Avant Diagnostics is a medical diagnostic technology company that specializes in large panel biomarker screening. The company’s first test, OvaDx®, is a sophisticated microarray-based test designed to detect pre-symptomatic ovarian cancer by measuring the activation of the immune system in blood samples in response to early stage ovarian tumor cell development.

In clinical development, OvaDx has indicated high sensitivity and specificity for all types and stages of ovarian cancer, including stage IA-IV borderline serous, clear cell, endometrioid, mixed epithelial, mucinous, serous and ovarian adenocarcinoma. Upon FDA approval, Avant plans to offer its diagnostic product as an elective test for women seeking greater wellness, as well as those in the elevated risk category for ovarian cancer.

OvaDx is also expected to be used by doctors to advance the forefront of ovarian cancer treatment, promoting the utilization of improved surgical options and more effective chemotherapies by serving as a supplement to existing tests, such as CA-125, OVA1® and transvaginal ultrasound. In this way, Avant’s innovative product will promote earlier diagnoses and, as a result, improved survival rates for patients with ovarian cancer.

As it continues to seek FDA approval for its groundbreaking diagnostic technology, Avant is poised to promote considerable growth in the ovarian cancer market, addressing what is currently the most deadly cancer of the female reproductive system. The company will lean on the industry experience of its management team in order to continue positioning itself for long-term success in the medical diagnostic market.

For more information, visit https://avantdiagnostics.wordpress.com/

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Today we released a new audio interview with Dr. Chris D’Couto, president and CEO of NEAH Power Systems, Inc. (OTC: NPWZ), an innovator of long-lasting, efficient and safe power solutions for military, transportation and portable electronics applications. The interview can be heard at www.QualityStocks.net/interview-npwz.php.

NEAH Power Systems’ interview begins with a brief discussion in which Dr. D’Couto describes the company’s three heavily patented technologies that supply off-grid energy needs for defense, commercial and consumer markets: the Powerchip® full cell; Formira Hydrogen on Demand (Formira HOD); and the BuzzBar™ suite of products.

Dr. D’Couto next describes the core competencies of NEAH Power Systems’ management team and how they contribute to the corporation’s strategies.

“We’re very fortunate to have a pretty diverse team that focuses on different skill sets and are very complementary and needed to grow the company,” says Dr. D’Couto, whose PhD in chemical engineering and MBA are further accentuated by his 15 years of experience helping multi-million dollar companies bring to market various products and technologies.

After a more detailed look at NEAH Power Systems’ technologies, conversation turns to the company’s numerous accomplishments in 2015, which include ongoing discussions with parties in China related to licensing and manufacturing Formira HOD; the advancement of its pending acquisition of Shorai, which reported $4 million in revenue for full-year 2014; the shipment of three PowerChip® units to the government of India; and other milestones discussed in the company’s recent update to shareholders (http://neahpower.com/2015/09/august-2015-update-to-shareholders/).

Dr. D’Couto concludes the interview with a brief but exciting insight of what’s to come in the near-term future.

For more information, visit www.neahpower.com

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ENGlobal Corporation, a Houston-based automation systems engineering company, is known worldwide for the design of state-of-the-art plant automation systems. Although serving a number of markets, the company is perhaps best known for their support of the energy industry, and therein lies a remarkable fact. Although the energy industry has been hit with challenges like never before, ENGlobal has not only managed to remain financially strong, returning to profitability while so many other energy related companies have suffered, it has grown technologically, developing sophisticated automation solutions that are now critical to an industry under pressure to reduce costs and grow operational efficiencies. ENG is expected to benefit significantly from the growing demand for energy infrastructure upgrades.

With operations in Texas, Colorado, Alabama, and Oklahoma, servicing projects worldwide, ENGlobal’s focus is on EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management), and automation.

For the upstream, midstream, and downstream energy industries, the ENGlobal’s EPCM segment supports:

• Consulting Services
• Construction Management
• Mechanical Integrity
• In-Plant Staffing
• Quality Assurance
• Plant Asset Management

In addition, the company’s Government Services group in the EPCM segment specializes in the turnkey installation and maintenance of automation and instrumentation systems for the U.S. defense industry worldwide, providing engineering, design, and installation, as well as operation and maintenance, of various government, public sector, and international facilities.

On the Automation side, ENGlobal provides design, assembly, programming, installation, integration and servicing, of process control, analytical, and heat tracing systems for specific applications in the energy and processing related industries. They also perform fabrication and implementation of process distributed control and analyzer systems, advanced automation, and related information technology services.

