Emisphere Restructures Debt Agreements, Providing Greater Stability for Business Growth and Expansion

ROSELAND, N.J., Dec. 09, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (EMIS) announced today that it has reached agreement with MHR Fund Management LLC, and certain of its affiliated funds ("MHR") to waive certain of the terms of the Company's existing obligations under the loan facility and various promissory notes previously issued to MHR, and the royalty agreement (“Royalty Agreement”) which provides for payments to MHR based on sales of the Company’s Eligen® B12 product, in addition to revising the royalty payment terms of the Company’s existing GLP-1 (Semaglutide) Development and License Agreement (“GLP-1 Agreement”) with Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO).

Reduction in Principal Loan Amount. MHR agreed to revise the terms of the loan facility to provide for a permanent reduction of $7 million to the outstanding principal amount owed to MHR. This reduction will become effective upon the first commercial sale of a product under the GLP-1 Agreement.

Suspension of cash sweep and permanent waiver of existing $7M obligation to MHR. The cash proceeds sweep provided for in both the loan facility and certain of the promissory notes has been suspended until October 2018, except in certain circumstances where proceeds subject to the sweep exceed $5 million in any twelve month period. In addition, MHR agreed to irrevocably waive the application of the cash proceeds sweep that would have required payment to MHR of approximately $7 million resulting from proceeds received by the Company from Novo Nordisk in 2015.

Waiver of royalty payments and Eligen® B12 sales milestone obligations. MHR further agreed to waive its right to payments owed to it under the Royalty Agreement in respect of net sales of Eligen® B12 during the 2015 fiscal year, and any event of default under the loan facility or certain promissory notes resulting from the Company’s failure to timely satisfy future Eligen® B12 sales milestones, as specified therein.

Novo Nordisk Royalty Payment to MHR. The payment terms of the GLP-1 Agreement were revised to provide for payment by Novo Nordisk directly to MHR of a portion of any royalties payable to the Company under the terms of the GLP-1 Agreement equal to .5% of net sales for any licensed product subject to the GLP-1 Agreement.

“We are most enthusiastic to have the continued financial support and latitude extended by the new debt restructuring agreement with MHR. The management team highly values their firm vote of confidence in Emisphere’s prospective business plan, the potential of Oral GLP-1, and the solid runway to realize the promise of additional future growth initiatives,” said Alan L. Rubino, Chief Executive Officer and President of Emisphere.

ABOUT ELIGEN® TECHNOLOGY
Emisphere's broad-based drug delivery technology platform, known as the Eligen® Technology, uses proprietary, synthetic chemical compounds, known as Emisphere delivery agents, or carriers. Emisphere's Eligen® Technology makes it possible to deliver a therapeutic molecule without altering its chemical form or biological integrity.

ABOUT EMISPHERE
Emisphere is a a pharmaceutical and drug delivery company. The Company launched its first prescription product, oral Eligen B12™, in the U.S. in March 2015 and is currently engaged in strategic discussions to optimize its economic value in the U.S. and global markets. Beyond Eligen B12™, the Company utilizes its proprietary Eligen® Technology to create new oral formulations of therapeutic agents. Emisphere is currently partnered with global pharmaceutical companies for the development of new orally delivered therapeutics and also pursuing licensing opportunities for its oral Eligen B12 asset. For more information, please visit www.emisphere.com.

Extended to 12/1/16 - news coming soon I hope!

Another short-term debt extension. I suspect we'll see some sort of deal announced very soon. Seems like the company is working more towards a partnership(s) arrangement rather than being sold, but hard to believe Novo doesn't step up and at least make an acquisition offer.

On November 15, 2016, MHR agreed to further extend the payment of the Proceeds and Royalties to December 1, 2016.

HILLSBORO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Radisys® Corporation (RSYS), the services acceleration company, today launched its Evolved Packet Core (EPC) software as the industry’s first open source software under the Apache 2.0 license for ON.Lab’s Mobile-CORD (M-CORD) project. M-CORD is built on top of ONOS and the CORD (Central Office Re-architected as a Datacenter) open source project that combines data center economics and the agility of the cloud with the benefits of a virtualized and disaggregated mobile core, as well as access infrastructure and mobile edge computing for innovation and deployment of 5G. The integration of open source mobile core applications like EPC will provide enhanced service flexibility and agility in enabling 5G service delivery on the M-CORD platform. Unlike closed source and proprietary mobile platforms, open source M-CORD architecture and applications will accelerate agile service innovation with improved economics, making mobility more cost-efficient, more software-programmable and more cloud-elastic.

“M-CORD is emerging as the platform of choice for enabling 5G as it aligns with communications service providers’ migration to next-gen networks built with open source components,” said Guru Parulkar, executive director, ON.Lab. “Radisys has been a leading proponent of M-CORD, serving as the project’s system integrator. Now, Radisys has taken a bold step in delivering the industry’s only open source EPC and we appreciate the company’s forward-looking approach to accelerating 5G innovation.”

The three key components of the M-CORD framework include mobile edge services, a disaggregated/virtualized Radio Access Network (RAN), and a disaggregated/virtualized EPC. Radisys’ open source EPC provides disaggregated and virtualized core services of Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) elements. M-CORD will also be the bedrock for 5G innovations which include connectionless mode architecture and mobile network slicing for enhanced scalability. As new types of digital subscribers and mobile applications emerge, the M-CORD framework will be the proving ground for how 5G service innovations are built, enabled and delivered.

“As communications service providers are planning today what their 5G networks of tomorrow will look like, we believe that now is the time for Radisys to deliver the open source resources to enable innovation for M-CORD as the emerging 5G platform,” said Brian Bronson, president and CEO, Radisys. “Radisys is firmly committed to the open source movement in both software and hardware. By making our EPC software available under open source license, we’re lowering the barrier to entry to service providers deploying next-generation 5G wireless networks.”

