Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNS), on February 1, 2017, named Michael R. Dougherty to its board. A biopharmaceutical company, Marinus is preparing to initiate phase 2 studies of ganaxolone, a drug which treats seizures and anxiety in patients suffering from epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dougherty has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he served as executive chairman of Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Earlier, he served as CEO and a board member of Kalidex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dougherty also served in various capacities during his 10-year tenure with Adolor Corporation, including as president and CEO, a board member, COO, CFO and senior VP of commercial. Earlier still, he was at Genomics Collaborative, Inc., where he held the positions of president and COO. Dougherty is currently serving on the boards of Trevena, Inc.; Foundation Medicine, Inc.; Aviragen Therapeutics; and Cempra, Inc.

“This is an exciting time to join the Marinus board,” Dougherty stated in a news release. “Marinus is positioned to execute on several clinical studies with near-term milestones. I look forward to working with the Marinus board and management as we advance the development of the ganaxolone franchise.”

Ganaxolone is a drug candidate that acts on a well-characterized target in the brain and is known to have both anti-seizure and anti-anxiety effects. It is currently being evaluated in IV, capsule and liquid forms, and it’s designed for use in both hospital and home settings. Marinus is studying ganaxolone as a treatment option for both adult and pediatric patients.

Marinus is now preparing to begin a phase 2 clinical study of ganaxolone for the treatment of postpartum depression and status epilepticus (SE). A phase 2 clinical study of patients with SE will begin in 2017, the company said. Every dose regimen of ganaxolone IV to-date has been deemed generally safe and well-tolerated, reaching targeted dose levels in a short period of time. Any adverse events reported were mild and resolved without intervention, according to Marinus. Ganaxolone IV has been issued orphan drug designation from the U.S. FDA for the treatment of SE.

For more information, visit www.MarinusPharma.com

Until recently, virtual reality was typically the stuff of science fiction, a concept so innovative and unusual that it seemed highly unlikely to become reality anytime soon. For years, the concept remained almost exclusively tied to the futuristic images depicted by movies such as TRON or The Lawnmower Man. However, with rapid technological advancements in recent years, and due to the efforts of companies such as Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), with its Oculus VR, and Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE), with its PlayStation VR, virtual reality has now become a part of our day-to-day lives, already having multiple applications in a number of industries, from health care to manufacturing, education, music, athletics and more.

Estimated to reach $126 billion by 2020, this fast developing market presents numerous growth opportunities for developers of VR products, apps and accessories. Simi Valley, CA-based Monster Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSDI), a highly versatile designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art consumer electronics and related products, has already seized the opportunity with its exclusive line of virtual reality products that includes high definition cameras and headsets, all designed and commercialized under its own brand.

Founded in 2010, Monster Digital is committed to manufacturing and delivering premium products and accessories for consumers and professionals who demand and expect to receive the very best. Its VR Product line includes the recently launched Monster Vision™ 360-degree VR camera, the Monster Vision™ VR camera set, two types of VR headsets (one of which has integrated headphones), and related accessories such as a waterproof VR camera case. The Monster Digital™ VR cameras allow users to record their adventures in a new way and to then share them with their friends and family or experience them from an entirely new perspective due to the 360-degree viewing capabilities.

In addition to VR products, the company also manufactures and commercializes a line of premium action sports cameras such as the high resolution Monster Digital™ Vision Plus 1080p+ camera and the more cost-competitive 720p action sports camera. Most of these models were on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.

Monster Digital also offers advanced data storage and memory products for use in mobile devices, cameras, tablets and more. The company’s data storage products are built to offer rapid transfer rates and high performance packed in a rugged, sturdy design. Available in multiple capacities, these memory products aim to help users achieve the best performance out of their devices. Additionally, Monster Digital designs the latest technology when it comes to solid state drives (SSD). The company’s SSDs offer peak performance and safe storage and are available both as external drives for desktop and laptop users, as well as internal upgrade kits for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Macbook® and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) Ultrabook® users.

For more information, visit www.MonsterDigital.com

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) filed form 10Q with the SEC on January 23, 2017, stating that it had sharply higher revenues in both the quarter and six months ended November 30, 2016, as compared to the same periods of the prior year. In this filing for its second quarter in fiscal year 2017, it also revised its financials for the year ended May 31, 2016, terming that refiling an immaterial correction.

