The Daily Record News Summaries: June 10, 2008

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jun 10, 2008

TVI gets Nasdaq warning

TVI Corp., of Glenn Dale, which makes portable shelters for the military and first-responders, said it received a warning from the Nasdaq Stock Market that its shares are subject to delisting because of failing to meet Nasdaq's requirement to trade at a minimum bid price of $1 for 10 consecutive trading days. TVI said it has appealed the Nasdaq notification, and said it will seek a six-month period starting from June 3 to regain compliance. If it does not achieve compliance within 180 days, TVI said it will undertake a reverse stock split. TVI shares, which will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol TVIN, closed on Monday at 42 cents, up 2 cents.

USRA wins NASA contract

The Universities Space Research Association, of Columbia, a consortium of 102 colleges and universities in the United States and abroad that are involved in space-related research, has been awarded a contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to conduct research on the effects of the space environment on the functioning of space exploration systems. The two-year contract has a maximum value of $14 million, and could be worth up to $35 million if three one-year options are exercised.

Potential MS breakthrough

Ore Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Gaithersburg, formerly called Gene Logic Inc., a drug repositioning and development company, announced that DioGenix, its molecular diagnostics subsidiary, has identified novel sets of genes that it believes will form the basis of a new assay to diagnose multiple sclerosis. Ore said DioGenix plans to refine these gene sets and further confirm their disease association before it begins to develop an effective commercial assay for diagnosing patients presenting early symptoms of MS. The company also is considering alternatives to fund DioGenix's product development efforts.

Md. Chamber honors companies

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce said four companies and a nonprofit organization were presented with its 2008 Small Business of the Year Awards during a luncheon on Friday at the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport Hotel. Those honored were: ImpactHR, of Columbia, for businesses with one to five employees; and Choptank Transport, of Preston, six to 50 employees. Medex Global Group, of Baltimore, and Specialized Engineering, of Ijamsville, tied for the award given to companies with 51 to 200 employees. The nonprofit was Maryland Works, of Columbia. The winners were chosen from a field of 27 entries.

Toast Eddie, Brooks with wines

Baltimore baseball legends Brooks Robinson and Eddie Murray now have their own wine labels, which arrived in Maryland stores this week. Neither of the players will receive a profit from the sales. Instead, 100 percent of their proceeds will support The Baltimore Community Foundation. Suggested retail price is $18.99. Both Eddie Murray 504 Cabernet Sauvignon and Brooks Robinson Chardonnay are produced by Eos Estate Winery, of Paso Robles, Calif.

Labor Dept. chooses Intecorp

Information Technology Corp., a client of The Center for Business and Technology Development's NeoTech Incubator in Columbia, has been awarded a multiyear, multimillion dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the Howard County Economic Development Authority. The company, an information technology provider and consulting firm, will assist the federal agency with Web site support and development, designing additions and modifications to the Web site, as well as supporting and improving DOL's searchable databases.

South River's French link

South River Technologies Inc., of Annapolis, a provider of file transfer and file collaboration software, said it has expanded into France by signing a partnership with French software distributor WBC. WBC will exclusively distribute a French version of South River's popular WebDrive product across France. WebDrive file- transfer software enables users to securely access, edit and manage documents on remote servers. South River, which has resellers of its products in 41 countries, said the addition of WBC brings to five the number of distributors offering native-language versions of South River's software.

Swiss market for Amitiza

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bethesda, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing compounds from its proprietary functional fatty acid technology platform, said its European subsidiary has filed an application with Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, to market Amitiza, its treatment for chronic constipation in adults, in Switzerland. Amitiza, introduced in April 2006 for chronic idiopathic constipation, is the only medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in adult women.

Bill Me Later is shoe-in

Bill Me Later Inc., a Timonium-based company that offers retailers an alternative payment method to credit cards, said it signed up ShoeMall as a client, offering customers a more flexible way to pay online without using their credit cards. ShoeMall, an online retailer that offers customers 300 brands and 18,000 styles, reported sales of $85 million in 2007, a 33 percent increase over the previous year. ShoeMall is a division of the Mason Cos. Inc., of Chippewa Falls, Wis., a mail order footwear company.