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The Mission Report

The MissionIR Report - February 2014

In-depth analysis, timely updates, latest market news


Market News 10-year Treasury yield hits fresh 3-month low U.S. Manufacturers Suffer January Chill HP Audit Reveals “Extensive Errors” in Accounting Companies Fight Back Against Hedge Funds Wells Fargo Tops List of Most Valuable Banking Brands	Company Updates Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ATNM) Advaxis, Inc. (ADXS) CytRx Corp. (CYTR) ForceField Energy, Inc. (FNRG) VolitionRx Ltd. (VNRX)

10-year Treasury yield hits fresh 3-month low Treasury prices jumped Monday, sending yields to a fresh 3-month low, after manufacturing data showed a greater-than-expected pullback, reports MarketWatch. Investors are watching for fresh signals about the pace of the economic recovery this week, culminating with Friday’s jobs report. After Monday’s manufacturing report, the 10-year note yield, which falls as prices rise, was down 6 basis points on the day at 2.604%, its lowest yield since early November of last year, according to Tradeweb. The 30-year bond yield fell 6 basis points to 3.563%, and the 5-year note yield fell 6 basis points to 1.451%. Stocks fell precipitously and the dollar extended a fall against the yen. An Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index fell to 51.3% in January from 56.5% in December, its lowest level in eight months. Economists polled by MarketWatch had projected a rate of 56%. The employment subcomponent fell to 52.3%. The ISM data play into a recent theme of weaker economic data that is prompting some investors to suggest that “maybe we were too optimistic” going into 2014, said George Goncalves, head of interest-rate strategy at Nomura Securities. “What we’re finding is you can’t find growth to just accelerate because nothing is holding it back. You need a catalyst and there really isn’t anything to speak of,” said Goncalves, who sees continued slow growth in the U.S. This week, which is full of data releases, concludes with the most-watched monthly data point, a nonfarm payrolls report. Following an especially soft report for December, market-watchers will be looking for whether January’s report was an anomaly or part of a broader trend. But not everyone took the ISM data as a sign of a slowing economy. Some strategists suggested cold weather played into the weak number. “If this is the new normal for the economy, we’re going to be surprised. We’re just reading it as one individual report, rather than a new trend towards lower growth,” said Douglas Peebles, head and chief investment officer of fixed income at AllianceBernstein. Treasurys had a blockbuster first month of the year, with the benchmark 10-year yield falling the most since August of 2011. The haven U.S. government debt has been boosted by a global distaste for riskier investments as the Federal Reserve withdraws its bond-buying stimulus. The central bank said last week that it would continue winding down its program by its second monthly increment of $10 billion. It will now purchase $65 billion in bonds each month. Meanwhile, an accretion of factors, including the Fed’s stimulus withdrawal, has fueled a pullback in emerging markets, leading investors to recoil from a number of economically tumultuous nations. The resulting boost for Treasurys has led investors who were bearishly positioned for higher rates to unwind those bets, in what’s known as short-covering, which added demand for Treasurys and pushed prices higher. That move may be poised to continue into a second leg, said Goncalves, of Nomura. “Shorts were added before and during the latest rally, and the short-covering flush may have a while to continue before positions are truly clean,” he said in a note. U.S. Manufacturers Suffer January Chill American manufacturers said orders from customers slowed sharply in January after hitting a more than four-year high in December, but they blamed it largely on unusually cold and snowy weather last month, reports MarketWatch. The Institute for Supply Management index sank to 51.3% from 56.5% in December, marking the lowest level in eight months. The decline was much bigger than Wall Street expected — economists polled by MarketWatch only expected the index to slip to 56%. The biggest one-month reversal in the new-orders index since December 1980 was the main culprit. The new-orders index plunged 13.2 points to 51.2%, also the lowest reading since May. Similarly, a separate manufacturing survey by Markit found that bad weather hampered U.S. manufacturers in January. The disappointing U.S. manufacturing reports added to a sharp decline Monday in stock markets. Investors were also put off by a Chinese manufacturing index that pointed to slower growth in the giant Asian economy. Still, any reading over 50 indicates that more manufacturers are expanding instead of contracting. The index has been above 50% for 14 straight months. Executives surveyed by ISM indicated that the drop in the index stemmed from poor winter weather last month. “A number of comments from the panel cite adverse weather conditions as a factor negatively impacting their businesses in January, while others reflect optimism and increasing volumes in the early stages of 2014,” said Bradley Holcomb who’s in charge of the ISM manufacturing index. An executive at an oil company, for example, said his firm had a “good finish to 2013, but slow start to 2014, mostly attributed to weather.” And an executive at a firm that makes metal parts said: “Poor weather impacted outbound and