The company reported revenues of $510,944 for the three months ended November 30, 2016. That marked a 133% jump compared to revenues of $219,263 for the same period of the prior year. For the six months ended November 30, 2016, its revenues were $852,268, a 121% increase compared to $385,592 from the same period of the prior year. In the filing, CIIX attributed the gains to more advertising, additional personnel in the U.S. and China, sophisticated new promotions such as multi-media and roadshows, and greater servicing of a larger base of clients.

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc., a financial consulting company, operates a website for Chinese speaking investors located in China and the U.S. It offers consulting, educational products and other services. Its primary revenue streams had been subscriptions and investor relations. It announced plans to open, in January 2017, a retail store in Shanghai and distribute Cannabidiol (CBD) products online on the ChineseCBDoil.com site. The site went live in January 2017, giving CIIX an important marketing opportunity in China and Asia.

Marijuana is not legal in China, but oils that are cannabis-based are. ChineseInvestors.com, Inc., will market health oil products to the Chinese people, it said. The company has attracted significant interest from the financial markets due to these cannabis marketing plans and presented on January 31, 2017, at the NobleCon13 Investor Conference in Florida.

On January 19, 2017, the company filed a Form D Notice to the SEC, disclosing that, through a private placement, it was offering five million shares of its Series C preferred stock at $1 per share. ChineseInvestors.com Inc., said funds raised will be used for operating activities and to retire a $660,000 loan, which has a maturity due date of February 28, 2017. As of January 23, 2017, the company said it had raised $4.7 million in cash from various individuals.

In the 10Q, it said it under reported its revenue by $42,500 for the year ended May 31, 2016. On its balance sheet, as of May 31, 2016, total assets were under reported by $171,600, total liabilities were understated by $2,575, and total shareholders’ equity was understated by $169,025. It said it plans to revise its financial statements for some quarterly periods through subsequent filings.

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

Zogenix, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGNX) has been issued a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for its drug candidate ZX008. The award of this patent, according to the company, marks the first time a patent has been issued covering a fenfluramine treatment of Dravet Syndrome and the seizures associated with it (http://dtn.fm/v69uD). The patent is seen by the company as offering protection of associated claims through 2033.

“This represents the first issued patent covering the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet Syndrome using fenfluramine as an adjunctive therapy, and it is an important milestone for our ZX008 development program,” Stephen J. Farr, Ph.D., president and CEO of Zogenix, added in a news release.

The patent, titled ‘Method for the Treatment of Dravet Syndrome’, was announced by the company on January 30, 2017. Zogenix is currently in a phase 3 program with ZX008 and continues to enroll patients in the U.S. and globally. It has received fast track designation domestically for the treatment of Dravet syndrome, and ZX008 has been defined as an orphan drug in this indication in both the U.S. and Europe.

Zogenix, Inc., is a pharmaceutical company committed to producing commercially-viable central nervous system (CNS) therapies. The company is developing these products for individuals who require innovative treatments to help them with daily functioning.

Farr added that Zogenix is continuing to pursue additional patents related to ZX008 in order to provide additional protection for its lead candidate. The company is also performing more clinical and preclinical work as it seeks to target more intellectual property opportunities, he said.

Zogenix won worldwide patent rights and other intellectual property via its 2014 acquisition of Brabant Pharma Limited, pursuant to a purchase and sales agreement executed with Brabant, the company said.

In its SEC filing of November 8, 2016, Zogenix reported that, in October 2016, it extended through April 2017 its manufacturing services agreement with Pantheon UK Limited. It can be extended again, the company reported. Future purchase minimum obligations totaled $4.6 million at September 30, 2016, through the extension date.

Also on October 2016, Zogenix entered into an asset purchase agreement for $1.5 million to buy the global rights to a preclinical development program for orphan CNS disorders. The company is bound to make future milestone payments over several years, but in the SEC filing Zogenix termed those payments ‘inherently uncertain’ due to the preclinical stage of development.

