Venture Update Vol. X, #10, October 2006
Done Deals
Burlington – TriPath Imaging (www.tripathimaging.com),
a developer of automated image analysis systems, will be
acquired by Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) in
a deal worth $350 million. BD will pay
$9.25 in cash for TriPath shares. TriPath solicited a bid
from BD earlier this summer and BD made the offer on Aug.
14. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Contact Stephen P. Hall (336.290.8721).
Raleigh – Nortel (www.nortel.com),
a communication technologies company, will sell its wireless
unit focused on universal mobile telecommunications system
(UMTS) to rival Alcatel in a deal worth $320
million. The companies had been rumored to be in
negotiations for a sale over the past several weeks. The
deal does not mean Nortel is dropping interest in wireless
communications. The telecom gear manufacturer, which employs
some 2,100 people in RTP, wants to focus on what it calls
“next-generation mobility”. Contact Jamie Moody (972.684.7167).
Chapel Hill – POZEN Inc. (www.pozen.com),
a pharmaceutical development company, received $40
million in an upfront payment from AstraZeneca in
an exclusive global partnership between the two companies. The
collaboration was entered for the co-development and commercialization
of proprietary fixed dose combinations of the proton pump
inhibitor (PPI) esomeprazole magnesium, with the non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen, in a single tablet.
On top of the $40 million upfront payment, POZEN is entitled
to receive up to $160 million for certain
development and regulatory milestones as well as $175
million upon achievement in sales performance milestones.
Contact Bill Hodges (919.913.1030)
St. Pauls – Paraclete Armor and Equipment, Inc. (www.paracletearmor.com)
has been purchased by Mine Safety Appliances Company
(MSA) for $30 million. Paraclete
Armor develops advanced ballistic body armor used by military
personnel, including Special Forces units of the U.S. military.
Paraclete, which employs approximately 200 people and had
annual revenues of $16 million in 2005, will continue to
operate from its North Carolina base of operations. Contact
Nelson Corbin (910.865.2511).
Raleigh – Accipiter Solutions, Inc. (www.accipiter.com),
an online advertising technology company, launched the European
version of AdMarket – its self-serve, pay-per-click (PPC)
advertising solution that allows web publishers to operate
their own text-link advertising marketplaces. AdMarket’s
turnkey and private label solutions were brought under Accipiter’s
brand through its recent acquisition of BidClix,
one of the industry’s leading providers of self-serve, advertising
technology products. Contact Shawn Ramsey (919.359.0947).
Charlotte – Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com)
has acquired HealthLogic Systems Corporation for
an undisclosed amount. HealthLogic Systems has
been an industry leader in developing new technologies that
move providers from paper to more automated, HIPAA-compliant
processing. Its broad array of services enable hospitals
and other healthcare providers to expedite billing and claims
processing, gain efficiencies and reduce costs. Contact
Jeff Hershberger (212.847.6160).
Cary – R.H. Donnelley Corporation (RHD)
(www.rhd.com), a commercial
search company, had purchased LocalLaunch!,
a Chicago-based company that specializes in providing Internet
search products, platforms and fulfillment solutions to
local advertising providers, for an undisclosed amount.
The addition of LocalLaunch! and its staff of 40 bolsters
RHD's existing print and local online search offerings,
which include the DexOnline.com site. R.H. Donnelley does
not expect this acquisition to affect the current guidance
for full-year 2006 revenue, EBITDA, free cash flow or debt
at year-end. Contact Tyler D. Gronbach (919.297.1541).
Raleigh – INC Research (www.incresearch.com),
a therapeutically focused contract research organization,
has acquired Pharmaceutical Resource Corporation
(PRC), a suburban Philadelphia-based contract research
organization (CRO) specializing in adult and pediatric trials
in phases IIIb and IV, for an undisclosed amount. The
acquisition brings additional expertise to INC Research
with the inclusion of new leaders such as Kathleen Moran,
who will become vice president, pharmacovigilance and drug
safety; and Joseph Monteforte, M.D., who will become medical
director, anti-infectives, among others. Contact Trisha
Vonder Reith (858.597.6418).
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On The Up
LiveCargoGreensboro, N.C.
Sending, storing or collaborating on electronic documents reliably and securely using smartphones, PCs and other wireless devices can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Managing files using email is imperfect. Large attachments are often rejected and returned by email servers. The default management system for large files, FTP, is cumbersome, often requires intervention by IT staff and may not be supported on all platforms. Smart phones and other mobile devices are not capable of accessing documents and media files such as PowerPoint or video files without synchronizing with your desktop. As a result, there is no easy way to seamlessly share files or collaborate with others – until now.
