Before the opening bell, Dominovas Energy Corporation (OTCQB: DNRG) announced that it has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South Africa-based Egoli Gas (Pty) Ltd outlining terms for the reliable supply of natural gas, as required for the operation of the company’s proprietary RUBICON™ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system. Natural gas delivered as a result of this MOU is expected to support both the upcoming RUBICON™ demonstration unit at the University of Johannesburg and any additional units to be installed throughout South Africa’s largest city.

This morning’s announcement comes nearly two weeks after Dominovas Energy announced that Michael Watkins, the company’s chief operating officer and president of its fuel cell division, was dispatched to meet with a natural gas supplier in South Africa. At that time, Dominovas Energy gave investors some insight into its decision to forego the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for its upcoming installations in favor of natural gas. The company noted that the use of LPG was found to be problematic in the region “because of inconsistencies in the quality of the LPG, as well as the overall lack of logistics to support the delivering of LPG in South Africa.”

This fuel flexibility demonstrates one of the biggest advantages of the RUBICON™ in providing reliable power generation capacity throughout sub-Saharan Africa. According to Dominovas Energy’s website, the SOFC technology behind the RUBICON™ can be powered through the use of a wide variety of fuel sources, including hydrocarbon fuels such as diesel, natural gas, propane, ethanol and methanol, as well as bio-derived fuels and pure hydrogen.

“Identifying and evaluating the proper fuel source for the RUBICON™ is of paramount importance for the execution of the Company’s business model in South Africa,” Watkins stated in this morning’s news release. “After having identified all integers and eliminating the main barrier for the commercial deployment of the RUBICON™, I am quite excited to have secured an extraordinary and well respected Company who will be a cornerstone infrastructure partner that sets the stage for the installation of the RUBICON™ in South Africa.”

In the coming months, Egoli Gas will install the infrastructure required to support a dedicated natural gas pipeline on the campus of the University of Johannesburg. Per this morning’s update, Egoli Gas anticipates that the pipeline will be complete and ready for operational use by April 1, 2017. The installation and use of this supply line are expected to serve as a demonstration of the benefits of effective natural gas use, creating a foundation upon which Dominovas Energy and Egoli Gas will look to develop a long-term partnership resulting in the installation of additional multi-MW scale projects within Johannesburg and across the country.

“We have been working with Dominovas Energy to solidify our relationship and to identify the scope of our contribution to the first-ever SOFC systems in South Africa,” Tyusha Monde, managing director of Egoli Gas, added in this morning’s news release. “The opportunity to supply natural gas for the RUBICON™ and to become a long-term gas supplier for Dominovas Energy’s future projects in Johannesburg and throughout South Africa is, indeed, exciting and a step of monumental proportions for us at Egoli Gas.”

For more information, visit www.DominovasEnergy.com

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Distilling complexity into actionable intelligence is the core focus for recently rebranded data analytics outfit Cogint, Inc. (NASDAQ: COGT). Cogint rang the NASDAQ bell (http://dtn.fm/OTm74) only a handful of days after transitioning shares over to the exchange, amid a big push by the company to secure and expand an increasingly dominant footprint in massive scale, people-based digital marketing and customer acquisition solutions via its Fluent (http://dtn.fm/IL7j5) subsidiary. Fluent is a data-driven performance marketing suite powered by the same proprietary, next-gen data fusion platform known as CORE™, which also powers the company’s analytical and risk management solutions.

Fluent is changing the laws of marketing with a suite of tools that enable the company’s clients to serve personalized, targeted ads and acquire extremely loyal brand customers by leveraging user-generated responses and real-time interactivity. With digital display ad spending overtaking search ad spending this year for the first time in history – as the biggest categories like video, rich media and banners take up approximately half the $32 billion plus pie (http://dtn.fm/iN4HV) – a hyper-targeted and user-centric digital marketing/customer acquisition and retention solution like Fluent finds itself in an advantageous position when it comes to distinguishing itself.