For more information, visit www.Zogenix.com

Travel to far and remote destinations is easier than it has ever been. Travel companies have not only made traveling accessible, but also more economical. People are now able to explore some of the remarkable destinations our world holds, including natural wonders and historical sites. However, some of these places are in danger of disappearing.

Climate change, over farming, natural erosion, pollution, urbanization and general exploitation, are just some of the causes for the potential loss of these places. Although environmental organizations recognize the threat and are putting in place procedures to maintain these destinations for as long as possible, they remain at risk. According to Business Insider (http://dtn.fm/ctV1K), some of these endangered destinations include the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Florida Everglades, and many other famous destinations.

Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI), a technology driven travel company, is making these destinations accessible through its subsidiary, Maupintour. Founded by Tom Maupin in the 50’s, Maupintour gives solo travelers and groups the chance to organize highly customizable private tours across the globe, including to threatened destinations.

Tours organized through Maupintour cover many extra features that, if organized separately, would cost much more, such as local guides, great accommodations, comprehensive tours, special events, entertainment, entrance fees, airport transfers, and hotel transfers.

The company organizes tours to Europe, Africa, Central and South America, Asia and India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as throughout the United States. Maupintour has the highest repeat rate in the industry, with some travelers taking up to 60 vacation tour packages with the company. Maupintour tours make natural and man-made wonders of the world accessible to travelers at an affordable price, while they are still there to see.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

CytoDyn Inc. (OTCQB: CYDY) is set to profit from helping the HIV positive with its lead product candidate, PRO 140. The company is close to submitting a rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) for PRO 140 as a combination therapy with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

The biologic has already been designated a “fast track” product candidate by the FDA, and, earlier this month, the company filed a request for Breakthrough Therapy Designation with the FDA for PRO 140 as a treatment for HIV-1 infection in treatment-experienced patients with virologic failure. Getting PRO 140 to market means CytoDyn Inc. will be entering the $15 billion industry for HIV therapies in the U.S.

Data released by the National HIV Surveillance System and Medical Monitoring Project reveals the market opportunities. There are an estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with HIV. However, about 168,000 of those, some 14 percent of those infected, are unaware that they are HIV positive. The remaining 1,032,000 know they have the virus, yet just 40 percent (480,000) are under care.

Why this is so has prompted a number of studies. Researchers in the European Union and Australia conducted a number of surveys of the HIV positive and the doctors who treat them. They found that the major reason why those carrying HIV eschew treatment is that they do not feel sufficiently unwell or have symptoms serious enough to hasten entry to treatment. The studies also revealed ‘that 47% of respondents did not wish to start therapy because they did not want to be reminded about their HIV status’.

Of the 480,000 HIV positive patients who are being treated, about 92.5 percent, or 444,000, have been prescribed antiretroviral therapies. Meanwhile, just 360,000, or 75 percent of the HIV positive population under care, have been able to achieve viral suppression.

PRO 140 has the greatest potential as a mono-therapy, if replacing HAART as a first-line or higher therapy. This is a market of 460,000 people estimated at $11 billion. As a combination therapy replacing second line therapy and higher, the prospect is also attractive. With 207,000 patients falling into this segment, this is a market that could yield over $5 billion. In addition, as the stigma of HIV/AIDS lessens, it is likely that more of the HIV positive will be encouraged to start treatment, bringing over half-a-million into the fold.

PRO 140 is a viral-entry inhibitor, a new class of HIV/AIDS therapies that work by blocking the entry of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to healthy cells. It is currently being evaluated in two Phase III trials and, in one of those, a pivotal Phase III trial testing PRO 140 as a combination therapy, primary endpoint results are expected during the first half of this year.

The second Phase III trial, testing PRO 140 as a mono-therapy, is also going well. The company announced in December 2016 that the first patients had been treated in a multi-center, open-label trial. For the HIV positive, this is positive news from CytoDyn Inc.

CytoDyn is a biotechnology company focused on the clinical development and potential commercialization of humanized monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of HIV infection. In trials, its lead product candidate, PRO 140, has shown it can significantly reduce viral burden in those infected with HIV. CytoDyn intends to continue to develop PRO 140 as a therapeutic anti-viral agent in persons infected with HIV and to pursue non-HIV indications where similar autoimmune responses are involved.

