VentureWire
By Jonathan Matsey
Horizon Therapeutics Inc., a company developing drugs for pain relief, has raised $12 million in bridge financing as it looks to close a difficult Series D fund-raise in the next couple of months.
Existing investors provided the bridge, said Bob De Vaere, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Horizon. The company most recently raised a $30 million Series C in July 2007 from Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Pequot Ventures, Scale Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures.
Based in Northbrook, Ill., Horizon was founded in 2005 and is looking to develop alternatives to Cox-2 inhibitors, which are associated with cardiovascular risks, and NSAIDs, which can cause gastrointestinal issues. The company's lead compound, HZT-501, is in Phase III trials. That drug is a combination of ibuprofen, a common NSAID, with famotidine, which reduces stomach acid.
Horizon told VentureWire last October the company was looking to launch a Series D fund-raise of roughly $30 million. The company hired De Vaere, a former CFO at IDN Pharma Inc., to a great extent to get the financing moved forward, though launching the round late in 2008 proved challenging.
"It's been extremely difficult," De Vaere said of the fund-raising climate during the first half of the year. But despite just closing on the insider bridge portion, he said he anticipated the remainder of the round to go quickly given the more receptive venture market of late. "I would anticipate it to be closed in 30 to 60 days," he said.
De Vaere declined to say how much the company was looking to close the round at, but he said it was more than the $30 million the company had discussed in October.
myfoxchicago.com
Andrea Gillespie is on to something. "Actually I got this purse for 30 percent off for twittering the designer."
Forget paper coupons or ripping coupons. Many businesses are passing on paper coupons and are advertising for free on social networking sites like Twitter.
On Chicago's first coupon feed, Merchant Circle sends out daily coupon tweets to followers for thousands of Chicago businesses.
Mario Alonso says opening a tanning business in a not-so-hot economy has been hard. He looked at all advertising options and concluded: "You can't beat free. We are able to change the coupons on a constant basis."
Alonso's says his tweet Deals of the Day keep customers coming in. Today's special is buy one package get the second half off. For instance. one tweet coupon can save you up to $150 on a package for Alonso's most popular tanning bed.
Wilber Sutphin was used to posting specials the old-fashioned way at his North Side record shop. Now he does it on Twitter.
He claims: "The people you can reach, the deals you can offer people that they would not know about if they aren't in the neighborhood." Sutphin says the site has definitely boosted his business.
Heidi Gavin says whether it's Merchant Circle or coupons direct from dealers, this new wave of advertising. Tweets is sweet.
She believes: "I think it's really quick, to the point and it's saving me money and I don't have to deal with html."
Oraya Therapeutics Scale Venture Partners
peHub
By Alastair Goldfisher
There's no denying the IPO window is pretty narrow for venture-backed companies, especially for those in life sciences. Of the five VC-backed IPOs last quarter (which, by the way, was the most VC-backed offerings since Q1 2008) none were in the life sciences field.
But that's not a bad thing, says Mark Brooks, managing director of Scale Venture Partners. The Foster City, Calif.-based firm last year had one of the better IPOs in recent memory when portfolio company IPC Inc., a provider of information management systems to hospitals and physician groups, went public at $16 a share. IPC (Nasdaq: IPCM) closed today at $26.45 a share.
Brooks is not lamenting the lack of IPOs. He says that what he's seeing is a lot more VC-backed companies in phase III stage, raising money from their syndicate of investors instead of going IPO.
"When the IPO market comes back for life sciences, the companies will be a lot more advanced, and will plenty of phase III data to show," Brooks says.
Until, the IPOs come back, Brooks says that VCs will have to bring their companies a lot further along than they used to.
One example of that might be Oraya Therapeutics, which earlier this week announced that it raised a $42 million Series C round form Scale, Domain Associates, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners. The round brings the company's total VC raised to more than $62 million, Brooks says.
Oraya will use the latest round of cash to expand its clinical trials for its radiation treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness.
"And we have reserves for future rounds," Brooks says.
VentureWire
By Jonathan Matsey
Oraya Therapeutics Inc., which is developing radiosurgical treatments for inflammatory and neurovascular diseases of the eye, has raised $42 million in Series C financing.
