Corporate Report

Corporate Report

DNAPrint Genomics partner starts migraine drug study

Sarasota-based DNAPrint Genomics Inc. announced that its German business partner, Biofrontera AG - DNAPrint Genomics holds a 10% stake - has received authorization to begin its first human study of its BF-1 drug, which is intended to prevent migraine headaches.

The trial will be supervised by Xeleron Inc. in York, England and will be performed by Xendo Drug Development B.V. in the Netherlands. The goal of the study is to assess the rate at which applied BF-1 enters the blood stream, how long it is in the blood and the extent to which it will degrade before elimination. PBiofrontera expects to have preliminary results by the end of the year.

"It is no small feat that Biofrontera has received approval from the German authorities to test this drug in humans," Richard J. Gabriel, president and CEO of DNAPrint Genomics said in a press release announcing the news. "Given the time invested in the project and the talented team that has worked on the project thus far, we are confident the research will yield satisfactory results."

It is estimated that 10% to 12% of the population in industrialized countries suffer from migraine attacks.

Crescent Resources new joint parent improves capital picture

Could Morgan Stanley Real Estate's half ownership of Crescent Resources reenergize the Charlotte, N.C.-based developer of Class A corporate office facilities? Florida officials with Crescent certainly think so.

Duke Energy, which owns Crescent Resources, recently formed a joint venture with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund (MSREF) V U.S. and under the terms of the joint venture, Duke Energy and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund each own 49% of Crescent.

The deal provided Duke Energy with about $1.4 billion in after-tax cash proceeds at closing, in addition to its 49% ownership of the venture.

As part of the transaction, Crescent was recapitalized and borrowed about $1.2 billion in new debt at closing, which is not classified on Duke Energy's balance sheet.

"We plan to substantially expand our operations in Florida and we now have adequate capital to support our growth," White Duncan, Crescent's senior vice president of operations for Florida said in a press release.

On the Gulf Coast of Florida, Crescent is currently developing:

• Corporate Center at International Plaza in Tampa, with a 383,000 square foot, Class A office building completed in 1999, adjacent to Tampa International Airport.  Corporate Centers Two and Three are 10-story Class A office buildings that feature 30,000-square-foot floor plates completed in 2001 and 2004 respectively. Crescent is in the planning phase of Corporate Center Four, the newest development on the site.

• Hidden River Corporate Park, a 263-acre mixed-use park in a rapidly growing area just north of Tampa. There are three six-story, Class-A buildings of premiere office space - two of 133,000 square feet and one of 150,000 square feet - at the intersection of Interstate 75 and Fletcher Avenue. The master planned business environment has been approved in two phases that include three million square feet of office space, 145,000 square feet for retail and 750 hotel rooms. Crescent is currently planning its fourth project at Hidden River, a three-story, 150,000-square foot Class-A office building.

• Cornerstone Plaza, with 600,000 square feet of Class-A office space located across from Corporate Center Two and Three, with two 300,000-square-foot facilities.

• CrosstownCenter, a 260-acre mixed-use development located just east of the Tampa city limits in Brandon, with land holdings of up to 1.1 million square feet.

Tampa company essential to tracking Katrina cleanup

With about 30,000 private construction/cleanup jobs associated with the U.S. government's Mississippi Katrina recovery efforts, it was a Tampa company that provided the software to manage the effort.

The lead contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Hurricane Katrina cleanup efforts, Ashbritt Inc. of Pompano Beach, is crediting custom software developed by Tampa-based Asevotech with aiding it in managing the hundreds of subcontractors and thousands of trucks associated with the clean-up.

Asevotech consultant Wes Holden developed the Internet portal and several web-based applications that allowed Ashbritt field personnel to access and manage the information. Aside from the obvious advantages to logistics, the software also managed subcontractor payments, which during the height of the recovery ran as high as $13 million a week.

Asevotech offers custom software development, technology and management consulting, and web hosting.

Hoveround Corp. lays off 66

Sarasota-based Hoveround Corp. has laid off 66 employees. Company officials attributed the terminations to changes in Medicare reimbursement rates. A press release announcing the layoff says Hoveround employs 314 employees from its Manatee County office. Hoveround, which operates in 45 states, was reportedly also restructuring a number of its field offices and warehouses.

The company specializes in designing, manufacturing, selling and servicing its signature power wheelchairs. It operates in 45 states. Founded in 1992 by inventor and current President Tom Kruse, Hoveround builds, sells and services a line of specialized powered wheelchairs. Company officials report that sales have gone from $277,000 in 1992 to about $100 million last year.

Pop's Material Girl hits Home Shopping Network

Madonna has made her TV shopping debut on St. Petersburg-based HSN to promote an exclusive set of her children's book series, "The English Roses". Madonna recently appeared on the shopping network with HSN's Callie Northagen to share the inspiration behind her newest book, "The English Roses: Too Good To Be True."

