Venture Update Vol. IX, #11, December 2005
Done Deals
Cary – CeNeRX BioPharma (www.cenerx.com), a start-up biopharmaceutical company, has raised $18.5 million in its first round of financing. The round was led by the Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund, with participation from L Capital Partners, A.M. Pappas & Associates, and Wistar Morris. CeNeRx develops medicines to treat diseases related to neurotransmitters and the central nervous system including anxiety, dementia, depression, epilepsy, schizophrenia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The company plans to use the funds for research and business development. Contact Sean Graham (919.277.1176).
Durham – OncoMethylome Sciences (www.oncomethylome.com), a leader in the research, design and validation of molecular gene methylation tests for early cancer detection and personalized treatment decisions, has closed a € 15 million Series B round. Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners led the financing, with support from existing investors ING Belgium, Life Sciences Partners, PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, Meusinvest and Technowal. The company will use the funds to accelerate the development of its diagnostic and pharmacogenomic solutions for early detection and individualized treatment of cancer. Contact Harry Schrickx (919.281.0980).
Raleigh – HexaTech, Inc. (www.hexatechinc.com), an N.C. State spin-out that is developing and producing single crystalline aluminum nitride (AIN) substrates for electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices, has closed $8.9 million in Series A funding. Durham-based Intersouth Partners led the financing, with H.I.G. Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds and NC IDEA also participating. HexaTech, which presented at CED's Venture 2005 conference, will use the funds to advance product development, expand marketing efforts and build out the company’s executive team. Contact Zlatko Sitar (919.515.8637).
Raleigh – Summus (www.summus.com), a provider of applications and content for mobile phone users, has closed a private stock placement of approximately $8 million. Liberty Associated Partners was the lead investor, and existing investor Rock Hill Investment Management also participated. Summus will use the funds to drive its direct-to-consumer portal strategy. Contact Dawn Sullivan (781.684.0770).
Raleigh – 6th Sense Analytics (www.6thsenseanalytics.com), which is developing a solution for software development professionals to quantify their activities, has secured $1.5 million in seed funding. Intersouth Partners led the financing, with independent investor Ching-Ho Fung of Washington, D.C. also participating. The company will use the funds to complete the first commercial release of software, expand the initial set of customers and develop market awareness. Contact Greg Burnell (919.368.5585).
Greensboro – Spectrum Laboratory Network (www.spectrumlab.org), a regional provider of clinical laboratory and disease screening services, and Apax Partners, L.P. (www.apax.com), a private equity investment group, announced that Apax will acquire a majority ownership interest in Spectrum. Under terms of the deal, Moses Cone Health System, one of the health systems that founded Spectrum in 1998, will retain a significant ownership position in the company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2006. Contact Laura Brightsen (212.419.2461).
Charlotte – PACEL (www.pacel.com), a provider of human resource software and services for small and medium-sized businesses, will acquire World Wide Personnel Service of Maine Inc., a professional employer organization. With the completion of the acquisition, PACEL will have expanded to serve the majority of the eastern seaboard states. Contact Gary Musselman (704.643.0676).
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New Developments
Durham – Constella Group (www.constellagroup.com), a provider of health services to private and government clients, has won a $42.3 million contract to assist the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences with clinical research studies over the next 10 years . Individual studies will be designed and implemented each year. Constella had several partners in securing the contract: Duke University Health System, UNC Health Care, Chapel Hill-based contract research organization Rho Inc., and clinical and environmental testing laboratories. Contact Sue Ann Pentecost (919.313.7601).
Cary – 3Dsolve Inc. (www.3dsolve.com), a simulation learning company that creates learning solutions for government, military and corporate applications, has completed the development of the first phase of simulation-based courseware for the Submarine On-Board Training Department (SOBT) of the US Naval Submarine Learning Center (SLC).
The simulation-based e-learning materials were created to instruct Los Angeles-class attack submarine personnel in Force Protection and Anti-Terrorism FP/AT) procedures for in-port security. Contact Shawn Ramsey (919.359.0947).
Durham – Duke University (www.duke.edu) researchers have been awarded a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a wireless sensor network for measuring, modeling and predicting biophysical changes in forests. The network will help researchers better understand how the growth, survival and reproduction of forest trees are influenced by changes in climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide and other environmental variables that can fluctuate rapidly. James S. Clark, a professor of biology at the NicholasSchool of the Environment and Earth Sciences, will serve as principal investigator on the grant. Contact Tim Lucas (919.613.8084).
RTP – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, in partnership with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the North Carolina Biosciences Organization will host the 15 th annual Biotech 2006 conference: Fusing Science, Technology and Industry Leadership, May 22-23, 2006 at the Benton Convention Center at the Twin City Quarter, Winston-Salem, NC. The two-day conference will highlight North Carolina’s biotechnology industry, featuring keynotes and panel discussions from leaders in the life science sector. Contact Liza Lamberto (919.549.7500).
RTP – Jim Goodnight and Ping Fu, two successful Triangle-based entrepreneurs, have received national recognition for their innovative leadership. Goodnight, CEO of SAS, was honored as Ernst & Young's 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year. Ping Fu, President and CEO of Raindrop Geomagic, was recognized as Inc Magazine's 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year. Contact Nicole Thomas (213.977.3348).
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On The Up
ZumaTek, Inc.
Chapel Hill, NC
This year alone, breast cancer will be responsible for claiming the lives of at least 40,000 women, while more than 200,000 others will discover that they have the disease. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women.
