and unfair terms."

17:17 EDT Allscripts CEO sells 120K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Allscripts disclosed that its CEO Paul Black sold 120K shares of common stock on June 14th in a total transaction size of $2.12M, reducing his stake by about 7%.

17:09 EDT Mueller Water acquires i2O Water Ltd for $20M in cash - Mueller Water Products announced that it has acquired i2O Water Ltd, a provider of pressure management solutions, for approximately $20M in cash. i2O Water delivers intelligent water networks to more than 100 water companies in over 45 countries around the world to reduce water loss by providing solutions that enable clients to instrument, analyze and control water networks to reduce leakage, lower energy consumption and improve supply. Founded in 2005, i2O Water is headquartered in Southampton, UK, with operations in Malaysia and Colombia. i2O Water provides a range of market-leading intelligent water network solutions including Advanced Pressure Management, Network Analytics, Event Management, Data Logging and the iNet software suite. Following the close of the transaction, i2O Water will become part of Mueller Water Products' Technologies segment.

17:05 EDT SPAR Group trading resumes

16:50 EDT Rafael Holdings appoints CEO, Moderna chief legal officer to board - Rafael Holdings (RFL) announced the appointment of three senior biopharmaceutical leaders to its board of directors: Ameet Mallik, CEO of Rafael Holdings; Shannon Thyme Klinger, chief legal officer of Moderna (MRNA) and Mark McCamish, president and CEO of IconOVir Bio.

16:36 EDT Centrus Energy receives NRC approval to produce HALEU at Ohio facility - Centrus Energy announced that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, approved the company's license amendment request to produce high-assay, low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, at the Piketon, Ohio, enrichment facility. The Piketon plant is now the only U.S. facility licensed to enrich uranium up to 20% Uranium-235 and expects to begin demonstrating HALEU production early next year. The company said HALEU-based fuels will be required for most of the advanced reactor designs currently under development and may also be utilized in fuels for the existing fleet of reactors in the United States and around the world. Developers of nine of the ten advanced reactor designs selected for funding under the Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, including the two demonstration reactors, have said they will rely on HALEU-based fuels. Under a 2019 contract with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Centrus is constructing a cascade of sixteen AC100M centrifuges - a U.S.-origin technology - to demonstrate production of HALEU. The three year, $115M, cost-shared contract runs through mid-2022. The NRC license was granted for the period of the DOE contract. Centrus recently released an update on progress of construction for the demonstration cascade and anticipates completing performance under the contract in early 2022. If sufficient funding is provided to continue operation, the license can be amended to extend the term.

16:30 EDT Shoe Carnival CFO Kerry Jackson sells $747K in shares - Shoe Carnival CFO Kerry Jackson disclosed in a filing that he had sold 11,000 shares of company stock at $67.91 per share on June 11, for a total transaction amount of $747,010.

16:23 EDT Spirit Airlines sees 'modestly positive' Q2 EBITDA margin ex-items - Spirit Airlines provided updated guidance regarding its financial and operational trends. As the quarter has progressed, the company said it has seen an improvement in operating yields, and now expects its EBITDA margin, excluding special items, for the second quarter of 2021 to be modestly positive. Leisure demand in Spirit's domestic and international markets has continued to improve throughout the second quarter. The company estimates its load factor for the second quarter 2021 will be about 84.0 percent, in line with the performance achieved in second quarter 2019. Total operating expenses, excluding special items, for the second quarter 2021 are tracking towards the better end of the company's initial guidance of $885M-$895M. Fuel price per gallon for the second quarter 2021 is now expected to be approximately $1.96. For periods beyond second quarter 2021, if the company is profitable and its average share price for the period is less than $49.07, the company estimates its weighted average diluted shares outstanding will be 110.6M, plus the dilutive impact, if any, from outstanding equity awards and warrants. The Treasury Stock Method will be used to determine the dilutive impact of any outstanding equity awards and warrants. The estimated 110.6M includes the dilutive impact of approximately 2.2M shares related to the 2025 Convertible Notes outstanding.

16:21 EDT Lawmakers question Vulcan Materials' treatment of Arizona Teamsters - In letters sent to the CEO of Vulcan Materials, 38 members of the Arizona State Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives called on Vulcan to reconsider how the company is treating its workforce in Arizona, including a group of eight mining vehicle operators at the company's open-pit mines in Sun City and Laveen Village who are represented by Teamsters Local 104. Vulcan Materials, which currently services roughly 60 contracts with the state, is demanding that the eight drivers accept a contract that would take away their pension, increase monthly health care costs by as much as $464, allow the company to cut hourly wages by $2.60 for some drivers, reduce safety rest periods between shifts, impose an unfair grievance procedure, and take away the drivers' right to honor picket lines. The letters signed by every Democratic member of the Arizona Legislature, reads, "We are alarmed that a profitable public company would seek to exploit its workers and force them to agree to such lopsided and unreasonable terms. Your success should not - and need not - come at the expense of working families."

16:20 EDT Avista reaches all-party settlement in Idaho general rate case - Avista and all parties to the Company's electric and natural gas general rate case have reached a settlement agreement that has been submitted to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for its consideration. If approved, the settlement agreement is designed to increase annual base electric revenues by $10.6M or 4.3%, effective Sept. 1, and by $8M or 3.1%, effective Sept. 1, For natural gas, the settlement agreement is designed to decrease annual base natural gas revenues by $1.6 million or 3.7%, effective Sept. 1, 2021, and increase annual base natural gas revenues by $0.9M or 2.2%, effective Sept. 1, 2022. The parties have agreed to use the customer tax credits included in Avista's original filing to offset overall proposed changes to base electric and natural gas rates over the two-year plan.

16:17 EDT LCI Industries acquires Trazcor, terms not disclosed - LCI Industries announced the acquisition of substantially all of the business assets of Trazcor, Inc., a specialized metal fabrication company located in Goshen, IN. "The Trazcor product line fits nicely into Lippert's core manufacturing competencies," said Ryan Smith, President of Lippert's OEM Segment. He continued, "Every year Lippert purchases approximately 500,000 tons of steel and 4,000 tons of aluminum, so there are immediate synergies that our two companies can realize. We are very close to the majority of Trazcor's existing customers and will continue to deliver the level of service that they have come to expect from Lippert. We are excited to welcome the Trazcor team to the Lippert family and are looking forward to a bright future together."

16:15 EDT Biogen announces STAR study misses primary, secondary endpoints - Biogen announced topline results from the Phase 3 STAR study of timrepigene emparvovec, an investigational gene therapy for the potential treatment of choroideremia. The STAR study did not meet its primary endpoint of proportion of participants with a greater than or equal to 15 letter improvement from baseline in best corrected visual acuity, or BCVA, at Month 12, in the interventional group in comparison to the non-interventional control group, as measured by the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study, or ETDRS chart. In addition, the study did not demonstrate efficacy on key secondary endpoints. Safety results from the Phase 3 STAR study were consistent with previous studies. Biogen will evaluate the complete data set before confirming next steps for the timrepigene emparvovec clinical development program. Detailed results of this study will be made available at a future scientific forum.

16:12 EDT Unique Fabricating extends forbearance agreement - Unique Fabricating announced the extension of its forbearance agreement with its lenders through February 28, 2022. "We have been working collaboratively with our lenders and we remain appreciative of their continued support," said Doug Cain, president and CEO. "Our Lenders understand the well-documented and ongoing uncertainty in the Transportation Market regarding the timing of the full resolution of the chip shortage challenges. This agreement provides the Company continued access to our credit facilities and we believe sufficient liquidity for our currently anticipated needs. We believe the extension provides adequate time for resolution of the uncertainty regarding the industry's recovery timing in the second half of 2021 and into 2022. During the forbearance period, we can finalize negotiations with the Lenders to enter into an amendment and waiver to cure the defaults. Third party forecasts continue to highlight an overall market recovery beginning in the second half of 2022 and extending through 2023 as customer demand at this time remains high and inventory levels remain at historic lows. We also anticipate that the above factors will have positive impacts for our Appliance Market business."

16:10 EDT Brookline Bancorp announces President & CEO Paul Perrault to be chairman - Brookline Bancorp President & CEO Paul Perrault announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has approved a number of key changes to the Company's organizational structure. Perrault himself will become the Company's Chairman, replacing Joseph Slotnik, who served as Chairman for the past ten years. Slotnik will remain on the Board as Lead Director. The Board also voted to elevate General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer Michael McCurdy and Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Carl Carlson to serve jointly as Co-Presidents. Mr. McCurdy has been with the Company for ten years; Mr. Carlson for seven. Mr. McCurdy will also assume the role of Chief Operating Officer overseeing the Company's two subsidiary banks, banking operations, human resources, and the Company's two equipment finance units, Eastern Fundin and Macrolease. Mr. Carlson will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer overseeing Finance and also Commercial and Consumer Product Management. Both - as well as Brookline Bancorp's Chief Credit Officer, Robert Rose - will continue to report to Perrault who will remain as Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

16:08 EDT CrossFirst Bancshares enters Phoenix market - CrossFirst Bankshares announced that it has plans to enter the Phoenix, Arizona market and has named Kevin Halloran as Phoenix Market President. "As we looked to expand outside our traditional CrossFirst footprint, we believe Phoenix is a great opportunity given the region's favorable demographics, strong population, and business growth," said President & CEO of CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc., Mike Maddox. "As an entrepreneurial bank, we are excited about the opportunity to work with businesses and professionals in Phoenix and Maricopa County and to support the region's rapid growth. We are fortunate to have identified a local leader in Kevin Halloran, who brings decades of banking and financial services experience as well as deep Arizona connections to the role."