Over 500 leading brands, such as online home improvement marketplace BuildDirect, Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) and Western Union (NYSE: WU), already trust Fluent to deliver the goods, and have come to rely upon the industry-leading data acquisition, mobile app install and performance display ad solutions located within the suite. BuildDirect, for instance, saw a 25 percent jump in user engagement thanks to Fluent’s ReConnect™ solution for supercharging an email marketing program.

One secret to Fluent’s success in this arena is the immense reservoir of proprietary consumer data that the company already has at its fingertips. The marketing suite is empowered by an enviable feedback loop with the consumers themselves, consisting of over 700,000 direct user interactions, six million survey responses, and more than 1.2 million ad responses per day. A brand looking to do consumer marketing through mobile user acquisition/retention, other audience engagements tool and data acquisition has a powerful over-the-horizon radar system in Fluent. And the platform has a proven track record of being able to produce tangible results, relying to a great extent on the unprecedented precision of the platform’s user-driven targeting matrix.

The company plans to dramatically increase the size and scope of Fluent’s business moving forward (http://dtn.fm/V9Xu5), using a combination of diligent retargeting of pre-qualified audiences across all connected device types, and the enabling of mobile display, search, social, video and eventually addressable television campaigns. This is where Cogint’s Q Interactive (http://dtn.fm/ILx29) subsidiary really shines, as a direct publisher crafting tailored lead generation for digital, performance-based campaigns – and one which is squarely focused on maximizing advertiser’s return on investment. Q Interactive works hand-in-hand with advertisers to hone the target matrix of ideal consumer profiles down to the ideal level, exploiting the company’s enormous user engagement envelope to intelligently place a given brand, product or service directly in front of those most receptive to it. At the same time, Q Interactive is able to drive high quality traffic generation by being able to offer publishers first rate monetization for the best traffic. Q Interactive’s various promotions, coupons, sample campaigns and the like are some of the most lucrative monetizing properties online today.

Again, at the center of all this is a cloud-based custom data analytics backbone engineered from the ground up to handle any kind of data type (such as behavioral and demographic, or transactional), and deliver actionable intelligence that is suitable to any industry. Actually the fusion of CORE and the company’s Agile Acquisition Engine™, this same technology backbone that enables complex digital performance marketing tasks also enables COGT to offer its clients the ability to do extremely in-depth investigative work. Tasks such as fraud detection/prevention, identity verification, regulatory compliance, and location (skip) tracing are a breeze for Cogint’s IDI (Interactive Data) subsidiary and its idiCORE (http://dtn.fm/W1Rb5) investigative solution. This is really worth taking into consideration when you look at a report like the one out of IDC last month, which not only projected that big data and analytics would go more mainstream in coming years, but that the market is on track to top $203 billion by 2020 (http://dtn.fm/7UcwL).

While similar data fusion architectures may exist, they are costly and largely outdated. On the other hand, idiCORE is an extremely efficient (and therefore less expensive) system, which is able to yield higher-fidelity data and at a lower cost. The idiCORE platform utilizes proprietary linking technology (algos/logic) and machine learning principles which, when paired with the company’s massive data repository (that includes credit header data, public records, private/proprietary sources and more), allows for superb relational resolutions, whether one is looking at connections, individual people, or assets. And idiCORE has an impressive pedigree too, being the next-gen data fusion solution that stands on the shoulders of data fusion pioneer Hank Asher’s work. Asher was the architect behind market heavy hitters Accurint® (http://dtn.fm/SU01a) (now owned by LexisNexis, RELX Group) and TLOxp® (http://dtn.fm/m6CeA), now owned by TransUnion (NYSE: TRU).

CEO and Interim President of COGT, Derek Dubner, worked closely with Asher (regarded by many as the father of data fusion) for 15 years and was general counsel to TLO, from its inception through to its eventual sale to TransUnion. Dubner was quite proud of idiCORE’s recent successes during COGT’s Q3 earnings call (http://dtn.fm/6E8Wh), where he highlighted the addition of key foundational datasets, including a gigantic database of motor vehicle records to idiCORE, as well as the platform’s improved data sorting features.