Currently, the techniques for detecting breast cancer can only pinpoint potential tumors once significant structural changes within the breast have occurred.
Chapel Hill-based ZumaTek, Inc. (www.zumatek.com) hopes to accelerate the detection process by developing patient-friendly breast scanners capable of spotting subtle changes in the breast cells far earlier than the ability of current techniques.
Right now, physical examinations and x-ray mammography discover possible tumors, but patients often experience a great deal of psychological stress in anticipation of the physical pain usually associated with these standard procedures.
ZumaTek’s technology, developed by researchers at Duke University Medical Center, addresses that very problem. Patients can rest on a table, face down, without even removing any clothing. The breast is not compressed, which is often the cause of the pain experienced with current techniques.
Scanners can then identify suspicious spots in the patient’s uncompressed breast using nuclear medicine to detect chemical changes in breast cells that are associated with malignancy or using low dose x-rays to collect CT images of the breast, or a combination of the two.
These new techniques provide medical professionals with a three dimensional image, whereas traditional mammography only produces two dimensions. The advantage to this is that doctors can spot potential problem areas far earlier, allowing them to begin treating the patient’s breast cancer long before it has formed a tumor or spread to lymph nodes.
In addition, the device(s) can aid in monitoring the progress of radiation and chemotherapy, with its ability to non-invasively detect chemical changes in cancerous cells.
ZumaTek was recently named “People’s Choice” award winner at CED’s InfoTech 2005 conference and is currently in the process of negotiating licensing from Duke.
“ Several exciting developments lie ahead for the company,” said ZumaTek scientific founder Martin Tornai. “We can see there is a strong interest from the community at large for this type of patient friendly, 3-dimensional breast imaging technology.” Contact Martin Tornai ( 919-933-4990).
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In the Pipeline
RTP – Qualyst, Inc. (www.qualyst.com), which specializes in proprietary absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) products, has signed an alliance with SC BioSciences Corporation, a provider of life science discovery and development solutions in Japan. The company will act as Qualyst’s exclusive agent for commercialization of Qualyst’s proprietary B-CLEAR® system in Japan. Financial details were not disclosed. Contact Ian Mehr ( 919.313.6507).
RTP – Affinergy, Inc. (www.affinergy.com), a Duke spinout with a proprietary site-specific biological delivery system, has partnered with Boston Scientific to investigate new coatings for cardiovascular stents. Boston Scientific will use Affinergy’s coatings and peptide linker systems to improve clinical outcomes in orthopedic and cardiovascular patients. Contact Peyton Anderson (919.597.6222).
Durham – MercuryMD (www.mercurymd.com) has developed software that will provide the core platform for a new hospital surveillance system unveiled by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The system, which is designed to detect the outbreak of an infectious disease epidemic or a bioterrorism attack, is the first of its kind in the country. The system employs MercuryMD's MData CareFocus and MData Desktop software, as well as a monitoring Web portal. Contact Rob Johnson (919.806.1700).
Burlington – Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) (www.LabCorp.com), an industry leader in oncology testing as well as provider of clinical assays ranging from blood analyses to HIV and genomic testing, has entered into an agreement with Arcturus Bioscience, Inc. to license its technology for cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP) - a 92 gene PCR-based technology for the classification of 39 tumor types. Terms of the multi-year agreement were not disclosed. Contact Scott Fleming (336.436.4879)
RTP – Adherex Technologies Inc. (www.adherex.com), a biopharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of oncology products under development, announced its global development plans for the chemoenhancer eniluracil, which the company in-licensed from GlaxoSmithKline in July 2005. The company expects to have eniluracil into Phase III trials by mid 2007. Contact Melissa Matson (919.484.8484).
RTP – The exclusive license to Trazyme Pharma’s (www.tranzyme.com) patented human-based trans-lentiviral gene expression technology was obtained by Open Biosystems, Inc., a company focused on the commercialization of life science research tools for drug discovery. In addition, the company will assume Tranzyme's operations located in Birmingham, Alabama. In return, Tranzyme will receive minimum annual payments and royalties on sales of products and services resulting from the application of Tranzyme's technology. Contact Lindsay Donald (205.266.4717).
Morrisville – BioDelivery Sciences International (BDSI, www. biodeliverysciences.com) has chosen Florida-based Aveva Drug Delivery Systems to manufacture supplies of its cancer pain drug, Bema Fentanyl, to be used for upcoming phase III clinical trials, which are usually the last stage of human testing. BDSI also has contracted with Aveva to handle commercial manufacturing of Bema Fentanyl if the drug wins U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. Contact Mark Sirgo (919.653.5160).
Durham – Immunotherapy pioneer Argos Therapeutics (www.argostherapeutics.com), in conjunction with Toronto-based DC Bio Corp., announced that a clinical trial for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is scheduled to begin in 2006 using Argos’s proprietary RNA-loaded dendritic cell vaccine technology. The investigator-sponsored Phase I/II study will be conducted at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. McMaster University received a $573,000 grant from the Ontario Cancer Research Network (OCRN) to conduct the clinical trial. Contact Vanessa Horn (919.519.9150).
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Mark Your Calendar!
CED’s Engage: Sales & Marketing
December 13, 2005
The Fuqua School of Business
Duke University
Durham, NC
CED’s Venture 2006
May 2-3, 2006
Pinehurst Resort
Pinehurst, 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.
Robert Albright, editor
P.O. Box 13353, RTP, NC 27709
Phone: 919-549-7500
FAX: 919-549-7405
email: news@cednc.org