Although ENGlobal is consistently ranked as one of the top engineering design firms, serving a growing market, with a superior performance and financial record, a recent Seeking Alpha article (http://seekingalpha.com/article/3431716-englobal-is-a-great-deep-value-micro-cap-energy-play) says they are undervalued, and states that ENGlobal offers long-term investors an “enormous long-run upside,” with “a potential to make at least a 220% return in 3 years.”

For more information on the company, visit www.ENGlobal.com

Since implementing its updated corporate goals at the beginning of 2014, MIT Holding, Inc. has made tremendous progress toward capitalizing on the steady growth of the medical industry. In the second quarter of 2015, this progress materialized into the first profitable quarter in the company’s history, as well as an 80 percent year-over-year increase in total sales. With profitability achieved, MITD is now firmly focused on promoting national expansion through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Through these efforts, the company will look to continue refining its first-of-its-kind, comprehensive recovery concept, which facilitates and assists patients from the time of their release from a hospital through to a full in-home recovery.

“The first six months of profit and growth validate our strategy and approach to our business model,” Walter Drakeford, chief executive officer of MITD, stated in a news release. “The unabated growth in the medical industry is creating headwinds, contributing to our continued growth and profitability.”

MITD is also benefitting from the medical industry’s ongoing shift toward value-based purchasing options. Rather than continuing to reward healthcare providers based solely on volume of care delivered, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently pushed for a move toward less expensive, value-based care. In 2014, an estimated 20 percent of Medicare reimbursements had shifted away from volume-based payment frameworks, and HHS has set a goal to have 85 percent of Medicare fee-for-service payments in value-based purchasing categories by 2016.

As a result of this market shift, the United States home infusion market is expected to achieve steady growth moving forward, climbing at a compound annual growth rate of just over 9 percent through 2020. According to a report by Harris Williams & Co., home or alternate site home infusion services present patients with a dramatic 90 percent daily cost savings as compared to receiving the same services in a traditional hospital setting.

With its first quarter of profitability now in the books and an established expansion plan in place, MITD is in a favorable position to capitalize on the pivot toward value-based care options while continuing to promote market growth. Look for the company to lean on the marketability of its comprehensive recovery concept, as well as the strong performance of the medical industry, in order to promote sustainable returns.

For more information on MIT Holding, visit http://mitholdinginc.com/

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The site of LA’s top rated and increasingly popular birthday party packages, where parents can really treat their kids to a celebration to be remembered, Giggles N’ Hugs has quickly won favor with LA families as the premier destination for nutritious, delicious food, as well as healthy play and activities for the kids (focus is 1 to 10 age group). Parents can relax in an elegant casual dining area that is adjacent to a fully-equipped play area and enjoy scrumptious selections from a menu centered squarely on gourmet organic food options. From build-your-own pizzas and gourmet goat cheese pizzas with sun-dried tomatoes, eggplant and fresh basil, to a wide selection of fresh salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches, wraps, paninis, and appetizers, GIGL aims to please, with a top-shelf menu that will satisfy health-conscious parents, and kids alike.

By offering patrons enticing deals, such as themed parties that run the gamut from cartoon characters and super heroes, to princesses and sports, as well as membership deals for frequent visitors, including such benefits as 10 percent off beverages, food and retail purchases, Giggles N’ Hugs has had great success cultivating local consumer’s receptivity to its innovative business model. With three primary locations in upscale shopping destinations around LA, including Century City Mall, Glendale Galleria and the Topanga Canyon Mall, GIGL’s unique proposition of allowing parents to drop kids off so they can go shopping, is already proving itself to be a real gold mine. With national and even international expansion in the cards for GIGL, this ingenious combo of custom-made 2,000 plus square-foot indoor play areas with the capacity to act as the first and only restaurant in LA where parents can safely leave their children to go shopping, paying only a nominal entry fee for the child, content in the knowledge that the children will be well looked after by GIGL’s trained staff and kept entertained by numerous activities and the wonderful active play area, is a huge advantage for the company moving forward.

Already in talks with some of the biggest mall owners across the country, GIGL is the kind of synergistic tenant that malls want to have, precisely because of winning features like the drop-off service, and the basic model is also quite attractive. Think about it: there basically isn’t a competing class of restaurant that caters to kids in this way, with a colorful, attractive and gigantic play area full of climbers, castles, dragons, pirate ships and numerous fun toys. A place where a full schedule of activities every half hour, from face painting or arts and crafts, to puppet shows and live music by premium children’s entertainers, keeps toddlers busy so that their parents can relax and enjoy a quality meal, unwind with a glass of wine and talk about their day, or just watch the game. This dual approach, focused on the children, but obviously also catering to adults, reinforced by a healthy menu that is devoid of artificial cheese, potatoes, or GMO cooking oils and the like, is an idea whose time has come.