Radisys’ open source EPC contribution, including completed integration with the M-CORD framework, will be available in March 2017.

Needham & Company reiterated a Buy rating on Radcom(NASDAQ: RDCM), and raised the price target to $27.00 (from $23.00), as the company reaches for growth opportunity. Radcom noted on the last conference call it had engaged with 9 Service Providers in evaluations. Four of these are moving at a rapid pace. Needham is also interested in the announced AWS and AT&T partnership, as AT&T is aggressively using RDCM for vProbes in monitoring.

Analyst Alex Henderson commented, "We believe RDCM is confronted with an exceptional growth opportunity. We think the company is determined to seize it. With major contract wins likely at numerous Tier 1 Service Providers, we think Radcom is deciding to invest aggressively in front of growth. Accordingly, we are raising our Revenue targets but also sharply increasing our estimates for OPEX and R&D to support this growth. We are highly bullish and we raise our Price Target to $27 from $23 to reflect the strong positive news flow."

Radcom Ltd. (NASDAQ:RDCM) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 33.66% from the stock’s previous close.

10/17/16:

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company.
Spark Investment Management LLC raised its stake in RadiSys Corp. by 176.3% in the first quarter. Spark Investment Management LLC now owns 107,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 68,600 shares during the period.
Emerald Acquisition Ltd. bought a new stake in RadiSys Corp. during the second quarter worth $1,360,000.
EAM Investors LLC raised its stake in RadiSys Corp. by 39.7% in the second quarter. EAM Investors LLC now owns 647,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 183,938 shares during the period.
Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in RadiSys Corp. by 13.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 21,319 shares during the period.
Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in RadiSys Corp. during the second quarter worth $433,000.

59.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Interop Technologies Enhances Cloud-based Voice over Wi-Fi and Voice over LTE by Deploying Radisys’ MediaEngine vMRF

Business Wire - September 20, 2016

HILLSBORO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Radisys® Corporation (RSYS), the services acceleration company, today announced that Interop Technologies, a specialist in virtualized IMS infrastructure and IP services technologies for the mobile industry, has deployed Radisys’ MediaEngine™ Media Resource Function (MRF) to enhance the media processing functionality of its VoWiFi and VoLTE solutions in its CorePlusX product suite. CorePlusX? is a complete, virtualized IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution that delivers the services, functionality and infrastructure that operators need to successfully compete in the ever-changing all-IP mobile space.

“We selected Radisys as the best technology partner to deliver virtualized media processing through its MediaEngine MRF for our IP voice services,” said Josh Wigginton, vice president of product management, Interop Technologies. “Working with a leader like Radisys allows us to provide specialized expertise, while reducing technological complexities to enable significant time-to-market advantages for our customers.”

Both Radisys and Interop Technologies specialize in virtualized technology components and networks to deliver cost savings, reduce time-to-market and reduce the complexities the industry faces as it moves to an all-IP ecosystem. VoWiFi and VoLTE solutions allow mobile network operators to capitalize on the immediate benefits of IP voice.

“Interop Technologies is a great example of an innovative IP network service provider that has embraced the successful “as-a-service” model to reduce the complexity of IMS and advanced communication services,” said Grant Henderson, vice president, MediaEngine and Corporate Marketing, Radisys. “For Interop Technologies’ solution, Radisys’ vMRF enhances their media processing capabilities, allowing Interop to deploy the most advanced cloud-based solutions available to providers around the globe.”

Roth 2016 Datacenter Technology Access Day Takeaways(9/9/16)

Radisys (RSYS, Buy, $6 PT) Radisys CEO and CFO met with a number of investors, many of whom had not paid attention to the story in several years. In our meeting as well as in others, the Company was primarily focused on its DC Engine and Flow Engine products and the opportunities that they represent.

Similar to the recent conference call, the company reiterated that it is relatively deep in the pipeline with at least six service providers who are evaluating its DC Engine solution. We believe at least two could be as big as Verizon (VZ) has proven to be already this year. The next generation Flow Engine is garnering strong customer interest as it vastly expands on the capabilities of its predecessor while delivering a truly disruptive cost and form factor.

We expect the next generation of Flow Engine to ramp into meaningful sales in 1H:17, delivering additional margin improvement. Given the magnitude of the DC Engine opportunity and the strong Flow Engine demand, we continue to see an attractive risk / reward opportunity for Radisys over the next 6-9 months.

Needham & Company analyst, Alex Henderson reiterated his Buy rating on shares of Radcom (NASDAQ: RDCM) and raised his price target to $23.00 from $17.00. The analyst spoke with the CEO on Sunday and we come away impressed at the progress.

RDCM is maxed out on the number of field trials that can be managed at 9. The analyst believes that this translates into increased "potential for an accelerating ramp of revenues". However, investment ahead of growth is essential which likely dampen EPS growth.

9/26/2016 Needham & Company LLC
Boost Price Target
Buy $17.00 -> $23.00

Market Chatter: Clovis Oncology Gains as Buyout Rumors Swirl; Shares up 5%
9:57 AM ET, 09/21/2016 - MT Newswires

09:57 AM EDT, 09/21/2016 (MT Newswires) -- Clovis Oncology (CLVS) is trading higher Wednesday as rumors of a possible takeover drives shares of the biopharmaceutical company up more than 5%.

Credit Suisse analyst Kennen MacKay upgraded Clovis to outperform from neutral and bumped the price target up by 116% on expectations that Eli Lilly (LLY), Merck (MRK) and Takeda Pharmaceuticals are all potential buyers.

And in an interview with Bloomberg, an analyst with Janney Capital cites a "long list" of suitors that also includes Roche.

Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ:CLVS) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.

Price target raised to $41 (7% upside) from $19.

Stifel Nicolaus’ target price as of Sep 15th, 2016

Exelixis Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $12.00 to $15.00 in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 15.30% from the stock’s current price.