16:07 EDT Mosaic announces May potash volumes 891K tons versus 810K tons last year - Mosaic announced its May 2021 sales revenue and volumes May Potash sales volumes in thousands of tons 891 versus 810 in May of last year.

16:02 EDT T. Rowe Price declares special cash dividend of $3.00 per share - Payable on July 7 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 25.

16:01 EDT SPAR Group trading halted, news pending

15:57 EDT Petco now up 18% to $28.12 following Reddit recommendation

15:36 EDT Disney CEO says churn unchanged after Disney+ price increase - Disney CEO Bob Chapek said at Credit Suisse's conference that the company has seen no change in customer churn following the Disney+ price increase.

15:18 EDT GTY Technology announces over 100 new customers in 2021 - GTY Technology Holdings announced today that its "business units have continued to add customers at a strong pace, bringing in more than 100 new customers in the first five months of 2021." CEO TJ Parass said, "We have seen a huge shift in the public sector as businesses and governments begin to recover from the significant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the focus in 2020 was on rapidly making services and support accessible during the worst of the health crisis, we are now seeing a renewed focus on planned strategic digital transformation that will enable a more efficient and streamlined constituent experience. The cloud-based technology provided by GTY Technology's business units is helping our customers quickly meet their immediate needs, while empowering them to be more agile and effective in the future."

14:58 EDT Petco extends rally to 6% after Wallstreetbets recommendation

14:43 EDT May 2021 video game spending rose 3% y/y, says NPD - NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella said that May 2021 consumer spending across video game hardware, content and accessories increased 3% when compared to a year ago, reaching $4.5B. Year-to-date consumer spending totaled $24B, a 17% increase compared to 2020 year-to-date. May performance experienced a return to year-over-year growth following a slight dip in April. Gains in Subscription, Console, PC and VR content spending drove the positive variance. May 2021 hardware sales gained 5% compared to the prior year. May video game hardware dollar sales increased 5% when compared to May 2020, to $244 million. Year-to-date hardware consumer spending totaled $1.9B, a 36% increase compared with a year ago. The Nintendo Switch (NTDOY) was the best-selling hardware platform in both units and dollars during the month of May, as well as 2021 year-to-date. Publicly traded companies in the space include Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Electronic Arts (EA), GameStop (GME), Nintendo (NTDOY), Take-Two (TTWO), Tencent (TCEHY), Sony (SONY), Microsoft (MSFT), Capcom (CCOEY), and Ubisoft (UBSFY). Reference Link

14:30 EDT Avista director Blake sells $441K in company shares - Avista director Kristianne Blake disclosed that she had sold 9,775 shares of company stock at $45.15 per share on June 10, for a total transaction amount of $441,341.

14:05 EDT First Eagle Senior Loan Fund to liquidate, distribute net assets to shareholders - First Eagle Senior Loan Fund announced that it intends to liquidate and distribute its net assets to shareholders. The Fund's investment adviser, First Eagle Alternative Credit, LLC, and the Fund's Board of Trustees considered a variety of factors, including but not limited to the relatively small size of the Fund and the Fund's trading discount to net asset value. FEAC and the Board also considered alternative actions to address the Fund's scale and discount, including but not limited to merging the Fund into another closed-end investment company or an open-end investment company, adding a term to the Fund, or conducting a tender offer. On balance, it was determined that a liquidation would be in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders, allowing shareholders to realize net asset value for their shares and avoiding the discount to net asset value that shareholders would currently realize if they sold their shares in the market.

13:50 EDT Amazon offers Prime members access to Luna service on June 21-22 - Amazon said that, for a limited time, Prime members can access games on Amazon Luna, the company's cloud gaming service, without requesting an invite for early access. Start a Luna+ 7-day free trial to play action, adventure, platformer, indie, shooter, RPG, racing, and classic games, the company said. The exclusive benefit will be available for Prime members on June 21-22. Reference Linkvg[p]22296909[t]w[r]theverge.com[d]D]

13:21 EDT Fifth Third boosts investment in First Independence Bank - Fifth Third Community Development Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp, has announced it is investing an additional $2.5M in Detroit-based First Independence Bank. The move makes Fifth Third the largest investor at a total of $5.5M in the minority depository institution and community development financial institution. "CDFIs are critical to creating and preserving wealth in minority communities," said Kala Gibson, Fifth Third Bank's head of business banking and chief enterprise corporate social responsibility officer. "It is imperative that larger financial services institutions support these organizations to ensure their viability and longevity."

13:08 EDT Pfizer vaccine 96% effective against hospitalization from Delta, PHE says - A new analysis by Public Health England shows for the first time that two doses of Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization from the Delta variant. The Pfizer (PFE) - BioNTech (BNTX) vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalization after two doses the Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZN) vaccine is 92% effective against hospitalization after two doses, the agency said in a statement. The analysis included 14,019 cases of the Delta variant - 166 of whom were hospitalized - between April 12 and June 4, looking at emergency hospital admissions in England. Reference Link

12:37 EDT Enbridge: Court of Appeals affirms Line 3RP revised FEIS, certificate of need - Enbridge announced that Monday's decision from the Minnesota Court of Appeals acknowledges the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission's thorough review of the Line 3 Replacement Project and confirms that commissioners appropriately approved the project's environmental impact statement, certificate of need and route permit. "After six years of community engagement, environmental review, regulatory and legal review, it's good to see confirmation of previous decisions on the Line 3 Replacement Project," said Vern Yu, Enbridge Executive Vice President and President Liquids Pipelines. "From the start, the project has been about improving safety and reliability for communities and protecting the environment."

12:07 EDT Clean Energy says on track to provide RNG at all stations by 2025 - Today at its annual shareholders meeting, Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) "introduced a new company logo, a cornerstone of an entirely new brand identity that aligns with its growing commitment to expand its renewable fuel solution." This includes investing in the development of renewable natural gas from dairies and other agricultural facilities both independently and with partners TotalEnergies (TOT) and BP (BP), the company said in a statement. Currently, RNG represents 70% of the fuel sold at Clean Energy's nationwide network of stations, and the company said it is on a track to provide the fuel at all its stations by 2025.

12:00 EDT Xinyuan Real Estate falls -15.2% - Xinyuan Real Estate is down -15.2%, or -55c to $3.07.

12:00 EDT X Financial rises 15.9% - X Financial is up 15.9%, or $1.12 to $8.18.

12:00 EDT New York City REIT rises 19.0% - New York City REIT is up 19.0%, or $2.28 to $14.28.

11:09 EDT JPMorgan sees FY NII $52.5B, CEO Dimon says

11:01 EDT Choice Hotels: Domestic systemwide RevPAR for May 28-30 up 12% vs. last year - Patrick Pacious, president and CEO, Choice Hotels International, spoke at the Goldman Sachs Travel and Leisure Conference on June 8, 2021. Key highlights of the presentation include: Domestic systemwide revenue per available room for May 28 to 30, 2021 increased by 12% versus the same Memorial Day weekend in 2019, marking the strongest revenue performing Memorial Day weekend in the company's history, with Saturday, May 29 recording the single highest revenue day ever for the company. The company expects elevated demand trends to continue into the summer months, with the bookings for Independence Day weekend currently outpacing the demand for Memorial Day weekend, compared to the same period of 2019. Domestic systemwide RevPAR for June 4 to 5, 2021 increased by 18% versus the same weekend following Memorial Day in 2019. Domestic systemwide RevPAR for May 2021 declined approximately 4.2% compared to May 2019, ahead of expectations and matching the company's April 2021 RevPAR performance. Additionally, the company continued to drive RevPAR index gains versus its local competitors. The company's largest extended-stay brand, WoodSpring Suites, achieved RevPAR growth of over 15% in the second quarter through May 31, 2021, compared to the same period of 2019, and the company's upscale Cambria Hotels brand seized domestic systemwide RevPAR share gains of 16 percentage points versus its local competitors year-to-date through May 29, 2021, compared to the same period of 2019. Second quarter domestic systemwide RevPAR through May 31, 2021 for the company's economy portfolio has exceeded 2019 levels while RevPAR for the company's midscale portfolio approached 2019 pre-pandemic results.

10:13 EDT State Street sees Q2 fee revenue up 4%-5% y/y - Sees Q2 servicing fees up almost 10% y/y. Sees Q2 NII $460M-$465M. Sees Q2 taxes at upper end of 17%-19% range. Comments taken from Morgan Stanley US Financials Conference.

