IN FOCUS FEATURE
Farmers Find Future for Fuels in Fields
Greensboro is 8, Raleigh-Durham is 12 and Charlotte is 13 in a cost of living study by Forbes.com.
From Our Web Site
Microban International to Create 45 Jobs
Microban International of Huntersville will invest $8 million during the next three years and expand its manufacturing facility. The move will create 45 new jobs.
DARA BioSciences Buys Rights to Bayer Compounds
DARA will have exclusive worldwide rights to a series of patents and compounds for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and other metabolic diseases.
Tengion Closes $33 Million in Series C Funding
The Pennsylvania-based Tengion, a regenerative medicine firm with a research office, a development laboratory and a pilot manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, has closed a $33 million Series C financing.
Alte Biosciences Licenses Duke Medical Center Technology
The licensed technology is a patent based on findings by Dr. Ranga Krishnan on the relationship between cerebrovascular disease and the onset of depression in elderly individuals.
Biolex Reveals Top-Line Results From Phase IIa Trial
In each of the two highest dose cohorts of the trial, the combination of Locteron and ribavirin resulted in an early virologic response (EVR) in 100 percent (16/16) of the hepatitis C patients treated.
Register to Access ScienceDirect Journals
The Biotechnology Center's Library and Information Services is coordinating a consortium to provide desktop access to Elsevier B.V.'s Corporate Edition of ScienceDirect full-text scientific journals.
In Focus
Farmers Find Future for Fuels in Fields
The fiber and juice in sorghum, sweet potatoes and switchgrass might seem like a "hard cell" to traditional petroleum interests, but some 200 agriculture specialists and students literally had a field day recently exploring North Carolina’s future in fuels from the farm.
It was the first encounter with some of these leading cellulosic biofuel feedstocks for many of the folks who gathered Sept. 27 at the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Science's 661-acre Williamsdale Farm near the Duplin County community of Wallace.
But by the end of the day, the participants returned to their homes across the state with a new appreciation for the changes – and the challenges – that will be coming to fuel tanks statewide.
News from Other Sites
Biotech Leaders at Greenville Forum Say Business is Good
"Teachers and students from community colleges throughout Eastern North Carolina learned the educational opportunities and the job possibilities available in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences from a group of professionals from the various industries."
From the (Greenville) Daily Reflector
Glaxo's Malaria Vaccine Clears Another Hurdle
"An experimental malaria vaccine cleared another hurdle by proving safe in a small group of infants, and by reducing the rate of malaria infections in the group by 65 percent, according to a new study of the shot, which has been under development for years."
From the Wall Street Journal
Biogen Idec in Process of Signing Confidentiality Agreement
"Biogen Idec, the Massachusetts biopharmaceutical company, currently in the process of selling itself, has just started reaching out to prospective suitors, said a source close to the situation."
From the (London) Financial Times
The Earth is Carolina Biodiesel's Driving Force
"Marc Dreyfors is the founding manager of Carolina Biodiesel, LLC, a company making the difficult transition from being a distributor to a processor of biodiesel -- that renewable fuel for diesel engines made from vegetable oil and restaurant fryer grease."
From the Durham Herald-Sun (Registration Required)
Business Leaders: Funding Key to Biotech Growth
"More financial support is needed if the biotechnology industry is to grow in the Charlotte region. That was the sentiment coming from the 2007 Charlotte Biotechnology Conference at UNC Charlotte Oct. 12."
From the Independent-Tribune
Attracting the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
Guest: Barrett Slenning, associate professor of Ruminant Health and Production Medicine, Epidemiology and Environmental Health, N.C. State University.
From State Government Radio
Community Watch
- Stephen Frye, PhD, former worldwide head of discovery medicinal chemistry at GlaxoSmithKline, will lead the new Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- The American Society of Landscape Architects has awarded George Briggs, executive director of The North Carolina Arboretum, the prestigious lifetime designation of Fellow for 2007.
- Daniel Burch, M.D., M.B.A., has joined CeNeRx BioPharma of Research Triangle Park as executive vice president of R&D and chief medical officer.
- Dr. Joseph DeSimone, founder of the Research Triangle Park-based nanobiotechnology firm Liquidia Technologies, will discuss drug-delivery applications of the firm’s patented PRINT platform and his ongoing research in cancer therapeutics at several events this fall.
Please send Community Watch items to Jim Shamp.
Oct. 26
BioPharma Forum
(Research Triangle Park)
Oct. 30
Creating A Sustainable Business And Perfecting The Pitch
(Research Triangle Park)
Oct. 26
BioPharma Forum
(Research Triangle Park)
Nov. 1
Ethics and the New Genomics
(Charlotte)
This newsletter was sent on Friday, Oct. 19, 2007. For the latest North Carolina biotechnology industry headlines, please visit the news section of our Web site.
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