• New board member, audit committee chair brings 35 years of accounting experience, mainly in management
• Prior worked as CFO, controller in several genomics, health companies
• POAI to leverage Prior’s new insights, guidance in the financial space

Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI), a leader in the cancer precision-medicine field, announced that Pam Prior, CPA, has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors. In addition to holding a seat on the board, Prior will also chair the company’s audit committee.

Prior, 57, joins POAI’s Board of Directors with 35 years of experience in accounting, mainly in management as CFO or controller. As the founder and CEO of Priorities Group Inc., a provider of CFO services to small and mid-sized businesses, she has served as a CFO to a number of companies, including Gentris Corp., a private pharmacogenomics company subsequently purchased by Cancer Genetics Inc. Most recently, Prior was CFO at Schiller Grounds Care, a privately held lawn and garden equipment manufacturer.

Other previous CFO experience includes working with companies in the health-industry space such as Global Specimen Solutions, a privately held technology company for specimen and consent management (later purchased by Covance), and multimillion-dollar companies in other industries such as Greatwide Truckload Management, a $300 million subsidiary of a $1 billion privately held logistics company.

“Predictive Oncology is very fortunate to announce that Pam Prior is joining our Board of Directors,” Predictive Oncology CEO Dr. Carl Schwartz stated in a news release (http://ibn.fm/hJEDR). “Pam possesses a strong financial background, including in the genomic and health industry fields. She will chair our audit committee, providing new insights and guidance to our Board and the financial departments of the company. I greatly anticipate working with Pam and experiencing the successful approach she has honed over the years.”

In addition to her background in the health industry, Prior also has experience serving as controller for several publicly traded companies and their subsidiaries, including Tasty Baking Company and PCI Services, a part of publicly held Cardinal Health.

Prior is a licensed CPA in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware. She also serves as treasurer on the boards of two nonprofit organizations: The Crossing Choir, a professional choir holding two Grammy Awards and seven Grammy nominations, and A Soldier’s Hands, a grassroots organization dedicated to delivering care packages to deployed United States military personnel.

As a highly respected and seasoned finance executive with valuable genomics and health industry experience, Prior joins POAI at a time when the company has announced a significant milestone in its CancerQuest 2020 initiative. The initiative indicates a progression in its proprietary AI-driven predictive model of ovarian cancer, which it expects to commercialize in the first quarter of 2020.

Prior’s engagement in providing new insights and guidance to the board and POAI’s financial departments will position the company to capitalize on its cutting-edge technology that offers an unparalleled predictive tool for pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers, enabling more effective development of new drugs and supporting clinicians in creating individualized therapies for their patients.

POAI is bringing precision medicine, or tailored medical treatment using the individual characteristics of each patient, to the treatment of cancer. Through its Helomics division, the company leverages its unique, clinically validated patient derived (PDx) smart tumor profiling platform to provide oncologists with a roadmap to help individualize therapy. In addition, the company is leveraging artificial intelligence and its proprietary database of over 150,000 cancer cases tumors to build AI-driven models of tumor drug response to improve outcomes for the patients of today and tomorrow.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Predictive-Oncology.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to POAI are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/POAI

• CIIX subsidiary working to expand customer base with new hemp-based CBD products in 2020
• CEO focused on profits in 2020; plans to create strategic B2B, B2C divisions
• CBD Biotech unaffected by changing CBD-product regulations due to company’s focus on hemp-based CBD cosmetics

ChineseInvestors.com Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) is a financial news media and content platform that provides information to the global Chinese-speaking community. After realizing the multitude of opportunities in the growing cannabis sector, especially concerning China’s nascent CBD market, CIIX has worked to cultivate an attractive lineup of products through its subsidiary CBD Biotech. While cannabis is still highly illegal in China, hemp-based CBD can be legally added to cosmetics. The team at CIIX recognizes the massive potential of the untapped Chinese CBD market.

CIIX has a user base of more than 100,000 people and has been around since 1999. Company CEO Warren Wang recently made an appearance on MoneyTV, during which he spoke about the company’s plans for 2020, many of which involve CBD Biotech. “The key is profit,” Wang stated in the interview (http://ibn.fm/Ub6cJ). “Secondly [we will] expand our market. Thirdly, we are going to divide the company divisions into B2B and B2C.”