William Blair analyst John Sonnier (9/17/16)

William Blair analyst John Sonnier is out with a research report on Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) as the biotech company’s shares have been shooting up 131% year-to-date, which Sonnier deems “a bright spot” amid “an extremely volatile sector.”

Investors have continued to call the analyst throughout the past two weeks, with a real spotlight of interest honing in on the almost release of positive Phase II CABOSUN full data. The trial evaluates EXEL’s pipeline drug Cabometyx, and where its safety and efficacy in intermediate or poor-risk front-line rental cell carcinoma (RCC) patients, 80% of the whole market, square up against competitor Sutent, Pfizer’s leading front-line prescription.

Sonnier forecasts this could prove to be an over $1 billion global market opportunity. The analyst increased both Cabometyx and Cometriq sales estimates from $109 million to $156 million in 2016, from $199 million to $308 million in 2017, and from $307 million to $405 million in 2018. Additionally, the analyst introduces a 2019 projection for $471 million.

Sonnier notes back on May 23rd, positive top-line data was released, and the analyst anticipates that come next month at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference on October 7th through 11th, detailed data will be on its way.

“In our view, Exelixis is a fundamentally improved and transformed company compared with just one year ago, with an investment profile that holds broader appeal. At current price levels, we believe that EXEL shares are undervalued with significant upside potential and numerous catalysts in the coming months,” Sonnier concludes.

Ahead of the full data, the analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on EXEL without listing a price target.

Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Clovis Oncology Inc. (CLVS) Price Target to $45.00

Posted by Amy Steele on Sep 21st, 2016 // No Comments

Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:CLVS) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $30.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 29.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Clovis Oncology during the second quarter worth about $144,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Clovis Oncology during the second quarter worth $154,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Clovis Oncology by 56.8% in the first quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. CIBC World Markets Inc. increased its position in shares of Clovis Oncology by 7.8% in the first quarter. CIBC World Markets Inc. now owns 11,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clovis Oncology during the first quarter worth $233,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Clovis upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse analyst Kennen MacKay upgraded Clovis Oncology (CLVS) to Outperform and raised his price target for the shares to $41 from $19.

Clovis closed yesterday up 13%, or $3.92, to $34.83. The potential for a takeover "outweighs concerns surrounding patent life, limited experience in platinum resistant/refractory patients, and PARPi competition," MacKay tells investors in a research note.

Clovis could be worth $35-$41 per share in a buyout on operational synergies, and $52-$55 per share with leveraged tax benefits, MacKay estimates.

He points out that Eli Lilly (Lill)y, Merck (MRK), Japan's Takeda and others have expressed interest in acquiring U.S. oncology companies.

Janney sees many suitors for Clovis; shares move higher, again, in post market

Clovis (NASDAQ:CLVS) has always been considered an acquisition target with a “long list” of potential suitors including Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK), and Roche, Janney tells Bloomberg in an interview.

CEO Patrick Mahaffy has sold other companies including Pharmion, NeXstar Pharmaceuticals.

Clovis closed +12.7% and is up another 7.7% AH. Earlier today the stock jumped when Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) said it is looking for cancer deals.

Clovis's PDUFA date for ovarian cancer drug rucaparib is Feb. 23, 2017.

Great article out today:

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-09-15/parp-inhibitors-biotech-m-a-s-new-hope

Maybe. All depends on the next news release...company has to come out and provide a debt-refinancing update. They have become deathly quiet though so not sure what to expect here anymore.

Jefferies analyst James Kisner reiterated a Buy rating and boosted his price target on RadiSys (NASDAQ: RSYS) to $7.25 (from $6.00) after hosting investor meetings with Jon Wilson, CFO of Radisys.

"We believe RSYS is poised to be a significant beneficiary of a tsunami of change to carrier architectures as they increasingly move away from traditional central office equipment to a software-defined data center architecture," Kisner said. "We believe the stock could easily double over the next couple of years given the magnitude of opportunity presented by these products."

6/17/16

Radisys Joins CORD as Partner Together with Google and Samsung
Growing open source community unites around the Central Office Re-architected as a Data Center Project; Google, Radisys & Samsung join initiative

San Francisco, July 26, 2016–Open Networking Lab (ON.Lab) and The Linux Foundation today announce the formation of the Central Office Re-architected as a Data Center (CORD™) initiative as a new, independent open source project. In addition, Google, Radisys and Samsung Electronics Co. are joining CORD and ONOS® Projects as new partners.

Google will host the first CORD Summit on July 29 at Google Sunnyvale Tech Corner Campus in California, which will unite industry leaders, network architects and administrators, developers and engineers interested in building and using CORD to reinvent network access.

“We are delighted to welcome Google to the open source ONOS and CORD partnerships,” said Guru Parulkar, executive director at ON.Lab. “Given Google’s track record as a provider of cloud and access services, we anticipate it will play an important role in strengthening the CORD architecture, implementation, and deployments.”

“We are also delighted to partner with Radisys, a leading system integrator in the service provider space, and Samsung, which is committed to advancing next-generation mobile technologies. CORD is very well-positioned for future growth,” said Parulkar. “Radisys’ leadership for an open, vendor-agnostic solution for central office transformation will be critical in providing turn-key CORD Pods that will accelerate development and adoption of CORD, enabling ground-breaking network transformation. And Samsung as a leader in mobile networking will help ONOS and CORD in this important domain of use.”

Designed to support connectivity and cloud-based services for residential, enterprise and mobile subscribers, CORD delivers an open source integrated solutions platform for service providers leveraging merchant silicon, white boxes, and open source platforms such as ONOS, OpenStack, Docker, and XOS.

"CORD has the potential to significantly improve the economics and agility of access networks globally," said Ankur Jain, principal engineer at Google. "We are excited to join CORD, host its inaugural summit and work closely with leading ecosystem players to bring greater scalability and rapid innovation to access networks."

