GLITR Thursday, July 30, 2009

Your report for Thursday, July 30, 2009

NanoBio to present acne drug test data to dermatologists
Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corp. Wednesday announced that it will present compelling new data for NB-003, its nanoemulsion-based product for the treatment of acne, at the Academy of Dermatology Summer Meeting this week. The event will be held July 29-Aug. 2 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. NanoBio will present the data in a poster and orally. Posters will be available for download during the meeting and from the NanoBio Web site. The oral presentations will take place Thursday, July 30 at 10 and 10:30 a.m. More.

QuatRx announces more positive results for drug candidate Ophena
Ann Arbor-based QuatRx Pharmaceuticals Co., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, Wednesday announced positive efficacy results from the first of two patient cohorts in its second pivotal Phase 3 trial of the investigational compound, Ophena, for the treatment of postmenopausal vulvovaginal atrophy. The Company has also successfully completed two long term safety extension studies from its first pivotal Phase 3 studies. QuatRx intends to use these results in support of a New Drug Application with the United States Food and Drug Administration in early 2010 seeking approval for Ophena. More.

Facing FDA problems, Caraco switches CEOs
Detroit-based Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. announced Tuesday evening that Jitendra N. Doshi has been appointed interim CEO and a director of the company following the resignation of Daniel H. Movens from those two positions effective Tuesday. The departure came after the federal Food and Drug Administration seized drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients June 25 made at Caraco's Detroit, Farmington Hills and Wixom locations over "the company's continued failure to meet the FDA's current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) requirements." More.

Economics Dept.: 'Pure Michigan' credited for out-of-state tourist surge
A statewide survey of tourism business found an increase in visitors from other states at the midpoint of summer. The Michigan Lodging & Tourism Association conducted the survey which included lodging properties, golf courses, restaurants, and other tourism business segments. Of those tourism businesses which track the point of origin of visitors, 59 percent reported an increase in out-of-state guests this year compared to last. The surge in visitors comes on the heels of a national cable TV buy which placed "Pure Michigan" commercials on televisions in all 50 states. More.

TC's Gas Techno seeks help with federal grant
The Traverse City firm Gas Technologies LLC is looking for partners in an application for a United States Department of Energy grant to study carbon capture and sequestration from industrial sources. Gas Techno CEO Walter Breidenstein said the company wants to use its "unique CO2 process technology" to reduce methane flaring and CO2 venting. More.

Michigan startup aims to help bands sell ringtones

Two recent Michigan college graduates and a friend from Toronto have established a new Web site designed to help independent musicians distribute their tunes, and to help cell phone users find more interesting ring tones.

Nareg Sagherian and former UM roommate David Pakhchanian founded BongoTones.com in September 2007, with the assistance of a code-writing friend, Soheil Banifatemi.

Sagherian, who grew up in West Bloomfield Township, graduated from UM in 2005 with three bachelor's degrees -- biology, biophysiology and Near Eastern studies. Pakhchanian graduated in 2006 with a degree in economics, the same year Banifatemi graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in computer science.

"We knew we wanted to do something on the Web involving social media and we wanted to stay in Michigan," Sagherian said. "We also wanted to help musicians, artists and bands, locally and internationally."

They hit upon BongoTones, which allows users to upload, customize and create free mobile media from their personal files or search and send multimedia from a user-generated portfolio of 15,000 files. The first version of the site hit the Web in September 2008.

But it didn't really take off until a professional redesign by a Denver firm in February 2009. The site is now used more than 25,000 times per month from more than 70 countries.

The site also has a social aspect that establishes a community of users that have the same interests.
It also provides an avenue for musicians and bands to convert their original music into mobile content and make it instantly available to fans.

More from the Great Lakes IT Report Web site.

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75 nonprofits to get match from online donations
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, in partnership with the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan, announced Wednesday the list of 75 arts and culture nonprofit organizations in southeast Michigan participating in the online giving program “Community Foundation Challenge -- Arts & Culture” on Aug. 18. The program, which was announced on July 16, is an online giving challenge designed to generate $3 million in sorely needed operating funds for arts and cultural organizations in southeast Michigan. More.

ITC revenue, profit rises
The Novi electric grid manager ITC Holdings Corp. reported higher revenue and net income for the second quarter and six months ended June 30. Revenue for the quarter was $78.3 million, up from $74 million a year earlier. For the first half, revenue was $152.9 million, up from $143.3 million. Net income was $30.8 million or 61 cents a share for the quarter, up from $28.7 million or 57 cents a share a year earlier. For the first half, net income was $59.5 million or $1.17 a share, up from $54.2 million or $1.09 a share a year earlier. More.