Wang outlined plans to advertise via social media platforms such as TikTok in order to increase CIIX’s brand recognition and deepen its market penetration. In China, Wang explains, several different social media platforms have massive followings, as “young generations will use a lot of social media to know the products, know the commentary, and they will buy the products from Ecommerce platforms.”

Wang noted that China’s changing CBD laws can create volatility for CBD companies. However, those laws don’t apply to hemp-based CBD cosmetics, which are fully legal in China, Japan and the United States. Because CIIX is only involved in CBD cosmetics, the company remains unaffected by the changing regulations and is able to operate in a stable environment.

In 2020, CIIX will be launching new CBD cosmetic products, including an anti-aging product formulated to combat wrinkles. By targeting the Chinese-speaking community, CIIX has few competitors and plenty of room to grow. The company maintains its attention on the investment of both the distribution and the research and development of new CBD products.

CIIX is a diverse company driven by educational services and the sales of cosmetics, hemp wine and CBD. CIIX offers its audience of Chinese-speaking investors real-time market commentary, analysis and educational-related services in both traditional and simplified Chinese character language sets.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CIIX are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/CIIX

• In-process quality-control issues present major impediments to scalability, profitability in 3D metal printing
• EV production has begun using 3D printing to manufacture customized parts to overcome the limitations of traditional manufacturing
• SGLB is only known provider of software that addresses issues through real-time, in-process detection of irregularities and error reporting

City expansion fueled by global population growth is creating ever increasing demand for sustainable compact electric vehicles as a means of traversing increasingly complex urban environments. The 3D metal-printing industry is helping to bring these concept vehicles to life through the 3D formation of many requisite parts – from interior consoles, display frames, plug socket fixtures, air vents and lidar screens right down to license plates (http://ibn.fm/hMR75). Quality control remains one of the prime impediments to the entire auto industry to reach scalability and profitability using 3D printing. Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB), with its revolutionary software, is the only provider of in-process, quality-assurance software to the global 3D metal-printing industry.

The use of EVs (electric vehicles) is becoming more widespread as communities around the world are moving toward the environmentally friendly option to facilitate in-house company deliveries, provide airport transit and taxi pick-ups, perform parcel collections and navigate supermarkets. However, quality control in 3D metal printing continues to pose serious logjams due to costly and labor-intensive methods that stymy scalability and profitability. SGLB is the go-to provider of quality control software solutions, bringing the requisite quality control needed to eliminate inefficiencies and realize the advantages of the 3D metal-printing process. The company’s innovative solutions promise to save time in the delivery of high-quality, customized precision parts; refine the production process; and save costs, ushering in what many believe to be the fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing (http://ibn.fm/1SEGs).

While on the cusp of an explosive moment for the manufacturing sector, postproduction inspection and rejected output caused by variances in 3D metal printing process hamper consistent quality and impede scalability, creating one of the largest challenges to the industry. Due to the nature of the production process, manufacturers do not know if design specifications are met until the end of the process when parts are inspected using CT scans and other costly techniques.

Sigma Labs’ PrintRite3D solution to the challenge provides real-time error detection using software that reports errors in-process, reduces postproduction inspection times and eliminates rejects, resulting in cost savings, increased production runs and larger profits. Sigma Labs’ innovative software may very well be one of the tools that allows the EV industry and the entire 3D metal printing industry to scale up economically, moving far beyond prototype manufacturing to truly economically viable commercial production.

Sigma Labs provides software that addresses the critical quality control issues in two ways. First, SGLB’s proprietary PrintRite3D® software solution enables real-time, in-process detection of manufacturing irregularities. Second, PrintRite3D involves error reporting that provides operators with critical actionable information enabling them to adjust the process and mitigate any developing anomalies during the production process.

Sigma Labs, with its PrintRite3D® brand, presents a real-time, computer-aided inspection solution that resolves these major roadblocks and costly quality-control challenges, drastically reducing errors made in-process and eliminating costly rejects in the postprocess phase.

Founded in 2010 by a team of Los Alamos National Labs scientists and engineers, SGLB initially focused on advanced metallurgical products for the military ordinance and dental implant industries. Sigma Labs concluded that the 3D metal printing space offered enormous potential to any company that could provide in-process, quality-assurance tools that observe, manage and control manufacturing complexities for reliable production of high-precision, quality metal parts.

