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Targacept Raises $33 Million in Private Placement
Winston-Salem based Targacept, Inc. (www.targacept.com) closed a $33 million private placement to existing investors. Led by London-based Nomura Phase4 Ventures, the funds will be used for the clinical development of the company's lead product. The company has been in registration for an IPO since May 2004.

Targacept is focused on the design, discovery and development of novel drugs to treat various disorders of the nervous system. It focuses on drugs that target nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or NNRs, that serve as regulators of nervous system activity. The company has one product, Inversine, already on the market and has four additional products in various stages on development.

Targacept is a CED Member.

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Amphora Raises $20 Million in Series C Financing
RTP-based Amphora Discovery Corporation (www.amphoracorp.com) has completed a $20 million Series C financing. The round was led by 3i Group, with new investors including Novartis Venture Fund and Aventis Capital. Existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, MPM Capital, Venrock Associates and Versant Ventures also participated in the round.

The company hopes to use the funds to speed up preclinical development of its drug candidates while also furthering drug discovery efforts with its partners. Amphora is focused on pathway-based drug using a highly industrialized approach. The company has preclinical drug candidates in the oncology and inflammation areas.

Amphora Discovery Corporation is a CED Member.

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QlikTech Raises $12.5 Million in Venture Funding
Swedish-based QlikTech has secured $12.5 million in venture funding to further development of the company's business intelligence software solutions. Investors in the round included Accel Partners and Jerusalem Venture Partners. QlikTech plans to use the funds to expand its international presence.

Founded in Sweden, QlikTech has fully owned subsidiaries in Germany and the United States, including its North American headquarters in Raleigh. The company is focused on technology that provides business performance and intelligence solutions for data analysis. QlikTech currently has 1500 active customers in 43 different countries.

QlikTech is a CED Member.

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Adherex Completes Acquisition of Cadherin Biomedical
RTP-based Adherex Technologies (AMEX: ADH, www.adherex.com) has finalized an all-stock reacquisition deal for Cadherin Biomedical. The final terms of the deal, which was originally announced in July 2004, call for Adherex to issue 3.2 million shares of Adherex common stock in exchange for all the shares of Cadherin common stock. The agreement also signals the end of litigation between the two companies.

Adherex is biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel cancer therapeutics. The Cadherin acquisition is not expected to have a direct effect on the advancement of the company's oncology drugs. However, company officials believe that the acquisition will be valuable for non-cancer applications as well as for future partnerships.

Adherex Technologies is a CED Member.

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IBM Sells RTP-Based PC Group to Lenovo
RTP-based IBM and Chinese firm Lenovo have agreed to a $1.75 billion deal for IBM's personal computer operations, which are headquartered in RTP. The deal will make Lenovo the third largest PC manufacturer in the world, with IBM keeping a 19-percent ownership in the company. According to reports, the final deal terms included $1.2 billion in cash and assumption of over $500 million in debt.

There are approximately 2,000 current IBM employees in PC design and promotion who are located in RTP. These individuals will transfer to Lenovo and many will remain in the area. IBM had sold a different portion of its PC business in a separate sale almost two years ago.

IBM is a CED Member.

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Constella Group Secures $73 Million CDC Contract
Durham-based Constella Group (www.constellagroup.com) will team up with British company Pearson Government Solutions (www.pearsongov.com) to provide a bundled call center plan for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As part of the seven-year contract, Constella will run the CDC hot lines and be in charge of information services to other companies. All of the CDC hot lines will be routed to a single call center, creating a much more streamlined and efficient customer service process.

Constella Group provides health and biomedical research data, mostly to government agencies. To fulfill the contract, Constella expects to add as many as 20 employees to its current roster of 750. The company was named the #1 fastest growing private company in the Triangle in 2004.

Constella Group is a CED Member.

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International IT Sevices Partners with Vuico
Raleigh-based International IT Services, Ltd. (www.iits-usa.com) signed a partnership agreement with Houston-based Vuico, LLC (www.vuico.com) to outsource the development and localization of mobile wireless games and applications for the US market. Vuico holds an exclusive US license for Japan's NTT Software Corp.'s mobile wireless platform, BlueGrid®. The partnership with IITS will enable Vuico to provide Japanese cell phone games and other content to the US market in 2005.

IITS will work with Vuico to port and test various mobile software platforms before they hit the US market. Vuico expects the partnership to speed up delivery to market while also reducing costs. IITS currently has development groups in the areas of telecommunications, mobility solutions, web services and legacy applications.

International IT Services is a CED Member.

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Peak 10 to Provide Hosting for etrials
Peak 10 (www.peak10.com), which has an enterprise-class data center in Raleigh, announced an agreement to host etrials' QuickStudy platform. The platform reduces the time and expense of clinical trials by providing the tools necessary to capture, manage, analyze and explore clinical trial research data. According to etrials executives, Peak 10 offered the required infrastructure needs along with rigorous redundancy and recovery requirements.

The rising costs of the biotechnology industry has forced life science companies to explore the use of Internet-based data and networking applications. Companies like etrials are providing solutions to help organizations reduce the cost and time associated with leading-edge biotechnology and pharmaceutical research. Peak 10 has become a leader in hosting these applications. Peak 10 has five enterprise-quality data centers throughout the Southeast.

Peak 10 is a CED Member.

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CubeShield Launches Product with Licensed Trademarks from NCSU, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke
Raleigh-based CubeShield, Inc. (www.cubeshield.com) announced the availability of its CubeShield product featuring licensed trademarks from N.C. State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. CubeShield is a patent-pending product that improves employee comfort and satisfaction in the workplace while preventing potential vision problems caused by excessive overhead lighting and glare.

Next year, company officials plan to expand their product line with CubeShields featuring logos from other regional colleges and universities. CubeShield, Inc. was established in June 2002 to develop and market a patent-pending product that allows employees to enhance their office cubicles. CubeShield products are currently available at North Carolina Remembered in Cary Towne Center and Crabtree Valley Mall.

CubeShield is a CED member.

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Events Update

12/13

Biotechnology Forum: Meet the New Venture Funds

12/15

Technology Forum: Best Practices in Off Shore Outsourcing

12/31

Second Application to Present Deadline for CED's Venture 2005

1/12

Technology Forum: The Entrepreneurial Climate - When and How to Start your Company

1/27

Engage: Finance