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aaiPharma Acquires German Clinical Development Operation
Wilmington-based aaiPharma Inc. (www.aaipharma.com), a science-based pharmaceutical company focused on pain management, has acquired a German-based clinical development team through its German subsidiary. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

aaiPharma is acquiring a clinical research team of Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH & Co. KG, a contract manufacturer of drugs containing recombinant proteins. aaiPharma will carry out a number of existing contracts with Rentschler on a subcontract basis. The firms will also work together to expand their range of technological and clinical expertise to customers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

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Smart Online Completes Acquisition of iMart
Smart Online, Inc. (www.smartonline.com), a leading provider of software-as-services for the small-to-medium size business market, has acquired iMart, a leading solutions provider of multi-channel eCommerce systems, for $3.4 million in cash and 205,767 shares of stock. The deal marks the company's second acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2005.

In the coming year, Smart Online will integrate iMart's eCommerce Storefront application into its OneBiz Conductor™ platform and make other upgrades to provide a full-featured commerce solution for selling goods over the Internet. Once completed with the integration and other enhancements, the OneBiz Conductor platform will offer online applications for accounting, customer relationship management, eCommerce Storefront, human resource management and sales force automation.

Smart Online is a CED member.

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Aerie Pharmaceutical Secures $21 million in First Round Financing
RTP-based Aerie Pharmaceuticals (www.aeriepharma.com), a spinout biotechnology company from Duke University that focuses on development of drugs to treat glaucoma, has closed on $21 million in first round financing. Co-leading the round were Alta Partners and Texas Pacific Group Ventures.

Aerie plans to take its leading glaucoma treatment, AR-101, into phase I and phase II clinical studies in 2006. The money will be used in part to support those trials. In connection with the deal, Geoff Duyk, a managing director at TPG Ventures, and David Mack, a director at Alta Partners, will join Aerie's board of directors.

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AlphaVax Awarded $3.3 Million Grant to Develop Smallpox Vaccine
RTP-based AlphaVax (www.alphavax.com), a vaccine company that develops products for infectious diseases, biodefense and cancer, has won a $3.3 million grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), for the preclinical development of a vaccine for smallpox. This is the eighth vaccine development grant that AlphaVax has received from the NIH supporting programs in HIV, biodefense, influenza and SARS.

The new grant will bring together the result of preclinical research conducted at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, which has identified protective antigens for a smallpox vaccine, and a highly promising vaccine system being developed by AlphaVax.

AlphaVax is a CED member.

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DonorsChoose Wins Nonprofit Innovation Award from Amazon.com
DonorsChoose (www.donorschoose.com), a small New York City nonprofit group that links donors and teachers to supply public school students with everything from school supplies to money for field trips, has won the first Nonprofit Innovation Award in a fund-raising competition sponsored by Amazon.com. DonorsChoose raised $790,000 to win a matching amount from Amazon. It plans to use much of the $1.58 million total to help expand its operations to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, where schools have been disrupted by the recent hurricanes.

In February 2004, Triangle entrepreneur Michael Brader-Araje led the effort to make North Carolina the first expansion site for DonorsChoose outside of New York. In addition to its regional office in North Carolina, DonorsChoose now has other regional offices in Illinois and California.

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CED and NCCBA Partner for “Art of War” Leadership Program Oct. 29
CED and the North Carolina Chinese Business Association (NCCBA) are partnering to host “Leadership That Wins: 5 'Do’s’ and 'Don’ts’- Teachings from the Art of War” Oct. 29 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the MCNC Auditorium in RTP.

Dr. Linxian Wu, dean of the BioNetwork Capstone Center at Wake Technical College, will share teachings from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and combine these teachings with modern business examples. Cost is $7 for CED Members and $10 for non-members. For additional information, contact YanChing Zhang at zhangya@us.ibm.com.

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13th Annual Fast 50 Awards Set for Nov. 3 in Raleigh
CED, the Triangle Business Journal and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will honor 50 dynamic, privately owned businesses in the Triangle and their contributions to the growth and success of the community. The 2005 Fast 50 Awards Program will take place on Thursday, November 3, at 6:00 pm at North Ridge Country Club in Raleigh. The Fast 50 Awards are sponsored by DLA Piper, Global Knowledge and Sprint. For more information and to register for this event, visit triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/event/1815 or contact Becky Sandefur at bsandefur@bizjournals.com or 919.327.1004.

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“Southeastern Angel Investors Symposium” to Connect and Educate Angel Investors Interested in the Life Sciences Across Region on December 1 in Charleston, S.C.

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CED and NCMD to Host Medical Device Forum

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Local Tech Wire Hosts Oct. 27 Networking Social in Durham
Local Tech Wire will kick off a new networking series on October 27 from 5-7 p.m. at the Lofts at Lakeview in Durham. This casual event is targeted to all professionals looking to form and grow business relationships. Hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, music and games will be available at the LTW Social. Attendees can enjoy the on-site game room, which includes shuffleboard and pool table, a PlayStation Room, hot tea/coffee bar and movie theatre with stadium seating. For more information, and to RSVP, visit localtechwire.com/ltwsocial/.

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Events Update

7/21 Fast 50 Nominations Deadline
8/1 Tech 2006 Demo Application Deadline