Consulting firm offers summary of state business support programs
The state of Michigan is doing a lot of things for entrepreneurs and business owners these days. Now, Phimation Strategy Group, an Ann Arbor management consulting firm for Michigan's early stage small businesses, has gathered information on all those programs into a single, summarized form that a business leader can use to quickly assess which programs might be worth learning more about. More.

THE WORLD IN TECH

Whose five stars? Phony online reviews draw more scrutiny
The Web site said an herbal remedy could cure cancer and offered miraculous firsthand accounts. One woman offered to "share my experience": The formula had routed her lymphoma, sparing her radiation treatment, she said. What she didn't mention is that she also owned the company selling the product she praised online, authorities said. A growing number of regulators, trade groups and site owners are cracking down on so-called "AstroTurf" marketing -- seeding the Internet with seemingly grass-roots testimonials, reviews and comments that aren't as organic as they seem. The Federal Trade Commission told Bacon in a settlement last fall to tone down her claims and change her promotional tactics. And this month, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a $300,000 settlement with a cosmetic surgery firm he said had employees pose as clients to write glowing testimonials and online journals. The FTC plans to vote this summer on updating 29-year-old guidelines on endorsements, making it clear they ban phony online reviews. More.

Microsoft, Yahoo challenge Google: Bing it on
Microsoft finally persuaded Yahoo to surrender control of the Internet's second most popular search engine and join it in a daunting battle -- taking on the overwhelming dominance of Google in the online advertising market. A 10-year deal announced Wednesday gives Microsoft its best shot yet to show its new search technology, Bing, is as good as or better than Google's. Microsoft also hopes to use Yahoo to divert sales from Google, which generates more than $20 billion a year from ads. Gaining access to Yahoo's audience would instantly more than triple Bing's U.S. market share to 28 percent. That's still a far cry from the remarkable 65 percent of U.S. searches handled by Google, according to the research firm comScore Inc. By joining forces, Microsoft and Yahoo are betting they will be able to focus on their respective strengths. By turning over responsibility for search technology to Microsoft, Yahoo can concentrate on sales of billboard-style advertising on the Web -- and figuring out how to keep luring traffic to its Web sites, which already attract more than 570 million people worldwide every month. More. Also, the deal at a glance.

Review: New Android phone better, but far from perfect
Less than a year after T-Mobile and HTC released the first smart phone using Google's Android operating system, the wireless operator and the handset maker are back with a sleeker device that takes advantage of recent software updates. The myTouch 3G has plenty of hardware and software kinks -- and a $200 price tag that's $50 higher than the predecessor, the G1, both with a two-year contract. But advances to the operating system may draw a smattering of cheers. The myTouch, which goes on sale Aug. 5, looks similar to the G1, but replaces the bulk of its predecessor's slide-out keyboard with a slimmer, lighter frame that sports a touch-screen keyboard like that of the iPhone. More.

'MicroHoo' faces tough antitrust probe
The Internet search partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo faces a tough antitrust review in the U.S. and overseas, with approval likely hinging on whether the marriage would foster more competition with market leader Google. The deal, announced Wednesday, may have a better shot at success than the proposed pact last year between Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. That agreement fell apart after the Justice Department threatened to block it, ultimately leading Yahoo to revive talks with Microsoft Corp. More.

Stocks: Shares slip as fears remain about pace of recovery
Stocks had their fourth straight day of minimal moves Wednesday as commodity prices slid and orders for big-ticket manufactured goods fell, injecting more uncertainty into the market. Investors are uneasy but aren't giving up on stocks. The Dow Jones industrials lost only 26 points on Wednesday and major indexes are still up about 11 percent since mid-July. Analysts say the market's buoyancy after such a big gain is a welcome sign of stability, but also that more good news is needed for stocks to resume their climb. For now, though, investors are finding more reasons for concern. The price of oil and other commodities fell for a third day after stocks tumbled in China on fears that growth in that country would slow. That could hurt demand for a range of commodities. More. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) fell 7.75 points or 0.4 percent to 1,967.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 26 points even or 0.3 percent, to 9,070.72. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose fell 2.6 points or 0.9 percent to 300.65. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 5.33 points or 1.1 percent to 488.54. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) fell 0.5 points or 0.2 percent to 279.61. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index (BTK) rose 4.67 points or 0.5 percent to 883.97. Finally, the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) fell 4.47 points or 0.5 percent to 975.15.

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