Most noteworthy among the quarterly data release is a 27 percent revenue uptick to $52.2 million (http://dtn.fm/bKbG2) (compared to Q2), with performance marketing having accounted for the lion’s share of revenues at around 70 percent. Dubner also threw a spotlight on the ongoing expansion of the company’s cutting-edge idiCORE investigative solution, particularly as it relates to Cogint’s risk management division, before touting the enhanced search functionality and accuracy idiCORE now possesses.

It’s no wonder the company recently tapped two industry veterans to join the team. Harry Jordan came on board as COO in early August (http://dtn.fm/Y4pOe) and brought two decades with outfits like LexisNexis along, including a wealth of experience in M&A that led to such landmark deals as the ChoicePoint and Seisint acquisitions. Twenty-year industry veteran Jeff Dell was appointed CIO in mid-September (http://dtn.fm/O8p8F). A natural transition from the same roles Dell played at TLO and Seisint, roles which uniquely prepared him to be the top information security professional for COGT, as the company expands and looks to continue increasing security.

Dubner was keen to point out in the Q3 earnings call that there was a whopping 400 percent CAGR for Q3 when it comes to the number of online transactions done using idiCORE. It’s very exciting statistic about how ingrained this intuitive solution has already become among end markets, as well as being a positive sign about the raw, overall platform adoption rates. Additionally, Dubner cited the abnormally high number of contract versus transactional usages seen thus far with idiCORE, remarking how odd it was for a new product on launch. It’s a very positive sign indeed, as it indicates end users are having a very good reaction to the solution, from both usability and intuitiveness standpoints.

Wringing actionable intelligence from the complex web of information requires a database-spanning fusion engine such as idiCORE. This data fusion engine can deliver the kind of penetrating investigative and risk management capabilities needed to map and study the intricate connections between even seemingly disparate data points like assets, businesses, or people – and idiCORE can do it all in real-time.

To learn more about Cogint, visit www.cogint.com

In a recent news release by Professional Diversity Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPDN), it was announced that Cosmic Forward Limited (“CFL”), a Seychelles-based private company, now owns 51% of the Internet software and services company, which specializes in providing career networking for women and diverse professionals.

IPDN recently completed the sale of 1,777,417 shares of its common stock to CFL for $9.60 per share, generating gross proceeds of approximately $17.1 million, prior to expenses and debt repayment. The capital, along with the newly-formed strategic partnership, is expected to play a role in IPDN’s efforts to expand its operations into a number of global markets, including China. Cosmic Forward Limited is wholly-owned by Maoji (Michael) Wang, Jingbo Song, Yong Xiong Zheng, and Nan Nan Kou.

The National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), a subsidiary of IPDN, provides an online platform offering employer clients covering more than 200 industries and professions a way to find professional talent while helping them comply with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

In the news release, Star Jones, president of IPDN, added, “I am extremely proud that our partnership with CFL allows Professional Diversity Network to capture a new audience and grow exponentially by taking women’s empowerment, diversity recruiting, skills training and innovative technology global.”

In a related move, IPDN announced results of an earlier self-tender offer to repurchase up to 312,500 shares of its common stocks. IPDN has accepted 312,500 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $9.60 per share, for a total purchase price of approximately $3.0 million net to the seller in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest.

See http://dtn.fm/F1xD2 for the detailed press release.

For more information on Professional Diversity Network, please visit www.prodivnet.com

Park Place Energy, Inc. (OTCQB: PKPL), a Texas-based gas and oil exploration company focused on running international development and exploration projects, anticipates significant growth in terms of cash flow and share prices once it completes the acquisition of three oil and gas companies in Turkey next month. The company, which already has an established presence and offices in the Balkan region via its gas exploration in northeast Bulgaria, entered a purchase agreement with Tiway Oil B.V. in December of last year for the acquisition of three Tiway subsidiaries controlling three oil and gas explorations in Turkey – one offshore and two onshore, for $2.1 million. A $500,000 deposit toward the purchase was already made when the deal was initiated, and plans are to complete the transaction by the end of the year, once all regulatory approvals are received from the Turkish authorities.