“CORD presents a revolutionary architecture that uniquely exploits the best of SDN, NFV, and Cloud technologies, creating cutting-edge connectivity and cloud-scale services. Radisys is excited to join ONOS and CORD Projects as partner together with Google, Samsung, and other industry leaders,” said Brian Bronson, Radisys’ president and CEO. “As a disruptive provider of mobile access, core, IMS, and telco datacenter integration solutions, Radisys is committed to accelerating service operators’ plans in transitioning to personalized telco cloud environment. This transition will result in transformational TCO savings while enabling untethered agility to better handle and monetize the ongoing explosive growth in data and video traffic.”

"As a leading provider of mobile broadband networking solutions, we see great potential in CORD and software like NFV and SDN, which are key enablers for innovative services and efficient network operations,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of Next Generation Business Team at Samsung Electronics Co. “Samsung is very focused on advancing the latest technologies that can benefit network operators and enable the next generation of innovative user services and applications.”

CORD’s Evolution In the Market

Initially developed as a use case for the open source SDN operating system ONOS, CORD has experienced major momentum and adoption among service providers and vendors during the past year. Now as a separate project with its own governance, partners, collaborators, and contributors, the community is actively collaborating and accelerating CORD development and use in production networks.

The summit will feature keynotes from CORD community partners and collaborators including AT&T, China Unicom, Google, ON.Lab, and The Linux Foundation. Topics for discussion include the CORD architecture, use cases, building with and using CORD and the technical roadmap.

“Service providers are eager to leverage new open source technologies and platforms to transform their infrastructure,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. “CORD provides service providers with a framework to re-architect their traditional central offices into next-generation data centers, using new technologies like SDN, NFV and cloud technologies that are going mainstream.”

CORD Reinvents the Central Office

CORD utilizes the elasticity of commodity clouds to enable data center economics and cloud agility in the central office environment. Previously gridlocked by closed systems and interdependent hardware and software, service providers can now offer flexible hardware specifications, platform software and services customized to their customers’ usage needs.

The diverse CORD community comprises service provider partners AT&T, China Unicom, Google, NTT Communications, SK Telecom, and Verizon, vendors Ciena, Cisco, Fujitsu, Intel, NEC, Nokia, Radisys, and Samsung, and a long list of other vendors and system integrators.

The CORD Project allows subscribers to configure and manage service packages with Web-like simplicity and automated internet-like provisioning. With open API’s and built-in security, CORD architecture enables service providers to quickly and safely add third-party service offerings to provide subscribers with a wide array of today’s and tomorrow’s services.

Whether an individual or an organization, all are encouraged to get involved with the growing open source CORD community. Both the ONOS and CORD Projects are hosted by The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit advancing professional open source management for mass collaboration.

About CORD Project

CORD™ (Central Office Re-architected as a Datacenter) brings datacenter economics and cloud flexibility to the telco Central Office and to the entire access network. CORD is an open source service delivery platform that combines SDN, NFV, and elastic cloud services to network operators and service providers. It integrates ONOS, OpenStack, Docker, and XOS—all running on merchant silicon, white-box switches, commodity servers, and disaggregated access devices. The CORD reference implementation serves as a platform for multiple domains of use, with open source communities building innovative services for residential, mobile, and enterprise network customers. The CORD ecosystem comprises ON.Lab and organizations that are funding and contributing to the CORD initiative. These organizations include AT&T, China Unicom, Google, NTT Communications Corp., SK Telecom Co. Ltd., Verizon, Ciena Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Intel Corporation, NEC Corporation, Nokia, Radisys, and Samsung Electronics Co. See the full list of members, including CORD’s collaborators, and learn how you can get involved with CORD at opencord.org.

CORD is an independently funded software project hosted by The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit advancing professional open source management for mass collaboration to fuel innovation across industries and ecosystems.

Needham Upgrade from 7/27/16:

Needham & Company reiterated a Buy rating on Radisys Corp (NASDAQ: RSYS), and raised the price target to $6.00 (from $5.50), following the company's 2Q earnings report. RSYS reported revenue of $61.3MM, ahead of $60.4MM estimates, driven by Embedded Products. NG EPS of $0.10 also exceeded estimates of $0.07.

Analyst Richard Valera commented, "RSYS delivered solid 2Q16 results and largely maintained its prior 2016 guidance. We think the company is positioned to continue to deliver growth in its high-margin SS business, with its nascent FlowEngine product standing out as the most significant growth driver in that business. As well, its new DCEngine product has opened up a major new revenue opportunity for the company and appears to have a strong pipeline of opportunities beyond its initial large orders from Verizon. In aggregate, we see the FlowEngine and DCEngine opportunities as large relative to the size and market cap of RSYS. We maintain our Buy while nudging up our PT to $6 (was $5.50), or 1.0x EV/C'18 revenue."

Shares of RadiSys closed at $5.17 yesterday.

A couple of recent SA articles should get some more discussion going here. Exciting prospects for this company and stock is jumping today on heavy volume for some unknown reason. Maybe another contract to be announced soon? Maybe, maybe...

Another Board change, more coming:

(TSX:IMP)

Intermap Reports Board Changes

DENVER, August 25, 2016 - (TSX: IMP) – Intermap Technologies Corporation ("Intermap" or the "Company"), a provider of location-based solutions, reports that effective August 24, 2016, Cary Ludtke will resign from his director role and instead serve as a strategic business advisor to the Company. “I want to thank Cary for the contribution he is making, and will continue to make expanding our commercial relationships. The Company will announce further board changes shortly”, said Patrick Blott, Chairman of Intermap.

About Intermap Technologies
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap is a leading provider of geospatial solutions on demand with its secure, cloud-based Orion Platform®. Through its powerful suite of software applications and proprietary development of contiguous databases that fuse volumes of geospatial data into a single source, the Orion Platform is able to provide location-based solutions for customers in diverse markets around the world. For additional information, please visit www.intermap.com.

