WEEKLY E-NEWS FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA BIOTECHNOLOGY CENTER

IN FOCUS FEATURE

Sweet Potatoes: Not Just for Casserole

From Our Web Site

Centice Raises $11.3M to Market Product
Centice Corp. of Durham has a new stash of cash that could bring its latest product, an authentication sensor system, to market in 2008.

Edgeton Named Piedmont Triad Research Park President
The Piedmont Triad Research Park's board of directors named Douglas L. Edgeton as the permanent president of the 230-acre life science and information technology research complex in Winston-Salem.

Venture Capitalists Invest $26.5M in Oriel Therapeutics
A Research Triangle Park company that secured a $150,000 loan from the Biotechnology Center four years ago has now received $26.5 million in commitments from a group of venture capitalists.

$6.8M RTI/NIH Pact to Level Genomics Studies
RTI International of Research Triangle Park has landed a $6.8 million three-year contract with the National Institutes of Health to standardize clinical trial data looking at the relationship between genetics and various health conditions.

BioSciNC and Partnering Survey Under Way
Survey responses are pouring in for North Carolina's bioscience industry directory, which now lists 431 bioscience companies.

In Focus

Sweet Potatoes: Not Just for Casserole

Most people recognize a sweet potato as a side dish, loaded with brown sugar, topped with pecans or mashed and baked with marshmallows.

But researchers are working to make North Carolina's state vegetable into more than a holiday treat. Discover how this root crop could help balance blood sugar and fuel cars.

Read the full article.

News from Other Sites

Through Genetics, Tapping a Tree's Potential as an Energy Source
"Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources, scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major goal is to reduce the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree's cellulose into biofuels like ethanol."
From The International Herald Tribune

Research Park to Reveal Plans for Mixed-Use Project
"The vision of the Piedmont Triad Research Park as a premier urban "live-work" science and technology facility could soon get a major boost, as a consortium of developers enters the last stages of due diligence on a major mixed-use project in the park's northern section."
From The Triangle Business Journal (Subscription Required)

County Takes Aim at Luring Biotechnology
"Hoping to take advantage of Wayne County's proximity to the Research Triangle Park and the facilities at East Carolina University and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Greenville, county officials have agreed to partner with their counterparts from four other areas to form the new BioEast Alliance."
From The Goldsboro News-Argus

Scientists Team up to Seek Grants
"This month, Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and RTI International formed the Research Triangle Energy Consortium. Its goal is to attract more of the federal grants and venture investments that until now have headed to alternative-energy research hubs in Texas, Massachusetts and California. In turn, the organizers hope that such research will spur startup companies and stimulate economic development."
From The (Raleigh) News and Observer

Biogen Idec Teams with Swiss Firm on Alzheimer's Drug
"The Massachusetts biotech, which has 750 Triangle employees, has agreed to provide Neurimmune with as much as $380 million in initial fees and milestone payments. The deal centers on Neurimmune's antibodies, which are intended to bind to molecules that play a role in the degeneration of brain cells in Alzheimer's patients, the companies reported."
From The Triangle Business Journal

Duke, FDA Put Clinical Trials on the Examining Table
"Duke University Medical Center and the FDA are set to launch a partnership to try to improve the nation’s clunky clinical-trials process."
From The Wall Street Journal Health Blog

Community Watch

• Durham-based AlphaMed Press, publisher of the journal Stem Cells, named Donald G. Phinney and Miodrag Stojkovic as co-editors, succeeding Curt Civin, who is retiring after eight years as editor.
• Randy Jirtle, professor of radiation oncology and a genomics researcher at Duke University, has been named for consideration as Time magazine's Person of the Year by Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a pioneer in the science of addiction.
• Aldagen, a Durham-based biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of clinical-stage regenerative therapies, appointed Joel R. Kimbrough to its board of directors. He will also serve as chair of the company’s audit committee.
• The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering named the Carolina-South Atlantic Chapter as the winner of the North American/South American Affiliate Council Platinum Grand Award for Excellence and Innovation.
• BioMarck Pharmaceuticals of Research Triangle Park has licensed patented research on respiratory disease treatments from North Carolina State University.
• The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences of Research Triangle Park signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The partnership will enhance the EPA process used to evaluate chemicals for toxicology and human health risks.
• Argos Therapeutics of Durham licensed rights to its regulatory T-cell technology to Pennsylvania-based Therakos, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
• Oncomethylome of Durham reported positive results from clinical trials for its colorectal cancer blood test.

Please send Community Watch items to Jim Shamp.

Announcement

BT Catalyst will not be published on Dec. 27, 2007.

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This newsletter was sent on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007. For the latest North Carolina biotechnology industry headlines, please visit the news section of our Web site.

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