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INVESTING: Explore biotech universe, but choose selectively

If you look at stock market returns over a 100-year-plus time frame, the highestreturning industries have been pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Dropping the time frame down to the last 25 years shows a different picture, with technology taking the top spot. But with more than a century of momentum, drug companies can still attract interest. Using a quantitative screen that I run every week, I noticed that biotechnology stocks have been picking up steam lately. This surprised me because the big…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Try your hand at running McDonald’s

It’s always fun when I find something on the Web that’s highly critical, vaguely disgusting, entertaining and informative, all at once. Mollieindustria has created an online video game at w w w. m c v i d e o game.comthat lets you run the burger giant McDonald’s, and while it’s not sparing of the company’s faults, it’s a great study in how hard it is to keep the sandwich empire going. The creators say on the site that they built…

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IU business incubator partners with Siberian school: Reciprocal visits could lead to high-tech opportunities

After unwrapping his luggage from its seal of shrink-wrap, Mark Long reviewed his notes for the upcoming seminar. He hardly needed them. Long, CEO of Indiana University’s Research and Technology Corp., has spoken many times about how academics transfer their research discoveries to the market. But this was the first time he ever delivered the speech in Siberia. The audience-a group of business and academic leaders-ultimately could help Hoosiers access a treasure-trove of Russian technologies. “They have a lot of…

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Experts look into the future of health care: Industry panelists disagree on whether current system needs radical changes

Five local industry leaders conducted a serious debate over problems and issues facing our health care system during the most recent installment in Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast series. The event took place at the Downtown Marriott hotel on Sept. 21 The panelists: Robert Brody, president and CEO of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, the Indianapolis-area’s fourth-largest hospital system. Brody has been chief executive at St. Francis since 1996. Dr. Robert Mouser, a primary care physician at Cornerstone Family…

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Patent dispute threatens Suros Surgical Systems: Consultant claims key role in biopsy innovation

An intellectual property tussle dating back to the origins of Suros Surgical Systems Inc. is threatening to become more than a headache for the local medicaldevice maker. Founded in 2000, Suros was one of the fastest-growing high-tech startups in Indianapolis history. Its machine for minimally invasive breast biopsies now rings up more than $43 million in annual sales. Such success attracted deep-pocketed suitors, and Suros was acquired in July 2006 for a whopping $240 million by Bedford, Mass.-based Hologic Inc….

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Give me the site, but hold the uninvited video

I can still remember when vacation movies were captured on 8mm film and had to be shown on jerky little projectors with hot bulbs that gave off ozone by the bucketful. Fascinating to the family that took the movies, but deadly dull to everyone else. Then along came video cameras that were much more portable and could show their movies on the family VCR. They had many advanced features, such as zoom, stop action, and even dubbing. And they were…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Good news about Indiana economy

What do most people concerned with economic development want to see? More jobs at better pay. How can we tell if we are getting there? Simply by looking at what is happening to earnings. Earnings divided by the number of jobs equals average earnings per job. Hence, with elementary school arithmetic, we can say that earnings equals the number of jobs multiplied by the average earning per job, exactly the two indicators of economic development that most folks want to…

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FlowCo on verge: BioCrossroads grant boosts promising biotech firm

Drug-coated stents, which are used to open clogged arteries, can be life savers-if they’re implanted correctly. The $6 billion global stent market has come under scrutiny lately from doctors and researchers concerned that poor technique by cardiologists may contribute to rare but dangerous blood clots that can form after a stent is inserted. Stents that aren’t placed properly over the affected area may enable clots to form. But a device developed by an IUPUI researcher could prevent mishaps by helping…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Long road ahead for financing transportation

The recent Indiana Logistics Summit framed a number of issues that matter to Hoosiers young and old. I’ve done a fair amount of transportation and economic development research, but this conference held in Indianapolis was a chance for me to listen and learn. Here’s my take on some of the issues: Nationally, a significant piece of the public transportation infrastructure (roads and bridges, for example) has already outlived its anticipated life span. Solid engineering and construction coupled with continual maintenance…

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Capital key topic at forum: Fourth life sciences event grows with local industry

