NA Proactive news snapshot: Biocept, PyroGenesis Canada, Internet of Things, Empower Clinics, TRACON Pharmaceuticals, KULR Technology UPDATE …

Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) told investors Thursday that corporate governance firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co have both recommended that stockholders vote in favor of the company’s proposed reverse stock split. The reverse split would reduce Biocept's total number of shares at a ratio between 1:5 and 1:30, propelling its share price above the $1 minimum closing price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq. Voting will be open through the conclusion of the company’s virtual annual meeting of stockholders, which will reconvene at 1:30 PT on July 31.  PyroGenesis Canada Inc (CVE:PYR) (OTCQB:PYRNF), the plasma torch developer, has approved a plan to grant up to 2.46 million incentive stock options to directors and employees. The company allotted 1.7 million options to its directors entitling them to purchase the same amount in shares at $4.41 each. It also granted 760,000 options to employees entitling them to purchase a likewise amount in shares at $4.41 each. Internet of Things Inc (CVE:ITT) (OTCMKTS:INOTF), which has developed its ThermalPass fever detection system to help countries manage the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), said Thursday that the US government has “handed us a huge advantage” by banning Chinese rivals. The company noted that the US General Service Administration has directed that government contractors must remove surveillance and camera equipment from Chinese-blacklisted companies immediately. Failure to do so will result in these contractors being banned from future participation in any US government contracts. In April 2020, the US Department of Defense enforced the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 'blacklist clause' covering several non-US-based, video surveillance equipment manufacturers. Internet of Things said the federal government’s decision has created an enormous market opportunity for ThermalPass' sensor-based, non-camera fever-detection solution. Empower Clinics Inc (CSE:CBDT) (OTCQB:EPWCF) has closed a non-brokered private placement worth C$720,866, the company announced Thursday, the proceeds of which it plans to put toward the launch of its psychedelics division Dosed Wellness Ltd. The company offered 14.4 million units, each containing one share and one share purchase warrant, at a price of C$0.05 per unit. Empower also said that in response to strong demand for coronavirus testing, the company has expanded testing at its Phoenix clinics to five days a week. TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TCON) has filed the pivotal ENVASARC protocol with the US Food and Drug Administration to study single-domain antibody envafolimab as a treatment for sarcoma. The Investigational New Drug (IND) application cross-references the open envafolimab IND maintained by TRACON’s corporate partners 3D Medicines and Alphamab Oncology, TRACON said in a statement Thursday. The company previously reported results of a May 8 teleconference with the FDA whereby the agency agreed with TRACON’s proposals regarding key elements of the ENVASARC trial for envafolimab in the soft tissue sarcoma subtypes of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and myxofibrosarcoma. San Deigo-based TRACON said it expects to initiate enrollment in the ENVASARC trial at 25 sites in the US in the second half of 2020. KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCQB:KULR) announced a new deal on Wednesday to commercialize its battery safety technology with Volta Energy Products Inc, which manufactures renewable power systems. Campbell, California-based KULR’s passive propagation resistant (PPR) technology was designed in partnership with NASA to prevent cell-to-cell thermal runaway spread and inhibit the fire and ejecta of a single cell from leaving the battery enclosure. PPR technology will be integrated into stationary energy storage modules from the grid designed for both immediate backup, in the event of power outages, and supplemental energy during peak demand. Karora Resources Inc (TSE:KRR), formerly known as RNC Minerals Corp (TSE:RNX), is still going strong in Western Australia as the firm posted its fourth consecutive quarter of robust gold output since acquiring the Higginsville mill and mining operations in June last year. In a statement on Thursday, the Toronto-headquartered miner said it produced 24,078 ounces of the precious metal in its second quarter to June 30, selling 23,185 gold ounces. At the end of June, Karora held cash of C$50.2 million, up 31% from the C$38.4 million held at the end of March. That came after the company paid into gold hedge agreements during the second quarter, but as of June 30, the group is completely unhedged and will have full exposure to spot gold prices, the firm added. TIMIA Capital Corporation (CVE:TCA) (OTCMKTS:TIMCF) announced Thursday that it has received about C$10 million in subscription agreements towards the second Limited Partnership (LP2). In a statement, the company said LP2 will build on the successful closing of the first limited partnership (LP) in 2019 which raised C$18 million. Upon completion of customary closing conditions for LP2 expected on or before July 21, TIMIA said it will have the C$10 million in new capital to invest in software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in North America as its assets under management (AuM) increase 34% from about C$29 million to C$39 million.  