Online media company Local Corporation (LOCM-NASDAQ) reported this morning on new market research commissioned from Borrell Associates. Among its services, Borrell works to gauge ad spending in local markets. The company forecasts that the online pay-per-call ad spending sector (also known as “enhanced directory assistance”) could be worth $8.1 billion by 2018, up from a current value of approximately $1.7 billion. Moreover, business use of this form of online advertising is anticipated to more than double by 2018. As more and more online searches for local goods and services are being performed on mobile devices (as opposed to on the traditional desktop platform), Local Corp. and other industry experts believe that pay-per-call as a mobile lead generation ad model will be key to generating revenue off of mobile consumers.  

So What Could This Mean for Local Corp. (LOCM)?  

One of the newest companies in our coverage universe, Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (PBIO-OTC), holds exciting new technologies for life science research—technologies that could help advance the work being done in tens of thousands of laboratories worldwide. The Company’s pressure cycling technology (PCT) platform, which is able to apply and release high levels of hydrostatic pressure in a safe and controlled manner, aids researchers and scientists by giving them the laboratory equipment needed to improve the processing of samples—which ultimately can lead to higher-quality research in critical fields like testing cancer therapies, creating new vaccines, and even faster and more accurate DNA analysis for things like processing rape kits. As an indication of the competitive advantage in research that Pressure BioSciences’ products can offer, to the Company’s knowledge, PCT has been shown to be the only technology able to completely kill anthrax while still leaving the sample in a testable state.  

Having demonstrated the utility of its equipment through roughly 235 installations in 150 marquee laboratories around the world, the industry is starting to take notice of the small-cap Pressure BioSciences, and with good reason.  

International Stem Cell Corp. (ISCO-OTCQB), a biotechnology company developing novel stem cell-based therapies and biomedical products, provided a business update and announced financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013.

On Tuesday, Jeffrey Kraws, senior pharmaceutical analyst at Crystal Research Associates, spoke with ABC News and Al Jazeera television regarding Johnson & Johnson’s $2.2 billion settlement for unlawfully marketing Risperdal, an anti-psychotic drug. Risperdal is FDA approved to treat schizophrenia but was illegally marketed to doctors and nursing homes as a treatment for elderly patients with dementia. The settlement included criminal fines totaling $485 million and civil fines of over $1.7 billion, which included payments to whistleblowers.  

Mr. Kraws spoke with Al Jazeera from New York City in a live segment airing overseas shortly after 4 PM ET on Tuesday. Among other questions, Kraws explains some of the ethical and brand image ramifications of JNJ’s actions and answers how the drug giant was able to use a system of internal as well as third-party players, kickbacks, and unsubstantiated product claims put forth over the years despite repeated warnings from the FDA.  

We are pleased to announce the publication of an Executive Informational Overview (EIO) on Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (PBIO-OTC), a company developing and commercializing proprietary laboratory instruments and consumable products. The full 76-page report is available for download here.