Aprea Therapeutics (APRE) Marches Ahead, Up 130% In Nearly 3 Months

Aprea Therapeutics Inc. (APRE), which closed at a new high of $47.44 on Thursday, gaining nearly 20%, has more than doubled in value since its IPO on October 3, 2019.

Aprea Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company, whose lead drug candidate is APR-246, a small molecule in clinical development for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as additional hematologic and solid tumor malignancies.

The most advanced trial of the Company is a pivotal phase III trial of APR-246 with Vidaza for the frontline treatment of TP53 mutant MDS. Initial data from this trial is expected in the second half of 2020.

Two phase 1b/2 investigator-initiated trials, one in the U.S. and one in France, testing APR-246 with Vidaza as frontline treatment in TP53 mutant MDS and AML patients are also ongoing. Positive data from the two trials were presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting early this month.

APR-246 with Vidaza is also being explored in a phase II study as post-transplant maintenance therapy in TP53 mutant MDS and AML patients who have received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT).

APRE, which made its debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on October 3, 2019, at an opening price of $15.46, has thus far hit a low of $15.10 and a high of $48.74. The IPO lockup period expires on March 31, 2020.

ENDRA Life Soars 35% As It Moves Towards Getting CE Mark For TAEUS Liver Device

ENDRA Life Sciences Inc. (NDRA) achieved a major step toward commercialization of TAEUS FLIP device on Thursday by submitting its Technical File for CE Mark review to its Notified Body.

The Company’s investigational Thermo-Acoustic Enhanced UltraSound (TAEUS) system is designed to help clinicians to visualize tissue function, composition, and monitor a variety of therapeutic interventions at the point of care. The first TAEUS application is focusing on the quantification of fat in the liver, for early detection and monitoring of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

ENDRA Life anticipates receiving CE Mark for the TAEUS FLIP device in the first half of 2020, with the subsequent commercialization expected to commence in Europe in mid-2020.

The net loss incurred in Q3 2019 by ENDRA widened to $3.4 million or $0.46 per share from $2.8 million or $0.70 per share in Q3 2018.

The Company ended September 30, 2019, with cash of $2.3 million, and zero long-term debt outstanding.

NDRA has traded in a range of $0.62 to $3.48 in the last 52 weeks. The stock closed Thursday’s trading at $1.35, up 35.92%. In after-hours, the stock gained another 2.99% and was at $1.39.

Japan Inflation Rises In November

Japan’s consumer price inflation accelerated in November after the sales tax hike but remained well below the central bank target.

Core inflation that excludes fresh food rose to 0.5 percent in November from 0.4 percent in October, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed Friday. The rate came in line with expectations.

Overall consumer price inflation also came in at 0.5 percent, up from 0.2 percent a month ago and in line with forecast.

Headline inflation rose sharply in November but it will moderate over the coming months as capacity shortages diminish, Tom Learmouth, an economist at Capital Economics, said. But the economist said he is not convinced that the Bank of Japan will respond by cutting interest rates.

The economist expects underlying inflation to moderate to around 0.5 percent by mid-2020 as the unemployment rate climbs and capacity utilization falls.

Excluding fresh food and energy, inflation accelerated to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent a month ago.

Although October’s sales tax hike lifted inflation, it has curbed the consumer spending.

The Bank of Japan, on Thursday, left its massive monetary stimulus unchanged on Thursday and maintained its upbeat view on economy.

The BoJ reiterated that it will ease policy further if there is a greater possibility that the momentum toward achieving the 2 percent price stability target is lost.

Plane carrying 100 crashes in Kazakhstan, leaving at least 7 dead

A plane with 95 passengers and five crew members on board crashed near the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan on Friday, killing at least seven people, aviation authorities in the Central Asian nation said.

The plane was heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, and “lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence” before hitting a small building, Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee said in a statement.

No reports of damage from quake near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant: TV

DUBAI (Reuters) – An 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck Iran’s Bushehr province on Friday, where the country’s nuclear power plant is located, but there were no immediate reports of damage, Iranian state television reported.

“No reports have been received on any possible damage from the earthquake,” it said.

The U.S. Geological Survey earlier said the quake had a magnitude of 5.1.

Magnitude 5.1 quake strikes near Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant

(Reuters) – A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake was moderate, which can cause considerable damage, and was centered 33 miles (53 km) east of Bushehr, a nuclear plant on Iran’s southern coast on the Persian Gulf.

The quake, which struck at about 5:23 a.m. (0153 GMT) was relatively shallow, only 23.8 miles (38 km) deep, which would have amplified the shaking.

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• No reports of damage from quake near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant: TV