DURHAM AND ATLANTA -- Semprius Inc. and Siemens Industry Inc. have entered into a joint development agreement to co-develop and deploy plug-and-play demonstration systems based on Semprius' Solar Module Arrays and Siemens' automation and control components.
The systems are slated to be installed at numerous test sites around the world, including major utilities, commercial sites, international test locations and government facilities.
The Durham-based company also was selected this month by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive $3 million from the department's PV (Photovoltaic) Technology Incubator, which aims to accelerate commercialization of its solar photovoltaic systems.
Siemens is a global leader in automation systems, power conversion and control systems. Its environmental portfolio generated revenues of $31 billion in fiscal 2009.
Quintiles works with Movetis NV
DURHAM AND TURNHOUT, BELGIUM -- Quintiles has announced a strategic alliance with Movetis NV for commercialization of its new product, Resolor, in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Under the alliance, Quintiles will execute a comprehensive commercial sales effort for the product launch and provide additional services in consulting, market access, market intelligence and analytics, regulatory and post-marketing pharmacovigilance. The agreement is expected to be extended later this year to cover other selected European countries.
"We are confident that our alliance with Quintiles will help drive our goal of becoming a successful European specialty GI company. The launch of Resolor will be a key milestone as we continue to build on our expertise in bringing new GI drugs from discovery to marketing."
Movetis is a European specialty pharmaceutical company that develops drugs for diseases in the gastrointestinal area. Movetis obtained approval for the commercialization of Resolor in the European Economic Area for the symptomatic treatment of chronic constipation for women in whom laxatives fail to provide adequate relief.
PC sales drive Microsoft surge
SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. said Thursday its earnings in the most recent quarter jumped 60 percent, as a rebound in the personal computer industry drove sales of the company's latest Windows operating system.
But results in Microsoft's other divisions show that while consumers have resumed spending on new PCs, big corporations have not.
Microsoft said the division that makes Office software and other business programs, the company's other cash cow, saw revenue slip 3 percent. Revenue from its typically fast-growing server software group edged up just 2 percent.
The results match PC analyst reports attributing growth over the holidays to consumer interest in inexpensive laptops and netbooks.
Shares of Microsoft rose 8 cents to $29.24 in extended trading Thursday after the release of results. Earlier, shares closed down 51 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $29.16.
-- From staff, wire reports