For more information, please contact

Rich Mohr
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
rmohr@intermap.com
+1 (303) 708-0955

Cory Pala
Investor Relations
cpala@evestor.com
+1 (416) 657-2400

Mariner Investment Group LLC held its position in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MACK) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock at the end of the second quarter. Mariner Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company.

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals by 40.6% in the first quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 26,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 7,732 shares during the period. Chicago Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the second quarter.

Chicago Equity Partners LLC now owns 48,180 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services Inc boosted its position in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the first quarter.

Commonwealth Equity Services Inc now owns 35,881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Boston Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $311,000.

Finally, BlackRock Group LTD boosted its position in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals by 44.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Group LTD now owns 44,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 13,542 shares during the period.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MACK) traded up 2.62% on Wednesday, reaching $5.87. 1,476,983 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The company’s market cap is $749.75 million. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.02 and a 52-week high of $11.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.59.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 19th.

Cowen and Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Brean Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 20th.

Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, May 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.54.

Nice write up on MACK by Bret Jensen on SA today:

So what "Tier 3" stocks do I like as standalone entities but see as logical acquisition targets? Here are two names that should be on your shopping list.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MACK) - The company has one product "Onivyde" recently approved on the market for a type of pancreatic cancer as well as in late stage trials for other indications. Onivyde also just got the "thumbs up" from The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use {CHMP}. It will be marketed there by Shire (NASDAQ:SHPG) which is Merrimack's marketing and distribution partner outside the United States.

Another compound in Merrimack's pipeline (seribantumab) recently received Fast Track review for the treatment of patients with heregulin-positive, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Merrimack has a market capitalization of under $700 million, a stock price under $6.00 a share and has a median price target by the analysts that cover it of $12 according to Tipranks. For a more detailed analysis of why I like Merrimack, click here.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3994487-small-biotech-moving-risk-curve?v=1470150549&commenter=1&comments=show

And his previous write up:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3961298-biotech-forum-daily-digest-mercks-pyrrhic-victory-gilead-amgens-patent-win-spotlight

Reddit ARTICLE:

MACK is the head company for one very interesting drug. Onivyde was approved back in October 22nd 2015. The drug is a combination of the chemotherapy drug irinotecan, fluorouracil and lucovorin. The drug is specifically for the treatment of patients who have 'metastatic adenocarcinoma' of the pancreas (a form of cancer).

The drug itself is complicated, but it has been approved, and is showing positive signs of not only results, but sales. I will not go into too much detail regarding the drug, approval process or anything like that, as I am simply looking at the business side. If you need more information, visit their patient site https://www.onivyde.com/for-patients/. It has A LOT of information regarding the drug. I have read through it a couple of times, and I am very impressed with the way in which they handled the approval process, FDA testing and now administration of the drug.

In the fourth quarter of 2015 alone, it boasted over $4 million in sales, which covered just the final two months (due to be being released in late October). Considering the rate at which a new drug sometimes takes to be administered, this seems to me like an exceptionally fast growth for the drug. It should also be noted that in March 2016, the drug had already reached 75% of targeted national and regional payers.

During the end of last year, and leading into 2016, stock suffered, as did much of the market. However, when the Q4 earnings results arrived, the stock shot up from around $5.50 to $8+. This was not the same for first quarter 2016 results. According to their Q1 financial results, there was 133% growth in the market (speaking specifically about ONIVYDE). The market had no reaction to this news, which was interesting, as the market reacted very well to the first month of sales.

These numbers are outstanding for a new drug, as they show real interest in prescribing to the market. Assuming ONIVYDE is able to achieve approval for frontline metastatic cancer (currently in phase 2 of trials), it would take the patient base from just under 20,000 and increase it to 70,000. This would potentially create a $1-$1.5 billion market. This alone gives us the price point we have regarding $MACK, as an annual turnover like this should make the company much more valuable than the low $700-750 million market cap it has now. Similar ideas have been shared on Seeking Alpha, so please check there too!

Future Drugs

However, this is not the final story. Along with ONVIYDE, $MACK has two other major assets in MM-302 and MM-121.

MM-121 began its phase II study in February 2015, still in the midsts of this trial right now. This drug is aiming to meet the need for non-small cell lung cancer, something which has a very high unmet need in the market. The potential size of this field is huge, seeing worldwide peak sales reaching a maximum of $2 billion. Again, another huge drug. I wouldn't expect anything lower than $1.3-1.6 billion for this drug.

MM-302 is another drug currently in the FDA approval process. Focused on metastatic breast cancer, boasting 9,000-10,000 potential patents in the US (maybe a slight over estimate, but by no more than 1,000). Even this drug could be looking at 400-500 million a year, adding further to the companies potential value.

Stock Pricing

Assuming that no other drugs are approved, and it takes ONIVYDE between 6-7 years to reach max potential. I don't see why the company shouldn't be placed in the $1.3 billion range for a buyout. I understand this isn't the same Bio market that existed a few years ago, but the company is boasting fantastic sales numbers, and is continuing to grow.

As I said, ONIVYDE is not the only aspect of this company, MM-302 and MM-121 seem to be both very promising attributes for $MACK. I understand that the approval rate it low, however, if approved and there has been no buyout before this approval, I could see the stock price skyrocketing. However, I do not believe $MACK will survive too much longer past the entrance into the phase 3 of the FDA study. The company looks too appealing.

If we value the markets of these two drugs with a 25% chance of approval, and priced accordingly, I don't see why we shouldn't be staring at a $2.2-5 billion buyout ($18 stock price).

Future

My assumptions could be wildly off, however I know for sure that there is only really one direction for the company to go in the long run, and that is up. ONIVYDE alone is proving to be both a fantastically efficient drug, and Merrimack is doing a great job selling it.

I am into $MACK for just over 5,000 shares.