inbound shipments.” Other executives, what’s more, said business remained strong. “We continue to be busy, working six days, 24 hours a day,” said an executive at a company that produces metals used in the early stages of production. “Bad weather and cautious optimism seem be the watchwords in early 2014,” said Gregory Daco, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. One thing to keep an eye on over the next few months is the level of inventories. American companies stockpiled a record amount of goods in warehouses in November and December and they might scale back production in January to make sure they do not get caught with an inventory overhang. The ISM’s inventories index dropped 3 points to 44%, the lowest rate in a year. The poor weather — it was one of the coldest Januarys on record — may have also hampered hiring. The ISM employment gauge, a signal of hiring intentions, fell 3.5 points to 52.3%. The decline in the employment gauge might suggest another soft reading in the monthly U.S. jobs report to be released Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch have forecast a 195,000 increase, but they caution that poor weather could play havoc with the numbers. The ISM index is compiled from a survey of executives who order raw materials and other supplies for their companies. The gauge tends to rise or fall in tandem with the health of the economy. Eleven of the 18 U.S. manufacturing industries surveyed by ISM reported growth in January. HP Audit Reveals “Extensive Errors” in Autonomy Accounting An audit of Hewlett-Packard's Autonomy unit revealed that the software company grossly exaggerated its sales and profit before selling itself to HP for $11 billion in 2011, reports CNNMoney. The review of Autonomy's 2010 and 2011 financials, performed by Ernst & Young and filed with British regulators, shows for the first time the scope of the software company's accounting tricks. For example, one division of Autonomy overstated its 2010 revenue by 54% and its operating profit by 81%. HP spokesman Michael Thacker called the accounting errors and misrepresentations "extensive." In fact, that itself might be an understatement. HP's late-2012 discovery of Autonomy's accounting missteps in part led to a massive $8.8 billion writedown of the company. One arm of Autonomy had understated its pretax loss, saying it was £22 million ($36 million) when it was actually £314 million ($513 million). Another part of Autonomy had overstated its pretax profit, claiming £43 million ($70 million) when in reality it had earned closer to £11 million ($19 million). HP (HPQ, Fortune 500)'s purchase of Autonomy for $11 billion raised eyebrows at the time and is now considered among the worst in the company's history. (That's saying a lot for a company that made such disastrous acquisitions as Compaq and EDS). HP had hoped Autonomy, which specializes in database search, would help it expand into the Big Data realm. The Autonomy purchase was among the final decisions by HP CEO Leo Apotheker before he was fired. Current CEO Meg Whitman said in November 2012 that a senior Autonomy manager came forward with the damning details shortly after Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch left the company. Lynch has continued to deny any wrongdoing. A representative for Lynch did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "These restatements, and the reasons for them, are consistent with HP's previous disclosures regarding accounting improprieties in Autonomy's pre-acquisition financials," said HP spokesman Michael Thacker. Companies Fight Back Against Hedge Funds As activist investors intensify their efforts to shake up large firms, a new alliance has formed to hit back at the Carl Icahns and Dan Loebs of the world, reports CNN Money. On Monday, a group of directors and long-term shareholders of publicly-traded companies launched the Shareholder Director Exchange. The move is intended to counter the growing influence of activist hedge fund managers, whose strategy is to buy stakes in companies and then aggressively push for change. The Shareholder Director Exchange, or SDX, includes independent directors from such companies as Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500) and Hertz (HTZ, Fortune 500), along with representatives from large long-term investors like BlackRock (BLK, Fortune 500) and Vanguard. But activist hedge fund managers, who often times openly clash with corporate boards, were left out of the group. James Woolery, the incoming chairman of Wall Street law firm Cadwalader and a lead sponsor of SDX, said the organization strives to give a voice to public companies in disputes with activist funds, which occasionally wage very public campaigns against the companies they go after. "Someone can issue a press release and go on television with 1% of the stock and send it into volatile places," he said, noting that Icahn's tweets demanding Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) issue a $150 billion buyback have resulted in big moves for the stock. "There's a need for greater stability in the market." Brand name companies probably have a good reason to be worried. Activist hedge funds are increasingly targeting larger firms. The SDX said the average market value of companies targeted by activists in 2012 was $8.2 billion -- up from $3.9 billion in 2011. According to SDX, activist funds have amassed an estimated $100 billion war chest -- roughly three times what they had in 2008. Donald Steinbrugge, managing partner of hedge fund consulting firm Agecroft Partners, said a lot of money