SGLB’s products and services are tailored for use in highly demanding, precision-dependent industries such as the EV, aerospace, defense, transportation, oil and gas, and biomedical spaces. The company’s global client base includes 23 RTE installations across 19 different users, including tier-1 OEM enterprises and end users such as Siemens, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney among many others that are currently evaluating PrintRite3D for use on their production lines.

Sigma Labs aims to position its groundbreaking software as the catalyst that may help propel the 3D metal-printing industry into the fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SigmaLabsInc.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SGLB are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SGLB

• Gateway Innovations Limited’s first project, the $200 million Ghana Cyber City, is set to become West Africa’s premier hub of innovation
• The acquisition brings Xalles Holdings one step closer to its goal of establishing a series of strategic global fintech centers
• Xalles aims to sustain profitability through revenue growth and continued vigilant expense management techniques in 2020

Xalles Holdings Inc. (OTC: XALL), one of the first providers of payment and financial transaction management solutions through proprietary blockchain-based technology, announced it has executed an agreement for the acquisition of Gateway Innovations Limited. This company, which is based in Accra, Ghana, is a major investor in Africa’s fintech and IT market, according to a Xalles Holdings press release (http://ibn.fm/pwId5).

Under the agreement, Gateway will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Xalles. The closing date is February 14, 2020. Gateway will receive restricted shares in Xalles in exchange.

Gateway Innovations develops high impact tech parks in Africa. Its aim is to maximize the productivity of businesses in West Africa by developing “smart city” solutions. The first such project, Ghana Cyber City comprises intelligent leasing workspaces, resources and technological infrastructure to incubate and accelerate new fintech and other ventures, a high-tech campus of business colleges, a top-tier data center, and more.

Ghana Cyber City, worth $200 million upon completion, is being developed on land leased from the University of Ghana. A master plan, site plan, and financing plan have already been drafted. Xalles is bringing its fintech expertise to the project. Within the overall Ghana Cyber City will be the first of its kind Africa Fintech Center.

“We are pleased to announce this acquisition as a step towards establishing a series of strategic global fintech centers and even more pleased that the first of its kind will be based in the high growth market of Ghana in West Africa,” Thomas Nash, CEO of Xalles Holdings, stated in a news release. “I have known and worked with Gateway’s founders since 2006 and the combined skills and experience of the management team plus the unique opportunity this project presents financially will provide a considerable asset and income value to Xalles.”

Xalles is a fintech holding company leveraging blockchain and other technologies for e-commerce, payments, financial reconciliation, and payment auditing solutions. The company actively seeks acquisition targets with strong management teams and business models, large total attainable markets, and lucrative exit opportunities in which to invest and accelerate growth.

Xalles Holdings plans to make cryptocurrency trading and other related services more accessible to clients. Focused on business, consumer, and government-oriented payment and financial reconciliation transactions, the company is building technology that supports payment exchange, audits, and new business models and global opportunities by combining the blockchain decentralized financial ledger platform with the company’s existing, state-of-the-art transaction reconciliation system design.

Xalles was among the first providers of payment and financial transaction management solutions through proprietary blockchain-based X2X technology. One of these solutions is the IFS (Investment and Financing System), which provides links to Xalles’ Financial Transaction Reconciliation (FTR) solution, supports complex investment structures, assists international investment corporations, and more.

In addition, the company will launch new services card and mobile payment and rewards systems, and will expand the technology offerings for referral marketing and e-commerce engines – a move expected to bring significant opportunities given the rise of mobile payment systems and the continued expansion of business-to-business e-commerce. According to a Business Insider Intelligence report, mobile payment systems are becoming more and more popular, with consumers becoming less dependent on fiat currencies as a result. Non-cash transactions are expected to surpass one trillion by 2023 (http://ibn.fm/rJBq2).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Xalles.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to XALL are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/XALL

• Leading private equity firms 1315 Capital and Ampersand Capital Partners’ recent investment agreement with Interpace signal a “clear vote of confidence”
• Company’s business units, Interpace Diagnostics and Interpace Pharma Solutions, support the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors as they seek to improve early cancer diagnosis and promote increasingly effective therapies
• Life sciences industry forecast to reach $33.2 billion by 2024, experiencing an 11.5% CAGR over 5-year period

Interpace Biosciences (NASDAQ: IDXG), an evolving leader in the life sciences industry, recently entered into a $20 million investment agreement with two leading private equity firms investing in laboratory services (http://ibn.fm/G8cUU). The Series B Preferred stock investment consisting of $19 million and $1 million from 1315 Capital and Ampersand Capital Partners, respectively, will be a boon to IDXG’s growing power in an industry anticipated to reach $33.2 billion by 2024 – an increase from its $19.3 billion in 2019. The life sciences industry is forecast to experience a CAGR of 11.5% over the period (http://ibn.fm/H1lmI).

