The Daily Record News Briefs: October 29, 2008

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Oct 29, 2008

State laying off 40 workers

State budget cuts will mean layoffs this week for 40 Maryland state employees. The filled jobs are among more than 800 mostly vacant positions eliminated because of this year's budget shortfall. Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration said the layoffs Wednesday will include more than 20 jobs in the Department of Transportation. Seven of the 40 people being laid off earn more than $100,000 annually. The employees were given two weeks' notice, four weeks severance pay and four months of health benefits.

Avalon Pharma to be acquired

Clinical Data Inc., of Newton, Mass., a provider of molecular and genomics services and clinical diagnostics, said it has entered into an agreement with Germantown-based Avalon Pharmaceuticals Inc. to acquire Avalon in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $10 million. The combined company will have a significantly expanded pipeline of promising oncology biomarkers and compounds, and a biomarker discovery platform to identify additional therapeutic and diagnostic candidates.

Metastorm's Malaysian market

Metastorm Inc., of Baltimore, which develops business automation and Web-based workflow software, said its products are being used by the Agensi Kaunseling Dan Pengurusan Kredit, a credit counseling and debt management agency created by the Central Bank of Malaysia to provide financial counseling and debt management services to the Malaysian public.

Sales uptick buoys Sinclair

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., a television station owner/ operator, said fourth-quarter revenue will decline less than projected earlier because of last-minute political ads. Sales will fall at a low-to-mid single-digit rate, the Hunt Valley-based company said in a statement. On Oct. 13, the company had said revenue could fall as much as a high single-digit percentage. Sinclair programs or provides sales services to 58 television stations in 35 markets.

Group 1 Software selected

Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software, of Lanham, a provider of software for data quality, customer communications management and direct marketing applications, said Companion Data Services LLC, of Columbia, S.C., a provider of information technology services to the Woodlawn-based Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has selected its software to cleanse addresses and better process insurance claims. CDS has a contract with CMS to process approximately 800 million Medicare claims annually that are submitted by hospitals and physicians in 30 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This represents about 65 percent of all Medicare claims in the country.

Boost for BioElectronics

BioElectronics Corp., of Frederick, maker of the ActiPatch, an inexpensive, drug-free, anti-inflammatory medical patch with an embedded battery, announced that the product received approval for over-the-counter sales in pharmacies throughout Italy from the Italian Ministry of Health. The company said its Italian distributor, TSS Medical, has placed additional restocking orders for ActiPatch, as sales continue to grow throughout Italy, particularly in the northern part of the country.

Free financial advice

Four local financial experts -- UBS' Jonathan Murray, T. Rowe Price's Brian Rodgers, Mark Fetting from Legg Mason Inc. and Richard Cripps of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. -- will join host Clarence Mitchell IV on WBAL Radio's C4 Show on Wednesday, from noon to 3 p.m., for a three-hour special, "Your Money." The guests will offer information and advice on 401(k)s, retirement plans, mortgages, credit card bills and more, and will answer phoned-in and e-mailed questions from listeners on these and other financial subjects.

C-TASC awarded federal work

Clinical Trials and Surveys Corp., of Baltimore, which provides products and services to support the management of clinical trials, said it has been awarded a federal contract with the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, to provide clinical trial management services for a study conducted by the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research. The company said it has received its first task order, valued at $1.7 million under the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract. The study commenced in September and will conclude in March 2012.

GP opens diagnostics center

General Physics Corp., of Elkridge, which provides training, e- learning, management consulting and engineering services, announced the opening of its EtaPRO remote monitoring and diagnostics center for power plant performance in Amherst, N.Y. The center provides advanced technical services focusing on fuel efficiency, equipment reliability, and emissions-related issues, and gives customers ongoing access to GP's performance experts and proprietary software technologies.

Council expansion considered

Centreville officials will consider a citizens group's proposals to expand the number of town council members from three to five and hold a popular election for the council president. Representatives of the group, called "Strive for Five," have said there is too much work for three council members. The group also wants town residents to elect the president of the council, rather than having the council members make the decision. Council Member Norman Pinder Jr. said officials will look at "what changes would be needed" in the town charter under the group's proposal.