10:06 EDT RAPT Therapeutics trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:00 EDT Hexo falls -9.7% - Hexo is down -9.7%, or -64c to $5.98.

10:00 EDT Edenor rises 8.8% - Edenor is up 8.8%, or 44c to $5.44.

10:00 EDT Earthstone Energy rises 9.9% - Earthstone Energy is up 9.9%, or $1.03 to $11.40.

09:50 EDT Avalon GloboCare Corporation trading resumes

09:47 EDT Hexo falls -6.9% - Hexo is down -6.9%, or -46c to $6.17.

09:47 EDT Global Ship Lease rises 4.8% - Global Ship Lease is up 4.8%, or 98c to $21.36.

09:47 EDT AMC Entertainment rises 8.2% - AMC Entertainment is up 8.2%, or $4.07 to $53.47.

09:37 EDT Kanzhun Ltd (ADS) trading resumes

09:33 EDT California Resources appoints Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Gould - California Resources announced that Chris Gould has been appointed as the Company's first ever Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer. "Bringing Chris on board reflects the importance of our ESG initiatives and our commitment to decarbonization and a realistic energy transition," said Mac McFarland, CEO and President. "His considerable leadership skills and experience in climate change and implementation of new technologies will help the Company deliver on our goals while maintaining ESG leadership."

09:27 EDT CUNA Brokerage chooses LPL Financial to support retail brokerage, advisory - LPL Financial announced that CUNA Brokerage Services has chosen LPL Financial to support its retail brokerage and advisory business. CUNA Mutual Group is a leading provider of financial services to credit unions and retail investors. The business is expected to transition to the LPL platform in early 2022. "By combining CUNA Mutual Group's expertise in client experience and data-driven strategic consultation for credit unions and advisors with LPL's leading platform, we will deliver an advisor and customer experience unique to the credit union industry," said Rob Comfort, president, CUNA Brokerage Services, a member of CUNA Mutual Group. "We are committed to helping more consumers make financial decisions that work for them, and we will continue to build, buy or partner to do so. We are excited to become one of LPL's largest clients, and believe we'll be able to instantly reach new heights with an enhanced value proposition for financial institutions, advisors and the members we serve."

09:24 EDT Editas Medicine announces new Chief Regulatory Officer, Chief Scientific Officer - Editas Medicine (EDIT) announced that it named Chi Li, Ph.D., MBA, RAC, as the company's Senior Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer, effective immediately. Li will lead regulatory affairs strategy and activities related to Editas Medicine's drug development programs. Additionally, as previously announced, Dr. Mark Shearman, Ph.D., joined the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Shearman joins Editas Medicine from Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC), where he served as Chief Scientific Officer and was responsible for leading the company's product candidate selection process, pre-clinical and translational research, and long-term research and development planning. Li joins Editas Medicine from Celularity where he served as Chief Regulatory Officer.

09:22 EDT Comtech delivers letter to Comtech board of directors - Outerbridge Capital Management, a shareholder of Comtech Telecommunications, announced that it has delivered a letter to Comtech's Board of Directors. "Outerbridge believes that while Comtech continues to be a market leader with best-in-class products and strong growth prospects, the company has been and remains significantly undervalued in the public markets due to, among other things, poor corporate governance, a history of capital misallocation, and a lack of executive succession planning. Due to the issues plaguing the company and both the Board's and management's apparent lack of urgency in addressing these matters, Outerbridge urges Comtech to immediately commence a process to review strategic alternatives, and looks forward to engaging collaboratively with management and the Board," Outerbridge said. "Outerbridge believes that the substantial and certain value creation that could arise from such a sale process would likely be far more attractive to Comtech shareholders on a risk-adjusted and net-present-value basis, as compared to the Company continuing to execute its business plan as a public company under existing management. Should the Board elect instead to continue as a standalone Company, we believe substantial changes will be required to ensure that Comtech executes against the significant growth opportunities in front of it, and finally delivers for shareholders," the company added.

09:18 EDT My Size partners with La Caserne in France - MySize announced an expansion of its presence in the French market by partnering with La Caserne, the first incubator dedicated to responsible fashion in France. The La Caserne incubator's 25+ brands will all gain access to MySize's measurement technology, ensuring highly accurate sizing every time. Leading French brand Diane Ducasse, creator of DA/DA has already signed on along with Salut Beaute, while advanced discussions are taking place with several others.

09:15 EDT Urban-Gro set to join Russell 2000 Index - urban-gro announced that it has been selected to be added to the Russell 2000 Index effective June 25, 2021, after the close of the U.S. equity markets.

09:07 EDT Wyndham Hotels & Resorts says new construction pipeline includes over 260 hotels - Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has continued strong momentum in new construction for its newly introduced prototypes and dual-branded hotels. In the 12 months from April 2020 to March 2021, Wyndham has executed nearly 100 new construction deals across the United States, achieving approximately 90% of the previous 12 months' pre-pandemic levels. The company's new construction pipeline now includes over 260 hotels that are currently under construction contributing to an overall new construction pipeline of 950 hotels, which will add approximately 140,000 rooms to its domestic and international portfolio. In the second quarter of 2021 alone, La Quinta by Wyndham has opened or is scheduled to open six new construction upper-midscale Del Sol prototype hotels.

09:06 EDT Franklin Electric appoints Jeffery Taylor as Vice President, CFO - Franklin Electric (FELE) announced that Jeffery Taylor has been appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective June 14, 2021. John Haines has retired as Vice President and CCFO of the company but will support Mr. Taylor through an interim period. Most recently, Taylor was the CFO of Blue Bird Corporation (BLBD).

09:01 EDT DoorDash announces partnership with PetSmart - DoorDash announced a partnership with PetSmart to facilitate on-demand delivery of pet supplies and accessories across nearly 1,500 PetSmart locations nationwide. Customers can now order pet products for on-demand delivery through the DoorDash app or website in addition to the Petsmart.com website for same-day delivery powered exclusively through DoorDash Drive, DoorDash's white-label fulfillment platform that powers direct delivery for any business. DoorDash will offer more than 11,000 items from PetSmart including pet food, toys and treats, habitats and supplements, and more. Pet parents can now shop for everything they need for the lifetime care of their pets in a convenient and accessible way through the DoorDash app.

08:59 EDT Hims & Hers to acquire Honest Health, terms undisclosed - Hims & Hers announced plans to expand their UK footprint and acquire London-based vertical health platform, Honest Health. Honest Health offers consumers hair loss-related products, including access to compounded products, such as a topical Finasteride with Minoxidil solution when appropriate, through an exclusive relationship with the first UK compounding pharmacy and fulfillment center. The proposed transaction provides Hims & Hers with operational capability and infrastructure to support the beginnings of the company's long-term plans for expansion across the United Kingdom and Western Europe. Financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed at this time. Honest Health, founded by Sam Gluck and Pavlo Maherovsky, launched in November 2018 with Freshman, its next generation hair loss virtual clinic for men. The deal is expected to close during the second fiscal quarter of this year.

08:54 EDT Avalon GloboCare Corporation trading halted, news pending

08:51 EDT Charles Schwab reports total client assets were $7.4T as of month-end May - The Charles Schwab Corporation released its Monthly Activity Report today. Company highlights for the month of May 2021 include:Core net new assets brought to the company by new and existing clients totaled $28.1B. Net new assets excluding mutual fund clearing totaled $27.9B. Total client assets were $7.40T as of month-end May, up 84% from May 2020 and up 1% compared to April 2021. Average interest-earning assets were $528.6B in May, up 46% from May 2020 and flat compared to April 2021

08:43 EDT Anavex reports new publication in medical journal on ANAVEX 2-73, ANAVEX 3-71 - Anavex Life Sciences reported that ANAVEX 2-73 and ANAVEX3-71 are featured in a new peer-reviewed publication in the journal of Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, titled "The emerging role of the sigma-1 receptor in autophagy: Hand-in-hand targets for the treatment of Alzheimer's". Scientific Paper Highlights: Sigma-1 receptor's expression increases with age, however in Alzheimer's disease it decreases; the decrease in SIGMAR1 expression during AD coincides with an age-related decrease in autophagy; the SIGMAR1 may compensate for loss of receptors and autophagic machinery during healthy aging; SIGMAR1 is activated by ANAVEX-compounds; ANAVEX2-73 has been shown to induce autophagy; activation of the SIGMAR1 can induce cytoprotective autophagic pathways. Since it has been observed that a number of SIGMAR1 agonists, including ANAVEX2-73, is able to upregulate SIGMAR1 expression in the brain, it is possible that these drugs could help the cells to compensate for the loss of other receptors and autophagy machinery. The authors conclude, that in the future it may be the case that SIGMAR1 ligands targeting the activation of autophagy, and other SIGMAR1 related neuroprotective pathways, are prescribed prophylactically, in much the same way as with statins for the prevention of heart disease today in an effort to prevent the loss of the SIGMAR1 receptor seen during AD.

