Chris Roush

The former owner of PRA Health Sciences has sold a big stake in the company, and the CEO of PRA makes news of his own by selling 400,000 shares in the company he runs. Here are the details as reported by Chris Roush of North Carolina Business News Wire: New York-based KKR sells $711 million stake in PRA Health RALEIGH — New York-based buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has sold $711 million worth of its stock in Raleigh-based PRA Health Sciences Inc., according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm, better known as...

Editor’s note: Chris Roush is Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism and Director, Carolina Business News Initiative at the UNC-CH School of Media and Journalism. WRAL TechWire is a frequent user of content provided by North Carolina Business NewsWire, which includes stories from Roush, a veteran business journalist. Through NCBNW, Roush works with UNC journalism students to provide a wide range of coverage about businesses in North Carolina. CHAPEL HILL – The (Raleigh) News & Observer executive editor John Drescher wrote last week about how it’s overhauling its newsroom, focusing more on stories that its readers...

Triangle pharma companies Heat Biologics and Fennec Pharmaceuticals report losses in their latest earnings reports. The details from Chris Roush at North Carolina Business News Wire: Heat Biologics reports better-than-expected earnings DURHAM  — Drug development company Heat Biologics Inc. reported a second-quarter loss that was less than expected as the company continues to develop its cancer drugs. The Durham-based company reported a net loss of $3.2 million, or 9 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $2.9 million, of 17 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The one analyst covering the company was...

Large investors in Fennec Pharmaceuticals, a Durham-based developmental drug company, want to sell 11.9 million shares of the company, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investors of Fennec Pharmaceuticals hope to sell the shares at a price of $5.92 each, resulting in $70 million in proceeds. The Durham-based company’s shares closed Thursday at $6.55, down 44 cents, or 6.3 percent. It will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the stock. In June, the company raised $7.6 million in a private equity offering. Investors purchased 1.9 million shares at $4 per share....

​Developmental drug company Dova Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported second quarter earnings Thursday that missed Wall Street expectations in its first quarter as a public company. The Durham-based company reported a loss of $5.5 million, or 32 cents per share, in the second quarter, better than the loss of $7.2 million, or 42 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2016. However, analysts were expecting a smaller loss of 24 cents per share. “The highlight of the second quarter was the pricing of our IPO, which significantly strengthened our balance sheet,” said Chief Executive Officer Alex Sapir in a statement....