Tech Digest

The funding, part of the company's third round of financing, brings total financing in the round to $65 million. Since Corus Pharma was founded in 2001, the company has raised $125 million. It employs 80 people.

More than a dozen investors participated in the financing, including Bear Stearns, Hambrecht & Quist, Novo A/S, RBC Capital and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates. The money will be used to run clinical trials and for other research activities.

Microsoft CEO summit opens tomorrow

Microsoft Corp. will play host to more than 100 top corporate executives from around the world on the company's Redmond campus tomorrow and Friday for its eighth annual CEO Summit. Bill Gates will open the conference with a keynote address tomorrow morning.

Microsoft has not released a list of those expected to attend this year. Attendees in years past have included Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Dell Computer's Michael Dell, Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina and telecom magnate Craig McCaw, among others.

AquaStasis wins UW business plan award

AquaStasis, which is developing chemical monitoring devices for pools, hot tubs and aquariums, won the University of Washington Business Plan Competition this week. Founded earlier this year by two Ph.D. students in the UW's Department of Chemistry and two students from the MBA program, AquaStasis took home the $25,000 first prize.

TeachTown, a maker of educational software for children with autism, CellVitro, a drug-discovery company, and MyStyle, a clothing designer for uniquely shaped women, also received prize money.

In the past six years, the UW Business Plan Competition has awarded nearly $500,000 in prize money and services.

OnSiteDocs brings in funds for expansion

OnSiteDocs, which provides medical care to patients at work and home, has raised $500,000 that it will use to expand operations. The Seattle company, which offers service to 6,000 employees in the Puget Sound region, plans to open for business in the San Francisco Bay Area this summer.

OnSiteDocs provides medical care for work-related injuries 24 hours a day. Ted Conklin, a Seattle physician who founded the company in 2000, said the service helps companies reduce workers' compensation costs.

Abbott drug tested on intestinal ailment

Abbott Laboratories said its arthritis medicine Humira helped control inflammation caused by a different disorder that attacks the intestines. The company tested Humira in two studies of patients with Crohn's disease, an illness that causes pain, inflammation and scarring inside the digestive track. Humira competes against Enbrel, a drug marketed by Amgen. Enbrel, developed in Seattle, has been approved to treat arthritis and psoriasis.

PlayNetwork finalizing VC investments

Redmond-based PlayNetwork said that it is making final a venture capital investment from Chartwell Capital and Talon Opportunity Fund that will be used for possible acquisitions.

The 8-year-old company delivers customized music to retailers and restaurants, including Starbucks, J. Jill and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. PlayNetwork also announced that Chief Operating Officer Robin Sibucao will step down June 1, though he will join the company's advisory board.

Office Professional for the Mac delayed

Microsoft Corp. plans to delay the debut of the professional edition of Office 2004 for Mac until fall, to accommodate a later-than-expected release of Virtual PC for Mac, a component of the professional edition. The standard and student/teacher editions of Office 2004 for Mac, with revamped versions of programs such as Word and Excel, remain on schedule and will be available in stores beginning today.

NATIONAL

HP quarterly earnings increase 34 percent

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s quarterly earnings jumped 34 percent and the computer maker improved its outlook for the second half of the year, but analysts remained cautious that it could withstand formidable competition from rivals.

For the three months ended April 30, HP reported a profit of $884 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with $659 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Excluding special items, such as a $105 million reimbursement to the Canadian government, HP earned $1.03 billion, or 34 cents per share.

That compared with $877 million, or 29 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Second-quarter revenue was a record $20.1 billion, up 12 percent from $18 billion in the second quarter of 2003.

HP, which employs about 145,600 people worldwide, boosted its outlook for the second half of 2004.

Earlier this year, the company told analysts to expect sales of $39.7 billion, but said yesterday that revenue could hit $40.7 billion.

Quick Hits is written by P-I reporters Todd Bishop, John Cook and Dan Richman. Send comments to johncook@seattlepi.com. This report includes information from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.

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