The pulse of Indiana’s fledgling life sciences sector will be taken later this month at an annual conference featuring some of the industry’s strongest advocates. Experts will weigh in on several topics ranging from the discovery of technology to accessing capital, which is a growing concern for the earliest-stage companies that are riskier investments. In its fourth year, the Indiana Life Sciences Forum will take place Oct. 22-23 at the Westin Indianapolis and will be hosted by Indiana business-development initiative…

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INVESTING: Market isn’t as strong as major indexes show

Experts are doing their best to convince us everything is right with the world again. A few hundred billion dollars in liquidity here, a few cuts in the discount and fed rates there, and we’re back in Shangri La, right? My question to all of the experts then is this: Why isn’t it working? On the surface, things seem like they are getting back in shape. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 are within 1 or 2 percent of new…

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Chemical giant diversifies biotech portfolio: Acquisitions, research agreements poise Dow AgroSciences for growth

Jerome Peribere has a 10-year plan to diversify Dow AgroSciences LLC, Indiana’s largest agricultural chemical company. Biotechnology is the blueprint. And through a series of aggressive international deals, Dow AgroSciences is building the framework for its future. By 2015, Peribere hopes to oversee a balanced portfolio of agricultural chemical and biotech products. “We’re in the stone age of biotechnology,” he said. “Tomorrow, it’s going to be used to create products we have no clue about.” Formed in 1989 as a…

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Health benefits brokers ripe for consolidation: Strategic Health, armed with new owner’s technology and deep pockets, is on the prowl to roll up peers

When Dane Hudson sold his health benefits consultancy on Aug. 1, he hoped it was only his first of many mergers. Hudson, the founder of Strategic Health Plans Corp. in Carmel, sold his company to Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for an undisclosed amount. Gallagher, a quiet company that is one of the nation’s largest health benefits firms, wants Hudson to buy up another three or four health benefits brokers in the next five years. Hudson also said he’ll…

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Aprimo prepares $50 million IPO pitch for Wall Street: Marketing software-maker’s sales reach $51.6M

Fast-growing local marketing software-maker Aprimo Inc. already has done much of the heavy lifting to ensure its $50 million initial public offering is successful. Now comes the most grueling part. Over the last four years, the company nearly quintupled its sales. In 2006, Aprimo turned its first profit. After lining up Morgan Stanley & Co. to serve as lead underwriter, Aprimo on Sept. 10 filed a preliminary prospectus for the IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Next up: the…

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Relocation survey says: ‘Go [Mid]west,’ young executive: Companies are sending more of their employees to the region; overseas transfers are also on the increase

Midwestern cities are unlikely to top the list of vacationing hot spots, but they are a popular destination for relocating employees. That’s the consensus from the latest Corporate Relocation Survey conducted annually by Evansville-based Atlas World Group, whose largest subsidiary is Atlas Van Lines, the second-largest interstate motor carrier in the United States. The study revealed that nearly a third of firms, 29 percent, are sending more employees to the Midwest than any other part of the country. Surprisingly, the…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Web puts employers on display as much as job candidates

Job searches nowadays aren’t what they used to be, on both sides of the hunt. Looking for a job is a global endeavor now. And looking for employees produces more candidates, but is more complicated. As with so many other business matters, the Web has changed everything. At first glance, it would seem the old want ads page just moved into databases. Monster (www.monster.com) was one of the first companies to offer cyberlistings. The employer pays for the listing. The…

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PROFILE: Lumasis.com: Finding its niche Focus on small business pays off for Web design firm

Lumasis.comFinding its niche Focus on small business pays off for Web design firm When Zionsville native Jamie Brown graduated from Purdue in 1995, most consumers were still in the dark about the possibilities the Internet could offer. Having been immersed in the Web while studying electrical engineering technology at Purdue, Brown linked up with a local Internet provider and started his first company, Computer Specialists. In 1997, the business morphed into Lumasis, a full-service Web site design and hosting company…

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BRIAN WILLIAMS: Indiana needs to get energy-wise

As the 14th-mostpopulous state in the union, Indiana generates a gross state product that is 16th-largest of the 50 states. Unfortunately, despite significant investments in equipment and processes by manufacturers and public-policy efforts to encourage the attraction and growth of knowledgeand technology-focused industries, our economy remains energy-inefficient. In 2003, Indiana was the country’s sixthlargest consumer of energy per capita, according to the Indiana Energy Report. Ninety-seven percent of Indiana’s electricity is generated by coal. Indiana is the fifthlargest emitter of…

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