has flowed to activist funds recently because they've had success shaking up companies whose stocks have lagged. Loeb's Third Point fund, for example, deserves some credit for helping to revitalize the share price of Yahoo! (YHOO, Fortune 500). Loeb put pressure on Yahoo to oust former CEO Scott Thompson after his hedge fund publicly pointed out inaccuracies in Thompson's resume. After Thompson stepped down, Yahoo hired Marissa Mayer as CEO and the stock has surged since then. Steinbrugge said activist investors can help create a system of checks and balances, and that these days, corporate boards "have activists in the back of their mind whenever they're making decisions." But according to Woolery, it's not all bad blood between companies and activists. He cited the relationship between former Heinz CEO Bill Johnson and activist Nelson Peltz of the Trian Group. Far from cordial at first, Johnson and Peltz ultimately saw eye-to-eye, with Peltz sitting on the Heinz board and staging a big turnaround for the ketchup-maker. Heinz has since been sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) and private equity firm 3G Capital. While activists argue that companies often put their own interests ahead of those of their shareholders, Woolery worries that kind of thinking could be damaging. "The balance of power around how corporate decisions get made cannot turn dramatically in favor of short-term activism," he said. "That would be a long term error." Wells Fargo Tops List of Most Valuable Banking Brands Wells Fargo has the most valuable brand in the banking world, reports MarketWatch. The U.S.-based bank tops the list once again for the second-straight year, according to a report by Brand Finance. Four of the top five most valuable banks in the world are U.S. banks. After Wells Fargo, HSBC Holdings plc takes the second spot, followed by Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The Brand Finance Banking 500 list ranks the world’s biggest banks by their brand value. The results, published in the February edition of The Banker magazine, reflect industry trends and indicate future developments. The consulting firm calculates the value of the brand by determining the royalties a corporation would have to pay to license its brand if it did not own it. Wells Fargo WFC added $4.2 billion of brand value to reach a total of more than $30 billion in brand value. The bank’s strength in lending and the U.S. economy’s recovery has driven up revenues and helped Wells Fargo overtake J.P. Morgan to become the world’s most profitable bank, according to the report. Wells Fargo has enjoyed a more favorable reputation than its peers, whether among customers or not, according to Brand Finance. It currently has a rating of AAA-, up from AA+ a year earlier. Bank of America and Citi are nipping at their heels with a brand value of $26.6 billion and $24.5 billion respectively, according to Brand Finance. HSBC, UBS AG and BNP Paribas are Europe’s biggest winners, with an increasing brand value of $4 billion, $3.35 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively. However, brand value dropped for banks in some of the BRIC countries, including banks in Russia, India and Brazil. Meanwhile China’s banks remained strong, with three Chinese banks making it into the global top 10. Investors Dump Emerging Market Stocks Investors yanked more than $6.3 billion from emerging market equity funds last week, the largest outflow on record in dollar terms, reports CNN Money. Boston-based fund tracker EPFR Global said the outflow was broad based and the biggest in three years as a percentage of assets under management. Institutional investors accounted for $5 billion of the redemptions. Emerging markets have been hit this year by a perfect storm of rising interest rates in the U.S., fears of a slowdown in China, political turmoil, and concerns that emerging market economies haven't reformed fast enough to make growth sustainable. The sell-off has gathered pace since Argentina gave up trying to defend the value of its currency last month. Central banks in India, Turkey and South Africa were forced to jack up interest rates last week to try to halt the exodus. Together with Indonesia and Brazil, those three countries make up the so-called Fragile Five. The five countries depend on foreign investment to finance imports, and all are set to hold elections this year, promising months of political uncertainty and little impetus for reform. "The macro fundamentals of the Fragile Five have been publicized for some time, so it seems likely that political risk has helped drive some of the moves," wrote Craig Botham, emerging markets economist at Schroders. Protests in Thailand and Ukraine have also served as a powerful reminder of the risks emerging market investors face. "The absence of an obvious way forward (in Thailand) will further undermine confidence in an already struggling economy," noted Capital Economics on Monday after protesters disrupted weekend elections. "Foreign investors have been pulling funds out of Thai equities since November." Still, despite the broad retreat, a few markets have managed to buck the trend, EPFR said. China equity funds attracted $363 million as local currency inflows offset the loss of euro and dollar-denominated investments. Turkey's dramatic midnight move last week to raise rates by 4.75% appeared to have paid off in the short term, with equity funds taking in fresh money for a sixth straight week. But the general flight from riskier markets was also reflected in emerging market bond funds, with redemptions hitting an eight-month high last week, EPFR said.	Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ATNM) Actinium president and CEO Dr. Kaushik J. Dave, a 25-year veteran with extensive biotech and pharmaceutical experience, recently interviewed with MissionIR to discuss the company’s clinical pipeline, latest developments and more. The full audio interview is available here: http://ATNM.MissionIR.com/interview.html. Iomab-B is the company's lead program for bone marrow conditioning in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who do not have any curative treatment options. Iomab-B is poised to start a pivotal phase 3 study, backed by significant data from five completed phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. Actinium's pipeline also includes Actimab-A, currently in phase 1/phase 2 clinical studies as a primary induction treatment of AML. The company's business model is to leverage its expertise and strong partnerships with leading cancer institutions to further the development of these drug candidates. Representing a “major risk mitigation step,” Actinium recently entered into a manufacturing supply agreement with Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc., in which Goodwin will oversee the current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) production of a monoclonal antibody anticipated to be used in an upcoming phase 3 clinical trial of Iomab™-B. Iomab™-B will be used in preparing patients for hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), commonly referred to as bone marrow transplant (BMT). About Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary platform that combines the precision targeting of monoclonal antibodies with the killing power of alpha and beta radioisotopes, the former being the most potent cancer killing agents in existence. Leveraging this platform and its ties with leading cancer institutions such as Sloan-Kettering (its largest shareholder), MD Anderson, Fred Hutchison, and Johns Hopkins, the company is focused on developing drugs for underserved cancers with no approved drugs which have multi-billion dollar market potential. Iomab-B, Actinium's lead product candidate, targets age 55+ patients who suffer from one of the deadliest of blood cancers called Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). There are no approved drugs for AML patients and most die within six months. For the few that do manage to go into remission, a bone marrow transplant offers a chance at being cured. However, even this is a risky procedure for these patients and most do not survive beyond six months. But in a Phase 2 trial, one in five patients who received Iomab-B before a bone marrow transplant made it past the two year anniversary when they are considered cured versus almost zero for those who do not. These results imply such a medical breakthrough that the FDA has agreed that the company may conduct just one pivotal trial before filing for BLA approval, assuming it is successful. The primary endpoint in the pivotal Phase 3 trial is durable complete remission, defined as a complete remission lasting 6 months. The Phase 1/2 trial results showed that sixty percent of older patients with advanced refractory and relapsed leukemia achieved disease fee survival after six months. Iomab-B has shown in many cancers during several Phase 1 and 2 trials with over 300 patients that its use can meaningfully increase survival of bone marrow transplant patients, and the company is initially developing it for AML because it is the fastest path to market. The leading experts in the transplant community recognize that Iomab-B has the potential to meaningfully increase the success rate of bone marrow transplants and offer patients who are condemned to die a chance of being cured. As bone marrow transplants are already the fastest growing hospital procedure and a multi-billion dollar market despite their high failure rate, this bodes well for Iomab-B. Also, bone marrow transplants are delivered in under two hundred centers in the U.S. with most transplants being done in just twenty centers. This implies Actinium can commercialize Iomab-B on its own in the US without a major salesforce; especially as it has the support of leading experts and there are no approved drugs for this purpose. However, Actinium is no one trick pony. It has another drug called Actimab-A for first line treatment of AML in a Phase 1/2 trial. Over time, the biggest market potential for Actinium lies in the fact that its highly patented platform technology could be used to target a wide variety of cancers. Preclinical and clinical work has already focused on Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), brain cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and a number of other cancer related indications. Aside from Iomab-B, the company plans to develop its products through Phase II clinical trials and then partner with an appropriate third party to complete development and commercialization. The compelling advantages of the Actinium's platform should continue to draw attention from the healthcare and investor communities. A closer look at their technology will further illustrate the immense licensing and acquisition potential inherent in the company's high-momentum product pipeline. In fact its closest technology competitor, Algeta, which is about 3-4 years ahead from a market perspective, was just acquired by Bayer for $2.9 billion. Advaxis, Inc. (ADXS) Advaxis CEO Daniel J. O'Connor will be presenting a company update at the 16th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York