HSN, an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp, will donate a portion of the proceeds of the books to Raising Malawi, an orphan-care initiative benefiting the children of Malawi in Africa. Madonna will donate all of her proceeds.

HSN will offer the English Roses gift set for $29.95, which includes: the original "The English Roses" and its sequel "The English Roses: Too Good to Be True"; and Madonna Reads, an audio CD of Madonna reading the first five of her children's books.

Amacore Group's Vision Plan gets deal with insurance firm

Tampa-based The Amacore Group Inc reached a deal with Millennium Alliance Group to allow Amacore access to the insurance agency's distribution channels to sell the ECI Vision Plan.

Syosset, N.Y.-based Millennium Alliance Group is a large insurance agency that, in partnership with certain class carriers, offers a full range of insurance, risk management and other financial products and services to its clients.

The Amacore Group, Inc. owns and operates the largest discount vision network, with provider locations nationwide. The Amacore Group is also the parent company of LBI Brokerage, LLC, distributor of the Eye Care International Vision Plan and, more recently, the PME Worksite Program.

Etc...

• Bradenton-based PEO Gevity announced a nine-cent dividend per share of common stock payable on Jan. 31 to shareholders of record on Jan. 16.

• The Kid$Wealth Money Kit, a product of Tampa-based Kid$Wealth (USA), has been named one of Dr. Toy's "10 Best Socially Responsible Products" and featured on Dr. Toy's list of 2006's "100 Best Children's Products." For more than 15 years, Dr. Toy, the pseudonym of Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D., a child play expert and director of the Institute of Childhood Resources, has held an annual award to recognize the most stimulating, educational, and safe children's toys and products. The Kid$Wealth Money Kit is designed as a way to teach children as young as four money management skills.

• Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial Corp. opened a new office at 303 Fifth Avenue S. in Naples. It is the 19th office in the state for Mellon's Private Wealth Management group. Mario Trueba, president and chief executive officer, says the move give the company the ability to expand both in Naples and along the entire Gulf Coast. Mellon Financial Corp. has about $5.3 trillion in assets under management, administration or custody, including $918 billion under management.

• Debbie Cottingham has opened The QuickBooks Solution LLC, a Venice-based QuickBook-directed consulting company.

• Bill Eshenbaugh, president of Eshenbaugh Land Co. in Tampa, was installed in the Realtors Land Institute's inaugural Education Hall of Fame at its national meetings in New Orleans. Eshenbaugh is also co-author of the advance course "Site Selection - Finding the Best Sites" and has taught it across the U.S. and in Mexico and Canada.

• 82 Degrees Tech, a group devoted to improving the technology economy in Manatee and Sarasota counties, has elected a new board for 2007. The new board includes Tom Frank, president and secretary; Michelle Nelson, treasurer. Marty Guice, membership chair and president-elect for 2008; Bob Leonard, events and marketing chair; Paul Boivin, website chair; Barney Guarino, board member; Bob Hanson, community initiatives chair; Nancy Engel, Manatee EDC appointee; and Kathy Baylis, Sarasota EDC appointee.

• Officials at Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast plan to open at least three new branches over the next two years, including the company's first branch in Lehigh Acres. Final details of the new location in Lehigh Acres are currently under negotiations. In 2004, the Cape Coral-based bank purchased a three-acre parcel at 7331 College Parkway in Fort Myers. This future branch will mark Riverside Bank's second location in South Fort Myers.

• Fort Myers-based retailer Robb & Stucky Interiors has opened a new, 80,000-square-foot, two-story showroom in Palm Beach Gardens.

• Venice-based ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design was recently awarded an Overall Safety Achievement Award from the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) at the recent Green Industry Conference awards banquet in Columbus, Ohio. The award, a part of PLANET's annual Safety Recognition Awards Program, honors those companies with thorough, high-performing safety programs that create and maintain safe work environments in the green industry.

• St. Petersburg-based Lifestyle Family Fitness opened a new facility in North Lakeland. The $2 million, 25,000-square-foot club is located at  4985 U.S. 98 N., in Barclay Place. It is the second Polk County Lifestyle Family Fitness' to expand and relocate in the past two years. The South Lakeland club expanded in June 2005.

• Bonita Springs-based Congress Jewelers opened a store in Coastland Center in Naples. The store is the first in Collier County and only the eighth in the country to introduce a Rolex boutique.

• Naples based Prima Development LLC, an affiliate of Nassif Development LLC, has named Naples-based Jinx McDonald Designs, Inc., as the interior designer for Prima Luce, a condominium community consisting of two luxury high-rise towers in downtown Fort Myers.

Prima Luce, which will be the only gated high-rise community in The River District, will house 106 residences, all with panoramic views across the Caloosahatchee River.