I also picked up 150 August 19th $6 Calls. 2nd quarter earnings report should be on the 4th of August, so hopefully I will be able to execute that call, and pick up a high return on the cheap (I am basing this call purchase on the reaction after the Q4 earnings report from last year, the Bio market seems ripe and ready to invest, so I see a lot of buying from even the smallest bit of excitement).

Cowen Report out today:

After an investors meeting in New York City this week with ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) touching base about its upcoming commercial launch for Nuplazid, Cowen analyst Ritu Baral reiterates a Buy with a price target of $42.00; essentially a 13% increase from where the stock is currently trading.

Baral finds cautious optimism from the minds of management at ACAD for pipeline drug Nuplazid, the first and only FDA-approved drug created to treat hallucinations and delusions from psychosis people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Though the analyst believes Nuplazid will eventually pick up in market sales, he notes it will take some time to build up that momentum. Even ACAD understands this; a reason Baral gives for the pharmaceutical company’s delay in providing guidance for the next coming financial quarters. Once the numbers roll in, ACAD fully intends to provide guidance.

Presently, ACAD’s centralized efforts intend to raise awareness of not only the company’s drug, Nuplazid, but also of Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis (PDP). This is a strategy which Baral thinks will serve ACADIA Pharmaceuticals well to “meaningfully increase to prescriber familiarity of the drug and ultimately translate to a realization of full revenue potential.” Baral expects a move from raising awareness to full-focused consumer campaign likely to commence either by early or middle of 2017. While Baral conservatively estimates modeling zero for the second financial quarter, by 2016, she predicts $14.2MM. ACAD has not seen a great deal of payor pushback yet- a positive for the biotech company. Down the road, the analyst forecasts a high gross to net discount in the range of 25 to 40%.

Baral assesses ACAD to be long-term minded, with high hopes that over a span of the next two years, there will be improved insight as far as both the clinical and commercial value of Nuplazid. The analyst believes this insight, “could translate to a more attractive potentially acquisition price and return for shareholders.”

Another study holding a great deal of anticipation for ACAD is its Phase 2 data, which is on track for the fourth quarter, for pimavanserin- another psychosis-treating drug, but for Alzheimer’s disease (ADP). Baral exercises caution, but notes that “ADP would be a very large, untapped market for ACAD.” Facing an FDA delay, this trial could very well be initiated by 2016.

Midnight Trader Article (6/6/16)
Article from 6/6/16 - this is available in my Fidelity acct but looks like it's a subscription service. Haven't seen this posted anywhere so am posting here even though it's a month+ old at this point.

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Market Chatter: ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Soars 12% Amid Talk of Four Potential Suitors for Co
BY Midnight Trader
— 3:19 PM ET 06/06/2016

03:19 PM EDT, 06/06/2016 (MT Newswires) -- ACADIA Pharmaceutical (ACAD) is up 12% after talk late Friday the company may be seeing a bidding war of up to four companies.

The companies mentioned included Astrazeneca (AZN), Teva (TEVA), Biogen (BIIB) and Allergan (AGN), according to the Daily Mail.

Talk suggested potential bidders had already had a word with major shareholders in Acadia, but had been told the investors would not accept less than about $60 a share, the Daily Mail reported.

Price: 40.37, Change: +4.30, Percent Change: +11.92

Seattle Genetics Highlights Vadastuximab Talirine (SGN-CD33A) Data in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) at the 21st Congress of the European Hematology Association
BY PR Newswire — 2:30 AM ET 06/11/2016

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Seattle Genetics, Inc. today highlighted data at the 21st Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 9-12, 2016, evaluating vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A; 33A) in combination with hypomethylating agents (HMAs; azacitidine, decitabine) in frontline patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who had declined intensive therapy. 33A is an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeted to CD33 utilizing Seattle Genetics' ( SGEN ) newest technology, comprising an engineered cysteine antibody (EC-mAb) stably linked to a highly potent DNA binding agent called a pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimer. CD33 is expressed on leukemic blasts in nearly all AML patients with expression generally consistent regardless of age, cytogenetic abnormalities or underlying mutations.
Seattle Genetics, Inc.

Based on data from the ongoing phase 1 clinical trial, a phase 3 clinical trial, called CASCADE, was recently initiated evaluating 33A in combination with HMAs in previously untreated AML patients not candidates for intensive induction chemotherapy. Seattle Genetics (SGEN) is also evaluating 33A broadly across multiple lines of therapy in patients with myeloid malignancies, including ongoing and planned phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for newly diagnosed or relapsed AML and for previously untreated myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). More information about 33A and ongoing clinical trials can be found at www.ADC-CD33.com.
"Hypomethylating agents, or HMAs, are the current standard of care for AML patients who are not able to tolerate intensive therapy. HMAs have limited benefit, with low response rates and median overall survival of 10 months or less," said Jonathan Drachman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Seattle Genetics (SGEN). "We believe that adding 33A to HMAs may improve efficacy and has the potential to redefine the treatment of AML. The clinical data at ASH showing high response rate, manageable tolerability profile and low early mortality reported have been maintained in this larger data set, and support our recently initiated phase 3 CASCADE clinical trial, which is now enrolling patients."

"There is a dire need to improve outcomes for patients with AML," said Amir Fathi, M.D., investigator of the phase 1 trial who will present the data at EHA. "The anti-leukemic activity we have observed in the phase 1 clinical trial evaluating 33A combination therapy in AML patients continues to be encouraging. This is an incredibly difficult disease to treat and the results to-date continue to show a balance of activity and tolerability together with low early mortality rates. The data presented suggest that the addition of 33A improves the rates of response and durable remissions in comparison to that seen historically from using the current standard of care alone."