on February 11, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. ET. A live webcast of the presentation will be available on the Advaxis website or here. In other recent company news, Advaxis’ has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Asia’s premier biotech company, Biocon Ltd., (BIOCON.BO), for co-development and commercialization of ADXS-HPV, a novel cancer immunotherapy for the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cervical cancer in women, for India and key emerging markets. Per the agreement, Biocon will also have access to Advaxis’ innovative and proprietary immunotherapy technology that can be leveraged for the development of other novel therapeutics for various unmet medical needs. Further elaborating on its operations, Advaxis has published a new blog post on The Chairman's Blog, written by CEO O'Connor. TheChairmansBlog.com is an exclusive online media publication that provides key executive officers and key opinion leaders a unique platform to share insights about company and industry trends. Here, O’Conner published a blog post discussing the "large unmet need" among the Indian population for a treatment for HPV-related cervical cancer (view page), as well as a new blog post the two incentive programs offered by the U.S. FDA, which the company plans to pursue. Read the full blog post on TheChairmansBlog.com. About Advaxis, Inc. Advaxis, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the next-generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s immunotherapies are based on a novel platform technology that uses live, bio-engineered bacteria to secrete antigen/adjuvant fusion protein(s) that redirects the powerful immune response all human beings have to the bacteria to fight off cancer and disease. A second effect is to reduce the immune suppressive cells cancer tumors recruit to protect themselves from immune attack by over 80%. It is this combination that makes Advaxis special. The company has more than fifteen distinct constructs in various stages of development, many in strategic collaborations with recognized centers of excellence such as the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Research – UK, the Wistar Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of British Columbia, the Karolinska Institutet, and others. Advaxis’ lead construct, ADXS-HPV, is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for recurrent/refractory and advanced cervical cancer, anal cancer, and HPV caused head and neck cancers. This important construct was recognized as the Best Therapeutic Vaccine (approved or in development) at the 5th Annual Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) Awards by the vaccine industry and the journal Expert Reviews of Vaccines. The estimated global market for immunotherapies is projected to exceed $37.2B by 2012, with cancer vaccines forecast to grow into an $8B market. Protected by 75 issued and pending patents, Advaxis is extremely well positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning opportunities in the healthcare sector as it advances the development of next-generation treatments for today’s most challenging diseases. CytRx Corp. (CYTR) CytRx president and CEO Steven A. Kriegsman and vice president of business development David Haen are slated to present at the 16th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York City on February 10 at 2:30 p.m. ET. You can access the live and archived webcast of the presentation here: www.cytrx.com/investors/presentations. The company recently commenced an offering 11.5 million shares of common stock at a public offering price of $6.50 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $75 million, which have been allocated to fund clinical trials of its drug candidate aldoxorubicin and for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, capital expenditures, research and development and other commercial expenditures. The offering is expected to close on or about February 5, 2014. CytRx also announced advancements in its clinical program with the start of a phase 2 clinical trial to determine preliminary efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin for HIV-infected patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). The primary objective of preliminary efficacy will be determined through evaluation of the size, number and nodularity of skin lesions. Safety will be assessed through monitoring of adverse events and the ability to remain on assigned treatment. About CytRx Corp. CytRx Corp., a biopharmaceutical research and development company, specializes in the enhanced delivery of proven oncology therapies to treat cancer. The company’s novel linker platform technology can be utilized with multiple chemotherapeutic agents and could allow for greater concentration of drug at tumor sites while minimizing side effects. Aldoxorubicin, the company’s flagship compound, is an improved version of the widely used chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin. CytRx is conducting a global phase 2b clinical trial comparing aldoxorubicin to doxorubicin as a treatment for 1st-line soft tissue sarcomas. Top-line results are expected in Q4 2013. Preparations are underway for a phase 3 trial in 2nd-line soft tissues sarcoma to begin in Q1 2014 based on results from a completed phase 1b/2 clinical trial. The FDA granted CytRx a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the phase 3 clinical trial. The company is conducting a phase 1b pharmacokinetics clinical trial and in Q4 2013 plans to start a phase 2b trial