The Daily Record News Summaries: June 12, 2008

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jun 12, 2008

Pimlico wagering drops 16%

The Maryland Jockey Club reported total wagering during the spring meeting at Pimlico Race Course was more than 16 percent lower than last year. The handle from all sources was about $191 million for 2008 compared to nearly $229 million for the same eight-week period a year ago. According to Tom Chuckas, Maryland Jockey Club president and chief operating officer, the economy and weekend weather were factors in the reduced wagering. Preakness day wagering totaled more than $73 million, the fifth largest amount in the event's 133-year history. Attendance for the Preakness exceeded 112,000, making 2008 the eighth consecutive year the attendance total reached six figures.

Regional home sales off 30%

About 2,100 homes were sold in May in Baltimore City and five surrounding counties, compared to about 3,000 homes sold in May 2007, according to the latest data from the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems. The region has seen month-over-month decreases of at least 30 percent since September. While the average sale price of $316,000 rose slightly more than 1 percent from a year ago, the median price of $270,000 fell by slightly more than 1 percent. The median is the price at which half of all homes sold for more and half sold for less.

High honor for Dr. Carson

Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, will receive one of this year's Presidential Medals of Freedom, the White House said. In 1987, Carson performed the world's first successful operation separating twins joined at the back of the head. He has served as director of the Hopkins Children's Center neurosurgery department since 1984. Carson is one of six who will receive the Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian award, at a White House ceremony on June 19.

Lupin's new drug OK'd

Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Mumbai, India, and Baltimore, announced that the Food and Drug Administration has granted final approval for the company's Abbreviated New Drug Application for Ramipril capsules, and that commercial shipments of the drug have started. Lupin said its Ramipril capsules, available in 1.25 mg. 2.5 mg, 5 mg and 10 mg doses, are the generic equivalent of Altace, a medicine manufactured by Tennessee-based King Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the treatment of high blood pressure. Lupin said it successfully fought off a legal effort by King to squelch the launch of its generic drug.

RapidAdvance buys U.K. firm

RapidAdvance, of Bethesda, a provider of cash advances to owners of small- and mid-sized businesses looking to obtain additional working capital, said it has acquired Merchant Cash Express Ltd., a London-based company that provides alternative funding to merchants for growth capital not available through conventional sources. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition gives RapidAdvance entry into the British market, and comes only four months after the Maryland company entered the Canadian market by partnering with Advantex Marketing International Inc., of Toronto, a manager of customer rewards programs for major affinity groups.

GSE awarded European work

GSE Systems Inc., of Baltimore, which makes real-time simulation and training software for the energy, process, manufacturing and government sectors, said it has been awarded more than $4 million in new conventional power plant simulation work. One contract calls for delivery of two coal-fired power plant simulators to Kraftwerksschule E.V./Powertech Training Center in Essen, Germany, one of the largest centralized training centers for fossilized power plant operations in Europe. The simulators will be used to train plant operators, engineers and managers. Also GSE said it signed a contract to build a coal-fired power plant simulator for the Porcheville plant in France. This is the first award for GSE in the French market.

TAP companies tops

Three early-stage companies in the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute's Technology Advancement Program in College Park each took first place in their respective categories at the 2008 Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Awards ceremony. AccuStrata Inc., which won in the Best New Incubator Company category, offers a novel system that automatically detects and corrects errors during the mass manufacturing of thin films. TRX Systems Inc., winner in the Best Homeland Security Company category, makes the Firefighter Sentinel System that pinpoints the locations of individuals inside an endangered structure. Zymetis Inc., awarded top prize in the Life Science category, has developed a process to turn plant matter into ethanol.

Vienna land purchase approved

The Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved the purchase of more than 275 acres to help establish a green belt around the western and southern borders of the Town of Vienna in Dorchester County. The $4.6 million purchase of two farmland tracts, funded through the State's Program Open Space, will ensure that Vienna continues to be surrounded by farms, forests and natural wildlife habitat -- a goal outlined in the town's comprehensive plan. The purchase will also safeguard the adjacent Mill Creek Natural Heritage Area and a wetland, both of which contain several rare and endangered plant species.