Insights about U.S. Stocks from mix sectors that landed in the Green-Zone in the course of Tuesday’s trade, are depicted underneath:
Metabolix, Inc (NASDAQ:MBLX)’s shares picked up 56.72%, and closed at $1.05, during the last trading session.
Metabolix, Inc., an advanced biomaterials corporation, declared that it has reached a global, exclusive commercial and technology alliance with Honeywell to offer new marine biodegradable biopolymers for use in cosmetics and personal care products.
Through the alliance, Metabolix’s Mirel(R) polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymers will be developed as part of Honeywell’s Asensa(R) line of personal care additives to assist address pending legislation in the U.S. focused on replacing synthetic, non-biodegradable microbeads, in addition to global demand for biobased and biodegradable alternatives. This technology is intended to meet increasing regulatory and other requirements around the world for personal care microbeads that biodegrade in marine and fresh water environments. Using applicable ASTM test methods, the marine biodegradability of Mirel PHA biopolymers has been shown to be similar to that of cellulose and paper, and is faster than other commercially accessible biodegradable polymers.
“Honeywell’s alliance with Metabolix will assist us meet increasing consumer demand for environmentally friendly personal care ingredients,” said Heidi Lebel, global business manager for Honeywell’s personal care business.
“With Honeywell’s material science expertise and market channels, and Metabolix’s history of innovation in sustainable biopolymers, we hope to see a range of new Asensa ingredients introduced to the market through this alliance,” said Max Senechal, vice president, strategy and commercial development for Metabolix.
Metabolix, Inc. a bioscience corporation, focuses on delivering sustainable solutions to the plastics and chemicals industries. It produces a family of biopolymers found in nature called polyhydroxyalkanoates, which occur naturally in living organisms and are chemically similar to polyesters. The corporation offers its biopolymers under the Mirel and Mvera brand names. It is also developing biobased industrial C4 and C3 chemicals; and harnessing the renewable nature of plants to make renewable chemicals and bioenergy from crops. Metabolix, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Springleaf Holdings Inc (NYSE:LEAF), raised 32.05%, and closed at $50.23, hitting new 52-week high of $52.48.
Springleaf Holdings, LLC, a leading personal finance corporation providing loan products to customers nationwide, recently declared that it has reached a definitive contract to attain OneMain Financial from CitiFinancial Credit Corporation, a wholly-owned partner of Citigroup (NYSE:C), for total consideration of $4.25 billion, in an all-cash transaction.
On a pro forma basis, as of September 30, 2014, the combined corporation would have had $13.96 billion in core consumer net finance receivables. At closing, the combined corporation is predictable to have 1,967 branches across 43 states.
The transaction, which was approved by the Boards of Directors of both Springleaf and Citigroup, is predictable to close in the third quarter 2015, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Upon closing, the transaction is predictable to be accretive to Springleaf’s 2015 after-tax earnings, not including one-time charges related to the attainment. Accretion is estimated to reach about $470 million for 2017.
Jay Levine, President and Chief Executive Officer of Springleaf, said, “This is a transformational transaction, bringing together two best-in-class personal finance businesses to create a combined corporation that we believe is financially strong and optimized for growth. With complementary branch networks, a leading digital presence, and an ongoing commitment to responsible lending practices, we are positioned to serve a noteworthyportion of Americans.”
Levine added, “Importantly, OneMain shares our strong commitment to excellence in customer service, and both Springleaf and OneMain are committed to making a meaningful, positive difference to the families in the communities we serve. We look forward to welcoming OneMain’s talented team members as we build on our mutual success to enhance the growth potential of the combined corporation and deliver superior value for our shareholders.”
The combined corporation will be led by Springleaf CEO Jay Levine, and Mary McDowell will continue as CEO of OneMain. Initially, the combined corporation will maintain both the Springleaf and OneMain brands, with the expectation of migrating to the OneMain brand starting in mid-2016. After closing, the combined corporation will be run from Springleaf’s executive office in Connecticut, and will maintain noteworthy presences in Evansville, Indiana and Baltimore, Maryland. The corporation will also maintain key operations in Wilmington, Delaware; Chicago, Illinois; London, Kentucky; Mendota Heights, Minnesota; Tempe, Arizona; Fort Mill, South Carolina; and Irving and Fort Worth, Texas.