Since its inception in 2003, Greensboro-based LiveCargo, Inc. (www.livecargo.com) has been providing businesses with secure file transfer, online storage, and collaboration products for mobile phones and other wireless devices that address this problem. LiveCargo was chosen as a demo participant at CED’s InfoTech in October 2005 and has experience significant progress since then.
In April 2006 LiveCargo launched a suite of mobile productivity tools that enable people to access their information any place, at any time, with virtually any mobile device. LiveCargo’s mobile productivity tools provide consumers, ‘prosumers’ and enterprise customers with seamless access to information by allowing them to store, share and collaborate on documents and media files of practically any size and across disparate networks such as GSM, CDMA and WiFi.
After three years in the North American market, in early 2006 LiveCargo opened an office and datacenter in Singapore and a third office in China. The company enlisted the help of William Zhang, one of the founding partners of QQ (the world’s largest Instant Messaging community with over 600 million users), and Alibaba (the world’s largest business-to-business Internet marketplace), to spearhead LiveCargo’s sales and marketing efforts in China. In addition to his background with QQ and Alibaba, Zhang is the former general manager for KingSoft, the largest software company in China, and the creator of China’s first Internet securities service, Prosperity Systems.
Then in August of 2006, LiveCargo announced a major international partnership with StarHub, Singapore's second largest telecommunications provider. StarHub will offer LiveCargo’s patent-pending file management, remote storage and collaboration technology to their consumer, corporate and mobile customers.
“Individuals want their work documents and media files available where and when they need them, not just when they’re in the office,” said Doug Young, CEO of LiveCargo. “Furthermore, the convergence of smart phones, PDAs and other computing devices with wireless broadband connectivity brings almost limitless opportunity and LiveCargo wants to help people take advantage of it.”
“Our recent StarHub partnership is further proof that mobile workers and consumers alike desire this type of anytime, anywhere file access. North American telecommunications companies will likely offer similar remote storage, file access and collaboration services in order to remain a step ahead of competitors in an increasingly volatile market. We’re spreading the message that not having access to your pertinent documents and files should no longer be acceptable in today’s connected world.”
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New Developments
High Point – TransTech Pharma (www.ttpharma.com)
has entered into a $155 million license
agreement with Pfizer Inc. for their development
of molecular compounds linked to positive treatment for
Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to the initial Pfizer offer,
TransTech will also receive $18 million through
their continued research program on the molecular compounds
as well as royalties on the worldwide sales of Pfizer products.
This partnership will grant Pfizer the exclusive rights
to commercialize TransTech’s manufactured molecular compounds,
known as RAGE modulators, for neuroscience research. Contact
Stephen L. Holcombe (336.841.0300).
Greensboro – North Carolina A&T
State University (www.ncat.edu)
will receive a $12.5 million grant from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The grant will fund the new Interdisciplinary Scientific
Environmental Technology Cooperative Research and Education
Center, the school has announced. That center will perform
research in a number of areas, including sensor technologies
of use in oceanographic and atmospheric applications, observation
systems for hurricane analysis and geospatial modeling.
Contact Nettie C. Rowland (336.256.0863).
Durham – Affinergy Inc. (www.affinergy.com),
a Duke University spinout with a proprietary site-specific
biological delivery system, has entered into a multi-year
development and license agreement with Synthes.
Affinergy will work exclusively with Synthes on multiple
product applications across the spine, trauma and craniomaxillofacial
markets. Contact Peyton Anderson (919.433.2229).
RTP – Touch360 (www.touch360.com), an innovation and strategic design firm, will partner with SQV Group of Taiwan. The relationship will enable the companies to deliver better value to their clients through insights to global markets and consumers, and more effective design-for-manufacturing - all will result in higher product success rates and better experiences for customers and users. Contact Claire-Juliette Beale (919.806.4256).
Morrisville – Trimeris, Inc. (www.trimeris.com),
a biopharmaceutical company, and its development partner, F.
Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Roche) have mutually agreed
to amend their research agreement to extend the research
term by additional two years from January 1, 2007 through
December 31, 2008. The extension of the Research Term governs
the joint research efforts by Trimeris and Roche on Next
Generation Fusion Inhibitor ("NGFI") peptides
created under the Research Agreement, which was first signed
by the parties in 2000. Contact Michael A. Recny, Ph.D.,
(919.419.6050).
