Venture
Update Vol. VIII, #11, December 2004
Done Deals
Durham - Chimerix Inc. (www.chimerix-inc.com), which has offices in San Diego and Durham, has raised $11 million from a private placement of Series C preferred stock. Frazier Healthcare Ventures, a new investor, led the round with additional funding from founding investors Sanderling Ventures and Asset Management Company. This financing will help the company advance its current therapeutic programs and broaden the application of its proprietary technology to new therapeutic indications. Contact Dr. Kevin Anderson (858.200.0407).
RTP - Overture Networks (www.overturenetworks.com), a developer of packet-based multiservice access platforms, has raised $6 million led by current investors Morgenthaler Ventures and Durham-based Intersouth Partners. Additional funds came from earlier investors Armada Ventures and Gray Ventures. Overture will use the new funds to further technology development and to support additional marketing and sales initiatives. Contact Aimee Ridgway (919.337.4125).
Cary - INI Power Systems, Inc. (www.inipower.com), a developer of methanol powered micro-fuel cells, has closed a $3 million Series A equity financing led by Morrissey Hawthorne Inc. of Calgary, Canada, MHI Energy Partners of Norwalk, CT, and Illinois Ventures of Chicago, IL. INI, which is a spinout from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will use the funds to continue the development of the company's patented laminar flow micro-fuel cells for portable power applications. INI has also been awarded a $750,000 Phase II STTR contract by the Army Research Office to fund the development of a 20-watt portable power device for military applications. Contact Larry Markoski (919.677.1654).
Cary - NephroGenex, Inc. (www.nephrogenex.com), which is developing treatments for kidney disease via molecular profiling, has raised $500,000 in seed funding. Structured as a promissory note convertible to preferred stock, the financing was led by Discovery Life Sciences Fund, L.P., Vanderbilt University of Nashville, TN, and Karolinska Innovations AB of Stockholm, Sweden. NephroGenex will use the funds to initiate research and business operations and expand its intellectual property portfolio. Contact Dr. J. Wesley Fox (919.678.9512).
Durham - Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: www.inspirepharm.com) has closed the previously announced public offering of 2.53 million shares of its common stock, which included 330,000 shares sold upon exercise by the underwriter, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., of its over-allotment option in full. The shares were sold at a price to the public of $17.10 per share. Net proceeds to Inspire from the closing were approximately $42.3 million. Contact Jenny Kobin (919.941.9777 x219).
Morrisville - Peak 10, Inc. (www.peak10.com) has acquired Xodiax, a Louisville, Ky.-based provider of managed services, collocation, hosting and connectivity, for an undisclosed amount. Peak 10 now owns and operates five enterprise-class data centers in five key markets across the Southeast. Contact Ed Levens (919.863.2393 x213).
Cary - Mobile Reach International, Inc. (www.mobilereach.com), a provider of mobility solutions, has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire Raleigh-based Trifolium, Inc. (www.trifolium.com), a Web services solution company, for an undisclosed amount. After the deal closes, Trifolium will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobile Reach. Contact Andrea Costa (212.495.0200).
Winston-Salem - PointDX (www.pointdx.com), a Wake Forest University spinout, has been acquired by IDX Systems Corporation, a Vermont-based provider of healthcare information systems, for approximately $8 million. The final value of IDX's purchase of PointDx will be allocated based on management's estimates and independent appraisals, which are currently underway. Contact Margo Happer (802.859.6169).
On The Up
NDimo, Inc.
Durham, NC
A Durham-based start-up is making breakthroughs in ultrasound technology that could help doctors accurately detect cardiovascular and other critical diseases.
The spark for NDimo (www.ndimo.com) began at Duke University while Caterina Gallippi was completing her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering with a focus in medical ultrasonic imaging. Based on her scientific expertise in biomedical engineering, Dr. Gallippi founded NDimo to commercialize a new technology for multi-dimensional tissue velocity measurement in medical ultrasound.
NDimo's core offering - the proprietary “BSSVE” tool for ultrasonic imaging system upgrades - enables increased clinical utility and diagnostic significance for the vascular and cardiovascular ultrasonic imaging market.
Dr. Gallippi said the BSSVE tool allows for accurate, efficient and convenient multi-dimensional tissue velocity measurement in ultrasonic imaging. BSSVE is different from conventional Doppler-based velocity estimation schemes that are limited to measurement of only axial motion components. The BSSVE method, on the other hand, can measure both axial and lateral components of tissue velocity, and it is applicable to velocity measurement in three dimensions.
NDimo's BSSVE technology uses conventional imaging methods, requires no hardware modifications and interfaces seamlessly with clinicians. With NDimo's BSSVE technology, vascular and cardiovascular diseases can be more readily detected than conventional ultrasound methods.
In May 2004, NDimo received Phase 1 SBIR funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institute of Health. In September 2004 Dr. Gallippi also completed CED's FastTrac Tech course- a 10-week business training program for start-up entrepreneurs who are refining their business plans and seeking to grow high-impact companies.
Beyond securing grant funding and refining her business strategy, Dr. Gallippi has also assembled a seasoned Board of Advisors, including two renowned Duke University doctors/professors (Dr. Joseph A. Kisslo and Dr. Gregg E. Trahey) and one experienced entrepreneurial executive (Michael Murphy, President and CEO of Research Triangle Park-based Gentris Corporation).
