Venture
Update Vol. VIII, #4, May 2004
Done Deals
Durham - Icagen (www.icagen.com) has filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise as much as $86.3 million in an initial public offering. The timing and other details of the potential IPO have not been disclosed. Net proceeds from this offering would fund clinical trials, preclinical testing and other research and development activities. Contact Richard Katz (919.941.5206).
Durham - Dynogen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.dynogenpharma.com), a Boston-based neuroscience company with R&D headquarters in Durham, has secured $50 million to advance its portfolio of preclinical and clinical stage development candidates. New investor Schroder Ventures Life Sciences led the financing, joined by four new investors: Abingworth Management Limited, Atlas Venture, Medica Venture Partners and Wellcome Trust. Existing investors Oxford BioScience Partners, HealthCare Ventures and A.M. Pappas & Associates also participated in the round. Contact Mark Boshar (617.357.8000 x114).
Morrisville - TapRoot Systems (www.taprootsystems.com), an embedded software company focused on the smartphone and wireless network industries, has raised $7 million. Durham-based Intersouth Partners led the funding, with support from Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds. The financing will be used to enhance product development and build a marketing and customer support infrastructure. Contact Hugh Thomas (919.465.2266).
Raleigh - Nitronex (www.nitronex.com) has raised an additional $6 million from its previous investors Alliance Technology Ventures, TPG Ventures and VantagePoint Venture Partners. The additional funds will be used to accelerate marketing, sales and development activities. Contact Andrea Koller (919.807.9100 x157).
RTP - Smart Online (www.smartonline.com) has closed $2.5 million in financing led by Atlas Capital. The company, founded in 1993, provides software for small business management. Contact Steve Leon (512.288.0950).
RTP - Affinergy (www.affinergy.com), a biomaterial coatings company, has raised $1 million in seed funding from private investors. The company also named three new outside members to its Board of Directors: Jeffery C. Basham, Bruce J. Boehm and William J. Mercer, who will join existing directors Daniel J. Kenan and Peyton C. Anderson. Contact Peyton Anderson (919.345.3742).
Greensboro - APEX Analytix (www.apexanalytix.com), a provider of recovery auditing services and technology solutions, has acquired Minnesota-based Bottom Line Enhancement Services (BL), an international recovery auditing firm. APEX completed the deal via a combination of cash and stock to Bottom Line's shareholders. Noro-Moseley Partners and the Wakefield Group, minority investors in APEX, contributed $3.5 million of additional equity, while RBC Centura provided debt financing to round out the deal. Contact Daniel Pearson (919.557.7890 x13).
Indianapolis - Guidant Corp. (www.guidant.com) has completed the $6 million purchase of the remaining stake in Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions, a company originally founded by RTP-based Synecor (www.synecor.com). BVS is developing fully bioabsorbable drug eluting stent platforms, designed to be absorbed by vascular tissue following the restoration of blood flow in patients with coronary artery disease. Synecor, founded by Duke Unversity's Dr. Richard Stack, is a medical technology generator of new life science companies. Contact Andy Rieth (317.971.2061).
Morrisville - SciQuest, Inc. (www.sciquest.com, NASDAQ: SQST) has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by California-based Trinity Ventures and become a private company. Trinity Ventures will acquire SciQuest in a cash merger valued at $25.25 million. The acquisition will allow SciQuest to focus its attention on expanding its reach in the supplier relationship management market. Contact Suzanne Miglucci (919.659.2148).
On The Up
Chorus Systems, Inc.
RTP, NC
Chorus Systems, Inc. has developed a different approach to systems management with a new type of software that minimizes the cost of IT support through automated diagnosis of computer problems. The RTP-based company was founded in 2002 by a team of software engineers who see themselves as market-focused, not technology-enamored.
“IT Service management, which includes problem and incident managing of PCs and servers, is primarily a manual, labor intensive process,” said Dennis Szerszen, Chorus Systems' Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development. “Our software minimizes the cost of IT support by automatically monitoring, analyzing, and responding to changes.”
Chorus Systems' UpTime Solution isolates irregularities in PCs and servers and records the changes that lead to the problem. With the software automatically detecting and diagnosing problems, time and support costs are saved significantly through the decreased need for human intervention and skill to run and repair systems.
UpTime is based on an adaptive reference model technology that requires no administration, easily adjusts to changes in the server, monitors normal states instead of abnormal states and has the capability to identify irregularities automatically.
Chorus Systems, which presented at CED's Venture 2004, attributes its success to the staff's unique training in the IT sector.
“Technology has not been our focus, but rather solving real problems by applying technology,” Szerszen said.
Szerszen says that market entry is the company's biggest obstacle right now. Chorus Systems' immediate goals include gaining several key customers within their targeted markets in order to prove their value as a company and to generate needed revenues.
Chorus Systems is looking to raise $4 million at year-end to expand marketing and sales forces. Contact Dennis Szerzen (919.248.9393).
New Developments
RTP - The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (www.cednc.org) announced results from its survey of venture investors, which asked about investment priorities and portfolio performance. Eight-six percent of survey respondents said economic conditions had been more favorable in 1Q 2004 compared to 1Q 2003, and 55 percent of VCs said they would invest more money in 2004 compared to 2003. Visit http://www.cednc.org/news/press_releases/2004/04132004.html for other survey findings. CED also released its annual Venture Report, which showed North Carolina ranked in the top 10 nationally for venture investments for the second year in a row. Visit www.cednc.org/publications/vc_report/2003.pdf for the complete report. Contact Robert Albright (919.549.7500).
