Venture
Update Vol. VII, #1, Jan. - Feb., 2003
RTP - Amphora Discovery (www.amphoracorp.com), which uses assay technology and proprietary data analysis software to measure chemical activity across disease pathways, raised $23 million in series B financing. The financing was co-led by existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, MPM Capital, Venrock Associates, CW Group and Versant Ventures. Amphora plans to use the funds to expand and commercialize its various drug discovery products. Contact Cesar Collado (919.287.6200).
High Point - TransTech Pharma, Inc. (www.ttpharma.com), a drug discovery company focusing on small molecule therapeutics, raised a total of $24.5 million over the past year. The investments came from the company's largest shareholder, New York-based MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, as well as its research partners Novo Nordisk A/S and Cephalon Inc. TransTech will use a portion of the investments to advance two internal programs into Phase I clinical trials during 2003. Contact Steven Holcombe (336.841.0300 x115).
Charlotte - OrthoNeuro Corp. (www.orthoneurocorp.com), a specialty hospital firm, raised $8.5 million in series A institutional financing. New Enterprise Associates (NEA) of Baltimore led the round. OrthoNeuro focuses on operating orthopedic and neurosurgical hospitals throughout the United States. The first round of financing will help fund OrthoNeuro's initial hospital projects, which include the first project in Austin, Texas, company officials said. OrthoNeuro was founded in early 2002. Contact Nancy Dorman of NEA (410.244.0115).
Morrisville - SmartPath, Inc. (www.smartpathinc.com), a provider of marketing resource management software applications, closed $3.2 million in third round funding. Intersouth Partners, the largest venture fund in North Carolina and one of the largest funds in the Southeast, led SmartPath's recent funding. Other investors in SmartPath's third round include Research Triangle Ventures, Tri-State Investment Group, Charlotte Angel Partners, The Atlantis Group and truePilot. The capital will be used to extend SmartPath's leadership in product technology and to increase overall market presence. Contact Grace Ueng (919.462.1489 x214).
Greenville - RSS Solutions (www.rsssolutions.com), a provider of advanced workflow planning and scheduling software solutions, closed a $1.6 million equity investment from EdgeStone Capital Partners. RSS Solutions will use the funding to enhance its development and sales capabilities. Contact Rob Lamka (519.746.7200 x227).
Durham - Intersouth Partners (www.intersouth.com) has raised $205 million to continue funding emerging life sciences and information technology companies in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. With the closing of Intersouth Partners VI, L.P., Intersouth, already the largest venture capital fund in North Carolina, becomes the largest early stage venture fund in the Southeast. Contact Andrea Cook (919.493.6640 x108).
Raleigh - Triangle Capital Partners (www.trianglecapitalpartners.com), an investment firm founded two years ago, has established a $50 million private equity fund. The fund, called the "Triangle Mezzanine Fund," has applied to operate as an SBIC (Small Business Investment Company). By applying to operate as an SBIC, Triangle Capital Partner's new fund qualifies for 3-to-1 matching federal funds through the Small Business Administration. Officials with Triangle Capital Partners said the fund would likely make $1 million to $5 million private equity investments in established companies in the Southeast. The new fund's investments are expected to provide financing for growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations, and management buyouts of middle market companies with established management and historical profitability. Contact Tarlton Long (919.719.4780).
RTP - MCNC (www.mcnc.org), a provider of high-performance computing and research services, has reorganized into two business entities and has also established MCNC Ventures, LLC. The new venture fund will invest over $25 million into early stage companies in the state that are developing products with technologies that fall within the sphere of research conducted by MCNC-Research and Development Institute. MCNC Ventures will manage two separate venture capital funds: a seed-stage fund for pre-institutional investments and an enterprise fund for follow-on investments. John Cambier, who has been with MCNC since 1994, will manage the fund's assets. Contact Yokima Cureton (919.248.1907).
Winston-Salem - BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT, www.bbandt.com) announced plans to buy First Virginia Banks Inc. (NYSE: FVB) in a $3.38 billion stock swap. The merger would boost the assets of BB&T to more than $91 billion and create the nation's 11th largest financial institution. The merger, approved by the directors of both companies, is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. Contact Tom A. Nicholson (336.733.305).
Burlington - Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (www.labcorp.com) completed its acquisition of Dianon Systems Inc., a company that provides anatomic pathology and oncology testing services. LabCorp acquired all of the outstanding shares of Dianon by financing the deal with a $350 million bridge loan and by borrowing $248.4 million under its $350 million credit line. Contact Pam Sherry (336.436.4855).
Cary - Lulu Enterprises (www.lulu.com), an online marketplace for digital content and collaborative publishing, acquired San Francisco-based nowRECORDING (www.nowrecording.com), an Internet site that allows musicians to collaborate with one another online to compose and record music. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lulu Enterprises is the latest venture of Red Hat founder and open source enthusiast Bob Young. Contact Melissa London (802.464.5487).
