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Asheville's IQue to Acquire Safeguard Security Holdings
Asheville-based IQue Intellectual Properties, Inc., has entered in to a letter of intent to acquire Texas-based Safeguard Security Holding, Inc., a security staffing company with 683 employees and annual revenues exceeding $24 million. Company officials expect the formal purchase agreement to be executed prior to November 15, 2004.

IQue is broadcast engineering, design and manufacturing company with solutions for streaming media content on the Web. IQue Intellectual Properties, Inc. is publicly traded company via OTC Pink Sheets under the symbol IQIP.

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Charlotte's Healthcare I.T. Acquired by Patient Care Technology Systems
California-based Patient Care Technology Systems (www.pcts.com), a medical software company, announced plans to acquire Charlotte-based Healthcare I.T., Inc. (www.healthcareit.com), a provider of passive tracking technologies for emergency departments and operating rooms. The companies plan to complete the integration of their systems in the first quarter of 2005.

Healthcare I.T. has developed a solution that tracks the real-time status and location of patients and assets through wireless badges worn by people and staff in the emergency department and ancillary areas. Using a rules-based intelligence, data is translated into information on the status and location of a patient and is communicated in real-time on electronic tracking boards with no data-entry required by ED clinicians and staff.

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Roanoke Technology Corp. Receives $13.3 Million
Rocky Mount-based Roanoke Technology Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: RNKE, www.roanoketechnology.com) has received $13.3 million from New Jersey-based Cornell Capital Partners, L.P, according to company reports. Roanoke Technology has obtained $1.3 million in convertible securities and $12 million under a Standby Equity Distribution Agreement.

Cornell recently helped Roanoke restructure other debts. Roanoke does business under the name “Top-10 Promotions,” which provides design, development, production, and marketing of technology for internet marketing capabilities.

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Icoria to Partner with Agilent on $11.6 Million Grant
RTP-based Icoria, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICOR, www.icoria.com) has received approval from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) to partner with Agilent Technologies for continued work on an $11.7 million ATP grant. The grant was originally awarded in June of 2002 to Icoria and its initial partner, LION bioscience AG, but LION has since withdrawn from participation and has now been replaced by Agilent. The grant remains the largest ever awarded by the ATP in the area of bioinformatics.

The goal of this grant is to support the development of a Target Assessment Technologies Suite (TATS) for the improved discovery and validation of targets for product development in the pharmaceutical and life sciences. In conjunction with the ATP grant, Icoria has successfully completed the first technical milestone objective associated with this grant. The completed milestone was for the development, validation, and analysis of a coherent data set, the first of three to be developed under the grant, according to company reports.

Icoria is a CED member.

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Durham's Cree Gets $4.2 Million to Study Solid-State Lighting
Durham-based Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE, www.cree.com), a provider of light emitting diode (LED) technology, has received a combined total of $4.2 million in funding for solid-state lighting research and development. The funds came from two programs: the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) through the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), on behalf of the US Department of Energy's Office of Building Technologies. The two programs, which remain subject to the negotiation and execution of contract terms and conditions, aim to reduce cost and energy consumption for general lighting.

The ATP project goals include the ability to quadruple the brightness and double the efficiency of existing LED systems, and reduce the cost per lumen using a white LED lamp. The research will span three years and be conducted in cooperation with Nanocrystal Lighting Corporation. The NETL project aims to provide a viable replacement for the energy inefficient incandescent light. This research and development program will also span three years targeting the development of an array of small-area LEDs with integrated optics, thermal management and electrical power handling circuitry, according to company reports.

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RTI and UNC Receive $3 Million Grant to Establish Center for Health Promotion Economics
RTP-based RTI International (www.rti.org) and the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (www.hpdp.unc.edu) have received a three-year, $3 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish the RTI-UNC Center of Excellence in Health Promotion Economics. The grant, one of two awarded nationally, will create a center to train health economists and public health practitioners in health economic methods as part of a national effort to develop and deliver more efficient and effective health care services in every life stage.

The center will unite researchers in economic theory and methods with those in health promotion and prevention to increase collaboration among those working to improve quality of life and health care for Americans. The center will combine two complementary scientific 'cores' - an economics core and a translation core. The economics core will focus on the economics of chronic disease by developing and refining economic methods and applications for health promotion and the prevention of disease, injury, and disability. The translation core will apply the methods from the economics core and disseminate methods and findings to the public health community. Specifically, it will test economic theory in the context of health promotion and integrate economic tools and methods to ongoing health promotion interventions at UNC's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and at RTI. The translation core also will promote health economics in the public health community through training and other activities, according to company reports.

RTI International is a CED member.

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Merix Changes Name to Argos and Prepares for HIV Clinical Trial
Durham-based Merix Bioscience has changed its name to Argos Therapeutics, Inc. (www.argostherapeutics.com). The company is also preparing for an HIV clinical trial with Argos' proprietary RNA-loaded dendritic cell vaccine.

In March 2004, Argos (then Merix) entered into an agreement with Geron in which Argos received 5 million shares of Geron stock, valued at over $43 million. In exchange, Geron was granted the co-exclusive right to use Argos' platform technology in specific therapeutic cancer vaccines using telomerase and other defined antigens. In June 2004, Argos and Kirin Brewery's Pharmaceutical Division entered into a collaboration to develop and commercialize dendritic cell vaccines in the areas of cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders and transplantation. As part of the agreement, Kirin made an equity investment in Argos and each party will contribute an estimated $45-65 million during the first three years of the collaboration. Additionally, Argos began a clinical trial in June 2004, focusing on the treatment of renal (kidney) cancer. Results for this phase I/II trial are anticipated in 2005.

Argos is a CED member.

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Biolex Extends Collaborative Agreement with Centocor
Pittsboro's Biolex, Inc. (www.biolex.com), a privately held protein therapeutics company, has expanded its collaboration with Centocor, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to include two additional proteins. These additions bring to six the number of Centocor antibodies being expressed using Biolex' proprietary LEX System in this ongoing collaboration.

Biolex will carry out a commercial line creation project using its proprietary LEX System for each of these two additional Centocor proteins. At Centocor's option, Biolex may scale-up and manufacture these proteins following the commercial line creation phase. Financial terms of the collaboration have not been disclosed. The LEX System couples natural characteristics of the small green aquatic plant, Lemna, with advanced genetic engineering and protein recovery methods to create a transformational development and production technology with advantages over all other existing cell culture and next generation transgenic expression systems. The LEX System has been demonstrated to significantly enable hard-to-make proteins (such as peptides and cytokines) and monoclonal antibodies, according to company reports.

Biolex is a CED member.

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Events Update

October 12 — FastTrac Tech - 10-week Training Course for Entrepreneurs Begins
October 13 — Success & Sagacity: A Spirited Conversation with Women Entrepreneurs
October 14 — CED Information Session for Prospective Members
October 15 — CFO Roundtable
October 18 — Biotechnology Forum
October 20 — Technology Forum “Game Night”
October 30 — Entrepreneur '04