Trana Discovery, Inc., Selected by RTP Angel Capital Exchange to Present at March 25, 2009

PR Log (Press Release) – Mar 17, 2009 – Cary, N. C. The RTP Angel Capital Exchange, an open monthly networking forum held at the BNC Center in Cary, N. C. announced today that TRANA Discovery, Inc. has been selected to present at the March 25 event.

Trana Discovery, a drug discovery technology company, helps organizations find novel classes of drugs for the treatment of serious viral, fungal, and bacterial infectious diseases. The technology identifies compounds that work through a unique mechanism of action: inhibition of the target pathogen’s ability to use transfer RNA (tRNA) essential for protein synthesis or replication.

The proprietary technology developed by the founders of Trana Discovery mimics the critical components of naturally occurring tRNA, allowing the synthetic compound to be used as research tools and components in drug discovery assays.

One of their products, the TRANA HIV 201 HTS assay has been available for licensing since January 2008 and is capable of identifying compounds that interfere with the use of tRNA by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS. Another product, a Staphylococcus aureus assay and a rapid diagnostic platform are expected to become available by mid-2009.

The founders of Trana Discovery were scientists from North Carolina State University and from the Technical University, of Lodz, Poland.  Steve Peterson is the CEO, and Winnell Newman is the co-founder.

“TRANA Discovery is exactly the right type of small business technology company that our economy needs to support,” said Tom Vass, the organizer of the angel event. “They have a building-block technology that will stimulate technological innovation in a wide range of other companies that eventually will lead to rapid job creation in the regional economy.”

The RTP Angel Capital Exchange is an open business network that provides both existing companies and new ventures a platform for describing their growth plans. The Angel Capital Exchange is one part of 3 other technology innovation business networks in the RTP that work together to increase the rate of technology innovation and deal flow in the regional economy.

The monthly event is held at the BNC Center in Cary, and begins at 4:30. There is a $10 fee at the door to attend. Pre-registration is available at MeetUp.com.