08:39 EDT Ballantyne Strong set to join Russell Microcap Index - Ballantyne Strong announced that it is set to join the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the U.S. market opens on Monday, June 28, 2021, according to a preliminary list of additions posted by Russell on June 4, 2021.

08:37 EDT Lordstown says some disclosures regarding pre-orders were inaccurate - Lordstown Motors "made periodic disclosures regarding pre-orders which were, in certain respects, inaccurate," the company said in a statement following the results of an investigation conducted by the Special Committee of its Board of Directors into the report published by Hindenburg Research on March 12. "Lordstown Motors has stated on several occasions that its pre-orders were from, or 'primarily' from commercial fleets. In fact, many pre-orders were obtained from (i) fleet management companies or other end users that indicated interest in purchasing Endurance trucks, similar to commercial fleets, and (ii) so-called 'influencers' or other potential strategic partners that committed to attempt to secure pre-orders from other entities, but did not intend to purchase Endurance trucks directly. One entity that provided a large number of pre-orders does not appear to have the resources to complete large purchases of trucks. Other entities provided commitments that appear too vague or infirm to be appropriately included in the total number of pre-orders disclosed," it explained.

08:34 EDT Omeros' Narsoplimab pivotal trial data shared in oral presentation at EHA - Omeros announced that data on organ function improvement from its pivotal trial of narsoplimab for the treatment of hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy HSCT-TMA were shared during an oral presentation at the virtual edition of the 26th Congress of the European Hematology Association . The presentation, entitled Narsoplimab Treatment Contributes to Improvements in Organ Function in Adult Patients with High-Risk Transplant-Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy, was delivered last Friday by Miguel-Angel Perales, M.D., Chief of Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The organ function improvement data presented underscore the potential of narsoplimab as a significant advance in the treatment of often fatal HSCT-TMA.

08:31 EDT ACM Research provides update on STAR Market IPO of ACM Research Shanghai - ACM Research is providing an update on the status of the proposed initial public offering and listing of shares of ACM's operating subsidiary ACM Research on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The application for registration for the STAR Market IPO was submitted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange Commission to the China Securities Regulatory Commission on June 10, 2021. The STAR Market listing of ACM Shanghai's shares remains subject to review and approval by the CSRC. The application documents include required preliminary estimates of ACM Shanghai's revenue and net profit for the six months ended June 30, 2021, determined in accordance with the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises under Chinese generally accepted accounting principles. Following the end of the six-month period ending June 30, 2021, ACM Shanghai will need to close its books for the period and its independent public accounting firm will need to review ACM Shanghai's operating results for the period. ACM Shanghai provided ranges for the preliminary estimates described above because it will need to complete its financial closing procedures for the period before actual results will be known and because other developments may arise prior to the time it finalizes its results for the period. There can be no assurance that ACM Shanghai's final results for revenue and net profit for the six months ending June 30, 2021 will be within the ranges of preliminary estimates described above. ACM currently owns a 91.7% equity interest in ACM Shanghai, and a substantial majority of ACM's consolidated revenue and net income is contributed by ACM Shanghai. The preliminary estimates of revenue and net profit described above reflect the stand-alone results of ACM Shanghai in RMB as prepared in accordance with Chinese GAAP, and those results will differ, potentially materially, from ACM's consolidated results, which include additional financial and operational items and are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

08:28 EDT TOMI Environmental Solutions set to join Russell Microcap Index - TOMI Environmental Solutions announced that it is set to join the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the U.S. market opens on Monday, June 28, 2021, according to a preliminary list of additions posted by Russell on June 4, 2021.

08:25 EDT Better Choice Company announces extension of Asian distribution relationships - Better Choice announced that it has agreed to aggregate minimum purchases with its key Asian distribution partners totaling more than $100M in sales from Jan 1, 2021 - December 31, 2025. This represents both an acceleration of sales growth in key markets and an extension of contract term for certain distributors relative to previously disclosed figures. The acceleration of sales in China has been driven in part by Halo's ability to secure Product Import Registrations for 15 Holistic Dog and Cat Food Diets from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China in June 2020. These product registrations have enabled the company to expand its partnership with its Chinese distribution partner, Penefit International and sell Halo branded product on e-commerce platforms and brick-and-mortar locations throughout mainland China.

08:24 EDT VIEX Capital issues letter to stockholders of KVH Industries - VIEX Capital Advisors, issued the below open letter to stockholders of KVH Industries regarding the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The VIEX-led investor group is seeking to elect two highly-qualified individuals - John Mutch and Eric Singer - to KVH's Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting on June 17.

08:22 EDT Outlook Therapeutics set to join Russell 2000 index - Outlook Therapeutics announced that as part of the annual reconstitution of the Russell stock indexes, Outlook Therapeutics has been selected to be added to the Russell 2000 Index effective June 25, 2021, after the close of the U.S. equity markets.

08:22 EDT CarLotz set to join Russell 3000, Russell 2000 indexes - CarLotz is set to join the broad-market Russell 3000 Index and the Russell 2000 Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on June 28, 2021 according to a preliminary list of additions posted June 4, 2021.

08:21 EDT HTG Molecular announces signing of three EAP collaboration agreements - HTG Molecular Diagnostics announced it has completed product design lock for the HTG Transcriptome Panel and announced three Early Adopter Program collaborators. HTG continues to progress in its development of a planned transcriptome panel using the HTG EdgeSeq technology. This panel, expected to be called the HTG Transcriptome Panel, will measure approximately 20,000 mRNA targets, with a planned research use only commercial launch in the third quarter of 2021. Achieving design lock also allows HTG to formally begin its previously announced Early Adopter Program with several collaborators with whom HTG has been planning studies with for the past several months. The EAP will also provide collaborators with priority access to product purchases and the ability to contract with HTG to execute laboratory service projects on their behalf prior to commercial launch. "Successful completion of this key milestone has allowed us to begin the finalization of EAP agreements, study details and logistics, and we believe it will allow us to begin study execution in the next few weeks," said Byron Lawson, Senior Vice President and COO. "Demand for access to our Early Adopter Program has exceeded our expectations, with discussions ongoing with nearly 40 potential EAP collaborators in academia and pharma. Several top prestigious cancer centers and research institutions throughout the US and Europe have expressed interest in our planned HTG Transcriptome Panel and participation in the EAP. In the past week, we signed EAP Collaboration Agreements with three top institutions in the US, including the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Duke University Medical Center and Saint John's Cancer Institute, each of which is at the leading edge in delivering precision medicine with a focus on novel technologies like our HTG EdgeSeq technology."

08:20 EDT iTeos Therapeutics up over 50% after announced partnership with GlaxoSmithKline - Shares of iTeos Therapeutics are up over 50% at $30.09 in pre-market trading after the company announced a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline to co-commercialise EOS-448.

08:18 EDT Apollo Global to commit up to $500M to Victory Park Capital - Apollo Global Management announced that entities, clients and funds managed by its affiliates have committed to invest up to $500M in senior secured credit facilities originated by Victory Park Capital, a global investment firm with an extensive track record in asset-backed credit origination for emerging and established companies. The new lending relationship between the Apollo Funds and VPC will focus on asset-backed lending to companies that aggregate third-party sellers on Amazon and other e-commerce sites. "Our new relationship with VPC allows Apollo and our clients, including Athene, to make meaningful commitments to growth-oriented ABL activity, extending our platform's access from early-stage structured credits up through mid-market and large-cap lending," said Bret Leas, Apollo Senior Partner and Global Head of Structured Corporate Credit & ABS. "Powerful secular trends are creating a new wave of e-commerce CPG companies that require institutional, structured capital solutions to scale, and we believe the team at VPC is well positioned to step in and help meet this need."

08:16 EDT Energy Focus in marketing partnership with FirstEnergy Home for LED lighting - Energy Focus has entered into a marketing partnership with FirstEnergy Home and FirstEnergy Advisors to offer advanced LED lighting and controls retrofit solutions and ultraviolet disinfection products and solutions. A key feature of the partnership includes Energy Focus' Total Solutions, a new, turnkey retrofit service offering featuring the EnFocus human-centric lighting system that can dim and color-tune LED lighting to align with the human body's natural 24-hour lighting cycle, or circadian rhythm, to enhance the quality of life for users. By partnering with a network of certified Energy Service Companies and lighting retrofit contractor, Energy Focus' Total Solutions will provide the full

08:15 EDT Bionano Genomics names Richard Shippy as chief business officer - Bionano Genomics announced that Richard Shippy has joined the company as its Chief Business Officer. For Bionano, he will be responsible for leading product strategy, broadening its business into new markets and strategic expansion of its product and technology portfolios. "We are thrilled to welcome Rich to Bionano. He adds a highly complementary skillset to our team as we put in place key pieces intended to accelerate widespread global adoption of optical genome mapping with our Saphryr system," commented Erik Holmlin, PhD, CEO of Bionano Genomics.

