Koronis nets $20 million in venture capital funding

Koronis

$20 million netted in VC funding

Koronis Pharmaceuticals said Thursday it received $20 million in venture financing from Pacific Horizon Ventures and the Asset Management Co.

The Redmond biotechnology company said it plans to use the money to conduct two clinical trials on the effectiveness of its leading product candidate, a novel anti-HIV treatment in humans. Koronis expects to conclude the trials in 2008.

The therapy, already determined to be safe in humans, has shown effectiveness in a lab setting during pre-clinical trials, the privately held company said.

It seeks to annihilate HIV infections by encouraging mutations that make the virus unfit to reproduce. The company said Tuesday that it was enrolling patients in the first trial.

Targeted Genetics

Financing to help fund clinical trials

Targeted Genetics completed a private-equity placement of $17.8 million in net proceeds, the Seattle biotechnology company said Thursday.

The lead investor was Special Situations Fund. Other investors were Fort Mason Partners and Heights Capital Management. The financing will help fund clinical trials and pursue business-development opportunities, said Chief Executive H. Stewart Parker.

"This is a good deal for us, a really good-quality group of investors," Parker said.

Targeted Genetics specializes in developing targeted molecular therapies to treat diseases such as inflammatory arthritis, AIDS and congestive heart failure.

Housing

Grants, loans to aid low-income

Some 36 housing projects serving low-income and special-needs tenants statewide have been awarded more than $26 million in loans and grants.

The money, awarded from the state Housing Trust Fund, will create or preserve 917 housing units in 18 counties, including King, Kitsap, Snohomish, Pierce and Whatcom.

Among those receiving funds are the Highline West Seattle Mental Health Center, which operates the Burien Heights Residences for the homeless and chronically mentally ill, and the Housing Authority of Snohomish County, which operates the Olympic View and Sound View apartments for seniors.

The money will be used to buy, build, rehabilitate or maintain housing.

A portion also will go toward down-payment assistance for homebuyers participating with Habitat for Humanity and other low-income-housing providers.

Avvo

Site seeks dismissal of rating complaint

Avvo, a Seattle Web site that rates lawyers, filed a motion asking for the court to dismiss a complaint questioning its ranking system.

The complaint was filed two weeks ago by attorneys John Henry Browne and Alan Wenokur, who called the system unfair. The suit, which is seeking class-action status, was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle by Steve Berman, a Seattle attorney who is a partner at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro.

This week, Avvo also tweaked its policy. It said it would post a score, ranging from one to 10, only after a review of the attorney's Web site had been conducted or if the lawyer has updated his or her information with Avvo.

Esterline Technologies

$32 million more will settle claim

Aerospace manufacturer Esterline Technologies said Thursday it had settled a pending insurance claim stemming from an explosion last summer at its military-flare factory in the United Kingdom.

Wallop Defence Systems, a unit of Bellevue-based Esterline, will receive £16 million, or about $32 million, in addition to $16 million the insurer already has paid.

The June 2006 explosion killed one worker and injured four.

In a statement, Esterline Chief Executive Robert Cremin said the company hopes to have a new factory up and running by late 2008.

Healionics

Office, lab space found in Redmond

Local startup Healionics said Thursday it had acquired offices and laboratory space in Redmond.

The company, which specializes in materials for medical devices, got its initial funding earlier this year, making it the first startup to spin off from the Ratner BioMedical Group, an incubator.

The new laboratory space will enable Healionics to manufacture enough quantities of its flagship technology known as STAR Material, which the company claims reduces the body's natural tendency to reject medical implants.

Healionics is negotiating partnership deals that will be announced soon, the company said.

Micron Technology

Memory-chip glut stalls prices

Micron Technology, the largest U.S. maker of computer-memory chips, reported a second straight quarterly loss after an industry glut forced it to slash prices.

The fiscal third-quarter loss was $225 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a profit of $88 million, or 12 cents, a year earlier, Boise-based Micron said in a regulatory filing Thursday. Sales fell 1.4 percent to $1.29 billion in the period ended May 31.

Micron said the price of dynamic random access memory chips (DRAM) fell 35 percent in the quarter. That puts the prices close to Micron's cost of production, according to analysts, and spending on new equipment to expand into faster-growing markets also increased costs.

"It's feast or famine in the DRAM industry and right now its famine," said Alex Gauna, an analyst at UBS. He has a "buy" rating on the shares and doesn't own them. A rebound in prices since May indicates the glut may be ending, he said.

Micron's shares fell 25 cents to $12.41 Thursday. They have dropped 11 percent this year.

Nation and World

Research in Motion

Shares up 15% over earnings surge

Shares of Research In Motion (RIM) surged more than 15 percent in after-hours trading Thursday after the BlackBerry maker said its first-quarter earnings grew 73 percent on increased sales and subscriber additions.

For the quarter ended June 2, RIM's adjusted net income came to $228.5 million, or $1.20 a share.

The results easily topped analysts' expectations for earnings of $1.06 a share on sales of $1.05 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

"These earnings and revenue guidance are clearly blowing every one away on the street," National Bank Financial analyst Deepak Chopra said.

RIM shares added $25.66, or 15.5 percent, to $191.25 in after-hours trading.

Palm

Competition hurts; Treos to the rescue

Research In Motion rival Palm on Thursday reported a 43 percent plunge in fiscal fourth-quarter profit Thursday amid sharply rising costs and blistering competition.

But the maker of mobile computing devices also reported record sales of its Palm Treo lineup, and fourth-quarter performance easily beat Wall Street's tepid expectations.

Excluding one-time charges, Palm said it earned $17.8 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $30.6 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

On that basis, analysts were expecting earnings of $14.43 million, or 15 cents a share on sales of $406.58 million.

But Palm, which laid off about 100 workers this year and closed the quarter with about 1,100 employees, reported sharply rising costs.

Palm shares closed Thursday at $16.56, up 31 cents. In extended trading, it lost 42 cents.

Compiled from Seattle Times business staff, Bloomberg News and The Associated Press