BioDelivery Sciences International is shutting down its New Jersey laboratory and consolidating its operations in Raleigh, a move that will save the company nearly $1 million in annual costs.

The company announced today that it decided it no longer needs its Newark facility, which employs four workers, now that the experimental drug Bioral Amphotericin B, an anti-fungal treatment, is in clinical trials. Bioral Amphotericin is an oral version of Amphotericin, a drug
that is only available intravenously.

In July BioDelivery won federal regulatory approval for its first product, an oral pain patch for cancer patients called Onsolis.

Bayer CropScience agreed to acquire Athenix, a Research Triangle Park biotechnology company developing developing genetically engineered corn and soybean.

Athenix was founded in 2001 and has about 65 employees. Terms of the deal announced this morning weren't disclosed. More details will likely be announced when the deal wins regulatory approval, probably in the next month.

Here's hoping Adam Monroe knows he's now in ACC sports country.

Monroe, 43, is the new North American president of Novozymes, a Danish biochemical company with more than 450 employees at its U.S. headquarters in Franklinton.

The official announcement notes that Monroe was "born and raised in Arkansas, received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas and is a diehard Razorback fan."

Monroe replaces Lars Hansen, who has returned to Denmark to head the company’s European business.

Novozymes is the world's largest producer of enzymes and has seen a surge in demand tied to ethanol production.

The company recently completed a $26 million expansion to its Franklinton facility, adding more research, lab and office space. The plant also supplies enzymes for other uses, including brewing beer, making detergents and treating wastewater.

Micell Technologies, a small Raleigh company in the early stages of developing a new type of drug-coated stent to treat heart disease has raised $5 million in financing.

The U.S. Navy awarded contracts worth up to $6 million to Entegrion, a small Research Triangle Park biotechnology company developing blood-related products to help treat serious injuries.

The contracts will help develop products that can be used for combat injuries such as Stasix, designed to help control internal bleeding.

Entegrion was founded in 2002 based on blood research at UNC-Chapel Hill.

A biotechnology company is dusting off plans for what would be one of the Triangle's biggest Wall Street debuts.

Talecris Biotherapeutics first filed for an initial public offering of stock in June 2007, but scrapped that when an Australian company last summer agreed to buy it for $3.1 billion. Then the acquisition ran into trouble with U.S. antitrust regulators and was called off last month.

Talecris has since started filing updated regulatory documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a move that signals the Research Triangle Park company still harbors IPO dreams.

It could be good timing.

A once-promising drug development company that raised millions of dollars in venture capital has filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code.

The demise of Durham-based Argolyn Bioscience was triggered by the disappointing performance of its lead drug candidate, an experimental treatment for pain, in preclinical tests.

"It just wasn’t potent enough to go forward,” said Suzanne Cantando, a spokeswoman for Durham venture capital firm Intersouth Partners, one of Argolyn’s investors. “This really is a rare example where I don’t think the economy was responsible."

Drug manufacturer Merck and Co. has given $30,000 to Durham Technical Community College for faculty development initiatives.

The gift is a result of a partnership between Merck and Durham Tech's Biotechnology/BioWork program.

"As new laboratory techniques and processes become standard in the industry, faculty must possess cutting-edge skills to prepare students," said Ingrid Charles, director of Durham Tech’s BioWork/BioPharma program, said in a news release.

"Merck’s gift will ultimately mean a larger pool of skilled employees for the predicted growth in the biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical manufacturing fields."

Merck recently announced plans for a third phase of expansion of its new vaccine plant in Durham and eventually plans to add 400 new jobs.