08:14 EDT C4 Therapeutics first patient dosed in phase 1/2 clinical trial on CFT7455 - C4 Therapeutics announced that the first patient has been dosed in the company's clinical trial of CFT7455, an orally bioavailable MonoDAC targeting IKZF1/3 for the treatment of multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, including peripheral T-cell lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma. "Initiating enrollment in the CFT4755 Phase 1/2 trial is a significant milestone in the clinical development of this innovative treatment for hematologic malignancies and reflects C4T's focus on advancing programs in our portfolio that have the potential to improve outcomes for patients with cancer," said Andrew Hirsch, CEO of C4 Therapeutics. "We are excited to learn more about the safety and efficacy of CFT7455 in the current clinical trial and expect to share data from this study in 2022." The Phase 1/2 trial will primarily investigate safety, tolerability, and anti-tumor activity, with secondary and exploratory objectives to characterize the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of CFT7455. The Phase 1 portion of this study will explore CFT7455 as a single agent in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and in combination with dexamethasone in R/R MM patients. Following identification of recommended dosage, the Phase 2 portion of the trial is expected to expand to four investigational arms: relapsed/refractory MM, single agent CFT7455; relapsed/refractory MM, CFT7455 combined with dexamethasone; peripheral T-cell lymphoma, single agent CFT7455; and mantle cell lymphoma, single agent CFT7455. Across the Phase 1/2 trial, C4T plans to enroll a total of approximately 160 patients.

08:13 EDT Teledyne FLIR wins Pentagon contract to develop chemical detectors - Teledyne FLIR, part of Teledyne Technologies announced it has won a contract to develop the first mass-wearable chemical detector for U.S. troops under the Pentagon's Compact Vapor Chemical Agent Detector CVCAD program. The company received $4.0 million in initial funding. "This is an important effort for our nation's chem-bio defense program as toxic weapons represent a serious, growing threat to our military personnel," said Roger Wells, VP and general manager of Unmanned Systems & Integrated Solutions at Teledyne FLIR. "Putting a wearable CVCAD sensor on all warfighters will offer an unprecedented level of chemical threat awareness, enabling them to perform their primary mission with far greater safety.

08:12 EDT Magenta Therapeutics appoints Thomas Beetham as chief legal officer - Magenta Therapeutics (MGTA) announced the appointment of Thomas Beetham as chief legal officer. As chief legal officer, Beetham will serve as a member of the company's executive team and will be responsible for leading all aspect of Magenta's legal and compliance operations. Beetham comes to Magenta with more than 20 years of experience in legal, business development, operations and strategy across the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He joins Magenta most recently from Kiniksa (KNSA), where he served as chief legal officer and executive VP where he oversaw all company legal matters, including transactions, financings, corporate and securities, public company reporting, tax, international, real estate, human resources and more.

08:10 EDT Iridium names Greg Pelton as new Chief Technical Officer - Iridium announced that Greg Pelton will join the company as Chief Technical Officer, effective June 17. Reporting to Iridium Chief Operations Officer Suzi McBride, Pelton is taking over for retiring CTO Hermon Pon and will lead Iridium's world-class technology and system engineering teams both internally and with Iridium's vast partner ecosystem. Pelton joins Iridium from Pryon, an AI company focused on augmented intelligence for the enterprise, where he served as Chief Product Officer.

08:09 EDT Addus HomeCare announces Robby Stevenson as Chief Human Resource Officer - Addus HomeCare announced that Laurie Manning retired from her position as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, effective June 11. Robby Stevenson, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer and will assume leadership in that area.

08:07 EDT Phunware set to join Russell Microcap Index - Phunware is set to join the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on June 28, according to a preliminary list of additions posted June 4.

08:07 EDT Rapt Therapeutics reports 'positive' results from Phase 1b RPT193 trial - RAPT Therapeutics announced topline results from its randomized placebo-controlled Phase 1b clinical trial of RPT193 as monotherapy in 31 patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. After four weeks of treatment, patients with moderate-to-severe AD who received RPT193 showed a 36.3% improvement from baseline in the Eczema Area and Severity Index score, a standard measure of disease severity, compared to 17.0% in the placebo group. Notably, in the two-week period following the end of treatment, the RPT193 group showed continued improvement and further separation from placebo with a 53.2% improvement in EASI at the six-week time point compared to 9.6% in the placebo group. This continued improvement may be related to RPT193's mechanism of action, which is upstream of other agents targeting cytokines or signaling pathways. "These data strongly support the potential of RPT193 as a safe, once-daily, oral treatment for patients with atopic dermatitis which would be an attractive therapeutic alternative ahead of injectable drugs," said Brian Wong, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of RAPT Therapeutics. "We look forward to advancing RPT193 to a Phase 2b trial in atopic dermatitis and a Phase 2a trial in asthma." Based on exploratory statistical analyses, the difference between RPT193 and placebo on the percent change in EASI score and EASI-50 was statistically significant at Day 43. No other endpoints or timepoints achieved statistical significance. Based on the efficacy and safety data observed in the Phase 1b study, RAPT plans to initiate a dose-ranging Phase 2b study in patients with moderate-to-severe AD and is also planning a Phase 2a study in asthma.

08:06 EDT Clever Leaves to join Russell Microcap Index - Clever Leaves announced that it is set to join the Russell Microcap Index, effective at market open in the United States on June 28, upon the conclusion of the Russell indexes' annual reconstitution. The decision was first disclosed in a preliminary list of additions published by the FTSE Russell on June 4, 2021.

08:05 EDT iCAD's ProFound AI DBT receives CE Mark approval - iCAD announced that ProFound AI Version 3.0 for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis received CE Mark approval. This CE Mark certification is another momentous achievement that positions iCAD in the vanguard of cancer detection and illustrates the Company's commitment to offering leading-edge solutions that continue to be unmatched by other technologies," said Michael Klein, Chairman and CEO of iCAD. "This regulatory milestone will provide the opportunity for our recently installed customers to upgrade to the latest version of the technology, while also expanding the potential to bring this solution to more markets - and thus more women - worldwide. This is not only consistent with our goal of establishing recurring revenue streams and predictable high margin revenues, it also stands to have a truly positive impact on patient care."

08:05 EDT Exelixis, Bristol-Myers enter supply agreement for STELLAR-002 trial - Exelixis (EXEL) announced a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) for STELLAR-002, a new phase 1b trial evaluating XL092 in combination with immuno-oncology therapies in advanced solid tumors. The objective of the study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of XL092, Exelixis' next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or TKI, in combination with: nivolumab; nivolumab and ipilimumab; and nivolumab and bempegaldesleukin. Exelixis is sponsoring STELLAR-002 and Bristol Myers Squibb will provide nivolumab, ipilimumab and bempegaldesleukin for use in the trial. Nektar (NKTR) will supply bempegaldesleukin to Bristol Myers Squibb through their existing global development and commercialization collaboration, which is evaluating nivolumab in combination with bempegaldesleukin, an investigational CD122-preferential IL-2-pathway agonist. STELLAR-002 will begin with a dose-escalation phase to determine the recommend dose for each of the XL092 combination therapies: XL092 in combination with nivolumab, XL092 in combination with nivolumab and ipilimumab and XL092 in combination with nivolumab and bempegaldesleukin. During the cohort-expansion stage, patients in each cohort will be randomized to multiple treatment arms. To better understand the individual contribution of the therapies, treatment arms may include XL092 monotherapy, XL092 and nivolumab, and combinations of XL092 and nivolumab and ipilimumab or nivolumab and bempegaldesleukin.

08:02 EDT GCM Grosvenor announces $85M upsizing of term loan - GCM Grosvenor announced that it will seek to upsize its Term Loan by $85M to enable the repurchase of certain fund investments and rights to future carry associated with Mosaic. Based upon values as of March 31, 20211, GCM Grosvenor will repurchase assets and carried interest at net asset value of approximately $238M and rights to additional future carried interest associated with $423M of carry dollars at work, for an estimated March 31, 2021 purchase price of $176M. The Mosaic Assets generated realized carried interest earnings of $14.7M over the twelve-month period ended March 31, 2021 and realized investment income of $1.5M over the same period.

07:59 EDT Yumanity Therapeutics appoints Devin Smith as general counsel - Yumanity Therapeutics (YMTX) announced the appointment of Devin W. Smith as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "We are delighted to welcome Devin as our general counsel at Yumanity Therapeutics," said Richard Peters, M.D., Ph.D., President, CEO and Director of Yumanity Therapeutics. "His experience providing legal counsel to public emerging life science companies will be important as we advance three clinical programs, move new innovative assets to treat neurodegenerative diseases into our pipeline, look to expand corporate partnerships, and strengthen our balance sheet." Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for publicly traded Minerva Neurosciences (NERV).

