Frank Vinluan

In the last five and a half years, Rick Williams counts that he has traveled to and from China on business 17 times. The relationships he nurtured over countless meals and cups of tea are now culminating in a new company: BioGateway Partners is focused on helping U.S. companies commercialize products in China and also introducing Chinese companies to the U.S. market. A formal announcement of the company launch is set for this week, planned to coincide with the CED Life Science Conference in Raleigh this week. But while the company is new, the business idea is not. Much...

Lord Corporation’s Stellar Technology acquisition will bring into the fold Stellar’s expertise and specialization in sensing technologies. But the acquisition agreement wasn’t done strictly for the technology. Stellar does bring technological capabilities that Lord doesn’t have, Andy Winzenz, Lord sensing systems general manager told WRALTechWire. But more than new technology Stellar gives Cary-based Lord opportunities to grow faster in key markets. “It’s not specifically acquiring technology,” Winzenz said. “It’s looking at markets and where we want to grow and finding a partner that fits that.” Lord announced the Stellar acquisition plans on Tuesday but did not disclose any financial...

Norris Tolson, who as president and CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center emphasized how the life sciences industry adds North Carolina jobs, has created yet another  job opening – his own. Tolson, 74, will retire from the Biotech Center effective June 30, the private, non-profit corporation announced Wednesday. The center has started a search for a successor. Tolson is traveling and was unavailable Wednesday for comment. “I have been blessed to have such a tremendous opportunity to lead a strong organization that makes a difference for so many North Carolinians,” Tolson said in a statement issued by the...

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Chelsea Therapeutics’ (NASDAQ:CHTP) drug to treat a rare condition that can cause patients to black out due to low blood pressure. But Chelsea’s drug Northera will need to carry a so-called “black box” label warning patients about the increased blood pressure while lying down, which the warning says can lead to cardiovascular events. The agency said that patients using Northera must sleep with their upper bodies elevated. The FDA’s decision on Northera, Chelsea’s first approved drug, comes comes nearly two years after regulators declined to approve the compound. Besides safety concerns, the...

The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. Raleigh startup Photofy is giving mobile users a way to add just a few more words to those photos, plus some creative designs to boot. Photofy has launched a mobile app that lets users add text, designs, frames and other enhancements to their photos. Users can use stock content or create their own designs or employ some combination of the two, said Jon LaNasa president and co-founder of Photofy. “It’s Photoshop meets Shutterstock with professional content,” LaNasa said. Photofy started as a photo enhancement app offering typography Users...

Social media software firm Expion was founded and nurtured by an engineer. As the Raleigh firm plans for more growth in the United States as well as overseas it is now turning to someone steeped in media and marketing. Expion on Wednesday announced the appointment of veteran entrepreneur and technology executive Bryan Weiner as chairman of the company. Weiner, who is CEO of digital ad agency 360i, will stay on as chairman at that company but he brings to Expion a capital infusion and industry connections that Expion is banking on for business growth. For example, both of Weiner...

Lithium-ion battery fires in Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Tesla Model S vehicles could have a solution thanks to new research led by Joseph DeSimone of the University of North Carolina. Researchers in DeSimone’s lab found that the electrolyte, the flammable component of the lithium ion battery, could be replaced by another material. That discovery came by accident. DeSimone, a chemistry professor, was researching a way to prevent marine life from sticking to the bottom of ships. The material he was studying turned out to be a suitable, nonflammable electrolyte replacement. “We think it’s a big deal,” DeSimone said. “I...

GE Digital Energy on why it invested in Raleigh startup PoGens: “Lately, we have seen a growing trend within the utility industry–a shift to grid management software implementation to improve efficiency and resiliency of distribution grids. Our cloud-based SaaS platform improves the functionality of a utility’s grid and helps enable the company to address long-term energy challenges and meet growing customer needs. Our relationship with PoGens will help to strengthen our current Grid IQ SaaS offering and will allow us to provide additional value to customers who are looking for power predictability and reliability without incurring the high costs...

Cancer immunotherapy company Argos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARGS) made its debut as a public company Friday, raising $45 million. But the Durham company had to cut its IPO price to $8 per share. Argos had previously planned to offer 4.25 million shares in the range of $13 to $15 with the goal of raising as much as $63 million to finance late-stage clinical trials on its experimental kidney cancer treatment. Argos could not find a market for its shares at that price and instead ended up slashing the price and offering more shares – 5.625 million shares – to pull off...