For more information, visit www.CytoDyn.com

GreeneStone Healthcare Corp. (OTCQB: GRST), through its subsidiaries, provides medical services in the city of Toronto and the regional municipality of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada.

Located 90 minutes north of Toronto in Muskoka, GreeneStone Healthcare’s Addiction and Rehabilitation Treatments segment offers out-patient counseling, coaching, intervention, psychological assessment, and other related services.

GreeneStone Muskoka employs the best principles and practices currently available in the treatment of individuals with addiction. To ensure the most comprehensive and effective treatment for its clients, GreeneStone Muskoka treats underlying or co-occurring disorders in tandem with the treatment of addiction.

The 36-bed addiction treatment center offers a holistic, individualized treatment approach to recovery. These private, paid programs vary in length from 45-90 days, depending on the unique needs of each resident and their response to the treatment.

GreeneStone Muskoka also provides education and counseling sessions to educate the family members of its residents with the objective of helping them better understand the disease of addiction and how they should support their loved ones throughout and after their recovery efforts.

GreeneStone Healthcare President Shawn Leon has more than 25 years of experience managing public and private development-stage companies for various industries, including industrial minerals, aggregates, oil and gas, mining, finance, technology, hospitality and medical. He has provided financing and capital markets oversight for a number of these ventures, many of which have involved negotiations for mergers and acquisitions. He is joined by Vice President Dr. Anita Teslak, whose 25 years of combined experience as a CEO, psychologist and executive provides valuable insight into a successful business model.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.GreeneStone.net

On Monday, January 30, 2017, Alan Klitenic, the Director of Investor Relations for ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX), was interviewed by NetworkNewsWire. Mr. Klitenic described the company, and the growing underserved market it has managed to successfully tap, some of the company’s achievements over the past year, and the aggressive goals it is already pursuing for 2017.

Salient points include the following:

• Description – ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. is a unique financial media service that is tailored to the ethnic Chinese speaking population in the U.S. and Canada. Founded by long-time financial professional Warren Wang, it’s an American company, but with a strong Chinese orientation, allowing it to connect to the Chinese community with singular effectiveness. Over the years, the company has built its reputation in that community by providing valuable real-time market commentary and analysis on U.S. investor markets, through a range of subscription and other services. In conjunction with this, the company offers investor relations services to small cap and emerging growth organizations, exposing them to the company’s impressive but hard to reach client base in a way nobody else can. CIIX also offers consulting services to companies wishing to enter the public markets.

• Achievements, 2016 – The growing significance of the company’s link to the Chinese-speaking community is seen by the increase in quarter-to-quarter revenues for the year. As part of a consistent effort to leverage this most important asset, the company took the initial steps to dovetail its unmatched market connections with one of the fastest growing consumer markets in history, the legal cannabis industry. Realizing that this was a major underserved market for its community, the company signed an agreement with a San Diego producer for the distribution of CBD oil products. These hemp oil derived products are non-toxic, non-addictive, and are legal in all 50 U.S. states, as well as in China, since they are not THC based.

• Goals, 2017 – In light of the massive potential of crossing the North American and then worldwide Chinese speaking market with the explosive growth of legal cannabis-based products, the company has just launched its own ChineseCBDOil.com website, designed to sell CBD oil products not only to its existing client base in North America, but also now to the Chinese mainland, where nobody is yet selling these products. As part of this rapidly developing program, the company is now planning to set up its own operations in China for the production and sale of proprietary CBD oil products. CIIX even plans to develop a CBD oil based pharmaceutical to address the major problem of epilepsy in China, for which the company anticipates formal government approval within the next 2-4 years. The company is also in the final stages of developing its own consumer app that will give Chinese-speaking consumers location-based information relating to available retail outlets.

CIIX founder and CEO Warren Wang is quoted as saying that the overall CBD market is expected to pass $2.1 billion in consumer sales by 2020, so the launch of the company’s new online store, the first of its kind to provide CBD oil products to the Chinese speaking market, is timely.