07:51 EDT Yamana Gold announces acquisition of properties adjoining Wasmac project - YAMANA GOLD announces that it has agreed to acquire from Globex Mining Enterprises the Francoeur, Arntfield and Lac Fortune gold properties adjoining the company's Wasamac project as well as additional claims in the Beuchastel township to the east of the Wasamac project. "The acquisition of the Globex claims will significantly add to the exploration upside of the Wasamac project, and it is consistent with Yamana's strategy to expand its presence in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue Region of Quebec," the company said. Historical drilling, previous production from Francoeur and Arntfield, both former operating mines, and recent trenching and exploration work by Globex has defined a six-kilometre western continuation of the Wasa shear - located immediately north of the prolific Cadillac Break - with mineralization similar to that at Wasamac. Data from the Globex properties and the adjoining Wasamac project will be consolidated, and exploration drilling is expected to begin during the second half of 2021 with the objective of adding mineral resources that could extend mine life or enhance production at the proposed Wasamac mine. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Yamana will pay an initial amount of C $4M on closing, which at the direction of Globex will be paid in shares, with the remaining payment of C $11M payable over four years in either cash or shares at the election of Globex. In addition, Globex will receive a 2% Gross Metal Royalty from Yamana, of which 0.5% may be bought back at any time by Yamana for C $1.5M, following which the royalty would be reduced to a 1.5% Gross Metal Royalty. The acquisition also includes certain other claims in Malartic township adjacent to the Camflo property which the Company previously acquired and has transferred to the Canadian Malartic General Partnership. These claims will be made available to the partnership also. Closing of the Transaction is expected to take place on or about June 21, 2021, subject to usual closing conditions.

07:49 EDT Lordstown names Becky Roof interim CFO, Angela Strand executive chairwoman

07:45 EDT Cronos Group announces investment in PharmaCann - Cronos Group and PharmaCann announced that they have entered into an agreement under which a wholly owned subsidiary of Cronos Group has purchased an option to acquire an approximately 10.5% ownership stake in PharmaCann on a fully-diluted basis. The Option exercise will be based upon various factors, including the status of U.S. federal cannabis legalization, as well as regulatory approvals, including in the states where PharmaCann operates that may be required upon exercise. Under the terms of the Transaction, total consideration paid by Cronos Group for the Option was approximately $110.4M, which was deposited by Cronos Group with a third-party paying agent to be distributed directly to PharmaCann shareholders. The Option is subject to certain anti-dilution and other adjustments. At Cronos Group's election and following its exercise of the Option, Cronos Group and PharmaCann will enter into commercial agreements that would permit each party to offer its products through either party's distribution channels. In addition, at Cronos Group's election and following its exercise of the Option, Cronos Group and PharmaCann will enter into an investor rights agreement that would provide Cronos Group with certain governance rights, such as a board seat or board observer subject to certain conditions, and a registration rights agreement that would provide Cronos Group with customary registration rights of PharmaCann common stock. The Transaction has been approved by the PharmaCann Board of Directors and the requisite PharmaCann shareholders and approved by the Cronos Group Board of Directors following the unanimous recommendation of the special committee of independent directors.

07:39 EDT AIM ImmunoTech's ampligen potential treatment for cancer patients with COVID-19 - AIM ImmunoTech announced that its drug Ampligen has been featured in a publication containing state-of-the-art methodologies in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cancers as a potential treatment option for cancer patients who are infected with SARS-CoV-2. The study's authors stated that Ampligen has the potential to reduce the severity of the deadly respiratory disease COVID-19. According to the data presented in the publication, "Rintatolimod activated the innate and the adaptive immune systems by activating a cascade of actions in human pancreatic cancer cells", including: stimulation of interferon regulatory factors and activation of the interferon signaling pathway; production of immunomodulatory activity; and induction of the expression of MHC class I and II histocompatibility. Additionally, AIM was previously granted a patent by the Netherlands. The granted claims include, but are not limited to, the use of Ampligen as a combination cancer therapy with checkpoint blockade inhibitors. The patent expires December 19, 2039, or 20 years from the date of filing, December 20, 2019.

07:37 EDT Flora Growth to acquire Koch & Gsell for $22.2M, $5 per share - Flora Growth announces it has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests of Switzerland based Koch & Gsell and its wholly-owned hemp brand, Heimat. The Heimat brand, if acquired, will represent a substantive addition to the Flora brand portfolio as a high growth brand, with trailing twelve-month revenues of $7.6M. Pursuant to the terms of the LOI and subject to the definitive acquisition agreement and approvals, upon the closing of the transaction, Flora will also invest approximately $2.2M, to rapidly grow the Heimat brand into new markets and to strengthen Heimat's position in the Swiss market. Further, Flora plans to introduce its brand portfolio, including Mind Naturals, Mambe, and Almost Virgin, to the Swiss and European market. Following consummation of the transaction, Koch & Gsell will continue to be led by Founder and CEO, Roger Koch, who has been responsible for growing the Heimat brand across Switzerland and into new international markets in Europe and Asia. As part of the transaction, Flora anticipates acquiring all of Koch & Gsell's hemp, blended hemp and tobacco cigarette manufacturing technology. The proprietary cigarette manufacturing technology can produce over 40,000 packs of 20 cigarettes per day. The technology is patented in over 80 jurisdictions throughout the world, where Flora anticipates bringing this technology into new markets to produce hemp, cannabis, or blended cigarette products, utilizing Flora's high-quality, low-cost cannabis input. Flora has signed an LOI to acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests of Koch & Gsell for consideration of approximately $22.2M, to be satisfied by the issuance of Flora common shares at a deemed price of $5.00 per share. The closing of the transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions, including due diligence to the satisfaction of both parties and the entering into of definitive agreements. The Flora common shares to be issued as consideration for the acquisition will be issued in equal quarterly installments commencing on the closing of the transaction. If on each quarterly issuance date, the common shares of Flora are trading below the Flora Share Price, calculated using the 10-day VWAP on NASDAQ, the sellers will be entitled to receive the dollar amount difference between the Flora Share Price and the Updated Flora Share Price, in cash or in common shares of Flora, determined using the updated Flora Share Price.

07:35 EDT Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc trading resumes

07:34 EDT Corporate digital learning company Skillsoft debuts on NYSE - Skillsoft announced that its common stock will commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "SKIL" today at the market open. This follows the completion of Software Luxembourg Holding S.A.'s merger with Churchill Capital Corp II and combination with Global Knowledge Training on June 11, , with the combined company now operating as Skillsoft. Skillsoft is moving forward as one of the industry's largest and most profitable digital learning companies, focused on helping organizations build a future-fit workforce, skilled and ready for the jobs of tomorrow. The Company serves a blue-chip enterprise customer base that includes approximately 70% of the Fortune 1000, customers in over 160 countries and more than 45 million learners globally. The Company's solutions are an advantage for the entire enterprise, enabling organizations to overcome critical skill gaps and drive demonstrable behavior-change while generating ROI at scale. Skillsoft operates with an attractive business model, characterized by recurring revenue, strong free cash flow conversion, high operating leverage and low capital requirements. With a global salesforce and footprint, and a strong, deleveraged balance sheet, Skillsoft is well-positioned to drive growth and value creation both organically and through acquisitions in the rapidly growing digital learning industry.

07:31 EDT Thoma Bravo Advantage urges holders to vote in favor of ironSource combination - Thoma Bravo Advantage recommends that its shareholders vote in favor of its proposed business combination with ironSource and all the related proposals described in TBA's definitive proxy statement dated May 19, at TBA's Extraordinary General Meeting. The Extraordinary General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 22, at 10:00 am Eastern Time.

07:28 EDT G1 Therapeutics initiates PRESERVE 3, phase 2 study of cosela - G1 Therapeutics (GTHX) announced that the company has initiated PRESERVE 3, a Phase 2, randomized, open-label study of COSELA administered with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy and the immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab maintenance therapy in patients with untreated, locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Myeloprotection and anti-tumor efficacy endpoints are being assessed in this study. Initial results of this study are expected in the second half of 2022. Patient recruitment in Preserve 3 is now underway. The study will enroll approximately 90 patients, who will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment arms. Arm A will receive gemcitabine/platinum chemotherapy followed by avelumab maintenance therapy. Arm B will receive COSELA prior to gemcitabine/platinum chemotherapy followed by COSELA plus avelumab maintenance therapy. Standard of care gemcitabine/platinum chemotherapy will be administered intravenously in 21-day cycles and standard of care avelumab maintenance therapy will be administered intravenously in 14-day cycles. There will be two stratification factors for randomization: presence of visceral metastasis, and initial platinum-based chemotherapy to be administered. The primary endpoint is to evaluate the anti-tumor efficacy of COSELA when combined with platinum-based chemotherapy and the checkpoint inhibitor avelumab maintenance therapy as measured by progression-free survival during the overall study. Key secondary endpoints include: evaluation of the anti-tumor efficacy of COSELA as measured by the objective response rate; disease control rate; duration of objective response; PFS in the maintenance period; overall survival and probability of survival at Month 16; evaluation of the myeloprotective effects of COSELA on chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression; and assessment of the safety and tolerability of COSELA in patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy followed by avelumab maintenance therapy. G1 announced in February 2021 that it had entered into a clinical trial collaboration with the alliance between Merck KGaA (MKKGY) and Pfizer (PFE) whereby the alliance will contribute clinical supply of the checkpoint inhibitor avelumab to this first-line treatment of mUC trial.