Cary - 3Dsolve Inc. (www.3dsolve.com),
the stimulation learning company, has been selected to join
the America’s Army development team. The
team is comprised of more than a dozen government organizations
and private software firms working together to create authentic
military training and deployment simulation scenarios for
the United States Army. Members of the America’s Army development
team gain access to an extensive repository of training
objects and articles, allowing them to build upon existing
objects and accelerate the delivery of training applications.
Contact Shawn Ramsey-Kroboth (919.621.0737).
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In the Pipeline
RTP – Metabolon, Inc. (www.metabolon.com)
has launched mSelect™, a service offering that empowers
researchers in early drug discovery to select the most promising
and lowest-risk drug candidates for continued development.
Based on advanced metabolomic analysis where drug-induced
biochemical changes are detected in a single assay system,
mSelect provides an unbiased and nontargeted assessment
of a compound’s on- and off-target effects. Contact Stephanie
Ferrell (919.287.3359).
RTP – Tranzyme Pharma (www.tranzyme.com)
has amended the Investigational new drug application (IND)
for its novel small molecule ghrelin agonist, TZP-101, to
include patients with gastroparesis. Tranzyme has been developing
TZP-101 as a potent prokinetic agent for the treatment of
post-operative ileus (POI). Under the amended IND, Tranzyme
has initiated a single-dose study in diabetic patients suffering
from gastroparesis. This new study will provide a lead-in
to more detailed Phase II evaluation of TZP-101 in both
POI and gastroparesis. Contact Vipin K. Garg, Ph.D. (919.313.4764).
RTP – Integrian (www.integrian.com) is
augmenting its surveillance product portfolio with a new
high-definition digital camera. The camera is designed for
use in what the company calls “extreme mobile environments”.
Integrian designed the camera for use with its TransitCam
video recorders. Integrian equipment is used in more than
2,000 transit and motor vehicle fleet deployments. The camera
not only provides high resolution but also reduces processor
loads through compression technology. It features an Internet
Protocol-based engine developed by IQinVision,
an Integrian partner. Contact Robin Potts (919.472.5022).
RTP – Adherex Technologies, Inc. (www.adherex.com),
a biopharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of oncology
products under development, announced the initiation of
a Phase I/II trial of the combination of eniluracil and
5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in Asian patients with hepatocellular
(liver) cancer. The study will include several sites in
Asia and one in the U.S. The Phase I dose escalation part
of the study, is intended to establish the safety of Adherex's
proprietary dose and schedule of eniluracil + 5-FU in the
Asian population. The Phase II part of the study is primarily
intended to provide initial efficacy information in this
tumor type. Contact Melissa Matson (919.484.8484).
Raleigh – Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (www.salix.com)
announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved a supplemental new drug application which provides
for changes to the approved labeling for COLAZAL based upon
the pharmacokinetics of COLAZAL (balsalazide disodium) administered
with food as well as sprinkled over food. COLAZAL is an
anti-inflammatory drug approved for the treatment of mildly
to moderately active ulcerative colitis. Contact Mike Freeman
(919.862.1000).
Morrisville – BioDelivery Sciences International
(BDSI) (www.bdsinternational.com)
has received approval from a California panel to resume
patient recruitment and add new sites for a drug trial in
that state. The Research Advisory Panel of California approved
BDSI’s request to enroll patients and to add sites for the
Phase III trial of its Bema Fentanyl product. The drug,
to be delivered through an oral patch, is for treatment
of intense, or breakthrough, pain. BDSI hopes to file a
new drug application for BEMA Fentanyl in the second quarter
of next year. Contact Bill Douglass (212.825.3210).
RTP– Icagen (www.icagen.com)
has received a recommendation to continue with its Phase
III clinical trial of a proposed treatment for sickle cell
disease by an independent data monitoring committee. The
committee backed the continued enrollment of patients in
the trial which combines Icagen’s ICA-17043 compound in
conjunction with hydroxyurea therapy. Hydroxyurea therapy
is a cancer treatment. Contact Richard D. Katz, M.D. (919.941.5206).
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Mark Your Calendar!
CED’s Tech 2006 Conference
Oct. 10-11, 2006
October 10 – “Un-Conference Kick-Off”
North Carolina Biotechnology Center
Research Triangle Park, NC
October 11 – Tech 2006 Conference
North Carolina State University’s McKimmon Center
Raleigh, N.C.
CED’s Opportunity 2006 Conference
Dec. 4-5, 2006
Hilton Wilmington Riverside
Wilmington, N.C.
For more information, call 919-549-7500.
Venture Update is published by the
Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)
an entrepreneurial support organization located in the Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Robert Albright, editor
P.O. Box 13353, RTP, NC 27709
Phone: 919-549-7500
FAX: 919-549-7405
email: news@cednc.org