“We believe 1315 Capital will be, and Ampersand [a current investor] will continue to be, great partners for Interpace,” Interpace president and CEO Jack Stover stated in a news release. “This is a clear vote of confidence in Interpace and its diagnostic and pharma solutions businesses.”

In addition to the investment agreement, Interpace also announced its intention to effect a one-for-ten reverse stock split effective coincident with the former’s closing. The reverse stock split is meant to satisfy the Nasdaq Capital Market’s minimum bid price requirement by increasing the per share trading price of IDXG’s common stock. “We believe this proposed change in capital structure can benefit our stockholders and make our stock more attractive to institutional and other investors,” Stover noted.

Having assisted physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of over 75,000 patients, Interpace Biosciences has made contributions to some of the pharmaceutical and biotech industry’s most critical clinical trials (http://ibn.fm/ENyPi). Its business arms, Interpace Diagnostics™ and Interpace Pharma Solutions™, support the biomedical and oncological industries by empowering clinicians with complex molecular analysis data. This data helps enhance the efficacy of early cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as supporting the development of targeted therapeutics.

Business unit Interpace Diagnostics™, focused on “resolving diagnostic uncertainty,” offers evidence-based, clinically beneficial molecular diagnostic tests and pathology services (http://ibn.fm/T04KG). Its offerings include reputable tests like PancraGen®, ThyGeNext®, ThyraMir®, RespriDX® and BarreGen®. The company’s tests assist in risk stratification of patient samples for a multitude of cancers, including thyroid, pancreatic and lung, among others. Results gleaned from these tests are used by physicians to make better, more effective treatment decisions that more accurately target each individual patient – determining whether patients are better suited for surgery or active surveillance. These recommendations have the potential to help health care professionals differentiate between potentially malignant cells and benign ones, thus saving patients from risky, expensive surgeries that are frequently unnecessary.

Alternatively, IDXG’s Interpace Pharma Solutions™ business unit works hand-in-glove with biopharmaceutical companies by providing lab testing, data management, project management and biorepository services (http://ibn.fm/joRK6). By utilizing Interpace Pharma Solutions’ scientific, medical and expert knowledge, biopharma and diagnostic clients are able to effectively integrate pharmacogenomics – the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs – into their drug development and clinical trial programs. Interpace Pharma Solutions’ platform generates logistical reports comprised of biomarker analysis, anatomic pathology, cytogenetics and customized molecular technologies (http://ibn.fm/619vG). As medicine personalized through the lens of genetics was recently referenced as one of the top trends in the life sciences industry (http://ibn.fm/KGwPA), Interpace Biosciences appears well-positioned to stay abreast of the dynamic industry and is an attractive option for pharmaceutical and biotech companies conducting or aiding in oncology-focused clinical trials.

Globally, the molecular diagnostics market is estimated to experience a CAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2024 (http://ibn.fm/6hNeA). With a comprehensive testing portfolio, Interpace Biosciences presents a convincing opportunity for investors looking to benefit from the global community’s growing reliance on personalized medicine.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Interpace.com

• No Borders, Inc. is a technological solutions innovator dedicated to a variety of market verticals, including the buzzworthy hemp CBD products and blockchain technology sectors
• No Borders cannabidiol (CBD) products can help people addicted to painkillers or suffering from poor sleep to improve their general wellbeing
• Blockchain applications developed through No Borders’ tech labs can help ensure the quality and legality of CBD products from test to shelf, and blockchain’s worth is becoming more evident as government agencies experiment with its data-tracking capabilities

Trust and wellness provider No Borders Inc. (OTC: NBDR) inspires confidence through its diverse approach to market building, living up to its name by extending its reach to a variety of explosive growth verticals. Two of those sectors are hemp-based cannabis products and blockchain security applications, which can work together to symbiotically help consumers improve their general well-being.