The three producing areas that will be purchased from Tiway under the agreement have significant potential, in particular the South Akcakoca Sub-Basin (SASB) offshore gas field. Production from the three assets has averaged 417 barrels of oil equivalent per day (POE/D) in the first nine months of the year. Park Place intends to begin programs to maximize production as soon as the transaction is completed, most likely starting in January of next year.

The main focus will be the SASB gas field in the Black Sea, which is described as having substantial untapped potential, with a total of four platforms, 22 wells of which 10 are fully functional, and an onshore gas processing plant. Tiway has a 36.75% non-operated working interest in SASB. Since its discovery in 2004, the field has produced an estimated 37 billion cubic feet of gas and has yielded roughly $277 million in gross proceeds. Park Place has identified four undeveloped discoveries with the potential of producing up to 60 billion cubic feet of gas in the near future. The company expects the SASB field to generate initial revenue of more than $200 million by the end of 2018, once it launches its production enhancement program consisting of the drilling of four additional wells, construction of a gas lift and re-drilling of some of the existing wells.

The two onshore assets – the Cendere oil field and the Bakuk gas field – are also expected to generate significant revenue and to consolidated Park Place’s presence in the region. Although in operation since the 1990s, Cendere is likely to continue production for another 10 years or more. The field currently has 16 wells producing gross 600 barrels per day, with 110 barrels net to Tiway. Cendere has produced more than 19 million barrels from the 45 million estimated initially. Park Place intends to increase the field’s production further through additional infill well opportunities, possibly extending the field laterally and through low cost perforation in the upper pay zones. The Bakuk gas field, located near the border with Syria, has only one well in operation, averaging roughly 48 Mcf/D during the first six months of the year. There is an estimated 5.8 Bscf gas still in place, according to Park Place figures.

In addition to the Turkish assets, Park Place holds the rights to a gas field in Bulgaria. The Vranino 1-11 Block, located in the northeast portion of the country, is currently not in operation, as the regulatory approvals issued by the Bulgarian government were disputed by local NGOs. Until the situation is resolved, Park Place cannot commence operations to extract gas from coal seams in the area. The company is planning on drilling up to five wells using the latest and safest gas extraction techniques not involving underground coal gasification or hydraulic fracking, which was banned in Bulgaria in 2012. It is believed that the Vranino block may contain more than one trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and that successful extraction, in addition to the field’s close proximity to a major gas pipeline, can eventually lead to lower gas prices for the entire region.

For more information, visit www.parkplaceenergy.com

GainClients, Inc. (OTC: GCLT) is a software service company focused primarily on the development of marketing services for real estate professionals and valuable home search and area information tools for consumers. The company’s innovations expound the popularity of online networks by helping real estate professionals better serve their clients through the sharing of accurate real estate data.

The company’s main product is the GCard progressive networking system, which is designed to build and promote relationships among real estate professionals and their clients. Using the GCard, agents and brokers have the means to offer real estate, lending and title services information through an integrated, web-based network, capitalizing on the ongoing shift in consumer preference toward mobile solutions.

Similar to the features of other popular online networks, professional users can invite clients and their industry partners to join their GCard networks and be featured as trusted team members. From here, the teams can quickly provide real estate, lending and title services and information to consumers via smartphone and web. With better communication throughout the process of buying or selling homes, purchases can move more quickly and more comfortably to completion.

Strategic partnerships are an important component of GainClients’ growth strategy. The company recently established a worldwide licensing arrangement with CLOVIS LLC, a partnership that will enable the distribution of both companies’ proprietary technologies to the real estate industry. CLOVIS will use GainClients’ GCard to develop a unique lead generation program for the broader real estate marketing and advertising industry.