Charlotte - SPX Corp. (NYSE: SPW, www.spx.com), which sells technical and industrial products and services, signed a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets and subsidiaries of Hankison International from Hansen Inc. Hankison, based in Canonsburg, PA, is a leading manufacturer of compressed air dehydration and filtration products. Under the terms of the agreement, SPX will integrate Hankison's product line with that of Flair Corp., a Florida-based subsidiary that produces filters and dryer products. The new business unit will be named SPX Air Treatment. Contact Tina Betlejewski (704.752.4454).
Oriel Therapeutics, Inc.
Durham, NC
(Note: Oriel is an early-stage presenting company
at CED's Venture 2003 conference)
Over the past 50 years, asthma sufferers have experienced limited breakthroughs with inhaler technology. But Durham-based Oriel Therapeutics, an early-stage drug discovery company, is making strides to update traditional inhalers and give asthmatics something to cheer about.
Researchers at Oriel are developing a "smart inhaler" that utilizes electronic dry-powder inhalant technology rather than conventional pulmonary drug delivery methods pioneered during the 1950s. Traditional inhaler methods have used aerosol propellants, which are now being phased out due to environment concerns.
In addition to problems with aerosol inhalers, current dry-powder inhalers (despite being more environmentally friendly) are driven by a patient's own inhalation efforts and are therefore not always consistent in delivering the prescribed amount of drug to asthmatics.
Due to the inconsistency with powder inhalers, Oriel has developed an electronic chip to drive the delivery of medicine through a powder inhaler without relying on the patients' efforts. Oriel's inhaler technology, which grew out of a decade of research at UNC-Chapel Hill, monitors the patient's breath and makes adjustments to ensure the correct dosage is delivered every time.
Oriel's technology is expected to make dry-powder inhalers more accurate and more efficient in helping asthma sufferers, company officials said. Oriel, a presenter at CED's upcoming Venture 2003 conference in April, will soon begin testing the smart inhaler on patients. After testing is complete, the company will seek approval of its inhaler product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
CEO Paul J. Atkins, Ph.D., who was previously global director of delivery systems for respiratory therapeutics at GlaxoSmithKline, said Oriel has raised about $1 million in seed money.
Contact Paul Atkins (919.313.1290)
RTP - GlaxoSmithKline (www.gsk.com) has been granted marketing clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Lamictal® (lamotrigine) Tablets as add-on therapy in partial epileptic seizures in children age two years old and up. Approval of Lamictal was based on a clinical study, published in the journal Neurology, demonstrating the efficacy of the drug as add-on therapy in pediatric patients who were still having frequent partial seizures (at least four per month) despite optimal doses of other antiepilepsy drugs (AEDs). Contact Kristi Reeves (919.483.2839).
RTP - Paradigm Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: PDGM, www.paradigmgenetics.com) signed an agreement where Canada's DNA LandMarks, Inc., will acquire Paragen, the plant genotyping business of Paradigm Genetics. The two companies have entered into a letter of intent regarding DNA Landmark's acquisition of ParaGen. Financial details were not disclosed. Contact Melissa Matson (919.425.3725).
Raleigh - N.C. State's undergraduate entrepreneurship initiative (entrepreneurship.ncsu.edu) at the university's College of Management received a $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Kauffman Foundation grant, along with matching funds from the business community, will support the entrepreneurship program's curriculum and faculty development, student activities, outreach efforts in the business community, and student experiential learning. Contact Jennifer Anderson (919.515.5560).
Chapel Hill - POZEN Inc. (Nasdaq: POZN, www.pozen.com), a pharmaceutical development company, submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its experimental drug to treat migraine headaches.
Submitting this new drug application marks a major step in POZEN's attempts to launch its first product in the United States, according to company reports. POZEN is seeking FDA approval for its "MT 300" drug, which is intended for the acute treatment of migraines. Contact Lisa Barthelemy (919.913.1044).
Cary - SAS (www.sas.com) was selected to provide the U.S Department of Commerce with more than $424,000 in software and services to build an executive information system (EIS). Company officials said SAS is partnering with Advanced Performance Consulting Group, Inc. (APCG) to help ensure the information system will be designed to support the Department of Commerce's Chief Financial Office's organizational and performance management goals. Contact Elizabeth Husser (919.677.8000).
Chapel Hill - UNC-Chapel Hill (www.unc.edu) scientists received a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to establish a new center for multidisciplinary clinical research on arthritis at the Schools of Medicine and Public Health. The five-year initiative will be part of the larger Thurston Arthritis Research Center. With assistance from the grant, a new biostatistics facility will help researchers collect, manage and analyze their data, as well as offer education and outreach in research methods. Contact David Williamson (919.962.8596).
Venture 2003
April 22-23, 2003
The Friday Center
Chapel Hill, NC
www.cednc.org/venture/2003
Biotech 2003
May 21, 2003
Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center
RTP, NC
www.cednc.org/biotech/2003
For more information about these events or to register, visit the CED Web site (www.cednc.org) or call 919.549.7500.
CED is a private non-profit organization supported, in part, by corporate contributions, including funding from Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Kilpatrick Stockton, L.L.P.
Research Triangle Venture Update is published by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), a non-profit organization located in Research Triangle Park, N.C.