Venture Update Vol. XI, #3, March 2007
Done Deals
Charlotte – NewGen Technologies, Inc. (www.newgenholdings.com), a manufacturer of biofuels, has reached an agreement relating to $70 million in secured debt financing with BioFuel Investments, LLC (BFI). Proceeds from the financing will be utilized to complete the purchase of Appalachian Oil Company (APPCO), pay off existing debt and other strategic objectives to facilitate distribution of premium blended biofuels through its brand 'ReFuel America.' Contact Blois Olson (651.221.1999).
RTP – InnerPulse, Inc. (www.inner-pulse.com), a privately held company developing technologies for the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms, announced the closing of $50 million in new equity financing. The syndicate of investors included Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., Synergy Life Science Partners, Ascent Biomedical Ventures, Delphi Ventures and Frazier Healthcare Ventures. The new capital will be used for the completion of the Company's novel implantable defibrillator and to support the infrastructure required to advance the Company from its early developmental phase to human clinical trials and commercialization. Contact Len Hall (949.474.4300).
Morrisville – Ziptronix (www.ziptronix.com), a company that seeks out ways to enhance the design and manufacturing of semiconductor products for the electronic industry, has secured $2.8 million in new financing from Intersouth Partners, RTI International, Grotech Capital Group, and Alliance Technology Ventures. The company has also acquired its first customer, the identity of which the Ziptronix will release shortly. Contact Wilfried Bair (919.459.2400).
Chapel Hill – Near-Time (www.near-time.com), a developer of Web 2.0 collaboration applications, has raised $2.25 million in funding from Wakefield Group and individual investor Bruce Boehm. Near-Time plans to use the funds to hire 10 to 15 software developers and salespeople. Contact Reid Conrad (919.932.7414).
Durham – Amphora Discovery Corporation (www.amphoracorp.com), a small molecule drug discovery company, has entered into an agreement with Genentech, Inc. pursuant to which Genentech will purchase Amphora’s entire program for an unnamed oncology target with the potential to treat multiple oncology indications. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Contact Julian Abery (919.287.6174).
Durham - Phase Bioscience, Inc. (www.phasebio.com), has successfully raised an undisclosed amount in Series B financing from Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation. Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation joins long-term investor Hatteras Venture Partners in supporting the growth of Phase Bioscience. Contact Gabriel R. Cipau, Ph.D. (919.271.0926).
Winston-Salem - BB&T Corporation (www.bbt.com), a subsidiary of Branch Banking and Trust Company, completed its acquisition of insurance premium finance company AFCO Credit Corporation and its Canadian affiliate, CAFO Inc., from Mellon Financial Corporation for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition moves BB&T from the ninth- to second-largest provider of insurance premium financing in the United States and the largest in Canada. Contact Clarke Starnes (336.733.2901).
RTP – RTI International (www.rti.org), an independent, nonprofit scientific research and technology development corporation, has acquired Palmer D'Angelo Consulting Inc. (PDCI) for an undisclosed amount. PDCI is a pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement consulting company based in Ottawa, Canada. Contact Lisa Bistreich (919.316.3596).
Durham – Trinity Convergence (www.trinityconvergence.com), a provider of embedded software solutions, has acquired Michigan-based Swell Software for an undisclosed amount. Swell Software products are used in a variety of embedded applications, including printers, MP3 players, handheld GPS units, home security systems, medical electronics and digital cameras. Contact Jeff Schline (919.433.7005).
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On the Up
MOVEtoADMIT
Durham, NC
Founded in 2003 in Delaware recent FastTrac Tech graduate, MOVEtoADMIT is a courtroom trial technology company now based in Durham.
Co-founded by experienced trial lawyer Guy Seaberg and electrical engineer Tink Lemon, MOVEtoADMIT was incorporated with the mission to explore the potential for evidence display technology in the courtroom and to ascertain the needs of lawyers, judges and jurors for such technology.
After 3 years of observation and development, MOVEtoADMIT created the TrialVue presentation system.
TrialVue is the first fully integrated system on the market, merging mobile hardware, proprietary software and professional digital evidence support in one package.
Before a trial, MOVEtoADMIT digitizes all physical evidence – including documents and records, charts, videos, objects, animations, audio files, forensic evidence, etc. – then indexes, edits, locates, displays and stores it.
Data transformation agents set all cues and merge the evidence presentation with both witnesses and lawyers for precise, seamless delivery. TrialVue enables instant exhibit markup, sticker placement, scanning and tagging, image and chart creation, deposition video redaction, high speed online research and much more.
TrialVue system enhances jurors’ understanding of the evidence, speeds up trials by making evidence presentations more streamlined and succinct.
