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Sapiens Receives $17 Million Stock Offering
Sapiens International Corp. (www.sapiens.com) has completed a previously announced stock offering in Israel, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $17.1 million. Sapiens is based in Israel and has its U.S. operations in the RTP.

Company officials said the net proceeds will finance Sapiens' activities as well as activities of its subsidiaries, in accordance with the decisions of its Board of Directors. Sapiens is a global provider of IT business solutions for the insurance industry.

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US LEC to Acquire FASTNET for $8.5 Million
Charlotte-based US LEC (www.uslec.com), a regional telecommunications provider, is set to acquire Pennsylvania-based FASTNET, a data services provider in the mid-Atlantic. FASTNET's service area extends from Northern Virginia to New York. The company provides Internet security and data backup, managed hosting, dial-up Internet access and co-location services.

Under the terms of the acquisition, US LEC will gain nearly 2,100 business customers with dedicated Internet or data center services, as well as an additional 26,000 shared Web hosting and dial-up Internet customers. As a result, US LEC officials expect FASTNET to contribute an estimated $24 million in annual revenue.

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SAS Acquires Canada's RiskAdvisory
Cary-based SAS (www.sas.com) has acquired Canada-based RiskAdvisory, a provider of risk management consulting and software to energy companies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. With this acquisition, SAS extends its risk management domain expertise and software offerings through the addition of a team of risk experts and technology that complements existing risk management offerings. RiskAdvisory's four principals will join SAS, adding more than 65 years of experience in energy trading to SAS' risk management domain expertise.

The acquisition is SAS' seventh since 2000, demonstrating the company's acquisition strategy of enhancing its existing capabilities with technology and domain expertise rather than simply buying companies to grow market share, officials said. The acquisition of RiskAdvisory comes six months after SAS' June 2003 acquisition of OpRisk Analytics, another risk management company.

SAS is a CED member.

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Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inks Co-Promotion Agreement with Allergan
Durham-based Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.inspirepharm.com) has forged a co-promotion agreement with global healthcare company Allergan, Inc. The two companies have entered into a co-promotion agreement in the United States for the drug Elestat, which received FDA approval in October 2003 for the prevention of itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Inspire will provide California-based Allergan (www.allergan.com) with an up-front payment and Allergan will pay a royalty to Inspire on Elestat net sales. In addition, this agreement calls for Allergan to reduce its existing royalty payment to Inspire for the drug Restasis, which was covered by a previous agreement between Allergan and Inspire. According to company reports, Inspire will have the primary responsibility for selling, promotional and marketing activities related to Elestat. Allergan and Inspire will work collaboratively on overall product strategy and management.

Inspire Pharmaceuticals is a CED member.

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Jan Bouten Joins The Aurora Funds as an Associate
RTP-based The Aurora Funds (www.aurorafunds.com) has named Jan Bouten as an Associate. Bouten has worked for technology companies such as Larscom, Madge Networks and K-NET, and he has seven years of international sales, marketing and engineering experience. In his new role as associate, Bouten will serve as part of Aurora's IT investment team, evaluating new opportunities and supporting existing portfolio companies.

Bouten joins the Aurora team after earning his MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where he served as co-president of the school's Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, and was awarded the Dean's Recognition Award for Leadership. He also spent the past year working as an intern with Aurora.

The Aurora Funds is a CED member.

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Duke University Hospital to Test Polyglot Systems' Translation Technology
Duke University Hospital has agreed to test Polyglot Systems' translation software, which facilitates communication between healthcare providers and non-English-speaking patients. Four units of Polyglot's ProLingua 24/7 system are now being tested in the hospital's Emergency Department. ProLingua 24/7 is a touch screen system that provides two-way communication between a patient and the Emergency Department staff.

According to reports, Duke University Hospital is primarily using Polyglot's software in the registration area to receive patient identification information, such as name, address, phone number and date of birth. Hospital officials said they will also explore the use of the software in other departments. Durham-based Polyglot (www.pgsi.com), a demo participant at CED's InfoTech 2003 conference in Oct. 2003, has also been competitively selected to present their funding requirements and business strategies to investors at CED's Capital Connection Quarterly Luncheon. Durham-based Polarean will also present at the luncheon, held Dec. 16 at the Radisson Governors Inn in the RTP from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Visit www.cednc.org/cal for more details on the luncheon.

Polyglot Systems is a CED member.
Polarean is a CED member.

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Metabolon, Qualyst Name Medical Pioneers to Scientific Advisory Boards
Two RTP-based early-stage biotech companies - Metabolon (www.metabolon.com) and Qualyst (www.qualyst.com) - have named leading medical professionals to their newly created Scientific Advisory Boards. Metabolon's advisory board includes global thought leaders and pioneers in the field of metabolomics, a new approach for the discovery and development of drugs and the early diagnosis of disease states. Founding members of Metabolon's Scientific Advisory Board include the following medical professionals:

  • Hamilton O. Smith, M.D., Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and Scientific Director of the Institute of Biological Energy Alternatives. In 1978, Dr. Smith was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of Type II restriction enzymes, which led to the development of recombinant DNA technology.
  • J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., well known for leading Celera to the successful sequencing of the human genome.
  • Paul Schimmel, Ph.D., Scientific Advisory Board member and Co-Founder; also a professor at The Scripps Research Institute.
  • Oliver Smithies, D. Phil., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill.
  • M. Flint Beal, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Director of the Neurology Service at the New York Presbyterian Cornell Campus.
  • Donald W. Kufe, M.D., is Chief of Cancer Pharmacology in the Department of Adult Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Director of the Harvard Phase I Oncology Program and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Qualyst is developing technologies for the drug discovery and development marketplace. Members of Qualyst's Scientific Advisory Board include the following world-renowned scientists:

  • Kim L.R. Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, co-founder of Qualyst, and Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Pharmacy.
  • Ronald T. Borchardt, Ph.D., Solon E. Summerfield Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas.
  • Ken R. Brouwer, Ph.D., RPh., Vice President of Research and Development, Qualyst, Inc.
  • Richard B. Kim, M.D. Associate Professor, Department of Medicine and Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University.
  • Anthony Y.H. Lu, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor (In Residence), The Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
  • Gerald T. Miwa, Ph.D., Vice President, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
  • Gary M. Pollack, Ph.D., Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-School of Pharmacy, and co-founder of Qualyst.

Metabolon is a CED member.

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Events Update

December 16th — Capital Connection Luncheon
December 31st — Capital Connection Application Deadline
January 15th — Engage: Finance - Part One of CED's Knowledge, Networks and Trends Series
January 21st — Technology Forum - Government as Your Customer: Exploring Alternative Revenue Opportunities
January 23rd — CFO Roundtable
January 31st — Innovator's Workshop