07:23 EDT Enochian Biosciences announces FDA acceptance of pre-IND for potential HIV cure - Enochian BioSciences announced that the FDA has accepted a Pre-IND request for a potential functional cure or treatment of HIV. Written comments are expected this Fall. Dr. Serhat Gumrukcu, co-founder and inventor of Enochian BioSciences, and Director of Seraph Research Institute, submitted the Pre-IND. The request was based on the results of a 54-year old man living with HIV who had failed to suppress the virus with antiviral therapy. The patient subsequently achieved viral control for 255 days with an innovative treatment of Natural Killer and Gamma Delta T-cells, or GDT, collected from another person. During the entire period, no antiviral drugs were given. It is believed that the GDT cells, a small subset of immune cells that can be infected with HIV, could be a key factor in controlling the virus. Enochian BioSciences holds the exclusive license for the proprietary technology. This innovative cellular therapy could be an important approach to achieve a "functional cure" of HIV, potentially allowing persons with the virus to stop antiviral treatment for extended periods of time. The Pre-IND submission requested that the novel strategy be extended to persons with HIV who have achieved suppression of the virus with antiviral treatment.

07:17 EDT Global Blood Therapeutics receives PIM designation for voxelotor from UK - Global Blood Therapeutics announced that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, in the United Kingdom has granted a Promising Innovative Medicine, or PIM, designation for voxelotor for the potential treatment of hemolytic anemia in adults and adolescent patients 12 years of age and older with sickle cell disease. Following a review by the MHRA, PIM designations are given to promising treatments that are likely to offer a major advantage for patients and are an early indication that the treatment is a promising candidate for the Early Access to Medicines Scheme. Voxelotor is approved in the United States under the trade name Oxbryta for the treatment of SCD in patients ages 12 years and older. GBT previously announced its plans to seek regulatory approval from the European Medicines Agency for voxelotor in the treatment of hemolytic anemia in SCD patients ages 12 years and older. Prior to potential marketing authorization, GBT initiated an early access program for voxelotor in Europe and other regions outside the United States, which enables physicians to use early access regulatory and legal pathways to request voxelotor for the treatment of hemolytic anemia in eligible patients with SCD who do not have access to the medicine as part of a clinical trial. If approved for EAMS, the voxelotor early access program would be further extended to eligible UK patients.

07:10 EDT Avenue Therapeutics receives complete response letter from FDA for IV tramadol - Avenue Therapeutics announced that it has received a second Complete Response Letter from the Food and Drug Administration regarding its New Drug Application seeking approval for IV tramadol. The CRL stated that the delayed and unpredictable onset of analgesia with IV tramadol does not support its benefit as a monotherapy to treat patients in acute pain, and there is insufficient information to support that IV tramadol in combination with other analgesics is safe and effective for the intended patient population. The FDA did not identify any Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls issues in this CRL. Avenue disagrees with the FDA's interpretation of the data in the NDA and intends to continue to pursue regulatory approval for IV tramadol.

07:09 EDT Athira Pharma appoints Rachel Lenington as Chief Technology Officer - Athira Pharma (ATHA) announced the appointment of Rachel Lenington as Chief Technology Officer, Head of Product Development Strategy, effective June 14. Rachel Lenington most recently served as Senior Vice President of Program and Portfolio Management at Seagen (SGEN).

07:08 EDT Forma Therapeutics appoints John Bishop as CTO - Forma Therapeutics (FMTX) announced the appointment of John Bishop to the team as senior VP and CTO. In this role Bishop will lead chemistry, manufacturing and control, or CMC-related functions and quality, encompassing Forma's early pipeline through commercial product. Bishop's background includes expertise with CMC development in oncology and hematology. Prior to joining Forma, Bishop served as senior vice president of pharmaceutical sciences at Epizyme (EPZM), where he was a member of the executive team and held overall responsibility for the CMC and quality assurance functions.

07:05 EDT Earthstone Energy announces Eagle Ford bolt-on acquisitions for $48M in cash - Earthstone Energy announced that it has acquired working interests in assets it operates located in southern Gonzales County, Texas from four separate sellers. The aggregate purchase price of the Eagle Ford acquisitions was approximately $48M in cash. Earthstone funded the Eagle Ford Acquisitions with cash on hand and borrowings under its senior secured revolving credit facility. The effective date of the Eagle Ford Acquisitions was April 1. The largest of the acquisition components, comprised of working interests owned by two affiliates of Titanium Exploration, constituted the majority of the total consideration. Assets include recent net production of approximately 1,150 boepd and increases Earthstone's working interest in subject assets from 34% to 96%. The deal is expected to have Q2 production impact of 400 boepd and expected second half production impact of 1,000 boepd. Robert Anderson, president and CEO of Earthstone, commented, "The Eagle Ford Acquisitions, following the announcement of the proposed Tracker acquisition in April 2021 and the closing of the IRM acquisition in January 2021, are yet another step in our ongoing consolidation strategy. We paid an attractive price for these producing assets which we already operate and they will add 1,150 Boepd of production with a lower decline profile compared to our current aggregate corporate decline profile. While not as significant in size as the previously announced acquisitions, the Eagle Ford Acquisitions will increase oil production and positively impact our overall cash margins. We intend to continue seeking other value-enhancing transactions that would increase our operational and corporate cost efficiencies while maintaining financial discipline, ultimately benefitting our shareholders via stock price appreciation." The Eagle Ford Acquisitions were unanimously approved by Earthstone's board of directors. Because one of the four sellers is owned by an affiliate of EnCap Investments, a holder of Earthstone common stock and represented on the board of directors, the audit committee of the board of Earthstone independently reviewed and approved the related-party acquisition. After participating in a sales process, the company acquired the assets for $8.2M from that entity.

07:04 EDT Xebec Adsorption acquires Tiger Filtration for GBP 12M - Xebec Adsorption announced that on June 11 it has closed the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of United Kingdom based Tiger Filtration, or TFL. "The acquisition of TFL will provide Xebec with a profitable and recurring aftermarket manufacturing business for elements and filters. TFL's R&D capabilities will also allow for expansion of its product portfolio to include filtration products for hydrogen and renewable natural gas," the company said. Total consideration payable by Xebec is GBP 12M and is subject to certain holdbacks, adjustments and time-based payments. TFL had revenues of GBP 2.7M, an EBITDA margin of 42%, and a net income margin of 34% for FY2020. Furthermore, Xebec expects that TFL will immediately provide cost savings by displacing parts currently bought by its existing subsidiaries within the Cleantech Service Network, HyGear, Inmatec and its headquarters in Quebec.

07:03 EDT Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc trading halted, news pending

06:56 EDT EyeGate says first patient dosed in Phase 2 POC study of PP-001 - EyeGate Pharmaceuticals announced the first patient dosed in phase II proof-of-concept study evaluating its lead product candidate, PP-001, in patients with ocular surface inflammation due to ocular surface diseases including dry eye. PP-001, an immune-modulating molecule, is an inhibitor of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase and is first-in-class for ophthalmology indications. The randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled POC study will be conducted at a site in Vienna, Austria and is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of PP-001 in patients with ocular surface inflammation due to dry eye disease. A total of 21 patients will receive 0.15% of PP-001 or placebo for 12 days. The outcome of this study will guide the U.S. clinical development program for dry eye disease following the filing of the IND, which is expected in Q4.

06:49 EDT Booz Allen sees Liberty IT Solutions 'immediately accretive' to adjusted EPS - Booz Allen Hamilton announced it has completed the acquisition of Liberty IT Solutions for $725M. The transaction was previously announced on May 4. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Booz Allen's revenue growth rate, adjusted EBITDA margin, and adjusted diluted earnings per share.

06:44 EDT Crypto names jump as bitcoin rallies to two-week highs following Musk tweet - In early pre-market trading, shares of Riot Blockchain (RIOT) are up 7.3% at $33.32 and Marathon Digital (MARA) are up 7.7% at $28.60 as the price of bitcoin on Sunday jumped about 10% to a two-week high above $39,500. Shares of Coinbase (COIN) are also up over 2% at $228.70.

06:33 EDT Humanigen initiates submission for lenzilumab MA in COVID-19 - Humanigen announced it has initiated a rolling review submission for Marketing Authorization by the MHRA for its lead drug candidate, lenzilumab. This application follows Humanigen's submission for Emergency Use Authorization to the U.S. FDA.

06:22 EDT Novavax jumps about 7% to $224.30 after reporting COVID vaccine efficacy data

06:11 EDT uCloudlink signs cooperation agreement with ANZ Cloudlink - uCloudlink announced it has signed a cooperation agreement with ANZ Cloudlink Technologies, a company based in Australia. The company said the agreement will see uCloudlink strengthen its presence in the markets of Australia and New Zealand, as it continuously expands its global PaaS and SaaS ecosystem. Under the agreement, which is effective from January, ANZ Cloudlink will import, market and distribute and also be responsible for all advertising and promotion of the mobile broadband, or MBB, products such as uCloudlink's GlocalMe portable Wi-Fi devices in Australia and New Zealand.