GainClients also offers GCHomeSearch, its stand-alone website that provides non-real estate customers, such as lenders and title professionals, with accurate listing data, historical property data, neighborhood information and demographics. When used with the GCard, the user is also privy to loan payment calculators, loan rates, closing cost estimators and other tools needed to make intelligent buying and selling choices.

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

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Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: AMPE) is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies aimed at treating common inflammatory conditions for which there are limited treatment options. The company’s development pipeline currently features two product candidates advancing through late-stage clinical trials in the United States, including Ampion™ for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK) and Optina™ for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, currently affects more than 100 million people in the United States alone, with over 48 million suffering from OAK. Meanwhile, the prevalence of DME is estimated at about 30 percent of patients inflicted by type I or type II diabetes mellitus for 20 years or more. For reference, roughly 11.3 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 20 lives with some form of diabetes.

Late last week, Ampio issued a news release updating its shareholders on the status its clinical development programs. The company is in ongoing discussions with the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research regarding the best path forward to obtain a Biological License for Ampion™ for the treatment of OAK. According to Michael Macaluso, chief executive officer of Ampio, the FDA has provided a “number of fair and reasonable paths forward to a Biological License” and Ampio hopes to “have a final decision on the path we will follow by year-end.”

In addition to its late-stage Ampion™ development program for the treatment of OAK, Ampio also recently completed a pilot study designed to examine the safety and efficacy of the candidate as a treatment for patients with osteoarthritis of the hand (OAH). Macaluso described the trial as “a small pilot study designed to examine the safety of a single injection of Ampion™ into the basal thumb joint of patients with hand OA, which is common, troublesome, and has limited treatment options.” After four weeks, 66.7 percent of patients treated with Ampion™ demonstrated an improvement in pain, while just 33 percent of patients in the control group noticed an improvement.

“These preliminary results were not unexpected as they are consistent with the results from over 1800 patients in our OA of the knee studies,” Macaluso added in a news release.

The most recent update regarding the development program for Optina™, issued early last month, notes that a manuscript, titled ‘Potential Beneficial Effect of Low Dose Danazol in Combination With Renin Angiotensin Inhibitors in Diabetic Macular Edema’, was accepted for publication in Acta Ophthalmologica, an international peer-reviewed journal in the field of ophthalmology. The article reports on the clinical benefits of Optina™, as observed from a 12-week multi-center, placebo-controlled, double-masked randomized trial. The findings were also presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the Retina Society in San Diego, California.

For more information, visit www.ampiopharma.com

Before the opening bell, Medical Transcription Billing, Corp. (NASDAQ: MTBC) (NASDAQ: MTBCP) announced that its board of directors has declared monthly cash dividends for its 11% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock for December, January and February. These monthly dividends will be valued at roughly $0.23 per share, or 11% of the $25 per share liquidation preference, and will be made payable on the 15th day of the following month. The applicable record date for the newly-announced dividends will be the last day of the relevant calendar month.

News of the dividends comes just over a week after MTBC reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2016. Among the highlights from these results, the company reported its fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, MTBC expanded upon its recent trend of quarterly revenue growth, recording $5.3 million for the three-month period. With revenue growth of 130 percent from 2012 to 2015, MTBC has established a position as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the country. This position was reaffirmed earlier this week when MTBC was named among Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 500™, the fifth time since 2009 that the company has achieved this honor.

While MTBC’s third quarter revenue total was a mild decrease from the comparable period in 2015, a result that MTBC’s management team attributes to a loss of clients from subsidiaries purchased during the third quarter of 2014, the company has already positioned itself for forward growth through the October acquisition of MediGain, LLC and subsidiary Millennium Practice Management, LLC.

Noted as the company’s largest acquisition to date, the MediGain purchase included accounts in good standing with annual revenues of more than $10 million. When considered in combination with MTBC’s acquisition price of $7 million, the company’s management team expects the incremental profits from the transaction to exceed the cost of capital and therefore become accretive to shareholders in 2017. Other highlights from the MediGain acquisition include the addition of experienced new members to the MTBC team in North America and an expansion of its Asia-based staff to additional countries with talented, cost-effective workforces.

