The National Science Foundation has given the institution a $555,680 grant to beef up training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The grant funds a new five-year program aimed at increasing the number of qualified STEM graduates to fill expected growth in six kinds of job categories for which Wake Tech offers Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree programs.

The six AAS programs are:

• Environmental Technology


• Biopharmaceutical Technology


• Mechanical Engineering Technology


• Civil Engineering Technology


• Electronics Engineering Technology


• Computer Engineering Technology

The money is to help 124 students in those degree programs with scholarships, internship and co-op opportunities.

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This grant is to help Targacept develop Parkinson's detectors in nervous system cells -- drug biomarkers that could offer new ways for researchers to diagnose the disease earlier, track its progress and identify who might be appropriate subjects for clinical trials.

"Biomarker research could prove to be very valuable in the development of novel therapeutics for Parkinson's disease," said J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., Targacept's president and chief executive officer.

"This further highlights the breadth of our research platform and its application to many different diseases and disorders."

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The designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is for the company's aerosol formulation of Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor. There are no other inhaled versions of the drug to treat the deficiency.

Orphan drug designation provides incentives such as tax credits and market exclusivity to encourage companies to invest in developing treatments that prevent, diagnose or treat rare, life-threatening or chronic illnesses that affect fewer than 200,000 people a year in the U.S.

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During the quarter-century since its 1985 founding as a one-person consulting firm by Fred Eshelman, PPD has expanded its services, technologies and geographic reach through acquisitions and organic growth. It went public in early 1996.

Today, the firm employs more than 10,500 people -- some 2,000 of them in North Carolina. It has 85 offices, clinics and labs in 40 countries.

PPD delivers a full range of discovery, development and laboratory services to biopharmaceutical and medical device companies and academic and government organizations across the globe.

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And reading the tea leaves of some key industry analysts, North Carolina is in line to experience both phenomena.

Just over a week ago, before British media reported that GlaxoSmithKline is in line to reduce its R&D workforce again by some 4,000 people, European analysts with Morgan Stanley issued a report suggesting Big Pharma needs to do just that, and in-license more of its business activity -- especially drug discovery.

That could be bad news for GSK scientists at its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park. But it could be a good exit or partnering omen for many of North Carolina's small bioscience companies -- some of which are led and staffed by refugees from previous big-pharma cutbacks.

Seven Morgan Stanley experts -- two M.D.s, three Ph.D.s, a CFA and a CPA -- issued the suggestion in the report, Pharmaceuticals: Exit Research and Create Value.

They reported that they still see "significant value in pharma" as it "withdraws from most internal small molecule research and reallocates capital to in-licensing and other non-pharma assets."

But increasing pressure on Big Pharma from generics and R&D management changes lead these analysts to expect cutbacks in internal R&D spending "after a decade of dismal internal R&D returns."

They noted that more than one-third of the R&D spending by Big Pharma is in pre-phase II research, "where the probability of reaching the market is less than 10 percent."

"Reinvestment of internal research savings into in-licensing will yield three times the likely return, we calculate," the analysts wrote. "Under in-licensing deals, downside risk for pharma companies is currently materially lower than for internally developed drugs."

GSK has not made public any specific R&D cutback plans.

The Southeastern and Eastern offices are open on normal schedules.

Check back for updated information on the remaining statewide offices.

• The RTP headquarters is closed.
• The Greater Charlotte office is closed
• The Western office is closed
• The Eastern office is opening at least two hours late.

The Southeastern office is open.

Check back for details about the Triad office hours and for Tuesday's schedule.

Durham-based Quintiles, the world's largest clinical research organization, has announced a strategic alliance with Belgium's Movetis NV for commercialization of Movetis' new product, Resolor, in the U.K. and Germany. The drug is approved there for treating chronic constipation for women in whom laxatives fail to provide adequate relief. More

Galen Hatfield, Ph.D., has joined RTI International as vice president of strategic initiatives for its Engineering and Technology Unit, where he will lead the unit's strategic planning and drive new large-scale strategic initiatives and create new business opportunities. More

TransEnterix, a Durham-based Duke University spin-out that has developed a surgical device permitting complex procedures through a single incision in the navel, has named David Gill as chief financial officer. Gill recently managed TransEnterix's $55-million Series B financing, which will be used by the company to manufacture and market its SPIDER surgical system this year. More

Monsanto, which already employs some 70 R&D people in Research Triangle Park and several more at a soy-breeding research station in Mount Olive, is the 18th company to set up shop at the growing Kannapolis facility.

Monsanto had signed a five-year collaboration with Dole Foods last year, to develop vegetable varieties with consumer-focused attributes such as flavor, texture, aroma and nutrition. David Murdock, owner of Castle & Cooke, and founder of the research campus, is the majority owner of Dole. Castle & Cooke is the developer of the research campus.