06:08 EDT STMicroelectronics signs collaboration agreement with Politecnico di Milano - STMicroelectronics and Politecnico di Milano, a scientific-technological university, which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers, announced a five-year collaboration agreement in the presence of Italy's Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti. At the heart of the agreement is the establishment of a joint research center on advanced materials for sensors, leveraging the long-standing collaboration between ST and Politecnico. The joint research center has been created to give professors, researchers, and PhDs a unique opportunity in Italy, namely all the means to conceive, design and develop MEMS technology and to create new MEMS products. The agreement will allow the Politecnico di Milano to become even more attractive for talented academics, offering multiple doctoral scholarships and positions for professors and researchers in four areas of common interest and in the related materials sector. The expansion of the existing collaboration will allow the further development of the center of excellence dedicated to cutting-edge sensors in Lombardy.

06:06 EDT Chart Industries books order for helium liquefaction - Chart Industries has booked an order for a helium liquefaction large scale Helium plant for one of the largest independent oil and gas producers in Russia. The scope of our supply for the helium plant includes equipment supply for the plant, commissioning and start-up. Keeping with our strategy, we do not have construction responsibility for the project. This project reflects the combination of Cryo Technologies and Chart capabilities, bringing the best of both of our liquefaction engineering expertise together and Chart's capabilities in precooling, brazed aluminum heat exchangers and cold box fabrication. This plant will be the second of its kind, and Cryo Technologies provided this customer's first helium plant. Equipment deliveries are anticipated to be complete by the end of 2022, with expected completion of commissioning and startup 12 months later. "The majority of milestone payments will be invoiced in 2021 and this is included in our prior guidance as we shared that we had received the Letter of Intent in mid-April 2021 for this project."

06:01 EDT Helios Technologies to acquire NEM S.r.l., terms not disclosed - Helios Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NEM S.r.l. Founded in 1995, NEM is an innovative hydraulic solutions company providing customized material handling, construction, industrial vehicle and agricultural applications to its global customer base, predominantly in Europe and Asia. NEM is ideally located in northern Italy's Emilia Romagna region, one of the world's most innovative and technology-friendly areas in the hydraulics industry. Helios expects to close the transaction in the third quarter or as soon as practicable, subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

05:43 EDT Washington Prime commences voluntary Chapter 11 financial restructuring - Washington Prime Group announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The company enters Chapter 11 after executing a restructuring support agreement, or RSA, with creditors that hold approximately 73% of the principal amount outstanding of the company's secured corporate debt and 67% of the principal amount outstanding of the company's unsecured notes. The company will utilize Chapter 11 to implement a consensual financial restructuring of the company's corporate-level debt that will allow the company to deleverage its balance sheet going forward, either through a full equitization of the company's unsecured notes or an alternative transaction that would repay, in full in cash, all of the company's corporate-level debt. Washington Prime Group has secured $100M in new money debtor-in-possession financing from the consenting creditors to support day-to-day operations during the Chapter 11 process and ensure that all business operations continue in the ordinary course without interruption. Washington Prime Group's guests, retailers and business partners can expect business as usual at all of the company's retail town centers throughout the proceedings. The RSA provides for a deleveraging of the company's balance sheet by nearly $950M through the equitization of unsecured notes and a $190M paydown of the company's revolving credit and term loan facilities. The RSA contemplates a $325M equity rights offering, fully backstopped by SVPGlobal, as Plan Sponsor, the proceeds of which will be applied to, among other things, the pay down of secured debt. The RSA also provides for an effective four-year extension of the remaining credit facility debt, payment in full of all claims held by vendors and service providers, and a baseline recovery for the company's existing common and preferred equity holders of $40M in cash or 6.125% of new equity. Additionally, the RSA allows the company to market its assets to determine whether any alternative transaction or transactions that would pay existing corporate indebtedness in full, in cash, and deliver greater aggregate recoveries to existing common and preferred equity holders are attainable. The RSA also includes certain milestones, including a 60-day milestone for the Bankruptcy Court to enter an order confirming the Chapter 11 plan, subject to certain extensions. The company said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for many companies, including Washington Prime Group, making a Chapter 11 filing necessary to reduce the Company's outstanding indebtedness. Throughout the restructuring process, the Company remains committed to serving as a preeminent operator of retail town centers and will continue to serve its guests. Importantly, the Company will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our guests, retailers, employees and communities. The Company has filed a number of customary first day motions with the Bankruptcy Court that will allow the Company to continue operations in the ordinary course. Certain subsidiaries, including the Company's joint ventures and the majority of the Company's special purpose entities holding properties that secure mortgage loans will not be debtors in the Chapter 11 cases. The Company also anticipates continuing to meet all debt service and other financial obligations, as required, under its property-level secured loans and joint venture partnerships."

05:31 EDT Philips issues updated recall notification for Bi-Level PAP, CPAP devices - Following the company update on April 26, Royal Philips provided an update on the recall notification for specific Philips Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure, or Bi-Level PAP, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP and mechanical ventilator devices to address identified potential health risks related to the polyester-based polyurethane, or PE-PUR, sound abatement foam component in these devices. The majority of the affected devices within the advised five-year service life are in the first-generation DreamStation product family. To date, Philips has produced millions of Bi-Level PAP, CPAP and mechanical ventilator devices using the PE-PUR sound abatement foam. Despite a low complaint rate, Philips determined based on testing that there are possible risks to users related to this type of foam. The risks include that the PE-PUR foam may degrade into particles which may enter the device's air pathway and be ingested or inhaled by the user, and the foam may off-gas certain chemicals. The foam degradation may be exacerbated by use of unapproved cleaning methods, such as ozone, and high heat and high humidity environments may also contribute to foam degradation. Therefore, Philips has decided to voluntarily issue a recall notification to inform patients and customers of potential impacts on patient health and clinical use related to this issue, as well as instructions on actions to be taken. The company said, "Based on the latest analysis of potential health risks and out of an abundance of caution, the recall notification advises patients and customers to take the following actions: For patients using affected BiLevel PAP and CPAP devices: Discontinue use of your device and work with your physician or Durable Medical Equipment (DME) provider to determine the most appropriate options for continued treatment. To continue use of your device due to lack of alternatives, consult with your physician to determine if the benefit of continuing therapy with your device outweighs the risks identified in the recall notification. For patients using affected life-sustaining mechanical ventilator devices: Do not stop or alter your prescribed therapy until you have talked to your physician. Philips recognizes that alternate ventilator options for therapy may not exist or may be severely limited for patients who require a ventilator for life-sustaining therapy, or in cases where therapy disruption is unacceptable. In these situations, and at the discretion of the treating clinical team, the benefit of continued usage of these ventilator devices may outweigh the risks identified in the recall notification." The company continues to monitor reports of potential safety issues as required by medical device regulations and laws in the markets in which it operates. To date, there have been no reports of death as a result of these issues. Philips has received reports of possible patient impact due to foam degradation. The potential risks of particulate exposure include headache, irritation, inflammation, respiratory issues, and possible toxic and carcinogenic effects. The potential risks of chemical exposure due to off-gassing include headache, irritation, hypersensitivity, nausea/vomiting, and possible toxic and carcinogenic effects. Philips has received no reports regarding patient impact related to chemical emissions. Philips is providing the relevant regulatory agencies with required information related to the launch and implementation of the projected correction. The company will replace the current sound abatement foam with a new material and has already begun the preparations, which include obtaining the relevant regulatory clearances. As part of the program, the first-generation DreamStation product families will be modified with a different sound abatement foam and shipped upon receipt of the required regulatory clearances. Philips' recently launched next-generation CPAP platform, DreamStation 2, is not affected by the issue. To support the program, Philips is increasing the production of its DreamStation 2 CPAP devices, that are available in the US and selected countries in Europe. The updated instructions for use of the affected devices have resulted in adjustments to and acceleration of the repair and replacement program, as well as intensified communication with customers and patients. This had led to an increase of EUR 250M in the expected costs of the corrective actions on the installed base, in addition to the provision that the company recorded in Q1.

05:16 EDT Equinix, GIC to add $3.9B to expand xScale data center portfolio - Equinix announced agreements for additional joint ventures in the form of limited liability partnerships with GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, which when closed and built out will bring the xScale data center portfolio to greater than $6.9B across 32 facilities globally. After deal closing and buildout, the xScale data center portfolio will span three regions: Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. Three additional sites are expected to be announced at a future date. It is expected that the xScale portfolio of 32 facilities will provide more than 600 megawatts, or MW, of power capacity when fully built out. The JV projects in this announcement are expected to close in several waves over the course of 2021, pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Under the terms of the JV agreements, GIC will own an 80% equity interest in the future joint ventures and Equinix will own the remaining 20% equity interest.