Lexaria Bioscience Corp (OTCQX:LXRP) (CSE:LXX) has concluded Phase I of a research program with Altria Ventures Inc that examined oral methods of nicotine delivery. The research program utilized Lexaria’s patented DehydraTECH technology, which increases bio-absorption by up to 10 times and reduces the time of onset to minutes while masking unwanted taste. According to the findings, the oral nicotine formulation demonstrated “acceptable” chemical and microbiological stability and saw no issues with throat irritation in oral pouch and chew formats at standard commercial doses. The Valens Company Inc (CVE:VLNS) (OTCQX:VLNCF) reported fiscal second-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday revealing growing profits and revenue that had doubled driven by its custom manufacturing, co-packing and white label cannabis operations. For the period ended May 31, 2020, the Kelowna, British Columbia-based manufacturer of cannabinoid-based products, reported revenue of $17.6 million, a 100.3% jump, compared to revenue of $8.8 million in the fiscal second quarter of 2019. Gross profit increased to $6.3 million, good for 35.8% of revenue, up from $5.1 million a year ago. Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd (CVE:NSP) (OTCMKTS:NSPDF), the plant-based food manufacturer, posted what it called satisfactory first-quarter numbers as it worked through the challenges of the coronavirus. (COVID-19) pandemic and continues to optimize operations. The group runs a SQF Level 2 certified food manufacturing facility near Vancouver, and churns out brands, via its Prosnack subsidiary, such as Natera Sport, Natera Hemp Foods, and the Woods Wild bar. Naturally Splendid recorded sales in the first quarter of C$720,255, compared to C$772,803 in the same quarter of 2019. The sales mix was different compared to last year with an increase of export bulk seed sales, which sold at a lower gross margin. Aurania Resources Ltd (CVE:ARU) (OTCQB:AUIAF) has reported encouraging exploration results from the Tsenken N1 target at its flagship Lost Cities-Cutucu project in Ecuador, where grades of up to 7% copper with 55 grams per ton (g/t) silver have been found. The group revealed that this high-grade copper-silver had been discovered in boulders protruding from beneath the jungle floor over an area of 500 metres (m) by 400m. "We're delighted to have found high-grade copper-silver at Tsenken N1 in what appears to be a very large breccia body," Dr Keith Barron, chairman and CEO at Aurania said in a statement. NetCents Technology Inc (CSE:NC) (OTCQB:NTTCF), a cryptocurrency payments technology company, announced Thursday the addition of Jannis Flachsmann to its Advisory Board. Flachsmann is a senior attorney at GHM Partners AG focusing on legal, tax, and fiduciary matters. Previously, he was an attorney at the firms of Weidmann Rudolf & Partner and Lichtsteiner Rechtsanwaelte. He also worked at the Civil Court of the Canton of Zug, Switzerland.  NetCents noted that he has lived and worked in Zug, Switzerland, for almost his entire career. Zug is a highly respected hub for legal and technology matters relating to the growing cryptocurrency industry. Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc (CSE:AGN) (OTCQB:AGNPF) said Thursday that it has completed a clinical trial agreement with the Westchester Research Center in Miami, Florida for its multinational Phase 2b/3 human study of NP-120 (Ifenprodil) as a potential therapeutic treatment for patients with the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. The company said Dr Aimee Gonzalez is the principal investigator, and patient enrolment for the study would begin soon after Algernon had conducted a site initiation visit to the Westchester General Hospital, in Miami, in the week of July 20. Ifenprodil could reduce the infiltration of neutrophils and T-cells into the lungs, where they can release glutamate and cytokines. The latter can result in the highly problematic cytokine storm that contributes to the loss of lung function, and ultimately death, in COVID-19 patients. CytoDyn Inc (OTCQB:CYDY), which is developing leronlimab (PRO 140) to battle multiple diseases including coronavirus (COVID-19), has filed to uplist its stock to the tech-laded Nasdaq stock exchange. In a statement, the Vancouver, Washington-based company said it believes its comprehensive application package satisfies the initial listing requirements for The Nasdaq Capital Market. “While we realize the regulatory review of our application to uplist to Nasdaq will take several weeks, we believe the company is well-positioned for success,” noted CEO Nader Pourhassan. Humanigen Inc (OTC:HGEN) and Catalent Biologics have expanded their partnership, which sees Catalent provide development, manufacturing and commercialization services for Humanigen’s drug lenzilumab, the companies announced Thursday.  