in glioblastoma multiforme (stage IV brain cancer) and a phase 2 trial in Kaposi’s sarcoma. With no debt and significant cash resources, CytRx has the capital position necessary to support near and mid-term milestones across its entire oncology pipeline. CytRx also has rights to two additional drug candidates, tamibarotene and bafetinib, for which it plans to seek a partner for further development. ForceField Energy, Inc. (FNRG) In a move that expands its product portfolio and market reach in North America, ForceField Energy recently acquired Idaho-based Catalyst LEDs LLC, a provider of customized LED lighting products and solutions, and an authorized vendor for a number leading companies such as General Motors Corp. The transaction also adds a direct-to-consumer, web-based platform that will enable ForceField to better leverage the marketing of its existing product lines. Catalyst offers a wide selection of LED lighting products and customized solutions designed to help reduce controllable costs and increase sustainability to commercial and retail customers. The company has also designed lighting systems across a variety of industries and has worked directly with energy-management companies, electrical supply houses, and electricians throughout North America. ForceField will maintain the Catalyst LED brand name, product lines and website, leveraging Catalyst's established recognition within the LED industry. Catalyst founder and President Cory Turnbull will join ForceField as its Director of LED Sales in the United States. About ForceField Energy, Inc. ForceField Energy, Inc. is an international manufacturer, distributor, and licensee of alternative energy products and solutions. ForceField has two primary segments through which it focuses on the largest and fastest-growing areas of the global renewable energy market: industrial waste heat recovery and conversion, and commercial LED lighting products. TransPacific Energy (TPE), a subsidiary of ForceField Energy, has patented a technology that uses “waste heat” from various industry processes and other sources to provide clean electricity. The subsidiary’s process directly captures and converts heat from the heat source, without any heat transfer fluids, at temperatures from 80ºF up to 900ºF. This is a far broader range than any other competing systems on the market, unlocking a countless number of new applications. TPE sells systems directly to customers for their installation and operation. The company owns, installs and operates ORC systems, sells electricity, licenses its technology for specific applications and markets and conducts research and development for new ORC applications and renewable energy. Through its exclusive multinational distribution agreement with Lightsky, ForceField has a firm foothold in the commercial lighting products industry as well. The LED lighting market is growing at a 32% compound growth rate because of the absence of dangerous chemicals, government regulation phasing out old lighting technology, 50-70% lower energy costs, exceptionally long life, and beautiful illumination. VolitionRx Ltd. (VNRX) VolitionRx in late January commenced blood sample analysis for its largest clinical study to date, involving approximately 4,800 patients in a blind retrospective study to further establish the accuracy of VolitionRx's proprietary NuQ® assays as an initial screening tool for detecting colorectal cancer. The clinical study, in collaboration with Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark, brings the company one step closer to bringing its NuQ assay to market. “We greatly anticipate the results from this extensive study particularly as past studies have provided such promising and powerful results. If the findings match our expectations, these data would strongly support the potential of the Nucleosomics science and blood based diagnostics as a powerful aid to increasing the early detection of cancers,” said Professor Hans Jørgen Nielsen, professor of Surgical Oncology at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark. About VolitionRx Ltd. VolitionRx Ltd. is a life sciences company focused on bringing to market its inexpensive, accurate, and scalable cancer detection blood tests. The company intends to use its NuQR suite of products to fill a looming void in cancer diagnostic testing, for which there currently is only one blood test in common clinical use. NuQR is based on VolitionRx's proprietary NucleosomicsR technology, capable of measuring and identifying nucleosome structures in the blood. The company has secured strong intellectual property protection for its products, further strengthened by patent applications in the United States, Europe and worldwide. Following ongoing clinical trials and regulatory approval, VolitionRx will market its diagnostic and screening tests for individual cancers under the NuQR brand. The company is currently conducting clinical trials for its first product, a diagnostic test for colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States - current tests are expensive, invasive and unpleasant, resulting in a significant need for an improved alternative for colorectal diagnoses. VolitionRx's primary office and laboratory are based in Namur, Belgium, from which the company's strong team of professionals spearhead corporate initiatives. The company's executive management team is further supported by a scientific advisory board staffed with senior scientists from around the world, as well as a highly experienced board of directors.

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