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

Brokers have been using virtual reality for a long time, but augmented reality, or AR, is expected to be a new trend for 2017, according to the ‘Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2017’ report published by PWC (http://dtn.fm/9ITGq). With the emergence of Pokémon Go, it became clear that augmented reality could prompt over 10 million people to leave their homes and search for digital characters. Could it somehow do the same for the real estate industry?

Despite basic AR technology having been around for some time, brokers are now using it to show tenants and potential buyers customizable experiences not seen before. The biggest change in consumer behavior came after Pokémon Go showed that AR could actually encourage people to visit new places, something the real estate industry relies upon heavily. The report explains: “Since real estate, both residential and commercial, relies upon the consumer experiencing a property—almost always in a site visit—before committing to a transaction, stimulating such a visit by a technological lure can be extremely powerful.”

However, marketing and sales are not the only things in real estate that augmented and virtual reality are transforming. Companies are now able to use these technologies as a way to better train their agents and brokers, as shown by eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI). EXPI subsidiary eXp Realty is an agent-owned cloud brokerage that has leveraged advanced-tech systems and tools to grow rapidly on an international level.

EXPI has given agents and brokers the opportunity to work, attend classes, strategize, innovate, build teams, and collaborate through the internet, from anywhere in the world. However, the company believes that the face of the real estate industry is still changing, and that real estate professionals should always be ready to improve their approach to business.

With internet technology evolving, eXp World Holdings, Inc. knows that its consumers are equipped with more knowledge than ever before, and they no longer see as great a need to visit a traditional real estate office. This is why EXPI has created a cloud-based environment where agents are able to buy and sell homes without physical brick and mortar offices. With consumers relying less and less on these offices, EXPI is able to invest more into its services, including the training of its agents and brokers, rather than covering costs associated with facilities.

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

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Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC) is expanding into Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2017 from its existing direct sales offices in Beijing and Shenzhen. It is targeting further growth in the expanding online-to-offline (O2O) market in China from merchant paid subscriptions and the increase in online sales, predominantly from women.

The January 10, 2017, Crystal Equity Research Report (http://nnw.fm/NupY5) on Moxian projects that the company will generate revenues of $2.3 million by fiscal year end 2018.

Moxian has its own online mobile platform in China’s growing O2O market, Moxian+. It offers both a consumer app, Moxian+ User, and a business app, Moxian+ Merchant. It is targeting merchant fees for participating on the app, as well as attracting consumers through its User app to reach social networks and to order online. It is designed to permit consumers to order everything from food to furniture online. Additionally, they can then purchase offline from merchants.

The company estimates that 10% of the merchants who sign up for the Moxian 1.0 platform will eventually be paying subscribers. Moxian also expects online advertising will be another revenue stream.

China’s O2O market is projected to reach greater than $90 billion by 2018, according to the iResearch Consulting Group (http://nnw.fm/S7P5i).

Women play a key role in the growth of O2O in China, ordering food, making reservations and making travel purchases online, according to Tencent Penguin Intelligence. Its report, ‘2015-16 Report on the Year’s Internet Trends In China’ (http://nnw.fm/OEz1Q), found that women were much more likely than men to go online and use social networks and O2O to purchase food, dining, travel, and real estate.

E-commerce platform Baidu Nuomi conducted a study which found that 46% of internet users in China were women, yet women disproportionately account for more than 60% of O2O revenue, according to the report cited by Crystal Equity. Female online shoppers in China totaled 180 million at the end of 2015, Baidu Nuomi said.

It also found that users of O2O are well educated (80% had a bachelor’s degree) and young (between the ages of 20-40). Moxian’s expansion into Shanghai and Guangzhou is aimed at reaching this demographic. Both cities, considered Tier One, are cosmopolitan. After the firm’s soft launch in Shenzhen, it is now entering the two cities. Moxian is expanding its existing direct sales offices in Beijing and Shenzhen while opening the other two.

Shanghai is China’s largest city, with a population of 24.2 million in 2015. Its service industries, such as restaurants, real estate, hotels, entertainment, technology and financial services, are flourishing. Guangzhou has a population of 12.46 million and is one of the wealthiest cities in China. Its residents are well educated, with at least 19% of its population having reached university level.

For more information, visit www.Moxian.com