Blockchain has been gaining attention for well over a decade as a device for building confidence in online transactions. Its core principle is that a finalized record of every aspect of a transaction can be created and shared among all participants in the transaction as the events occur, thereby virtually eliminating the likelihood of fraud occurring through irreconcilable alteration of a digital record.

The secure microcosm-building capacity of blockchain has gained popularity in digital currency transactions across all borders – creating the potential for a ‘No Borders’ world – and is increasingly being touted as a means of ensuring consumable products’ safety and quality. That’s where its use in the hemp derivatives market comes in – popular extracts such as cannabidiol (CBD) can be scary for consumers to try and No Borders internally built, owned and deployed blockchain PAAS, CBD LabChain provides consumers with a tangible trust layer with entries from lab tests along the road to market showcasing the product’s established quality, efficacy and THC Free compliance.

Blockchain tracking of CBD products even creates the potential of the government someday being able to establish affordable scientific testing of extracts’ qualities for the purpose of building a reliability standard the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can turn to in questions of legalization at a federal level.

Blockchain applications began as something of an underground alternative to official processes and procedures, but government administrations are including blockchain capabilities in their thinking more and more often. An example of the sea change is shown in the announcement that the U.S. Treasury is testing a blockchain-based subsidy process designed to “make the allocation and use of funding more efficient through traceable data storage,” according to a recent report by Medium (http://ibn.fm/4ex2Y).

The market’s potential to use blockchain in its production pipelines may help it prevent disasters such as the deadly Tylenol consumer poisonings nearly 40 years ago that resulted from an unknown assailant tampering with store products (http://ibn.fm/flMGc).

Blockchain tracking of retail products may also help ensure consumers about the quality of CBD products and thereby avoid costly problems associated with products that don’t adhere to desired standards. The Department of Defense has a zero-tolerance policy for service members who illegally or improperly use drugs, for example, which includes substances such as CBD oil.

“Even if CBD extract contains 0.3 percent or less of THC, service members put themselves at risk if they consume these products without being prescribed an [Food and Drug Administration]-approved product by a medical professional,” Air Force Capt. Marcus Walker, 436th Airlift Wing Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, told the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (http://ibn.fm/3J1fz).

“Products may contain more THC than expected and have the potential to cause a positive urine drug test and intoxication, which may affect military readiness. These products may also be adulterated with other active components, like synthetic cannabinoids, which may lead to intoxication and accidents,” Dr. Erin Karschner, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System forensic toxicologist added.

No Borders CEO Joseph Snyder is bullish about the benefits of CBD, however.

“I was introduced to CBD after spending over four years on prescription opioids for back to back shoulder surgeries, within hours I knew there was an impact and within days I knew I didn’t need the poison opioids anymore,” Snyder stated in an email to NetworkNewsWire about his recovery from a prior painkiller addiction that resulted from numerous injuries and surgeries.

“I knew we as a company and I as a human, needed to share CBD with the world,” he added. “So began No Borders Naturals, now proudly secured and certified on blockchain with our proprietary CBD LabChain.”

A separate email touts CBD’s effectiveness in helping people to overcome restless sleep patterns. Poor sleep is linked to a lack of energy and potentially to poor health (http://ibn.fm/k2YEi).

“While researchers still don’t fully understand why CBD helps with sleep, there is a lot of convincing research out there,” the email states. “Another reason that CBD can be so helpful for sleep issues is that it can reduce discomfort caused by all sorts of conditions. Those who have arthritis or muscle aches can find it difficult to get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.NBDR.co

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to NBDR are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/NBDR

• SGLB delivers solutions to additive manufacturing challenges with its proprietary PrintRite 3D technology
• Sigma Labs allows companies to build, qualify, and certify parts more quickly and at lower cost
• Before Sigma, no quality metric existed for melt pool monitoring, in situ monitoring, or process quality control that provided in process alerts and solutions

As additive manufacturing – or 3D metal printing – gains traction in the manufacturing world, the problems with the technology have hampered production and stymied large-scale uptake. Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB), a leading producer of quality-assurance software for the commercial 3D-printing industry, is committed to providing answers to those problems in the latest version of its proprietary technology.