“We are greatly encouraged by the growth opportunities provided by our recent acquisition of MediGain. The successful closing of this transaction has positioned MTBC to experience exponential growth through access to new, untapped markets,” Mahmud Haq, chairman and chief executive officer of MTBC, stated in a recent news release. “In turn, we expect to expand our client base and deliver significant revenue growth in 2017.”

For more information, visit www.mtbc.com, and see the company’s fact sheet at http://ir.mtbc.com/events.cfm.

November has been a promising month for CytoSorbents Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSO), a critical care immunotherapy company. The New Jersey-based company, specializing in blood purification to control deadly inflammation in critically ill and cardiac surgery patients, reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016.

CTSO reported that product sales for the third quarter of this year were up to $2.14 million, a new record, marking the sixth quarter in a row to show substantial growth with sales up by 100% from 2015’s $1.07 million. The jump was attributed to increases in both direct sales and sales through distributors.

Total revenue for the third quarter of 2016, including product sales and grant revenue, came in at $2.4 million, marking an overall gross margin of $1.4 million compared to $0.7 million in the third quarter of 2015. In addition, product gross margins for the third quarter of 2016 were approximately 5% higher than in the same quarter of 2015.

As a result, Aegis Capital Corp. upgraded its CytoSorbents estimates, offering the company a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of $20. The report states: “CTSO reported revenues of $2.41 million versus consensus of $2.21 million and our $2.25 million estimate.” The report also highlighted that Aegis expects further acceleration through 2017.

Highlights from the report include the growth of CytoSorb sales of 13,000 units, the fact that REFRESH 1 met its safety endpoint, and that CytoSorbents has $6.4 million in cash with $5 million available from its credit facility with Bridge Bank. As a result, the company expects to have enough funding for its operations through the second half of 2017.

CytoSorbents’ Q3 2016 sales report is not the only aspect of the company’s recent success. In November of this year, CTSO announced the addition of Belgium and Luxembourg to its direct sales directories, expanding its distribution to include 42 countries around the world. These new additions will allow CytoSorbents to target these focused markets with its own direct sales force.

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

Over 2,000 years ago, Plato, in his immortal Socratic dialogue, had the great philosopher express his astonishment at the new diseases plaguing Athenian society and their bizarre and horrible names. Our position today is very similar. Strange, horrible afflictions with bizarre, frightening names like cancer, Ebola and Zika, unknown or unrecognized until modern times, threaten us with epidemics and pandemics. For a hundred years or so, we’ve fought them off with traditional vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Now, a new battlefront is set to open with the advent of DNA vaccines from companies like Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO).

Traditional vaccines stimulate the immune system to respond to threats from antigens in the lymph and blood. The lymph is a colorless fluid containing white blood cells that bathes the tissues. These traditional vaccines are said to stimulate humoral immunity. (Humor is a medieval term for body fluid.) The most famous of them, perhaps, and certainly the first was Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine in 1796. Traditional vaccines have been developed against numerous bacterial and viral pathogens, but their development against many life-threatening viruses has been elusive.

DNA vaccines, by contrast, stimulate cell-mediated immunity, which is good, since most of the scientific community believes that it is cell-mediated immunity, rather than humoral immunity, that has the dominant role in fighting viral infections. The problem is that viruses live and replicate inside cells. They seize the synthetic machinery of the host and, therefore, are sheltered from antibody surveillance. Cell-mediated immunity, however, can detect and destroy these infected cells.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals is revolutionizing the fight against cancers and other infectious diseases with a range of these DNA immunotherapies (vaccines). Its technology platform is applicable to cancers and infectious diseases and the company has developed antigen-targeting immunotherapy and vaccine product candidates for HPV-caused pre-cancers and cancers of the breast, lung, pancreas, and prostate, as well as hepatitis, HIV, influenza, and Ebola. Its lead program targets cervical dysplasia and has just completed a phase II clinical study.

