Pre-Open Stock Movers:

Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPFH) 28.3% HIGHER; SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB), the parent of Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the world's most innovative companies and their investors, and Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPFH), the parent company of Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, a leading provider of integrated wealth management, trust and banking services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits, today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which SVB will acquire Boston Private. Combined private bank and wealth management assets under management would be $17.7 billion, based on 9/30/20 figures.

Marker Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRKR) 19% HIGHER; announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted the partial clinical hold on the Company's Phase 2 trial investigating the safety and efficacy of MT-401, Marker's lead multi-tumor-associated antigen (MultiTAA)-specific T cell product candidate for the treatment of post-transplant acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

fuboTV Inc. (NASDAQ: FUBO) 17.8% HIGHER; sees Q4 total revenue is expected to be between $94-$98 million, a 77% to 84% increase year-over-year.* Prior guidance was $80-$85 million and the consensus is $87.36 million. also, positive comments at Needham.

ION Geophysical Corporation (NYSE: IO) 17.8% HIGHER; announced the first proprietary commercial deployment of the Company’s Gemini™ extended frequency source technology for a Super Major. Following the technology’s commercialization in September, energy companies have specified Gemini in a number of proprietary tenders, the first of which is expected to begin in January. Gemini uniquely supports the industry’s shift to increasingly novel acquisition methodologies for enhanced subsurface imaging and decision-making across the E&P life cycle.

aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIFE) 10.8% HIGHER; announced positive topline results from its Phase 2 double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of its lead therapeutic candidate, ATYR1923, in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory complications who do not require mechanical ventilation. The trial met its primary endpoint of safety, demonstrating that a single, intravenous (IV) dose of ATYR1923 was generally safe and well-tolerated in both the 1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg treatment groups, with no drug-related serious adverse events.

Aesthetic Medical International Holdings Group Limited (Nasdaq: AIH) 9.4% HIGHER; terminated the agreement to acquire a 51% equity interest in Guangdong Hanfei Investment Management Co., Ltd., previously announced on July 14, 2020. The termination was a result of amicable negotiation of the parties following Hanfei’s failure to meet the agreed-upon performance target largely due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.

8x8 (NYSE: EGHT) 6.2% LOWER; Wells Fargo downgraded from Equal Weight to Underweight but increased the price target to $25.00 (from $17).

Fate Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE) 5.5% LOWER; announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $350 million of shares of common stock.

Generation Bio Co. (NASDAQ: GBIO) 5.3% LOWER; filed to offer 7.5 million shares.

ViewRay, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRAY) 4.8% LOWER; announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 10,310,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $4.85 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $50.0 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by ViewRay.

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: BTAI) 3.8% HIGHER; announced that BXCL501, the Companys proprietary, orally dissolving thin film formulation of dexmedetomidine, met the primary and secondary endpoints of the TRANQUILITY trial at the 60 mcg dose level. Topline results from the evaluated doses showed that BXCL501 was generally well tolerated, with rapid and durable reductions observed in measures of acute agitation with the 60 mcg dose.