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AdvancePCS Completes Acquisition of Greensboro's Accordant


AdvancePCS (Nasdaq: ADVP), one of the nation's leading health improvement companies, announced it has completed its acquisition of privately held Accordant Health Services, a premier disease management company headquartered in Greensboro that focuses on helping patients with complex, chronic, and progressive diseases. Accordant is now an AdvancePCS subsidiary, offering disease management programs in fifteen high-cost, niche diseases, including hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, seizure disorders, and Gaucher disease. www.accordant.com

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Inspire Initiates Phase III Trial


Durham-based Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has initiated a Phase III clinical trial of INS37217 Intranasal in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. The trial is a randomized, parallel-group, double blind study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of INS37217 Intranasal in a 10mg/ml non-preserved nasal spray formulation, compared to placebo. This dose was selected based on efficacy results from Phase I and II studies of INS37217 Intranasal in which the 10mg/ml dose consistently demonstrated the most robust effect.

The 28-day Phase III study will be conducted in approximately 630 patients at 24 centers across the United States. Results from the trial are expected in the second quarter of 2003. www.inspirepharm.com

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has been a CED member since 1998.

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Aurora Reaches Three-Quarter Mark on New Venture Fund


Durham-based Aurora Funds has closed on about three-fourths of its planned $75 million fourth venture capital fund. The firm had a second closing in October after initially announcing a close of $35 million in March.

Golden LEAF, the foundation handling part of North Carolina's settlement from the national tobacco litigation, is among the investors in the second closing. The Rocky Mount-based group gave Aurora $10 million as part of a $42 million commitment to invest in biotechnology and biomanufacturing companies across the state and to bolster the economy in rural counties that have depended heavily on tobacco farming.

Aurora managing partner Scott Albert declined to name other investors in the second closing, saying Aurora will provide a full list when it wraps up the fund early next year.

Duke Management Co., which handles the Duke University endowment funds, is the lead investor in Aurora IV, just as it has been in the firm's three previous funds. Other investors already named include Wachovia, Silicon Valley Bank, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, SHV Holdings, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities. www.aurorafunds.com

The Aurora Funds, Inc. has been a CED member since 1995.

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SCYNEXIS to Collaborate with Roche


RTP-based drug discovery company SCYNEXIS has announced that it has entered into a research collaboration with Roche to discover and develop novel compounds for central nervous system and metabolic diseases. The transaction will include access by Roche to the SCYNEXIS MEDCHEM-FACTORYTM technology and HEOSTM Hit Explorer Operating System software. This will accelerate the identification of novel leads against Roche's drug targets by producing large, focused, high-purity compound libraries and then utilizing rapid lead optimization to identify clinical candidates.

Specific financial terms were not disclosed, however, Roche will receive exclusive worldwide rights to products developed through the collaboration in exchange for technology access fees and other compensation for SCYNEXIS technologies and services.

SCYNEXIS is headquartered in RTP and also has European operations, SCYNEXIS Europe Ltd., located near Cambridge, England.

SCYNEXIS provides a full range of highly integrated synthetic chemistry processes and technologies to the life sciences. www.scynexis.com

SCYNEXIS Chemistry & Automation, Inc., has been a CED member since 2000.

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Former GSK, Ardent Exec to Head Serenex


Durham-based drug discovery company Serenex has appointed Dr. Richard S. Kent as president and chief executive officer. Kent succeeds Robert Dishman, who served as Serenex's founding president, CEO, and chairman.

Kent is a former GlaxoSmithKline executive who most recently served as president and chief executive officer of Ardent Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Durham-based startup focused on the discovery and development of delta receptor compounds.

Serenex, founded in 2001, has developed two proprietary technologies: functional proteome fractionation and proteome mining, designed to enable the rationalization of proteomics to accelerate drug discovery. To date, the company has raised $17 million from Intersouth Partners, Lilly BioVentures, Seaflower Ventures, and Mediphase Venture Partners. www.serenex.com

Serenex has been a CED member since 2002.

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SEBIO Announces Premier Speakers; Registration Deadline Is Nov. 29


Tony White, CEO of Applera Corporation, and Jan Leschly, former CEO of SmithKline Beecham and Chairman of Care Capital, will speak at the upcoming Southeastern BIO Investor Forum (SEBIO)

in Atlanta on December 5

.