Springleaf Holdings, LLC through its auxiliaries, offers consumer finance and credit insurance products and services. The corporation provides personal loans secured by automobiles, consumer household goods, and other items of personal property; and unsecured loans. It also writes credit life, credit accident and health, credit related property and casualty, and credit involuntary unemployment insurance products; non-credit insurance products; and ancillary products, counting home security and auto security membership plans, and home appliance service contracts of unassociated companies. The corporation was founded in 1920 and is based in Evansville, Indiana. Springleaf Holdings, LLC operates as a partner of Springleaf Financial Holdings, LLC.
Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:OREX), enhanced 31.95%, and closed at $7.64, hitting new 52-week high of $9.37.
Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. formerly on February 25, declared business and financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2014.
“2014 was a transformational year for Orexigen, with the US approval and commercial launch of Contrave® and the positive opinion of the CHMP recommending marketing authorization for Mysimba™,” said Michael Narachi, CEO of Orexigen. “While the U.S. launch is still in its early stages, we are encouraged by the progress so far and by the positive reports we are hearing from Takeda’s field based teams about how the product is being received by health care professionals and their patients.”
Narachi continued: “In 2015 we are focused on the continued success of Contrave in the United States, securing approval for Mysimba in Europe, and taking concrete steps toward commercialization of Contrave/Mysimba in ex-US territories.”
Contrave (naltrexone HCl / bupropion HCl extended release):
Orexigen’s partner for North America, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, launched Contrave in the United States on October 20, 2014. U.S. net sales for the fourth quarter, recorded by Takeda, were $6.5 million, for which Orexigen earned $1.3 million in royalties. Gross sales for the quarter were $12.3 million.
Contrave is indicated as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and raised physical activity for chronic weight administration in adults with an initial body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or greater (obese) or 27 kg/m2 or greater (overweight) in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition (eg, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, or dyslipidemia).
Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. a biopharmaceutical corporation, focuses on the development of pharmaceutical product candidates for the treatment of obesity. Its product candidates comprise NB32, which has accomplished Phase III clinical trials and is being studied in a cardiovascular outcomes trial; and Empatic that has accomplished Phase II clinical trials. Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. has partnership contract with Takeda Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited to develop and commercialize NB32 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.
Ceres Inc (NASDAQ:CERE), rose 33.33%, and closed at $0.460.
Ceres, Inc. formerly on February 26, declared that it has achieved Gold Partner status in Oracle PartnerNetwork. In attaining Gold Level membership, Ceres has been recognized by Oracle for its commitment to establish Oracle-related knowledge in delivering Ceres’ Persephone genome visualization software and for uniquely addressing the challenges of joint customers.
Originally developed for in-house use by Ceres, the Persephone application allows researchers to rapidly zoom in and out of massive amounts of genetic data, from a chromosome level to a single building block of DNA. On top of this data, users can layer and cross reference related information in much the same way geographic mapping services allow users to add weather information or business locations to a geographic map.
While speed is taken for granted across most software markets, the genetics market has struggled with massive datasets generated by DNA sequencing and genetic testing. To assist solve the speed problem, and expand the way researchers can explore and mine genetic data, Persephone software engineers have developed a number of innovative data storage and compression methods that can enable rapid visualization of large amounts of genomics data by experts and non-experts alike.
Tim Swaller, Ceres Vice President of Genomics, said that becoming a Gold Level member of Oracle PartnerNetwork enables the corporation to leverage its knowledge in genomics alongside the performance and reliability of the Oracle platform, which handles large datasets through efficient memory administration and a solid software architecture.
“Low cost DNA sequencing, from plant science to biomedical research, is creating large datasets that are rich sources for innovation if mined effectively,” said Swaller. “By combining data administration solutions and other optimizations in our Persephone software with a trusted database technology like Oracle, we can assist provide researchers with a high-performance environment to securely store, visualize and explore integrated genomics datasets in ways not possible or practical before.”
Ceres presently offers Persephone as a custom installation in addition to a Software as a Service (SaaS) model that is intended to provide individual researchers with a tool to visualize and compare genetic information stored in public databases. Persephone can be used with a number of life science technology platforms that utilize genetic and genomic data.
Ceres, Inc. an agricultural biotechnology corporation, develops and sells energy crops to produce renewable bioenergy feedstocks in North America. The corporations energy crops comprise sweet sorghum; high biomass sorghum for the generation of renewable electric power and the creation of cellulosic biofuels; switchgrass, a perennial grass; miscanthus, a tall perennial grass for use as an energy crop. Ceres, Inc. markets its seed products under the Blade brand. It also licenses its biotech traits and technology, counting Persephone genome visualization software to other organizations.