Dr. Gallippi said she is optimistic about the company's future.
“NDimo is currently seeking funding to hire a lean, talented work force and bring the BSSVE product to fruition by Q3 2006,” she said. For more information, contact Dr. Gallippi at 919.280.9319.
New Developments
Piedmont Triad - Dell, Inc. (www.dell.com), which has headquarters in Texas, announced plans to build a new computer manufacturing facility in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem (Piedmont Triad) area that will create at least 1,500 jobs for the region. The N.C. Department of Commerce estimates that the project will generate a gross state product value of about $24.5 billion over the next 20 years, while producing a net state revenue impact of $743 million over the same period of time. North Carolina's General Assembly approved an incentive package for Dell with milestone provisions that could result in over $225 million in tax credits for the company over the next 15 years. Contact Cooper Bratton (919.733.5612).
RTP - Bayer Environmental Science (www.bayercropscience.com) is moving its North American operations from New Jersey and Alabama to the Research Triangle Park. The 90-person unit is a business group of Bayer CropScience, which employs about 375 people at its RTP headquarters. Contact Bayer (800-842-8020).
RTP - MCNC Research & Development Institute (www.mcnc-rdi.org) has signed an agreement with Lucent Technologies to jointly develop microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that are expected to increase communication speeds in the multi-gigabit-per-second range, for use in three-dimensional imaging. MCNC-RDI will collaborate on the project with Lucent's Bell Labs R&D division, and the New Jersey Nanotechnology Consortium (NJNC), based at and run by Bell Labs. Contact Scott Yates (919.248.1907).
In the Pipeline
RTP - Biogen IDEC (NASDAQ: BIIB, www.biogen.com) and Ireland-based Elan Corp. have received accelerated approval from the FDA for a treatment for multiple sclerosis. The approved drug, TYSABRI (formerly ANTEGREN), is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits adhesion molecules on the surface of immune cells. Biogen, which is headquartered in Massachusetts, will produce the drug at its campus in the Research Triangle Park. Contact Elizabeth Woo (617.679.2812).
Morrisville - etrials Worldwide, Inc. (www.etrials.com) has partnered with Quintiles Transnational Corp. (www.quintiles.com) on a proposed three-year licensing and technology sharing agreement to develop a post-approval e-clinical platform. In addition to the proposed licensing commitment and technology, etrials would receive contract backlog for existing and future client work to be run on a joint technology platform. Lorra Gosselin (919.653.3400).
RTP - United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR, www.unither.com), has received an approvable letter from the FDA for the intravenous dosing of Remodulin, the company's treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. United Therapeutics, which has its headquarters in Maryland and R&D operations in the RTP, had filed a supplemental NDA 10 months ago. Contact Andrew Fisher (301.608.9292).
RTP - Bayer Biological Products (www.bayerbiologicalsusa.com) has signed a commercialization and development deal for a new hemophilia treatment with Dutch company Zilip-Pharma. Bayer will use Zilip-Pharma's liposome technology to improve Bayer's hemophilia treatment Kogenate. Upfront and milestone payments from Bayer to Zilip-Pharma could total $100 million plus royalties from sales of the new product. Contact Tricia McKernan (919.316.6316).
RTP - Mi-Co (www.mi-corporation.com), along with the University of North Carolina (UNC) Breast Imaging Section, Health Decisions and American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) have received a $750,000 SBIR grant from the National Institute of Health's National Cancer Institute. Mi-Co will use the funding to study the impact of its digital writing and data capture software in a clinical trials setting. Contact Betsy Poole (919.485.4819 x1604).
RTP - Norak Biosciences, Inc. (www.norakbio.com) has signed a second license agreement with AstraZeneca to continue use of Transfluor Technology in its G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) drug discovery program. Financial terms were not disclosed. AstraZeneca will use Transfluor to advance novel lead compounds discovered from a primary high throughput screen utilizing Transfluor under an agreement announced in June 2002. Contact Terry Willard (919.248.8000 x8804).
RTP - Quill Medical, Inc. (www.quillmedical.com) has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Quill Barbed Polydioxanone Suture, for wound closure of dermal tissue. The product is the first in a series of tissue repair devices that the company is developing. These products, based on Quill's patented technology, enable surgical sutures to “self-anchor” in tissue without the need of a suture knot. Contact Matthew Megaro (919.806.1961).
RTP - Aeolus Pharmaceuticals (www.aeoluspharma.com) has launched a Phase I clinical trial for its drug, AEOL 10150, for treatment of Lou Gehrig's Disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The trial will take place at as many as six different sites, and the company has already administered the drug to the first group of patients who are afflicted with ALS. The trial period is expected to conclude during Q1 2005. Contact James Crapo (303.804.5655).
Mark Your Calendar!
CED's Engage: Finance
January 27, 2005
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center
RTP, NC
www.cednc.org/engage
CED's Venture 2005 Conference
April 26-27, 2005
Pinehurst Resort
Pinehurst, NC
www.cednc.org/venture
CED's Biotech 2005 Conference
May 24-25, 2005
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center
RTP, NC
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