The Mayo Clinic recently announced data on the first clinical use of lenzilumab in 12 patients with severe and critical coronavirus (COVID-19) related pneumonia, the majority of whom showed rapid recovery and hospital discharge, the company said. A Phase 3 study is currently underway evaluating hospitalized coronavirus patients. "Based on lenzilumab’s promising clinical data, we are pleased to expand our relationship with Catalent to solidify our ability to manufacture and supply lenzilumab," Humanigen CEO Cameron Durrant said in a statement. "If we are able to secure FDA approvals or Emergency Use Authorization, Catalent Biologics’ deep expertise and integrated OneBio solution will accelerate our ability to get this therapy to patients that need it most." Benchmark Metals Inc (CVE:BNCH) (OTCQB:CYRTF) (WKN:A2JM2X) has marked a further advance at its Lawyer’s gold and silver project in British Columbia - signing a communications and engagement agreement with the governing body of the First Nations there. The agreement with the Tahltan Central Government (TCG) outlines the framework for a collaborative working environment for exploration at the project between the parties, Benchmark told investors in a statement. The formerly producing Lawyer’s project lies in the Toodoggone district in the prolific Golden Horseshoe area of British Columbia and the First Nations participation with Benchmark over the last two years has rapidly advanced the asset already. Australis Capital Corp (CSE:AUSA) (OTCMKTS:AUSAF) noted that its pending acquisition Passport Technology has launched its cashless solutions at two new Alberta-based casinos. Passport will launch its ACM Owl solutions at Cash Casino Calgary and Cash Casino Red Deer. The firm also said it is debuting its POSpod kiosks, which are custom-built with unique features designed for the demands of the high-traffic casino environment. Las Vegas-based Australis Capital announced plans to acquire Passport in June in a deal valued at around US$21.8 million. The firm plans to leverage Passport’s international footprint in brick and mortar casinos with Australis’ Cocoon technology serving cannabis dispensaries in North America and Australis’ Paytron Merchant Services. Media Central Corporation Inc (CSE:FLYY) revealed on Thursday that its wholly-owned online cannabis news platform, Canncentral.com is beta testing a new CBD eCommerce marketplace. The eCommerce marketplace will leverage Media Central's 6.5 million readers and offer manufacturers and retailers a platform to sell their legal hemp-based CBD products. They will also be able to advertise on Canncentral.com, which covers cannabis and psychedelic news and is a respected voice in the wellness market. The media group said the eCommerce marketplace will give retailers and manufacturers “a built-in niche audience,” competitive advertising rates, and the ability to leverage Canncentral.com’s traffic to develop their “own segmented mailing lists.”   NexTech AR Solutions Corp (CSE:NTAR) (OTCQB:NEXCF) announced Thursday that it has hired a trio of new senior vice presidents of sales due to growing demand for its InfernoAR video conferencing and virtual events platform. The new hires bring NexTech’s sales team to nine members, each of which has a monthly sales quota of $100,000, the company said. “I’m gratified to be able to attract top-flight talent and to see our sales force grow at this rapid pace as we are experiencing a rapid increase in demand for our services globally,” NexTech CEO Evan Gappelberg said in a statement. “We now have two salespeople in Europe and seven in North America with the expectation that we will be hiring additional sales reps to meet the rapidly growing demand for our platforms.” Phunware Inc. (NASDAQ:PHUN), a fully-integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that provides products, solutions, data and services for brands worldwide, announced today that it has entered into a refinancing transaction on terms more favorable to the company for the issuance of senior convertible notes in the initial principal amount of $4.32 million with a maturity date of December 31, 2021, under a Securities Purchase Agreement with the same institutional investor. Upon closing of the sale of the note, the company is expected to receive gross cash proceeds of $1.75 million after paying off the note issued to the buyer on March 20, 2020, as well as applicable placement agent and legal fees in connection with the transaction. The obligations of the notes are to be repaid by the company in cash only, but at the buyer’s election, may be converted at a fixed price of $3 per share subject to certain adjustments. As additional consideration, the company also issued the buyer a warrant for the purchase of common stock representing 30% coverage of the principal amount of the Notes that are exercisable in cash for $4 per share. Telson Mining Corporation (CVE:TSN) (OTCPINK:SOHFF) announced that it has closed the non-brokered private placement it announced on July 2, 2020. The fully subscribed placement sees the issue of 13,996,145 units at a price of $0.10 per unit for gross proceeds of $1,399,615. Each unit is comprised of one common share and one half of one whole transferable share purchase warrant. Each whole share purchase warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of the company at $0.15 within twenty-four months from