Parents no longer need to worry about their toddler acting out at a nice restaurant, they can simply go out to a Giggles N’ Hugs and let their toddlers frolic and do what toddlers normal do, instead of constantly fussing with them at the table. Trying to force a young child to act like an adult in an upscale restaurant is a nightmare all too many parents are familiar with, and GIGL has elegantly resolved this common problem, with a solution that is the best of both worlds. More importantly, it is unnatural and traumatic for a toddler who doesn’t really understand why they are being forced to act like an adult, to be placed into a high chair and handed adult utensils, then be scolded for wanting to break free and run around.

GIGL has stunned markets in a very short time by bringing forward an execution of its forward-looking casual dining concept, combined with a souped-up Gymboree implementation for the kids, and this disruptive model could really become one of the major players over the next several years here in the industry gobbling up more and more of the $431 billion plus restaurant and bar market. Limited-service restaurants, which are focused more on select menus and the more fluid casual/fast casual dining dollar, continue to dominate the overall restaurant space, at around 55 percent market share. The same kinds of underserved dynamics that have made fast casual so popular in recent years also stand behind the GIGL model, but one look at the landscape is all it takes to realize there is virtually no competition for GIGL, whereas the fast casual market is now extremely crowded by the likes of Chipotle (NYSE: CMG), Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA), and many others. The underserved market dynamics which led to the boom in fast casual have now led to an over-saturated space, where even companies more traditionally focused on retail now offer some kind of micro eatery on the premises, a problem not seen in the very clear niche GIGL is developing.

While there is obvious competition from players like Chuck E. Cheese’s, the overall approach by GIGL to the market is so categorically different that the company should continue to have no problem distinguishing itself as the new kid on the block with fresh ideas, a healthy menu, and healthy, engaging activities for the kids. As opposed to standard fare that families will find elsewhere, like arcade games and soulless ticket redemption games such as skee-ball, which are basically designed to pick the pocket of consumers who are increasingly mindful of every last penny. The fact that GIGL has really hit the ground running since its inception and now plays host to some of the most high profile celebrities in the world, who routinely bring their kids to Giggles N’ Hugs for parties, a play date, or just to have fun while the adults have a nice meal, is a clear indication of where this brand is headed.

Take a closer look, visit the company’s website to learn more www.gigglesnhugs.com

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Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology is a biotechnology company developing bioengineered organs in order to better address a collection of life-threatening conditions. The company’s development pipeline is headlined by its proprietary second-generation bioengineered organ implant platform, which is currently being developed as a tool to guide the repair of a patient’s own tissue in three unique indications – including diseases of the trachea, bronchi and esophagus. By utilizing a multi-platform approach to clinical development, HART intends to dramatically expand its market opportunity as it continues to explore the development and regulatory pathways for each indication in the coming months.

In recent months, HART’s scientific efforts have been primarily focused on targeting the body response issues encountered during testing of its first-generation trachea product. The company addressed these concerns by utilizing a more elastic material for the device’s scaffold and changing the type of cell that’s seeded onto the scaffold prior to implementation. Through these modifications, HART anticipates achieving improved regenerative response from the body, as well as a more natural restoration of organ function than was observed from its first-generation product. The company, in partnership with the Mayo Clinic, will put these hypotheses to the test in preclinical studies examining its second-generation platform during the fourth quarter of this year.

“We have made tremendous progress in recent months with the development of our second-generation bioengineered organ implant products,” Jim McGorry, chief executive officer of HART, stated in an August news release. “We are poised to make significant further progress over the coming 18 months, including key preclinical and regulatory achievements.”

As of June 30, the company reported a strong cash balance of $10.1 million with no outstanding debt. This favorable balance sheet is expected to play an instrumental role in HART’s ongoing efforts to develop and commercialize its innovative organ implant platform. In order to streamline this progress, the company has built a dedicated internal team of material scientists, engineers and biologists who, in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, are focused on bringing its products to the patients who need them as quickly as possible.