In March, the company announced (http://dtn.fm/3PRmG) that this immunotherapy to treat cervical dysplasia (VGX-3100) had earned recognition as the “Best Therapeutic Vaccine” by the World Vaccine Congress held that month in Washington, D.C. The Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) Awards honor outstanding vaccine advancements and achievements of therapeutic and preventive vaccine developers across the global industry, as judged by a panel of global biotech industry stakeholders.

At present, Inovio’s proposed phase III clinical program for the VGX-3100 program is under clinical hold. The FDA has requested additional data to support the shelf life of the newly designed and manufactured disposable parts of the CELLECTRA® 5PSP immunotherapy delivery device. The hold does not pertain to any of Inovio’s other ongoing clinical studies. Management expects the VGX-3100 issue to be resolved by the first quarter of 2017, with potentially no delay in the overall completion of a phase III trial.

By year-end, Inovio expects several clinical read-outs, including those from the 40 patient Zika trial and the INO-3112 head and neck cancer study, in addition to interim data from its Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) vaccine. A research report from Aegis Capital (http://dtn.fm/3J2eg), issued last week, set a price target of $12.00 for Inovio’s stock, which is currently trading at just over $8.00.

For more information, visit www.inovio.com

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX), a company focused on the development of innovative treatments and therapies for cancer, in particular prostate cancer, recently released its financial results for the third quarter of 2016, reporting higher revenue and net income compared to the third quarter of 2015. The growth can be primarily attributed to the FDA approval and U.S. commercial launch of its flagship product, oral Relistor®, for the treatment of opioid induced constipation in patients suffering from chronic non-cancer pain, according to an Aegis Capital Corp. analysis (http://dtn.fm/8EJce) released on November 8, one day after the Q3 results.

The Aegis report underlines that the strong Q3 results warrant the designation of a ‘Buy’ rating for Progenics and a higher stock price target of $11, compared to the current $5.71. In the third quarter, Progenics reported $53.9 million in revenue, compared to $1.4 million in Q3 2015, which reflects the significantly higher royalty income of $3.3 million from Relistor®, compared to $1.2 million during the same reporting period of 2015. Relistor®, in its tablet form, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in July of this year, which triggered a $50 million milestone from the company’s commercialization partner, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX), along with subsequent royalties and the potential of sales milestones of up to $200 million. This was followed by the launch of oral Relistor® on the U.S. market in September. Total Relistor® sales (for both the oral and the subcutaneous versions of the product) amounted to $22.1 million, which resulted in $3.3 million in royalties.

In addition to the higher revenue, Progenics also announced a $50 million royalty-backed loan from HealthCare Royalty Partners. The loan matures on June 30, 2025, and will be repaid exclusively from royalties on future Relistor® sales, with a 9.8% per annum interest rate. Any future sales milestones from Valeant are excluded from the agreement. The loan helped Progenics end the quarter with $98.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, which is $24.8 million higher than the figure reported at the end of last year.

According to Aegis Capital, this loan will allow Progenics to have a cash balance large enough to support the launch of its next pipeline product Azedra®, a late-stage candidate being evaluated for the treatment of rare sympathetic nervous system tumors (pheochromocytoma and paragangliomas). Currently undergoing registration trials for the treatment, Progenics expects topline results in the first quarter of 2017. If the results are encouraging and the Azedra® trial meets the requirements of the Special Protocol Assessment, Progenics plans to submit a new drug application to the FDA in the first half of next year, with approval likely to happen by the end of 2017.

The Aegis report also mentions that, with its current cash balance and the expected Relistor® sales royalties, Progenics will be able to continue development of its oncology pipeline, which includes PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen)-targeted imaging agents such as 1404 (SPECT/CT imaging agent currently undergoing a phase III study of 450 prostate cancer patients), PyL™ (a PET/CT agent that will begin to undergo phase II/III trials by the end of the year) and 1095 (with a phase I study in metastatic prostate cancer patients set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2016).

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