“For some engineers, 3D printing may be coming on in an unwelcome rush,” stated a recent Engineering.com article, titled ‘7 Issues to Look Out for in Metal 3D Printing’ (http://ibn.fm/WP70j). “Avoiding issues in metal AM still requires a lot of process knowledge and trial and error,” the article states, denoting how critical it is for operators to monitor processes in real-time—a problem for which SGLB’s PrintRite 3D software offers a solution.

In its own article (http://ibn.fm/whFCl), ‘What Is Metal Additive Manufacturing’, Sigma Labs also acknowledges that “the large-scale adoption of direct 3D metal additive manufacturing faces quality and reliability challenges.” Those challenges are outlined in the article as follows:

• The machines and processes are inherently variable – machine to machine and within machine – causing variation in manufacturing and production consistency.
• The build process itself has many adjustable inputs that directly affect the ability to create a part and its final quality.
• The industry has few design rules, monitoring methods or standards for finished products.
• There is difficulty ensuring consistent, repeatable quality for final production parts.

In what it calls the “Sigma Solution,” Sigma Labs argues that its IPQA™ technology accurately monitors the quality and reliability of additive manufactured parts by ensuring consistent quality control during the manufacturing process. Until now, optical monitoring systems have recorded the manufacturing process but have been unable to deliver actionable in-process information to enable the rescue of parts straying out of specification. Additionally, parts could only be fully quality inspected post-production in costly and time-consuming processes and only after the mistakes were made. Sigma’s real-time melt pool analytics software frees manufacturers to build, qualify and certify parts more quickly and at a much lower cost.

Sigma’s proprietary software reduces the traditional post-production quality assurance inspection process for additive manufacturing; helps ensure the quality of each part; dramatically reduces costs and labor associated with the current approach to certifying AM part quality by “seeing” and analyzing the structure of a 3D-printed part during production; and allows for correction during the manufacturing process.

Sigma Labs was founded in 2010 and has become the go-to, 3D-printing expert for real-time, computer-aided inspection (CAI) solutions. Founded by experts from scientific disciplines that include metallurgy, physics, signal processing, mechanical engineering, optics, software AI and ML, data analytics and visualization, the company has already established credibility within highly demanding industries such as aerospace, defense, biomedicine and transportation. Sigma Labs’ revolutionary technology is set to unleash the powerful forces of 3D metal printing, changing the face of the industry by increasing reliability, lowering quality control costs and enabling serial manufacturing.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SigmaLabsInc.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SGLB are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SGLB

• Lexaria Bioscience is a company dedicated to developing effective oral ingestion methods for drug substances that rival the rapid-delivery qualities of more health-dangerous inhaled-drug products.
• Inhalation is a particularly popular method of using tobacco and cannabis products, despite government warnings about the scientifically established dangers of doing so
• Lexaria has been boosting its profile and revenue potential through licensing agreements with other companies
• Lexaria recently announced a licensing agreement with Cannadips CBD-maker The Boldt Runners Corporation
• The agreement grants Cannadips CBD use of Lexaria’s DehydraTECH IP to improve the speed of its effectiveness and to combat the throat irritation that can accompany use of terpene-rich multi spectrum oils

Drug product consumption innovator Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) has announced a trade agreement that continues to advance the company’s revenue-building efforts through licensing its technology to other product manufacturers that can benefit from Lexaria’s DehydraTECH™ oral drug delivery IP.

The agreement announced recently provides Cannadips CBD with exclusive access rights to Lexaria’s technology for the U.S. market for 10 years, granting the ‘Original Smokeless CBD Dip Brand’ Lexaria’s fast-acting, high-absorption technology with options to expand the license to Europe, Mexico, and Canada and to renew the license for an additional five years (http://ibn.fm/8hoPO).

“This combination of superior science from Lexaria and a unique and strong branded proposition that Cannadips offers with its CBD pouch platform is a winning combination We are excited to be developing a category of products with best in class science to provide adult consumers the simple choice of a better product and a better alternative to tobacco and nicotine,” Lexaria board member Brian Quigley, who is also an adviser to The Boldt Runners Corporation (Cannadips), stated in a news release.

Lexaria has made its mission the development of swallowed drug substance consumption methods that approximate the rapid effectiveness of smoking or vaping, for example, while avoiding the dangers such drug inhalation can cause to users’ lungs. Those dangers gained new visibility during the past year as thousands of vape users fell seriously ill or died after inhaling products containing cannabis or nicotine deemed safer than tobacco smokes (http://ibn.fm/TlRbK).