RTP - MCNC (www.mcnc.org), which advances technology-led economic development in North Carolina, announced that world-renowned grid computing expert Dr. Wolfgang Gentzsch will lead its grid computing initiatives. As managing director of MCNC's Grid Computing & Networking Services company, Gentzsch will direct MCNC's grid strategy and technology development, including the development of one of the nation's first statewide research and education grids. Contact Scott Yates (919.248.1907).
Winston-Salem - The Center for Structural Biology at Wake Forest University (csb.wfu.edu) has received a $232,331 grant from the N.C. Biotechnology Center's (www.ncbiotech.org) Science and Technology Development Program to assist in the development of an integrated facility to study genetically modified proteins and the related chemical processes that support all life. The funding will enable researchers from the university and from the Piedmont Triad research community to more effectively carry out investigations into protein structures and functions. Contact Karen Richardson (336.716.4587).
RTP - The North Carolina Biotechnology Center (www.ncbiotech.org), working with regional partners, has developed advisory committees for biotechnology in the Piedmont Triad and Western North Carolina to strengthen biotechnology statewide. Each committee has between 20 and 25 people, representing institutions and vantage points key to biotechnology development throughout the Triad and Western North Carolina. Contact Barry Teater (919.549.8814).
Raleigh - Fleishman-Hillard International Communications (www.fleishman.com) has opened an office in the Raleigh-Durham area. Senior Vice President Britt Carter will run the local office for the public relations firm. Fleishman-Hillard recently opened an office in Charlotte, as well. Contact Britt Carter (919.313.4813).
In the Pipeline
Durham - Trimeris (www.trimeris.com) and partner Roche announced that FUZEON, the first and only fusion inhibitor available for the treatment of HIV, is now available through U.S. retail and specialty pharmacies. This advancement will allow for easier access to FUZEON for patients and their healthcare providers. Contact Robin Fastenau (919.419.6050).
RTP - Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (www.paragen.com), has received a U.S. Patent for a fungicide target pathway. Chemical compounds discovered by Paradigm's patented method may lead to the development of more effective, less toxic fungicides, which are highly sought after throughout the agricultural industry. Contact Melissa Matson (919.425.3725).
RTP - Norak Biosciences, Inc. (www.norakbio.com) and SCYNEXIS (www.scynexis.com) have entered into a research agreement for the discovery and development of novel pharmaceutical compounds. Norak has transferred to SCYNEXIS certain active compounds and chemical structures from its Transflour screening exercise. The agreement will allow Norak to have greater access to SCYNEXIS research. Norak has also received a European patent for its Transflour technology and signed a non-exclusive license agreement with the Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB) in Taiwan. Contact Terry Willard (919.248.8000 x8804).
RTP - Embrex, Inc. (www.embrex.com) has opened a new biological manufacturing facility in Laurinburg to produce the company's Inovocox (in ovo coccidiosis vaccine) upon approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new facility will work with vaccine purification, sterile filling and shipping and receiving. Contact Ellen T. Moore (919.3142561).
RTP - Tranzyme Pharma (www.tranzyme.com) has achieved an interim milestone and received the final tranche of a $500,000 grant from The Institute for the Study of Aging (ISOA). The company was awarded a grant by ISOA in March 2003 to develop various models of Alzheimer's disease. Tranzyme has also entered into a research collaboration with Japan's Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories (SNBL) for the development of non-human primate models of human diseases for medical research and drug discovery. Contact Vipin Garg (919.597.6613).
RTP - Amphora Discovery Corp. (www.amphoracorp.com) and Aventis inked a two-year research collaboration focused on chemical biology and lead generation throughout Aventis' global research sites. The agreement focuses on drug discovery capabilities, high content profiling, technology enhancement and ion channel research. Contact Jeff Riley (919.287.6213).
Durham - Syntherica Corp. (www.syntherica.com) has been awarded a $1.26 million grant from the National Institute of Health. The grant will go to the testing development for the detection of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), one of the most widespread environmental contaminants in the United States. The development of the new method will reduce time and cost constraints for those testing for PCB. The Phase II grant is part of NIH's Small Business Innovation Research grant program. Contact Joe Smith (919.403.3232).
RTP - CiVentiChem LLC (www.cvchem.com) and Ferro Corporation (www.ferro.com) have signed an agreement to allow CiVentiChem to manufacture, market and sell non-regulated forms of the carbohydrate product line of Ferro Pfanstiehl. CiVentiChem provides integrated discovery support, research and development, contract research and custom synthesis services. Ferro Pfanstiehl, a subsidiary of Ferro Corporation, is a commercial scale producer of high purity specialty carbohydrates. Contact Bhaskar Venepalli (919.642.0101).
Mark Your Calendar!
Biotech 2004
May 26-27, 2004
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center, RTP, NC
www.cednc.org/biotech
For more information, visit the CED Web site (www.cednc.org) or 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.
Lisa Rowe-Ralls, editor
P.O. Box 13353, RTP, NC 27709
Phone: 919-549-7500
FAX: 919-549-7405
email: news@cednc.org