SGN-CD33A in Combination with Hypomethylating Agents: A Novel, Well-Tolerated Regimen with High Remission Rate in Older Patients with AML (Abstract #S503, oral presentation on Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. CEST)

Outcomes for AML patients who are not candidates for intensive chemotherapy or allogeneic stem cell transplant are dismal. Low intensity treatment options, including HMAs (azacitidine and decitabine), are limited. Interim results from the first 25 patients in the ongoing phase 1 study evaluating 33A in combination with HMAs in frontline AML were presented at the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. Updated interim results from the ongoing phase 1 study were presented in an oral session at EHA.
Data were reported from 53 frontline unfit AML patients with a median age of 75 years and intermediate or adverse cytogenetic risk who had declined intensive therapy. Forty-five percent of patients had evidence of underlying myelodysplasia. Key findings presented by Dr. Fathi include:
Of 49 efficacy-evaluable patients treated with 33A combined with either azacitidine or decitabine, the overall response rate was 76 percent. Complete remission (CR) or complete remission with incomplete platelet or neutrophil recovery (CRi) was observed in 35 patients (71 percent). The remission rate (CR+CRi) was similar between the two 33A and HMA combination treatment groups (71 percent combined with azacitidine and 72 percent combined with decitabine).

Responses were observed in higher-risk patients, with remissions achieved in 16 of 22 patients (73 percent) with underlying myelodysplasia and 15 of 18 patients (83 percent) with adverse cytogenetics.

Patients who achieved minimal residual disease included eight of 19 (42 percent) CR patients and five of 15 (33 percent) CRi patients.
The median overall survival for all patients in the phase 1 trial is interim and expected to evolve. The estimated median overall survival for the first 25 patients enrolled in the study was 12.75 months, with a median follow-up of 12.58 months.

Median relapse-free survival was 7.7 months (range, 0.0+ and 11.3+) with 27 patients (51 percent) remaining alive and on study as of last follow-up. The 30- and 60-day mortality rates were two and eight percent, respectively.

The most common treatment-related adverse events of any grade occurring in 20 percent or more of patients were fatigue (57 percent), thrombocytopenia (53 percent), nausea (49 percent), febrile neutropenia (45 percent), and constipation and anemia (42 percent each). The most common Grade 3 or 4 treatment-emergent adverse events occurring in 20 percent or more of patients were febrile neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, anemia and fatigue.

About Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia, also called acute myelocytic leukemia or AML, is an aggressive type of cancer of the bone marrow and blood that progresses rapidly without treatment. AML is a cancer that starts in the cells that are supposed to mature into different types of blood cells. AML starts in the bone marrow (the interior part of bones, where new blood cells are made) and quickly moves into the blood. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2016 approximately 20,000 new cases of AML (mostly in adults) will be diagnosed and nearly 10,500 deaths will occur from AML (almost all will be in adults).

About Vadastuximab Talirine (SGN-CD33A)

Vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A; 33A) is a novel investigational ADC targeted to CD33 utilizing Seattle Genetics' (SGEN) newest ADC technology. CD33 is expressed on most AML and MDS blast cells. The CD33 antibody is attached to a highly potent DNA binding agent, a pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimer, via a proprietary site-specific conjugation technology to a monoclonal antibody with engineered cysteines (EC-mAb). PBD dimers are significantly more potent than systemic chemotherapeutic drugs and the site-specific conjugation technology (EC-mAb) allows uniform drug-loading of the cell-killing PBD agent to the anti-CD33 antibody. The ADC is designed to be stable in the bloodstream and to release its potent DNA binding agent upon internalization into CD33-expressing cells.

33A was granted Orphan Drug Designation by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Commission for the treatment of AML. FDA orphan drug designation is intended to encourage companies to develop therapies for the treatment of diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States.

About Seattle Genetics (SGEN)
Seattle Genetics (SGEN) is an innovative biotechnology company that develops and commercializes novel antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company's industry-leading antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology harnesses the targeting ability of antibodies to deliver cell-killing agents directly to cancer cells. ADCETRIS® (brentuximab vedotin), the company's lead product, in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, is the first in a new class of ADCs approved globally in more than 60 countries for relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and relapsed systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL). Seattle Genetics (SGEN) is also advancing vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A; 33A), an ADC in a phase 3 trial for acute myeloid leukemia. Headquartered in Bothell, Washington, Seattle Genetics (SGEN) is also advancing a robust pipeline of innovative therapies for blood-related cancers and solid tumors designed to address significant unmet medical needs and improve treatment outcomes for patients. The company has collaborations for its proprietary ADC technology with a number of companies including AbbVie, Astellas, Bayer, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. More information can be found at www.seattlegenetics.com.

At least we are not seeing the stock price trickle back down to the low 20-cent range while we wait for the next news event to happen here. This will be exciting once we start getting some real news and the price moves up with more steady buying interest.

I agree that the latest $2M loan is a very good sign for things to come...not exactly sure what it's being used for, but it's a small enough amount that it's for something specific and not designed to keep the lights on for a short period.

I am locked & loaded, now let's get going!

Would not surprise me in the least - would actually surprise me if nobody knew anything about the financing (or SDI #2 being signed possibly) before a news release. Someone always knows something, long before the retail investor. Looks very nice today though. Lots more days like this ahead for us IMO. Would not surprise me if we get SDI #2 news before we finalize financing on #1 if the country is in fact Malaysia...looks like they have aggressive plans for 2nd half of this year.

Looks like it. I sure wish the MM would keep the spread smaller and also display the real Ask price...whenever I place a buy order, it fills under the current Ask price (I sure don't mind getting a better price, but just wish what was displayed was accurately reflecting what I could buy for...).

Management may want to wait for more script #'s (and EU approval) before selling, but if the company receives a firm/written buyout offer, they will have to take some sort of action on it with shareholder interest in mind. Will see. I think there are at least 2-3 companies willing to pay a fair price for the company to provide a decent buyout price that the Board would find acceptable. Nice action today. Exciting, exciting.

