Liberty Latin America (LILA) announced that Dr. John Malone has retired from the Liberty Latin America Board of Directors, and will transition to a Director Emeritus role going forward. As a Director Emeritus, Dr. Malone may attend Board meetings and provide active support and advice to Liberty Latin America, but will not have a vote on matters presented to the Board. In conjunction with Dr. Malone's retirement from the Board, on December 12, the Board elected Daniel Sanchez who will bring a tremendous amount of experience and expertise to Liberty Latin America. Sanchez currently serves as a director of Discovery (DISCA) and Lionsgate (LGF.A, LGF.B), and was previously a member of the Starz Board of Directors from 2013-2016. Sanchez is Dr. Malone's nephew.

Comment from interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen on CNBC's Mad Money.

Amazon Studios announced that it has ordered a fourth season of the Emmy and Golden Globe-Award winning comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The third season premiered Friday, Dec. 6 on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel received two Golden Globe nominations this week, for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, and for star Rachel Brosnahan for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Musical or Comedy. "We were thrilled to hear that for the fourth time, we do not have to pack up and vacate the premises," said Creator and Executive Producer Amy Sherman-Palladino and Executive Producer Daniel Palladino. "We'd like to thank Amazon for all their faith and support, their partnership and enthusiasm, and for letting us hang with our favorite people, the cast and crew of Maisel, for a little while longer."

Oncternal Therapeutics announced the presentation of interim data from the ongoing, investigator-sponsored Phase 1b clinical study of cirmtuzumab, its investigational anti-ROR1 monoclonal antibody, in combination with paclitaxel in patients with HER2-negative, metastatic or locally-advanced unresectable breast cancer. The results were presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, TX. As of the data cut-off date of November 27, 2019, a total of eight patients with HER2-negative, metastatic or locally-advanced unresectable breast cancer were enrolled in the study. Seven of the eight patients were evaluable for safety and efficacy. Four of the patients had triple negative breast cancer at study enrollment. Four of the seven evaluable patients achieved a partial response, for an objective response rate of 57%, including one partial response that continued on cirmtuzumab alone for 30 weeks after discontinuing paclitaxel. The combination of cirmtuzumab and paclitaxel has been well tolerated in this trial, with no study discontinuations for toxicity and no dose-limiting toxicities observed to date. Adverse events have been consistent with the known safety profile of paclitaxel alone. Pharmacokinetic analysis of serial plasma samples for free unbound antibody from two patients provided results similar to those observed in previous studies of chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients, consistent with a projected half-life of 30 days. No decline in antibody concentration over time was observed, consistent with the absence of neutralizing antibodies. "It is encouraging to see that cirmtuzumab in combination with paclitaxel has been well tolerated and is active. Future studies will determine whether cirmtuzumab is contributing to the known activity of paclitaxel. Advanced breast cancer patients are in need of improved treatment options with acceptable side effects. We look forward to completing enrollment and treating additional patients in this study," said Rebecca Shatsky, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor, Medicine at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, lead investigator.

Says feels "very good" about Q3 license number.

Says there won't be another CEO until he, and Safra Catz retire.

Evercel (EVRC) has made an offer to acquire NewLink Genetics (NLNK). Daniel Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Evercel, announced on November 25 Evercel has made alternative offers to acquire NewLink, including one for $1.75 in cash per share. "We tried to engage in a good faith discussion with NewLink's Board of Directors in order to deliver a superior offer to shareholders. However, NewLink's Board turned down our offer without even engaging in any discussion with us. "NewLink shareholders are being asked to approve a merger with privately held Lumos Pharma that we believe is not in their best interests and will likely destroy shareholder value at NewLink. Lumos is a money losing clinical stage biotech company with a single early stage pipeline asset that it acquired in July 2018 for $3.5 million upfront. The clinical path of Lumos' previous drug candidate was deemed not viable due to safety concerns. We believe our cash offer is superior to the current all stock Lumos deal as it offers NLNK shareholders a strong premium to the $1.45 volume weighted average share price since the Lumos deal was announced, certainty of value and an expedient path to closure. In contrast, we believe the Lumos deal will likely result in continued dilution to NewLink shareholders, accelerated cash burn and the pursuit of unlikely success of a previously failed drug candidate." "NewLink shareholders will have an important decision to make in the coming weeks on whether to approve the merger with Lumos, and we believe shareholders deserve the full picture of NewLink's options starting with an explanation for why the Board has refused to engage with Evercel about reaching a deal that may promise shareholders much greater value with significantly less risk than the Lumos merger."