Currently, most human organs that are surgically implanted come from donors, creating a debilitating market shortage that costs the lives of an average of 22 people in the United States each day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, immunosuppression following these transplants – which is necessary to insure that the implanted organ isn’t rejected – can lead to serious, potentially deadly infections. By utilizing a patient’s own cells to produce bioengineered organs, HART’s second-generation platform could effectively address both of these limiting factors, allowing the company to establish a sustainable foothold in some of the medical industry’s most critically underserved indications in the near future.

For more information, visit www.harvardapparatusregen.com

Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology is a biotechnology company developing bioengineered organs in order to better address a collection of life-threatening conditions. The company’s development pipeline is headlined by its proprietary second-generation bioengineered organ implant platform, which is currently being developed as a tool to guide the repair of a patient’s own tissue in three unique indications – including diseases of the trachea, bronchi and esophagus. By utilizing a multi-platform approach to clinical development, HART intends to dramatically expand its market opportunity as it continues to explore the development and regulatory pathways for each indication in the coming months.

In recent months, HART’s scientific efforts have been primarily focused on targeting the body response issues encountered during testing of its first-generation trachea product. The company addressed these concerns by utilizing a more elastic material for the device’s scaffold and changing the type of cell that’s seeded onto the scaffold prior to implementation. Through these modifications, HART anticipates achieving improved regenerative response from the body, as well as a more natural restoration of organ function than was observed from its first-generation product. The company, in partnership with the Mayo Clinic, will put these hypotheses to the test in preclinical studies examining its second-generation platform during the fourth quarter of this year.

“We have made tremendous progress in recent months with the development of our second-generation bioengineered organ implant products,” Jim McGorry, chief executive officer of HART, stated in an August news release. “We are poised to make significant further progress over the coming 18 months, including key preclinical and regulatory achievements.”

As of June 30, the company reported a strong cash balance of $10.1 million with no outstanding debt. This favorable balance sheet is expected to play an instrumental role in HART’s ongoing efforts to develop and commercialize its innovative organ implant platform. In order to streamline this progress, the company has built a dedicated internal team of material scientists, engineers and biologists who, in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, are focused on bringing its products to the patients who need them as quickly as possible.

Currently, most human organs that are surgically implanted come from donors, creating a debilitating market shortage that costs the lives of an average of 22 people in the United States each day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, immunosuppression following these transplants – which is necessary to insure that the implanted organ isn’t rejected – can lead to serious, potentially deadly infections. By utilizing a patient’s own cells to produce bioengineered organs, HART’s second-generation platform could effectively address both of these limiting factors, allowing the company to establish a sustainable foothold in some of the medical industry’s most critically underserved indications in the near future.

For more information, visit www.harvardapparatusregen.com

Stellar Biotechnologies, a leading provider of keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) protein, has made considerable progress toward expanding its production capacity in recent months in order to better accommodate increasing demand for the vital nutrient in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. In July, through a collaboration agreement with Ostiones Guerrero SA de CV, the company secured exclusive rights to the development of a second KLH production site in Baja California, Mexico, effectively bolstering its position as a leader in the sustainable manufacture of the valuable ocean resource. Following this partnership, Stellar’s experienced management team was vocal about the positive implications of establishing itself as the only company with a reliable and scalable supply of KLH.

“We expect demand for reliable sources of KLH to grow, both from our existing partners and the broader biotech industry, as the clinical use of novel immunotherapies increases,” Frank Oates, president and chief executive officer of Stellar, stated in a news release. “We believe this [Ostiones] collaboration will better position Stellar to accelerate its production strategy to accommodate the anticipated growth in the industry.”

Earlier this week, Stellar’s strategy was reaffirmed when its partner, Neovacs, presented promising extended follow-up data from its phase I/IIa clinical trial of IFNα-Kinoid, which is being evaluated for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Because the company’s KLH protein serves as the carrier molecule in Neovacs’s proprietary immunotherapy technology, these results are anticipated to play a key role in increasing the market demand for Stellar’s sustainable supply of the immune-stimulating protein in the future. In preparation for this increase, the company recently entered into an expanded supply agreement to meet Neovacs’s clinical and commercial requirements moving forward.

“This is an important milestone for Neovacs which, we believe, reinforces the role of KLH as a key carrier molecule in immunotherapy treatments,” continued Oates.

Rising demand for KLH has also had a positive impact on Stellar’s top line results in recent months. During its fiscal quarter ended June 30, the company recorded a 117 percent year-over-year increase in total revenues driven primarily by an increase in product sales resulting from its partners’ continued efforts to advance their respective clinical trials in various underserved therapeutic indications. For prospective shareholders, this performance could foreshadow an opportunity for tremendous growth in the coming months, as Stellar looks to effectively leverage its formidable position as the only company with a reliable and scalable supply of KLH.