The need for Lexaria’s IP has become evident as drug inhalation has become popular and has remained so despite science’s development of the means to demonstrate the dangers of smoked products, including cancers, on users’ lungs (http://ibn.fm/gVfND). Orally ingested medications and wellness products have in general been slower to act effectively on the user than inhaled substances and may ultimately enter the bloodstream in a more dilute measure than originally intended because of the body’s digestive screening mechanisms.

DehydraTECH has demonstrated its ability to speed its drug substance payloads to the bloodstream at rates much faster than un-enhanced oral ingestion. A new formulation of DehydraTECH has nearly doubled its rate of effectiveness, showing in lab testing that it can deliver cannabidiol (CBD) into the bloodstream at a rate 811 percent higher than generic industry control formulations, carrying 1,937 percent more CBD across the blood-brain barrier than generic industry control formulations (http://ibn.fm/wWvR4).

The body’s natural blood-brain barrier defense system protects our brain tissue from foreign substances, but also proves to be a deterrent for most small-molecule drugs that aim to enhance wellness through the central nervous system.

Cannadips’ American hemp-derived CBD pouches are an ideal product for pairing with DehydraTECH, offering 15 pouches with 10 mg of CBD (and no tobacco) each for oral delivery in tins similar in appearance to chewing tobacco. According to Lexaria’s news release, Cannadips uses terpene-rich multi spectrum oils as base ingredients that can cause some throat irritation. While some other products cut their terpenes to avoid the problem, DehydraTECH allows Cannadips to reduce the throat irritation while maintaining the entourage effect derived from multi-spectrum oils.

The Cannadips brand is being distributed nationally, including through Circle K convenience outlets, and are in about 5,000 stores in the United States with more in Europe.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LXRP are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/LXRP

• Use of large-scale additive manufacturing has doubled in past year
• SGLB’s revolutionary quality-assurance software offers unique solution to industry’s most significant hurdles to mass production
• Sigma Labs set to reap lucrative benefits of revolutionary technology that enables 3D metal printing industry to scale production

A new study has revealed a significant increase in the use of large-scale additive manufacturing technology, also called 3D printing. Essentium, a Texas-based innovator in industrial additive-manufacturing platforms and filament materials, released the study and marks 2020 as the year when additive manufacturing at scale transforms manufacturing across a number of sectors, With multiple manufacturers across various sectors poised to embrace 3D printing at scale in 2020, Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) aims to exploit this rapidly growing market opportunity with its revolutionary technology that enables in-process quality assurance of 3D-metal-printed parts. Sigma Labs is at the epicenter of the explosive additive manufacturing market growth as the leading provider of third-party in-process quality-assurance software for the commercial 3D metal printing industry.

With its unparalleled PrintRite3D® software that allows nondestructive quality assurance during the 3D printing of metal parts, Sigma Labs is ideally positioned to support the manufacturing sector in its mission to harness the transformative power of 3D printing in 2020 and beyond. PrintRite3D enables in-process quality control of 3D metal printing, allowing errors to be detected and corrected in real time, thus saving money and time while providing the ability to scale production. By providing the unique quality-assurance solution that the 3D metal printing industry needs in order to enter mainstream manufacturing, SGLB is set to capitalize on the tremendous growth in 3D printing applications across a wide variety of sectors, including aerospace, automotive, biomedical and electronics.

The Essentium study shows that the number of manufacturers using 3D printing for full-scale production has doubled since 2018 – from 21% in 2018 to 40% in 2019 (http://ibn.fm/U5zSE). Essentium surveyed 162 executives from manufacturing companies around the world about their perspectives on trends and challenges of 3D printing applications in manufacturing. The research revealed that although additive manufacturing has been limited by scale, as the technology and leading players are reaching a new level of maturity, a considerable growth in the use of large-scale additive manufacturing is found. The study shows that the number of manufacturers using 3D printing for full-scale production has doubled since 2018 – from 21% in 2018 to 40% in 2019.