closing. All securities issued under the Private Placement are subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day after the closing date on November 10, 2020. Telson also announced that it will not be filing its audited financial statements, management discussion and analysis and related certifications in respect of its financial year ended December 31, 2019, today as it had hoped to, as coronavirus (COVID-19) related issues within Mexico have continued to hamper access to the company's mine sites and have slowed the flow of information required. The company said it has sought and received an extension to its management cease trade order, in respect of the December 31, 2019, annual financials and also in respect of its Q1 financials for the period ended March 31, 2020. At this time, Telson added that it expects to file the required annual and Q1 financials and MD&A by July 30, 2020. GGX Gold Corp (CVE:GGX) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to its non-brokered private placement, announced on June 2, 2020, which will see the issue of 4 million shares at a purchase price of 7.5 cents per share, together with 4 million share purchase warrants at an exercise price of 12 cents for a two-year period with five placees. Tectonic Metals Inc (CVE:TECT) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to its non-brokered private placement, announced on June 2, 2020, and July 2, 2020, which sees the issue of 24,615,500 shares at a purchase price of 20 cents per share, together with 12,307,750 share purchase warrants at an exercise price of 40 cents to June 30, 2022 with 75 placees. Mirasol Resources Ltd. (CVE:MRZ) (OTCPINK:MRZLF) has announced the results of its 2020 annual general meeting of shareholders, which was held at the company's offices on July 8, 2020. The shareholders of the company represented at the meeting elected Norman Pitcher, Dana Prince, Nick DeMare, John Tognetti, Patrick Evans and Diane Nicolson as directors of the company for the ensuing year, and also approved: (i) the reappointment of Davidson & Company as the company's independent auditor; (ii) the Stock Option Plan; and (iii) the Restricted Share Unit Plan, all as described in the Information Circular prepared for the Meeting. During a Board meeting held on July 15, 2020, Mirasol's board of directors reappointed the following officers of the company: Norman Pitcher, President and CEO; Dana Prince, Chairman; Mathew Lee, CFO; Timothy Heenan, Country Manager; Jonathan Rosset, VP Corporate Development and Gregory Smith, Corporate Secretary. Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) has said it will release its financial results for the second quarter of 2020 on Wednesday, August 5, before the TSX market open. It added that management will host a conference call and webcast on the same day, Wednesday, August 5, at 8.30am Toronto time (ET) to discuss the financial results. The webcast can be accessed through the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/mx9zr7tx. Analysts and investors are also invited to participate via the following dial-in numbers: International: +44 (0) 203 0095709; North American toll-free: +18662801157; UK toll-free: 08006941461; Confirmation Code: 4792808. The conference call and webcast will be available for playback on Endeavour's website: https://www.endeavourmining.com/Home/default.aspx Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO) has announced that it will host a conference call on August 10, 2020, at 4.30pm EST to report its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020, and provide an update on recent corporate highlights. To participate in the conference call, investors should dial (833) 729-4776 (inside the US) or (830) 213-7701 and reference the access code 3083616#. A replay of the call will be available two hours after the conference call ends on August 10, 2020. To access the replay, please visit https://edge.mediaserver.com/mmc/p/923ams87. The archived webcast will be available in the Investor Relations section of Gevo's website at www.gevo.com OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX:OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 US and global securities, announced that Tesco PLC (OTCQX:TSCDY) (OTCQX:TSCDF), a leading FTSE 100-listed multinational retailer with outlets across Europe and Asia, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market from today. "We congratulate Tesco PLC on this milestone and are delighted to welcome them to our roster of leading European companies," said Jason Paltrowitz, executive vice president of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "Cross-trading on the OTCQX Market offers International issuers an efficient solution to support North American investors by providing improved transparency, disclosure and better access to trading without the burden of SEC filing." BioSig Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BSGM) has adopted a shareholder rights agreement, the company announced Thursday. The company said it does not believe its current share price is reflective of its value, and the rights agreement is intended to ensure that stockholders receive fair and equal treatment in the event of a proposed takeover. The agreement is set to last for one year, expiring on July 9, 2021.