Archive: August, 2012
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
IPOs by Facebook and Manchester United notwithstanding, there are other ways to tap deep pockets, such as getting acquired.
Octagon Research Solutions Inc., a Wayne software company that helps pharmaceutical companies with submitting clinical data to regulators, agreed to be acquired by Accenture P.L.C. earlier this month. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of September, were not disclosed.
At $25.5 billion in net revenues for 2011, Accenture is by far the bigger company. But Octagon has grown quickly in recent years and currently has a global workforce of 380 people, most of which work in the Philadelphia area. It also has offices in Mountain View, Calif.; London; and Bangalore, India.
David Boath, the North American managing director for Accenture’s Life Sciences industry group, said that Accenture had worked with Octagon for the last five years with several clients. “We think they have the best software to speed up the process of getting clinical data” to the Food and Drug Administration, he said.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
It seems like the financing window is cracking open a bit for life-sciences companies.
Two Philadelphia medical-device companies completed financings totaling more than $45 million this week.
Rosetta Genomics Ltd. raised gross proceeds of $27.5 million from a secondary public offering of 5.5 million shares. The company, with corporate headquarters in Israel and laboratories in West Philadelphia, said it plans to use the proceeds to fund its operations and for other purposes that could include working capital, acquisitions, research and development, and repayment of future debt.
Rosetta Genomics, which is trying to commercialize a line of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, lost $8.83 million, or $17.40 per share, on revenues of $103,000 in 2011. Its shares closed Thursday at $4.32, down 32 cents or 6.9 percent.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
The latest quarterly reading of Select Greater Philadelphia's leading economic indicators point to mid-2014 as the earliest point when employment in the region will return to its pre-recession level.
The Greater Philadelphia Leading Index is an effort by the organization that tries to attract new employers to the region to forecast where the local economy is headed six months from now.
The trend over the last 12 months has been one of gradual growth followed by gradual decline. The 12-month moving average peaked in February and declined each month through June, the most recent data available.
In a statement, the organization said the trend indicates that the region's rate of economic growth will "decline somewhat" over the next several quarters.
Mike Armstrong blogs about Philadelphia corporations and business-related topics. Contact him at 215-854-2980.
Reach Mike at marmstrong@phillynews.com.
