News Summary - 11/6

New market for Martek

Martek Biosciences Corp., of Columbia, which develops, manufactures and sells products from microalgae, announced an exclusive worldwide distributorship agreement for its DHA Gold product with Novus International Inc., of St. Louis, a provider of products for animal health and nutrition. Martek will serve as Novus' exclusive worldwide DHA supplier for all of its poultry and swine feed and enrichment products. Martek's algae-based Life'sDHA has been incorporated in many infant formula products, as a source of omega-3, a fatty acid important for brain, eye and nervous system development and maintenance.

Legg shares take a hit

Shares of Legg Mason Inc., of Baltimore, a global asset management firm, fell Monday after Wachovia Corp. analyst Douglas Sipkin cut his rating to "underperform" from "market perform" on concern about Citigroup Inc. possibly selling its stake in the money manager. The stock declined $1.64, or 2.1 percent, to $76.02 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after earlier in the day dropping as much as 6.3 percent, the most since Oct. 11, 2006. Citigroup held 8.4 million convertible preferred shares in Legg Mason as of Oct. 31, Legg Mason spokeswoman Mary Athridge said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Choice's minority record

Choice Hotels International, of Silver Spring, a hotel franchise chain, said it has been named by USA Today as one of the top 50 franchises for minorities, as selected by the National Minority Franchising Initiative. According to the NMFI, Choice was selected based on its aggressive focus on recruiting and supporting minority franchisees in its system. Efforts include three separate minority incentive programs for hotel development and acquisition, and the lodging industry's first Web site specifically designed for minority franchise recruitment.

American Capital's buyout

American Capital Strategies Ltd., of Bethesda, an alternative asset management company, announced it has invested in and become a majority owner of Rug Doctor LP, of Plano, Texas, the largest manufacturer and marketer of premium steam cleaning carpet care machines rented and sold to consumers. Cost of the buyout was not disclosed. American Capital said its investment takes the form of a revolving credit facility, first lien senior term loan, senior and junior subordinated debt, holding company notes and preferred and common equity. Rug Doctor's management team is also investing equity in the business.

TeleContinuity gains patent

TeleContinuity Inc., of Rockville, the developer of a backup telecommunications network that can survive a natural or manmade disaster, announced that it has been granted its first patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its survivable backup telecommunications system technology. The patent, entitled "System And Method For Providing Location Independent Voice Communications Continuity Through Disasters," focuses on preserving voice communications continuity during outages or disruptions.

Score for Dentisoft

Dentisoft Technologies Inc., of Bethesda, which provides products and services to help dental practices increase their revenue and productivity, said it is partnering with Interactive Intelligence Inc., of Indianapolis, to offer dental offices automated appointment reminders designed to improve patient service and reduce costs. Dentisoft has integrated Interactive Intelligence's icNotify outbound hosted notification features into its Web-based dental practice system to provide the new automated appointment reminder service. icNotify eliminates the need for dental office staff to make manual calls.

Mortgage woes hit Shore

Statistics from five Mid-Shore counties show the nation's foreclosure crisis is hitting close to home. According to data from the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, there were 205 foreclosure filings in the five counties in the first three quarters of this year, compared to only 15 in all of 2006. About three-quarters of this year's filings came in the third quarter. DLLR Secretary Tom Perez has advises homeowners receiving foreclosure notices to contact the department promptly because programs are available to assist them.

UB writing program lauded

Poets & Writers Magazine, a journal for writers both new and established, has named the University of Baltimore's master's degree program in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts as one of the nine most distinctive programs in the United States, according to an article in its November/December issue. In an article entitled "Nine Distinctive Programs," the basics of the UB School of Communications Design's master's level writing/publishing program are described. Other institutions with respected master's level specializations in writing include the University of Iowa, the California Institute of the Arts and the University of Texas, Austin.

Good news for RegeneRx

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Bethesda, which develops products for repair and healing of chronic wounds and injured tissues, said it has received official notice from the Chinese Patent Office that it will be granted a patent for the use of its TB4 wound-repair drug in reversing or inhibiting eye degeneration associated with dry eye syndrome, as well as for certain surgical eye procedures. The company said the patent claims are based on a significant body of data supporting the use of TB4 for wound- healing of the cornea and other areas in and around the eye.