NA Proactive news snapshot: Biocept, Mawson Resources, FSD Pharma, Global Energy Metals UPDATE ...

Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) announced Monday that newly published clinical data further validates the company's Target Selector technology to identify cancer-related mutations in liquid biopsy samples. The data were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Pathology which highlighted Biocept’s flagship Target Selector qPCR Assay using "Switch Blocker" technology that collects and analyzes molecular markers linked to tumors in circulating tumor cells, as well as plasma. The San Diego-based company said the study examined 127 clinical assays for mutations commonly associated with cancer found in the EGFR, BRAF and KRAS genes. Each Target Selector assay in the study demonstrated extremely high accuracy, sensitivity and specificity when compared to results obtained from tissue samples, showing a 93%-96% concordance to blinded tissue samples across all assays. Mawson Resources Limited (TSE:MAW) (OTCMKTS:MWSNF) posted more drill results from its giant Rajapalot gold project in northern Finland, including the best hole of the 2020 season to date. That hole showed 7.2 metres (m) at 21.7 grams per ton (g/t) gold from 267.9 m, including an intersection of two metres at 52.7 g/t gold from 271 m, Mawson said. The firm has so far completed 34 holes for 14,232m, out of a 15,000 m planned program. FSD Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:HUGE) (CSE:HUGE) has begun a Phase 1 human study of its anti-inflammatory ultra-micronized-palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) after winning approval from the Ethics Committee of the Alfred Hospital in Victoria, Australia. The drug works by targeting receptors in patients’ endocannabinoid system and is designed to treat the symptoms associated with conditions such as fibromyalgia. The new Phase 1 study is meant to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the drug in healthy volunteers. Global Energy Metals Corporation (CVE:GEMC) (OTCMKTS:GBLEF) has tapped mining strategist Christopher Ecclestone as a board member. Ecclestone is a principal focused on mining at the equity research house Hallgarten & Company and is based in London. His previous stints also include founding and serving as head of research at the Argentine equity research firm Buenos Aires Trust Company from 1991 until 2001. Ecclestone has dedicated his career to investing, analyzing and advising on transactional work in metals deemed critical to battery markets. Ximen Mining Corp (CVE:XIM) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for expedited filing documentation relating to its acquisition agreement, dated February 25, with Emgold Mining Corp under which the company will acquire 100% of Emgold's Stewart and Rozan properties, totalling 60 minerals claims covering 7,739 hectares. In exchange, the company will make a cash payment of $100,000 and issue 1,275,000 shares and 1,275,000 warrants to purchase 1,275,000 shares at a price of $0.45 per share for a three-year period, which increases to $0.55 per share in years 4 and 5. Separately, the exchange has accepted documentation with respect to a non-brokered private placement announced earlier on February 19.  Matinas BioPharma Holdings Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:MTNB) CEO Jerome D Jabbour said Monday that the company was excited to have advanced both its clinal assets into key efficacy trials in 2020 as it reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2019. The New Jersey-based company has initiated a head-to-head pharmaceutical study of its omega-3 drug candidate MAT9001 against a drug called Vascepa, in a battle to treat elevated triglycerides. “Topline data is expected in the 4Q of 2020,” said the company. Matinas is also developing MAT2203, which applies the company’s lipid nano-crystal drug delivery technology to orally deliver amphotericin B, an otherwise IV-only, highly toxic fungicidal drug, to treat serious invasive fungal infections. Based on current projections, cash on hand is sufficient to fund operations into the second half of 2022, said the company which has cash and equivalents of $27.8 million on December 31, 2019. It also completed a follow-on financing to raise net proceeds of nearly $46.7 million. Great Panther Mining Limited (TSE:GPR) (NYSEAMERICAN:GPL) has unveiled its first resource and reserve for the Tucano gold mine in Brazil and says it is aggressively exploring at the project to extend the resource and the mine life.  The latest assessment uses a more "rigorous approach" to the estimates compared to the 2017 study of the previous operator. At Tucano, after adjustments for depletion since June 30 2017,  the reserves are now estimated to be around 646,000 ounces, a decline of around 489,000 gold ounces on the 2017 estimate. The resources, excluding reserves, declined by around 500,000 ounces, it added."While our inaugural update has resulted in a lower reserve and resource estimate, it provides us with a higher level of confidence for future mine and operational planning and the increase in average grades provides additional operational flexibility," said Jeffrey Mason, Great Panther's interim president and CEO.  