Regional News

Don't miss our other news sources!

P4 Performance Acquires Refense Technologies
Cary-based P4 Performance Management, a leading provider of intelligent and innovative Selective Outsourcing solutions to large enterprise customers and its majority shareholder, AJP Group LLC, announced that AJP Group has acquired privately held Refense Technologies, a Raleigh-based provider of vulnerability management solutions for the network infrastructure.

The agreement has been approved by the board of directors of Refense and the stockholders of Refense and AJP Group. The four members of Refense’s staff will be added to P4’s team, increasing the employee headcount to 29. The co-founders of Refense are 2004 graduates of CED’s FastTrac Tech course. The company was also selected to be a demo participant at CED’s InfoTech 2004 and an early-stage presenting company at CED’s Venture 2005.

P4 is a CED member.
Refense Technologies is a CED member.

[Top of page]

Bioptigen Closes on $250,000 in Round A
Durham-based Bioptigen, a startup focused on optical imaging systems, has closed on $250,000 of a proposed $500,000 Series A round, according to Private Equity Week Wire. Among the investors is Southeast TechInventures.

Bioptigen is a spin-out from the Biomedical Engineering Department in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. The company was founded last year to commercialize technologies originated in the laboratories of Professor Joseph Izatt. Bioptigen was a demo participant at CED’s InfoTech 2005 conference and a presenter at CED’s Opportunity 2005 Angel Investor Retreat in Wilmington.

Bioptigen is a CED member.

[Top of page]

HexaTech Secures $8.9 Million in First Round Financing
RTP-based HexaTech, Inc., a company that develops and produces single crystalline aluminum nitride (AIN) substrates for high performance electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices, has closed on $8.9 million in financing.

Durham-based Intersouth Partners led the $8.9 million Series A round, with H.I.G. Ventures, Sevin Rosen Funds and NC IDEA participating. The round, which will be used to advance product development, expand marketing efforts and build out the company's executive team, is the company's first outside financing. Craig Burson of H.I.G. Ventures, John Glushik of Intersouth Partners and Dave McLean of Sevin Rosen Funds will join the company's Board of Directors. HexaTech presented at CED’s Venture 2005 conference last April in Pinehurst, NC.

HexaTech is a CED member.

[Top of page]

NanoCor Therapeutics Raises Seed Funding for Large Animal Study
Chapel Hill-based NanoCor Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company founded to create the first viable intracellular genetic protein therapy for the treatment of Chronic Heart Failure, has secured seed financing for the conduct of large animal studies. NanoCor efforts are based on the scientific work of Dr. Roger Hajjar of Mass General Hospital (Harvard University), Dr. Litsa Kranias of the University of Cincinnati and Dr. Richard Jude Samulski of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

NanoCor’s lead therapeutic is Carfostin™, a non-invasive treatment for congestive heart failure (CHF). Carfostin™ targets delivery of a proprietary gene to the heart muscle cells of patients with CHF using Biological NanoParticles. Once in the heart, Carfostin™ provides long-term therapeutic benefits by using the heart muscle as a bioreactor to provide sustained protein expression. NanoCor is currently conducting large animal studies, and expects to file an IND within 18 to 24 months.

[Top of page]

TransTech Pharma and Boehringer Ingelheim Initiate $54 Million Drug Discovery Collaboration
High-Point-based TransTech Pharma, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, has created a worldwide research and license collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH using TransTech's proprietary TTP Translational Technology(R). The aim of the collaboration is to discover and develop novel small molecules as therapeutics against an undisclosed biological target of interest to both companies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim has the exclusive right to develop and commercialize all compounds directed at the target covered by the collaboration. In a deal potentially valued at $54 million, TransTech would receive an upfront payment, research support and payments upon the achievement of specified research, clinical and commercialization milestones. In addition, TransTech would receive royalties on future product sales. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

TransTech Pharma is a CED member.