For more information, visit www.stellarbiotech.com

Stellar Biotechnologies, a leading provider of keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) protein, has made considerable progress toward expanding its production capacity in recent months in order to better accommodate increasing demand for the vital nutrient in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. In July, through a collaboration agreement with Ostiones Guerrero SA de CV, the company secured exclusive rights to the development of a second KLH production site in Baja California, Mexico, effectively bolstering its position as a leader in the sustainable manufacture of the valuable ocean resource. Following this partnership, Stellar’s experienced management team was vocal about the positive implications of establishing itself as the only company with a reliable and scalable supply of KLH.

“We expect demand for reliable sources of KLH to grow, both from our existing partners and the broader biotech industry, as the clinical use of novel immunotherapies increases,” Frank Oates, president and chief executive officer of Stellar, stated in a news release. “We believe this [Ostiones] collaboration will better position Stellar to accelerate its production strategy to accommodate the anticipated growth in the industry.”

Earlier this week, Stellar’s strategy was reaffirmed when its partner, Neovacs, presented promising extended follow-up data from its phase I/IIa clinical trial of IFNα-Kinoid, which is being evaluated for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Because the company’s KLH protein serves as the carrier molecule in Neovacs’s proprietary immunotherapy technology, these results are anticipated to play a key role in increasing the market demand for Stellar’s sustainable supply of the immune-stimulating protein in the future. In preparation for this increase, the company recently entered into an expanded supply agreement to meet Neovacs’s clinical and commercial requirements moving forward.

“This is an important milestone for Neovacs which, we believe, reinforces the role of KLH as a key carrier molecule in immunotherapy treatments,” continued Oates.

Rising demand for KLH has also had a positive impact on Stellar’s top line results in recent months. During its fiscal quarter ended June 30, the company recorded a 117 percent year-over-year increase in total revenues driven primarily by an increase in product sales resulting from its partners’ continued efforts to advance their respective clinical trials in various underserved therapeutic indications. For prospective shareholders, this performance could foreshadow an opportunity for tremendous growth in the coming months, as Stellar looks to effectively leverage its formidable position as the only company with a reliable and scalable supply of KLH.

For more information, visit www.stellarbiotech.com

The vital role transfer agents play in today’s increasingly hectic capital markets cannot be overstated. The investment community is reliant on trustworthy, rigorous record keeping by transfer agents when it comes to managing the transfer of securities and providing accurate distinctions regarding specialized transactions such as restricted and freely-tradable shares and proactively preventing unlawful distribution of unregistered securities.

While most transfer agents cater to big companies that have hundreds of thousands of shareholders or more, there are very few specialty shops that have mastered what it takes to fully service SMEs, providing them with the kind of mission-critical, tailored service required to successfully execute tender offers, stock splits, and exchange listing shifts. One of the undisputed masters in this field today is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust, which explicitly caters to companies that have 50,000 or less shareholders, offering round-the-clock access to senior experts and a client-tailored approach.

Continental cultivates strong client relationships, secure in the knowledge that the way to succeed in this arena is to deliver to emerging and midsize clients a full suite of personalized offerings. This key distinction makes Continental Stock Transfer & Trust shine when compared to their competition. From secure 24/7 access to balancing tools such as ControlBook Reporting, a proprietary platform offered to its clients to highly customized extended services, like employee and stock plan administration, dividend reinvestment plans, planning and executing successful annual meetings, EDGAR/XBRL services, or the handling of online material design and distributions.

Because of the specific focus Continental Stock Transfer & Trust has on the emerging markets, the firm has become extremely proficient in IPO fundamentals and thus has a long, successful track record of helping private companies go public. Continental understands the importance of preparing the ground work, such as the assembly of management teams, readying financials for audit, crucial hands-on liaision with the underwriters, and the successful navigation of SEC registration requirements.

A real testament to the company’s storied proficiency in the IPO game is its established reputation as an industry leader in special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) processing, having handled nearly every SPAC brought to market since 1990 via the same full-spectrum approach that has garnered Continental such accolades for its work in executing IPOs. By providing everything from general transfer, warrant and escrow agent services to distribution of proceeds and tax documents, or the necessary intra depository agent, bank and broker facilitation work, Continental has established itself as the leading provider of SPAC processing.

Look to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust for consistent philosophical dedication to emerging and growth companies.

Look closer by visiting www.continentalstock.com