Humanigen Inc (OTCMKTS:HGEN) announced Monday that it is exploring clinical-stage strategies and partnerships to evaluate whether lenzilumab may reduce or prevent cytokine storm resulting from the coronavirus infection (COVID-19). A recent pre-publication titled "Aberrant pathogenic GM-CSF+ T cells and inflammatory CD14+CD16+ monocytes in severe pulmonary syndrome patients of a new coronavirus," supports the hypothesis that cytokine storm-induced immune mechanism have contributed to patient mortality with the current pandemic strain of coronavirus, according to a statement. The authors assessed samples from patients with severe pneumonia resulting from COVID-19 infection to identify whether inflammatory factors such as GM-CSF, IL-6, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha were implicated. The authors noted that steroid treatment in such cases has been disappointing in terms of outcome, but suggest that a monoclonal antibody that targets GM-CSF may prevent or curb the hyperactive immune response caused by COVID-19. CytoDyn Inc (OTCMKTS:CYDY) has submitted an investigational new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration to launch a Phase 2 trial of its versatile drug candidate leronlimab to treat the respiratory symptoms of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The proposed four-week study would assess the safety and efficacy of leronlimab when administered as a weekly injection and measure patient improvement using a symptom score for fever, myalgia, dyspnea and cough. The drug could work to fight the coronavirus, the company said, by blocking the migration of regulatory T cells, known as Tregs, which can stifle the body’s immune response. Endeavour Mining Corporation (TSE:EDV) (OTCMKTS:EDVMF) has posted strong full-year results, which showed an increase in revenue, adjusted earnings and cash flow.  The miner is focused on West Africa and operates four mines across Côte d’Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity) and Burkina Faso (Houndé, Karma). It is also delivering against its five-year exploration plan to discover 10 to 15 million ounces of indicated resources by 2021. It uncovered 2.1 million ounces of measured and indicated resources last year alone, totaling 6.3 million ounces (Moz) since the strategy was set in 2016.For the year to December 31, Endeavour produced 651,000 ounces of the yellow metal, in line with guidance, and 6% more than 2018. The firm also sold 6% more than the previous year at 640,000 ounces. That led to revenue of US$886 million, up 18% on the previous year. Adjusted net earnings for the year came in at US$74 million, 39% higher than in 2018, while operating cash flow was 20% higher at US$302 million (2018: US$251 million). Japan Gold Corp (CVE:JG) (OTCMKTS:JGLDF) said Southern Arc Minerals Inc (TSXV:SA) has agreed to the terms of giving it an unsecured loan for C$1 million for a six-month term ending on September 9. The loan will be used by Japan Gold for working capital and corporate purposes. In exchange, Southern Arc will receive from Japan Gold a cash fee of 5% of the amount of the loan and 500,000 non-transferable share purchase warrants. Each warrant will entitle Southern Arc to a share of Japan Gold at $0.40 per share until March 9, 2021. Any shares issued on exercise of the warrants are subject to a four-month hold expiring on July 10. Southern Arc currently owns 25.87% of Japan Gold's issued and outstanding shares. ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (CVE:IPA) (OTCMKTS:IPATF), the biotech company, is looking to settle up to $796,875 worth of previously-issued debt including interest by issuing up to 1,328,125 shares at a price of $0.60 per share. This debt settlement is still subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Victoria, British Columbia company provides custom antibody development and production services as well as protein expression for research and development.  American Battery Metals Corporation (OTCMKTS:ABML), an advanced extraction and battery recycling technology company, commented Monday on a Lux Research report that predicts the global energy storage market will grow to more than $500 billion over the next 15 years, from just $50 billion in 2019. "These consistent and explosive growth projections for the energy storage markets only tell half the story," said American Battery Metals CEO Doug Cole. "To keep pace with this astounding growth, new resources of key materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel must be funded and developed. Beyond new mining projects, the recycling of existing energy storage feedstock is of paramount importance — we must recapture and reuse the valuable materials from end of life batteries and manufacturing waste." The company is set to launch commercial operations of its integrated lithium-ion battery recycling facility in the second half of 2020.  