Particles...

04/01/2001

Quorex gets funding for antibacterial compound
Quorex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Carlsbad, CA) has set its mission to discover, develop and commercialize a new class of broad-spectrum antibiotics for the treatment of serious bacterial infections, including those that are resistant to presently available drugs. To help achieve this goal, the company has received $18.5 million in second-round funding from lead investor Prism Venture Partners, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Tullis-Dickerson & Co. Inc., Inglewood Ventures, CDIB and Pacific Growth Equities.—LJB

Synetics moves
Synetics Solutions Inc., which specializes in airflow management, automation integration and contract manufacturing for the semiconductor equipment industry, has tripled its space by moving to a new 170,000-square-foot headquarters campus in Portland, OR. Building 1 houses 125,000 square feet of offices, development labs and clean manufacturing space. The 45,000-square-foot Building 2 enables the company to add sheet metal, precision machining and welding capabilities for rapid prototyping. This building also will house a powder coating line capable of Class A finishes.—LJB

Metrics facility completed
Metrics Inc. (Greenville, NC) announced completion of a 44,000-square-foot grassroots R&D laboratory and production facility. The facility comprises 19,000 square feet of analytical, dose evaluation, trace metals and raw materials laboratories; more than 7,000 square feet of ISO Class 8 cGMP manufacturing area with a fluid bed dryer; and 10,000 square feet of offices. Capabilities include development, manufacture and packaging of oral solid and liquid dosage forms and topicals.—LJB

Purdue Pharmaceuticals undergoes expansion
The Southwest Regional Office of Clark, Richardson & Biskup Consulting Engineers Inc. was the engineer of record for Purdue's $25 million, 140,000-square-foot greenfield solid dosage manufacturing facility in Wilson, NC. Full-scale manufacturing is scheduled to begin by the second quarter 2001. The facility will employ more than 150 people when it is fully operational. Purdue Pharma is engaged in the research, development, production, sales and licensing of both prescription and over-the-counter medicines and hospital products.—LJB

Web site supports static control industry
StaticPlanet (www.static-planet.com) offers support and provides an information source for all aspects of the electro-static discharge (ESD) industry. Sponsored by the 3M Electronic Handling and Protection Division with participation by Ion Systems and Tech Wear Inc., the site offers industry news, standards and trends and answers to frequently asked questions; supplies links to ESD professional organizations; and provides an open forum for sharing ideas with other ESD professionals.—LJB

Gel-Pak division moves
Gel-Pak has moved its Quik-Pak division in San Diego to a new manufacturing facility. According to the company, the move doubles the facility size of Quik-Pak and offers additional manufacturing space to the company, which currently manufactures in Sunnyvale, CA. Quik-Pak offers prototype packaging for integrated circuits. The new facility incorporates improvements in cleanroom and environmental control with careful design considerations given to ESD control.—LJB

Emcore expands
Emcore Corp. has completed the second phase of expansion at its Somerset, NJ, manufacturing facility and has moved its corporate offices to a new facility located nearby. This second phase adds 7,000 square feet of space, which increases the electronic material production capability by nearly four times. The expansion accommodates the addition of 10 Enterprise Electronic Materials MOCVD production tools for the high-volume production of pHEMTs and HBTs. The expansion also enables the company to develop new product lines.—LJB

Motorola integrates Lam's CMP and etch systems for copper back-end
Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector has completed a successful copper dual inlaid multilevel interconnect demonstration with Lam Research Corp. (Fremont, CA) and Novellus Systems Inc. The demonstration was achieved using Lam's advanced 300mm Teres Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) system with Linear Planarization Technology (LPT), and 300 mm dielectric etch systems. Three critical parameters—contact resistance, sheet resistance and line-to-line leakage—were shown to be at the same or better levels as compared to interconnect results on 200 mm.—LJB

Cintas named uniform supplier of NFPA
Cintas Corp. (Cincinnati, OH) has been named the Official Uniform Supplier of the National Food Processors Association (NFPA). According to NFPA officials, the decision was based on Cintas' involvement in the food processing industry and its outstanding service ratings.—LJB

Semiconductor market tops $200 billion
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced that worldwide semiconductor sales reached $17.9 billion in December 2000, with year-end industry sales totaling $204 billion, a new industry record. According to George Scalise, SIA president, the year-end sales numbers represent a 37 percent growth rate for the industry over the previous year. He attributes this growth to the sales of communications solutions for data networking, broadband, wireless, optoelectronics and the continued demand for the personal computer. The SIA forecast for 2001 calls for 22 percent year-over-year growth. The association cautions, however, that due to the inventory overhang going into 2001, it is unlikely that the projection will be achieved.—LJB