The survey reports that the sharp rise in 3D printing adoption at scale is driven by manufacturers’ need to reduce lead times (61% of respondents) and manufacturing costs (58%). Additionally, 59% of respondents expect to benefit from mass customization, while 59% expect to expand speed-to-part production and 51% want to achieve high part performance. Despite this growing enthusiasm for 3D printing, many respondents still face obstacles such as high costs for 3D-printing materials (51%) and hardware (38%), as well as an inability to scale the current 3D printing technology (31%).

According to the study, open ecosystems are expected to be the prevailing format within the industry as technology hurdles surrounding scale, economics, strength and speed of production face away. With these problems mitigated, the future of the industry can allow for 3D printing users and vendors to realize greater control of their innovation, choice in materials, and industrial-scale production at lower costs.

With additive manufacturing at scale now becoming a reality, Sigma Labs constitutes a compelling investment opportunity as one of the primary enablers of 3D metal printing adoption for serial production.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SigmaLabsInc.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SGLB are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SGLB

• Hotel and vacation rental insurance gap coverer InsuraGuest is expanding its reach to Europe and Asia this year, and expects to be registered and licensed in all 50 states before the end of the year
• The company is currently licensed in 16 states from Maryland to Nevada, offering protection in case of accidental in-room damage, theft of personal property, accidental medical expense or accidental death and dismemberment during a stay at a property
• The lawsuit filed by Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Meat Loaf following his injury at a Texas hotel underscores the potential benefits of having stop-gap coverage in place
• 2020 kicked off with U.S. hotels reporting an increase in revenue per available room (RevPAR), average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy during the week of December 29 to January 4

A fall that Grammy Award-winning rock singer and actor Meat Loaf suffered last year and the resulting lawsuit against the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Texas (http://ibn.fm/HLiNH) serve as a high-profile example of the risks convenience service industries accept when they welcome guests, as well as the risks guests may face when they choose to stay at an establishment.

In the case of Meat Loaf, the 72-year-old entertainer was appearing at a convention when, according to the lawsuit and a video of the incident (http://ibn.fm/OdQXh), he suddenly fell from the stage, allegedly as a result of stepping off a section of the stage where a curtain he believed to be on the stage was instead hanging over a void.

Conscientious travelers who use the hotel industry and similar convenience services providers such as independent Airbnb-type properties and vacation rentals may carry traveler’s insurance but can find themselves facing crippling costs if a medical incident or unintended property damage during a property stay fall into a coverage gap.

Utah-based InsurTech (insurance + technology) innovator InsuraGuest Inc. is expanding its service reach nationwide and internationally to help prevent such coverage gaps. The company’s proprietary InsurTech software platform is being adopted by an increasing number of establishments. The company recently released its wholly owned subsidiary, InsuraGuest Insurance Agency, LLC (IG Agency). IG Agency brings licensed insurance sales in-house to increase InsuraGuest revenues and create shareholder value, and is currently available in 16 states, from Maryland to Nevada. InsuraGuest expects to have regulatory approval to sell in all states before the end of the year (http://ibn.fm/Fwtsb). The company is also entering European and Asian markets this year (http://ibn.fm/qMrVG).

“The InsuraGuest coverage is purchased by the property and provides coverage for covered claims from each registered guest and all room occupants upon check-in,” a company news release states (http://ibn.fm/eVCcd).

The InsurTech arena has blossomed during recent years, as tech startups have become a popular target for custom-tailored insurance coverage (http://ibn.fm/UDMnO). Within the travel stay industry, insurers are increasingly shifting toward filling the needs of small business startups operating as vacation rentals. Real estate analysts at iPropertyManagement.com predict the small vacation rental segment will become more profitable than hotels this year as the number of Airbnb users grows worldwide (http://ibn.fm/3jUZ0).

InsuraGuest Chairman and CEO Douglas Anderson noted that during 2018 travelers purchased 2.8 billion nightly hotel stays in Europe, compared with 1.1 billion in the United States.

“Additionally, $100 billion was spent on vacation rentals,” he stated (http://ibn.fm/V2YzA).

Although 2020 is barely under way, industry watchers are already expressing optimism for the year after reports noted that U.S hotels’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 4 percent during the week of December 29 to January 4 while the average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy grew 4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively (http://ibn.fm/rESoZ).

U.S. hotel occupancy was up 5.9 percent during the week before Christmas, according to the report.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.InsuraGuest.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to InsuraGuest are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/InsuraGuest