RLYP would be a great acquisition for Vifor Pharma as they are already managing the EU approval process. Deal make be closer than we think...

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Galenica is set to embark on a period of checkbook pipeline building to beef up its drug development unit ahead of a planned spinout. The plan is to build a pipeline of near- and long-term assets to complement its Roche ($RHHBY)-partnered iron-deficiency drug, Mircera.

Bern, Switzerland-based Galenica first proposed splitting its specialty pharma unit, Vifor Pharma, from its pharmacy business late last year. Back then, the plan was to spend three to 5 years getting Vifor Pharma ready to fly solo, but the deal Galenica struck with Roche in May has positioned it to gun for a quicker split. The deal with Roche gave Galenica the right to sell Mircera--a drug to treat chronic kidney disease-associated symptomatic anemia--in the U.S., setting Vifor Pharma up to aim for sales of $1 billion (€900 million) from next year.

With Mircera, which generated sales of CHF417 million ($441 million) for Roche outside the U.S. last year, giving Vifor Pharma the makings of a commercial business, its focus has now shifted to adding to its pipeline. "We need further important projects before Vifor can become independent," Galenica Chairman Etienne Jornod told Bloomberg. Vifor Pharma is in the market for some products that can be brought to market within the next few years and others that are still 5 or 10 years away from being ready for regulatory submissions.

If Vifor Pharma can find the acquisitions and partnerships it needs to stock its pipeline--a big ask given the fierce competition for late-phase assets--then it could bring forward its independence plans. Such willingness to rethink the structure of the business comes at a time when multiple Swiss pharma companies are reassessing their models. Swiss-Italian drugmaker Cosmo Pharmaceuticals (SWX:COPN) listed its dermatology-focused spinout Cassiopea in Switzerland last week, while AC Immune and Novimmune SA are both considering going public.

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/financials/galenica-plans-dealmaking-flurry-ahead-of-mooted-spinout

Yes, and even though up 40+% right now, stock price is still crazy, crazy cheap at this level.

Denver – July 5, 2016 (TSX:IMP) Intermap Technologies Corporation (“Intermap” or the “Company”), (TSX: IMP), (ITMSF: BB), a global provider of location based solutions, today provided an update on its previously announced $175 million contract (the “Contract”) for the creation, operation and maintenance of a national spatial data infrastructure (“SDI”) program (the “Project”).

In its 2016 first quarter financial results report dated May 12, 2016, the Company disclosed the expectation that the Project would commence during the second quarter upon the closing of the Project’s finance facility (the “Financing”). Intermap has been advised by the client that the Financing process is in its final phase with a leading multilateral financial institution. In accordance with the terms of the Contract, the Company is scheduled to receive a $12 million down payment upon the closing of the Project Financing, at which time the project will officially launch. Intermap has been working with the client to satisfy operational requirements and is pleased to confirm that it has received its required ITAR permit from the US State Department to operate its proprietary IFSAR technology in the client’s jurisdiction. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) are a set of United States Government regulations on the export and import of defense related articles and services, under which Intermap’s interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) technology falls internationally.

“We continue to support the client in the path to the financial close of this landmark transaction,” said Todd Oseth, Intermap’s President and CEO. “The sheer complexity, both technical and financial, of this first-of-a-kind project, has led to some innovative solutions that would serve the Company well in the pursuit of similar projects in the future. We look forward to demonstrate our resources and capabilities in the client jurisdiction and beyond.”

From company's web site (no PR issued so far):

DENVER, June 28, 2016 - Intermap Technologies®, a leading provider of location-based intelligence solutions, today announced an InsitePro subscription from the Channel Syndicate, an underwriter in the Lloyd’s insurance marketplace. Syndicates at Lloyd’s underwrite business placed in the open market (usually via Lloyd’s Brokers) or delegate authority to an independent company which is approved as a Lloyd’s Coverholder.

Relypsa Sales Surprise

PREFACE
Relypsa Inc. (NASDAQ:RLYP) reports sales numbers for its hyperkalemia drug, Veltassa on the fifteenth of every month . Last time around the numbers were a disappointment and signaled that the hyperkalemia market was going to be more difficult than many had expected to turn into a real revenue generator. But, data was just released today, and the results were a surprise.

RELYPSA SALES NUMBERS SURPRISE
Last month Relypsa actually saw the number of New patients who started taking Veltassa with a free start supply decrease by 4%. That was so stunning because the drug has only been out to market for a few months, and a slowdown so early in the process was anywhere from worrisome to devastating. But, as the market waited with baited breathe today, the results were quite good.

We can see a huge turnaround in that top line number which went from a decrease of nearly 5% to now a gain of 14%. Perhaps most importantly, the number of actual prescriptions filled actually accelerated to a 33% rise, from 31% last month. When it comes down to it, it’s that number that is actual sales and may in fact be the most important.

RELYPSA SALES NUMBERS COULD GET BETTER
In a rarity for the company, news is potentially getting even better. Relypsa saw its only competitor, ZS Pharma, now formally owned by AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN), receive a complete response letter (CRL) from the FDA. That’s a fancy way of saying that ZS-9 was rejected by the FDA due to manufacturing concerns.

While the FDA did not comment on clinical data, there is already a growing concern for ZS-9 that the drug elevates sodium in the blood which, if true, would essentially eliminate it from the lucrative chronic market.

But the good news gets even better for Relypsa. The company stated that some physicians were hesitating to prescribe Veltassa until the ZS-9 FDA ruling came in. With the rejection pushing a ZS-9 approval at least a year out, those reluctant physicians may have turned to Relypsa as the only option. But, those potentially increased sales numbers are not included in the May prescription sales data. So, that pop for Relypsa’s Veltassa in May is potentially facing another up trend in June and beyond.

Relypsa has been named in numerous rumors as a takeover candidate for Merck, Amgen, Gilead, AstraZeneca and its marketing partner Sanofi.