Synthematix acquired for $13 million cash
Research Triangle Park, NC – Synthematix announced it was acquired by California-based Symyx Technologies. Synthematix is a provider of organic synthesis reaction planning software systems for use in chemistry research. It’s customers are primarily in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Symyx will pay approximately $13 million in cash to acquire all outstanding shares of Synthematix, plus an additional potential earn out of up to $4 million over a one year period based on achievement of incremental revenue targets.

At the end of 2004, Synthematix had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $1 million.

The acquisition of Synthematix has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in April, 2005.

“As a part of Symyx, we will bring together a much broader offering of products and technology for chemists from discovery through development,” said Robin Smith, founder and chief executive officer of Synthematix.

Smith co-founded Synthematix in 1999 after discovering that many biotech and pharmaceutical companies have difficulty tracking their processes so that everyone in the company knows what work has already been done.

The company expects to maintain its full operations here in RTP.

Final round of companies named for Venture Conference

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) has chosen the final 20 companies to present at the upcoming Venture 2005 conference, bringing the total number of presenting companies to 33.

The conference is scheduled for April 26-27, 2005 at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, NC.

The 20 new companies recently selected to present at Venture 2005 include the following:
– Affinergy, Inc. (RTP, NC – www.affinergy.com)
– Amphora Discovery (RTP, NC – www.amphoracorp.com)
– Arsenal Digital Solutions (Cary, NC – www.arsenaldigital.com)
– CivaTech Corporation (Raleigh, NC)
– Covelight Systems, Inc. (Cary, NC – www.covelight.com)
– Gentris Corporation (Morrisville, NC – www.gentris.com)
– HexaTech, Inc. (Raleigh, NC – www.hexatechinc.com)
– Instancy, Inc. (Cary, NC – www.instancy.com)
– LVL7 Systems, Inc.+ (Morrisville, NC – www.lvl7.com)
– Merrion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Wilmington, NC – www.merrionpharma.com)
– Mi-Co (RTP, NC – www.mi-corporation.com)
– Motricity, Inc.+ (Durham, NC – www.motricity.com)
– Navigational Sciences, Inc. (Asheville, NC – www.navsci.com)
– Qualyst, Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC – www.qualyst.com)
– Salzburg Therapeutics (Yadkinville, NC)
– TapRoot Systems, Inc. (Morrisville, NC – www.taprootsystems.com)
– TelecommUSA (Charlotte, NC)
– TxFs, Inc. (Raleigh, NC – www.txfs.com)
– WiMAX Systems, Inc. (RTP, NC – www.wimaxsystems.net)
– Zenph Studios, Inc. (Raleigh, NC – www.zenph.com)

During the first two selection rounds in December 2004 and January 2005, CED chose 13 other companies to participate in the conference:
– Adigy Corporation (Durham, NC)
– Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC – www.askbio.com)
– Biolex, Inc.+ (Pittsboro, NC – www.biolex.com)
– Integrian, Inc. (RTP, NC – www.integrian.com)
– Refense Technologies (Raleigh, NC – www.refense.com)
– StemCo Biomedical Inc. (Durham, NC – www.stemcobiomedical.com)
– Inlet Technologies (Raleigh, NC – www.inlethd.com)
– Liquidia Technologies Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC – www.liquidia.com)
– Mardil, Inc. (Morrisville, NC – www.mardil.com)
– Oriel Therapeutics Inc. (Durham, NC – www.orieltherapeutics.com)
– Respirics, Inc. (Raleigh, NC – www.respirics.com)
– Stonewall Networks (Cary, NC)
– Triad Semiconductor, Inc. (Winston-Salem, NC – www.triadsemi.com)

More details on all of the Venture 2005 presenting companies are available online at www.cednc.org/conferences/venture/2005/presenters/

TransTech Pharma shares $2.7 Million grant
GREENSBORO, N.C. – TransTech Pharma announced it along with one other firm, was awarded a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research efforts directed toward the discovery, optimization, and advancement of lead drug candidates for smallpox and biowarfare defense

TransTech Pharma will share the award with New York based SIGA Technologies.

The smallpox virus is considered one of the most significant biowarfare threats and is classified as a category A bioterrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Smallpox is very easily transmitted, it has very high mortality rates and the population is no longer vaccinated against it.

TransTech currently employs around 80 people.
www.ttpharma.com

LVL7 pulls in $21 million in funding
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.- LVL7 Systems, a provider of networking software to communication system manufacturers, announced it has completed a $21 million funding round.

The Series C financing was led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm USVP. The funding round also included participation from Lighthouse Capital Partners and LVL7′s previous investors: The Carlyle Group, Gabriel Venture Partners, H.I.G. Ventures, and Research Triangle Ventures.

The funding will go toward building out the company’s software feature sets and capabilities and towards additional customer support resources.

LVL7′s software is designed to allow equipment manufacturers to reduce their reliance on internal software development and test organizations, decreasing costs and timelines.

The company was founded in 2000.
www.LVL7.com

Related Stories:

• Final round of companies named for Venture Conference
• CED announces 15 new companies for Venture conference
• Synthematix acquired for $13 million in cash
• CED selects 25 companies to watch
• CED finalizes InfoTech 2005 lineup

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