MOVEtoADMIT’s TrialVue system has achieved a measure of national attention during a high-profile Durham, N.C. murder trial broadcast daily on CourtTV. More recently, the company has been retained by the defense for digital presentation in the so-called Atlanta Courthouse Shooting case in Fulton County Georgia, set for trial in early 2007. Contact Guy Seaberg (919.599.0503).
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New Developments
RTP – NC IDEA has awarded $156,000 in “proof of concept” grants to Protochips, Microelectronics Assembly Technologies, DPoly Systems and Oncogenomics. These awards represent the second round of the innovative grant program designed to bridge the gap between research activities and venture capital funding. NC IDEA plans another round of grants in the spring as part of its bi-annual program. Contact Amy Barger (919.532.1114).
Durham-based NovaQuest, the strategic partnering group of Quintiles Transnational Corp. (www.qtrn.com), continues to be a leader in providing funding, strategic expertise and management services to emerging biotechnology companies worldwide, forming 16 such alliances through its investments in 2006. NovaQuest participated as a minority investor in funding rounds that raised a total of $342 million for those companies. Contact Jay Johnson (919.998.2066).
The RTP-based North Carolina Biotechnology Center (www.ncbiotech.org) has approved $350,000 in loans to help Addrenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Teotten Diagnostics, Inc., BioMedomics and Axitare to pursue more investment and develop products within the state. The funding includes two $150,000 Small Business Research (SRL) loans and a pair of $25,000 Business Development Loans (BDLs). Contact Jim Shamp (919.541.9366).
Winston-Salem – Targacept, Inc. (www.targacept.com), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has announced that AstraZeneca plans to continue development of AZD3480 (TC-1734) in Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. The announcement follows the completion by AstraZeneca of previously disclosed studies of AZD3480 (TC-1734). Contact Michelle Linn (508.419.1555).
Charlotte – General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products (www.generaldynamics.com), a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a $29 million contract from U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, N.J., for the production of reactive armor tile sets to equip Abrams tanks. The reactive armor system is made up of tiles that fasten to the exterior of the vehicles. Contact Rob Doolittle (703.876.3199).
Lenoir – Google Inc. (www.google.com) plans to locate a new facility in Lenoir, North Carolina. The company will invest up to $600 million to build the data center that will support Google’s online operations and create as many as 210 jobs during the next four years. Wages at the Caldwell County facility will vary by job function, but the average wage is expected to be more than $48,300 not including benefits. Contact Gabriel Stricker (650.253.0139).
Durham – SCYNEXIS, Inc. (www.scynexis.com), a drug discovery and development company, has earned a $1 million payment from Merck & Co., Inc. for meeting certain preclinical milestones in the companies' collaboration to develop novel antifungal agents. The payment stems from a multiyear research collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. that SCYNEXIS signed in 2002. Contact Rick Rountree (919.878.1144).
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In the Pipeline
RTP – Bioptigen, Inc. (www.bioptigen.com), a Duke University Biomedical Engineering Department spin-out, has received FDA clearance to market its first generation spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) imaging systems for imaging ocular tissue microstructure. Bioptigen has also been awarded two concurrent Phase II SBIR grants to continue its development of research grade OCT systems. Contact Sunita Sayeram (919.314.5500).
Winston-Salem – Wake Forest University School of Medicine (www1.wfubmc.edu) in conjunction with Harvard Medical School has found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies in the womb and produced a variety of tissue types from these cells - sidestepping the controversy over destroying embryos for research. Led by Wake Forest’s Anthony Atala and researchers from both universities, the study found that the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells. Contact Karen Richardson (336.716.4453).
Chapel Hill – Zylera Pharmaceuticals (www.zylera.com) has launched announced RELAMINE (chondroitin 300mg, glucosamine 400mg and primorine 425mg), a novel, prescription treatment for osteoarthritis, is now available throughout the U.S. for the treatment of osteoarthritis. RELAMINE is the first and only prescription product that contains pharmaceutical quality glucosamine, chondroitin and primorine to reduce joint swelling and control pain while slowing the onset and progression of osteoarthritis. Contact Susan Preston (919.313.3568).
Morrisville – Gentris Corporation (www.gentris.com) has received FDA clearance for GentriSure, its first product line and the first FDA-cleared product for this specialty pharmacogenomics company. These six Human Genomic Reference Controls, the first products of their kind approved by a federal agency, are used to perform diagnostic testing for the Cytochrome P450 2D6 gene (CYP2D6). Contact Mariana McCulley (919.459.8159).
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Mark Your Calendar!
CED's
Venture 2007 Conference
April 24-25, 2007
Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club
Durham, NC
Biotech 2007 Conference
May 14-15, 2007
Durham Marriott at the Civic Center
Durham, NC
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