"The (Research Campus) holds great promise and the potential to make a significant contribution to human health, nutrition and agriculture," said Robb Fraley, chief technology officer for Monsanto.

"The synergy that exists at a campus like this could lead to truly innovative research and products with long-term benefits for consumers."

Monsanto's new Kannapolis endeavor is not expected to affect the collaboration it established last year with GrassRoots Biotechnology, according to Doug Eisner, GrassRoots co-founder and chief operating officer.

Eisner said he was pleased, however, to learn of the Kannapolis plan. "It's excellent to see Monsanto making a bigger commitment to North Carolina," he said.

GrassRoots is a 3-year-old Duke University spin-out that was started with help of a $25,000 loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The young firm has subsequently brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars of outside grants, and continues to add researchers to its downtown Durham campus.

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The federal agency established to approve drug naming okayed ulimorelin as the designation for the drug Tranzyme believes will treat the digestive problem, which is especially troublesome for diabetics.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center helped in Tranzyme's early development with a $150,000 loan. Vipin Garg, Ph.D., Tranzyme's president and CEO, subsequently served on the Biotechnology Center's board of directors.

TZP-101 has shown positive results in clinical studies.

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Palmer and other members of the consortium, called The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, were notified by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu of the award.

Palmer, an affiliate of Durham's 8 Rivers Capital, is to receive about $1.4 million of the grant, enabling the 14-person firm to hire additional research and development personnel.

"Our goal is highly focused," said Miles Palmer, Ph.D., Palmer's president, who co-founded the firm with Chairman Bill Brown, a visiting faculty member at the Duke University law school.

"We take the biggest problems--currently in energy and food resources--and find cheaper and better solutions through innovative combinations of proven technologies. The DOE stimulus funds provide timely support of this pressing goal to us and our consortium partners, Palmer added."

"Palmer Labs is a great example of the innovation and creativity that are driving North Carolina's future, especially in the energy/green jobs sector, which Governor (Bev) Perdue has emphasized as one of her top priorities for economic development," said N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary J. Keith Crisco.

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Carolina Liquid, a 13-year-old firm that develops and sells medical diagnostic reagents and machinery, moved its headquarters to Winston-Salem from California two years ago. It was one of the first tenants to occupy the Piedmont Triad Research Park Wet Lab LaunchPad project in downtown Winston-Salem.

Phil Shugart, president of the firm, said pain management clinics that must monitor patients' use and potential abuse of prescription drugs can now perform drug testing within their own facilities with the company's bench-top analyzer, BioLis 24i.

"By offering the BioLis 24i bench top chemistry analyzer as an option for drugs of abuse monitoring, we are offering pain management clinics an easy to use solution that provides better patient care and makes economic sense for the practice," he said.

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Privately owned Quintiles, whose 23,000 employees in 50 countries include 1,600 in North Carolina, issued a news release saying its identity change was "driven by the company's growing ability to solve customers' emerging clinical and commercial challenges."

It includes a new tag line, new logo and other identity tweaks, according to Chief Operating Officer John Ratliff.

"Only Quintiles has the ability to provide integrated clinical, commercial, consulting and capital solutions across the globe," said Ratliff. "Our differentiation is to leverage this unique combination of service offerings."

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See previous rain photos here and here.

The Biotechnology Center's Education Enhancement Grant allowed students at Atkins Academic and Technology High School to produce the newly launched animated film, "Cell Side Story," in cooperation with Wake Forest University and other community partners.

The three-minute animated musical video, designed to teach the basics of biotechnology, had its first public screening at WFU on Jan. 20.

It's a love story featuring animated characters who dramatize what happens within cells. Kenny Twist represents kinesin, a motor protein found within cells. The DNA girl is the nucleic acid that tells the cells what to do.

"It tells the story of what happens inside a cell," said Jesus Sandoval, an Atkins senior. "And we're telling it in a 'High School Musical' kind of way to catch kids' attention."

The initiative is a joint project with educators, students, scientists and animators from multiple institutions, including:

• The WFU department of physics


• The Center for Biomolecular Imaging of WFU Health Sciences


• The UNC system's multi-campus Center for Design Innovation


• Winston-Salem State University


• The UNC School of the Arts


• Forsyth Technical Community College

After taking his freshman seminar on biotechnology, the group formed a company called BioBotz. It'll produce education games, cartoons, toys and storybooks aimed at getting children interested in biotechnology.

"This has the potential to be a trend-setting catalyst for how biotechnology is viewed by young people everywhere," Macosko said. "We hope this leads many of them to consider training for careers in biotechnology, a field with a need for more trained workers. We're entering a great new age where the cell as a factory will be like when Ford mastered the assembly line."

Read the full news release