[Top of page]

Red Hat Joins Ranks of Nasdaq 100
Raleigh-based Red Hat, a provider of open-source business software, has been named to the Nasdaq 100 in connection with the stock market's yearly reconfiguration of the index. The new Nasdaq 100 index went into effect on Dec. 19.

The index, which represents 100 of the largest nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq National Market, includes a range of industries, such as biotechnology, software and retail. Nasdaq officials review the index every December to keep it consistent with the market's largest companies. With a stock market value of $4.37 billion, Red Hat joins companies such as Biogen Idec, Cisco Systems, Dell, Starbucks and Microsoft on the index.

Red Hat is a CED member.

[Top of page]

One North Carolina Small Business Fund Applications Submissions Open Jan. 1
Beginning Jan. 1, 2006 applications will be accepted for the new One North Carolina Small Business Fund, which provide grants to small businesses to help them conduct research and technology development projects. The special fund was created during the last legislative session using $1 million through the Gov. Mike Easley’s One North Carolina Fund to provide its first grants. The One North Carolina Small Business Fund will support small businesses engaging in research projects through the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Requests for grant proposals (RFPs) and guidelines are posted on the N.C. Department of Commerce’s N.C. Board of Science and Technology website (www.ncscienceandtechnology.com). The program allows a portion of the One North Carolina Fund economic development incentive money to be used for state matching funds for businesses that receive federal SBIR or STTR Phase I awards. Under this year’s program solicitation, an eligible company may receive an unrestricted grant award from the state of up to 50 percent of the company’s federal grant award up to $50,000. Applications for state matching funds must be received within 45 days of notification of a Phase I award by the federal SBIR/STTR agency.

[Top of page]

Adherex Received FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Cancer Drug Eniluracil
Durham-based Adherex Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of oncology products under development, has received orphan drug designation for eniluracil from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The orphan drug designation, which encourages companies to development treatments for diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 patients in the U.S. each year, provides potential incentives such as funding for clinical studies, study design assistance, waiver of FDA user fess, substantial tax credits and up to seven years of market exclusivity upon regulatory approval.

The designation was granted for the use of eniluracil in combination with fluoropyrimidines for the treatment of hepatocellular cancer. Eniluracil was in-licensed from GlaxoSmithKline in July 2005 and is being developed to improve the therapeutic vale and effectiveness of 5-FU, one of the world’s most commonly used chemotherapies, by inhibiting its breakdown.

Adherex is a CED member.

[Top of page]

New Lineup of “SpeedSpeak” Workshops Coming in January
The latest lineup of “SpeedSpeak” workshops will be held Jan. 9, 10, 11, 12 at the Cardinal Club in Raleigh. The Jan. 9 workshop, entitled “Present your Message Powerfully,” will be led by Analytrix President Sidd Chopra. The Jan. 10 workshop, led by Grace Ueng, president of Savvy Marketing Group, will focus on marketing messages. Barrett Joyner, vice president of sales for Mi-Co and former president of SAS North America, will present on “Building Sales and Team” at the Jan. 11 workshop. The final workshop, “Dealing with Press,” will feature Crossroads PR President Shawn Ramsey. CED Members will receive 15% off per session. For more information or to register, visit www.speedspeak.com/BCBseries/.

[Top of page]

Asklepios Scientific Founder Recognized by Discover Magazine
Chapel-Hill based Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (), a private development-stage biotechnology company, has announced that the results of the scientific work of Dr. Xiao Xiao, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a scientific founder of AskBio, have been recognized as one of Discover Magazine’s Top 100 Scientific Discoveries of 2005.

The discovery featured in the article is the successful ferrying of genes through the bloodstream, across blood vessel walls, and into almost every muscle cell of hamsters bred to have human genetic diseases. In these studies, Dr. Xiao and his team have shown that they can deliver genes to repair deteriorated muscles and reverse congestive heart failure. To conduct their studies, Dr. Xiao’s team used a form of an adeno-associated virus.

Asklepios is a CED member.

[Top of page]

Events Update

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