Marrone Bio Innovations Inc (NASDAQ:MBII) (MBI) has signed a commercial agreement with Anasac Chile SA to develop and distribute Grandevo and Venerate bioinsecticides in Chile. In a statement Monday, Marrone Bio noted that Anasac is a leading Chilean agricultural inputs provider, committed to agricultural productivity and its people. Anasac has more than a 17% share of the $440 million Chilean crop protection market, and is the second-largest player in plant nutrition and corn seed in Chile as well, among other business lines in the agricultural and livestock markets. Marrone bio said that both bioinsecticides provide resistance management in an integrated program, while not harming beneficial insects and pollinators.  Black Iron Inc (TSE:BKI) (OTCMKTS:BKIRF), which is advancing the Shymanivske project in Ukraine, will present its project construction financing plan at the Spring Investor Summit between March 25 and 26 in New York. The Investor Summit, formerly the MicroCap Conference, is at the Essex House, and is an exclusive, independent conference dedicated to connecting smallcap and microcap companies with qualified investors Shymanivske has been ranked as the lowest cost undeveloped project globally by both CRU and Wood MacKenzie. It has a high 68% iron content purity of its final product. Using a long-term iron-ore price of US$62 per tonne, results in a 34% internal rate of retirn (IRR) and a net present value (NPV) of US$1.4 billion, using a 10% discount rate. Ascent Industries Corp (CSE:ASNT) has announced that it has implemented its first amended and restated consolidated plan of compromise, arrangement and organization under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). It said distributions under the plan, as well as the issuance of common shares of Ascent that were to be issued pursuant to the terms of the plan, are now complete. The company said, however, that it was unable to obtain a further extension of the stay of proceedings provided by the order obtained by the company on January 28. Accordingly, the stay of proceedings expires on March 6 and the company’s CCAA proceedings will conclude upon expiry of the stay.  Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ZYNE), the leader in pharmaceutically produced transdermal cannabinoid therapies for rare neuropsychiatric disorders, will present three posters at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2020 Annual Meeting to be held in Toronto from April 25 to May 1. “These new data at AAN provide additional information on the safety and observed experimental profile of activity of Zygel in the exploratory Phase 2 FAB-C trial in Fragile X syndrome and the Phase 2 BELIEVE 1 trial in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, and the potential of Zygel to improve patient quality of life,” said Dr Joseph Palumbo, chief medical officer of Zynerba. The company will present on April 29 and April 30.  Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) has announced that its CEO Dr. Patrick Gruber will take part in a chat at the yearly ROTH conference on March 16. Dr. Gruber is set to deliver his talk at 4pm (PST) at the Ritz Carlton in Orange County, California. A webcast of Gruber’s discussion will be available at https://investors.gevo.com/events--webcasts/ Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, Gevo specializes in the development of alternative sorts of low-carbon jet fuels. Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ZYNE), the leader in pharmaceutically produced transdermal cannabinoid therapies for rare neuropsychiatric disorders, will present three posters at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2020 Annual Meeting to be held in Toronto from April 25 to May 1. “These new data at AAN provide additional information on the safety and observed experimental profile of activity of Zygel in the exploratory Phase 2 FAB-C trial in Fragile X syndrome and the Phase 2 BELIEVE 1 trial in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, and the potential of Zygel to improve patient quality of life,” said Dr Joseph Palumbo, chief medical officer of Zynerba. The company will present on April 29 and April 30. Asterion Cannabis Inc will participate in the 32nd Annual ROTH Conference in Orange County, California. Asterion Chairman and CEO Stephen Van Deventer will be presenting, as a private company, on March 16. He will also conduct one-on-one meetings with investors at the conference, one of the premier small and mid-cap investor conferences in the US. “It is a great time to engage in such a valuable networking program to discuss the future of the medicinal cannabis industry globally,” Van Deventer said in a statement.