As Chairman and CEO of Applera Corporation, parent company of Applied Bio-systems (NYSE: ABI) and Celera Corporation (NYSE: CRA), White has directed the activities of two of the most visible participants in the genomics revolution. White led the race to sequence the human genome, a fundamental scientific achievement. He now leads the company's high-profile efforts to leverage genomic capabilities in the development of therapeutics and diagnostics.

Leschly, a pharmaceutical industry veteran, served as CEO of SmithKline Beecham for six years before it merged into GlaxoSmithKline, and COO of Squibb, now part of Bristol-Meyers Squibb. Now Chairman of Care Capital, a life sciences venture fund, Leschly invests in many of the companies and technologies that feed the industry's hunger for innovation.

Both White and Leschly will speak at the fourth annual SEBIO conference on December 5 at the Ritz-Carlton of Buckhead in Atlanta.

The conference will feature a number of other leading industry experts. The CEO Breakfast, an invitation-only event for CEOs of regional life sciences companies, will feature John Holladay, CEO of EntreMed (Nasdaq: ENMD). A venture capital panel will conclude the conference, and will feature Camille Samuels-Pierson of Versant Ventures, as well as Stewart Hen of Warburg and Dr. Hubert Berner of Techno Venture Management (TVM).

Additionally, please note that online registration for SEBIO closes at 5:00 pm on Friday, November 29. Due to facility capacity, space is limited, so early registration is encouraged. Complete the secure online registration form at www.sebio.org, or contact Alexandria Palamountain at 704-338-5103 with any questions.

SEBIO is an annual conference organized by the Southeastern Life Sciences Association (SELSA), comprised of seven states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). The annual conference is for Southeastern high-growth life-science companies and regional, national, and international investors. SEBIO's audience consists of leading biotechnology executives, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investment bankers, and other industry professionals. CED is an organizational sponsor. www.sebio.org

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Don't Miss the Nov. 26th Early-Bird Deadline for CED's Venture Presenter Applications


CED is now accepting applications to present at Venture 2003, the Southeast's premier venture financing conference. Scheduled for April 22-23 in Chapel Hill, Venture 2003 will continue a 20-year tradition of showcasing North Carolina's hottest investment opportunities to venture capitalists and financiers from throughout the United States. All applications received by the early bird deadline, November 26, 2002, will be reviewed at that time and the first round of confirmed conference presenters will be selected from this group.

Since 1999, Venture presenters have raised over $1.2 billion in venture capital. The selection committee is looking for companies from an array of industries that are seeking either initial or subsequent stages of professional equity capital.

In addition to company presentations and exhibits, the conference will include extensive networking opportunities and exclusive investor-only events. Don't miss the early bird registration deadline, November 26, 2002! For more information on applying to present or general registration, visit www.cednc.org/venture/2003.

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The NCOE Announces a Comprehensive Federal Report on Tech Transfer


From The National Commission on Entrepreneurship's November 18 E-News: The federal government's technology transfer organizations are a massive enterprise that generates lots of new ideas and innovation . . . but are they doing a good job? The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) recently released a new study that seeks to answer that question. Find out for yourself what the U.S. GAO discovered by reading the October report, entitled Intellectual Property: Federal Agency Efforts in Transferring and Reporting New Technology (GAO-03-47). It provides an exhaustive review of the technology transfer activities of major government agencies. In fiscal year 2001 alone, these agencies generated 3,676 new inventions, 1,585 new patents, and $74.5 million in licensing revenue. The Department of Energy leads the field in new inventions, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dominates in terms of licensing revenue, generating $6.1 million in funds during FY2001.

Get the results of the report, Intellectual Property: Federal Agency Efforts in Transferring and Reporting New Technology. GAO-03-47, October 31, 2002, available at: www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-47; www.ncoe.org

The National Commission on Entrepreneurship has been a CED member since 2000.

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Events Update


December 16th — CED Information Session for Prospective Members

December 17th — Capital Connection Quarterly Luncheon

December 31st — Capital Connection Application Deadline

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