New investors Domain Associates and Scale Venture Partners led the round, joined by existing investors Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners. Valuation was not disclosed.
Based in Newark, Calif., Oraya is developing the IRay system for the delivery of a highly localized dose of low-energy X-ray radiation for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.
"We had been studying this space for a long time and we thought they had done a great job showing that this is effective," said Mark Brooks, managing director at Scale.
The IRay is undergoing trials in the U.S. and overseas. Brooks declined to say how far the Series C will take the company. Michael Gertner, chief executive of Oraya, was not available for comment.
Prior to this round, Oraya raised an $18 million Series B in early 2008 and a $4 million Series A in mid-2007, according to VentureWire archives.
Despite a growing number of AMD-treatment drugs on the market, Brooks said there is still space for companies like Oraya, which do not require frequent injections into the eye. "We still think that despite Lucentis and anti-VEGF inhibitors like Avastin, there is still room for improvement," he said.
Brooks said Oraya is the only company with a non-surgical device. The company's main competitor, which he would not name, uses surgery for the delivery of radio-isotopes.
That description fits a June 2006 patent - "Intraocular radiotherapy treatment for macular degeneration" - issued to Eugene de Juan, founder and vice chairman of incubator ForSight Labs LLC, which has not disclosed the indications it is pursuing for its two most recent companies.
Oraya's device is also small enough to fit in a doctor's office, Brooks said.
Brooks and Brian Halak, partner at Domain, have joined Oraya's board.
Company To Begin Two International Clinical Trials For Age-Related Eye Disease Treatment
Newark, CA – July 20, 2009 – Oraya Therapeutics, Inc., a medical technology company developing radiosurgical treatments for eye diseases, today announced that it has raised $42 million in Series C financing. Oraya will use the financing to expand its clinical trials with two independent international studies to support worldwide regulatory approval and commercial efforts for its treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Scale Venture Partners and Domain Associates led the round; current investors Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners also participated. Mark Brooks, a Managing Director with ScaleVP, and Brian Halak, a Partner with Domain Associates, have joined the board.
"We are very pleased to welcome Mark and Brian to the board at a critical stage for the company," said Michael Gertner, M.D., founder and CEO of Oraya. "We believe our approach to treating AMD will result in a paradigm shift, and are seeing encouraging data from our current trials. We are eager to continue trials of the IRay™ system both in the U.S. and internationally."
The IRay system is designed to deliver a highly localized dose of low-energy X-Ray radiation to the macula quickly with a highly automated system. This first-in- class system is customized for the disease and physician segment and as a result, can be placed in almost any medical setting.
"Age-related macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years and older, and current solutions are difficult to endure for patients who need treatment," said Brooks. "Oraya has developed a promising and easy-to-administer solution, and the data from the IRay system trials are very encouraging. I'm looking forward to working closely with Michael and the team to help move the product through trials in a timely way and into the market."
"Oraya's novel treatment for AMD has the potential to provide significant benefits to patients, physicians, and payors," said Halak. "I look forward to working with the Company to help it realize this potential."
About Scale Venture Partners
Based in Foster City, California, the ScaleVP team is a long-standing partnership with a consistent, top quartile track record of returns. Scale Venture Partners' insight-driven investment strategy, extensive operating networks and go-to-market expertise help identify and build leading portfolio companies in technology and healthcare markets. The ScaleVP team's proven skill-set and active approach provides entrepreneurs a competitive advantage for growth and category leadership. Representative portfolio companies include Alimera Sciences, Discera, Frontbridge, Glu Mobile, mBlox, Monolithic Power Systems, National Healing, NComputing, Omniture, Orexigen, ScanSafe, Somaxon, Vantage Media, Waterfront Media, Xceive and Zogenix. For more information, visit www.scalevp.com.
About Domain Associates
Domain Associates, LLC is a venture capital firm focused on health care product opportunities including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and related businesses. Over its 20 year history, Domain has been involved in the creation of over 170 companies. Its latest venture capital fund is Domain Partners VI, L.P., which is capitalized at $500 million. Domain is located in Princeton, NJ and in Laguna Niguel, CA. For more information, please visit domainvc.com.
About Oraya Therapeutics
Oraya Therapeutics was founded in 2007 by Michael Gertner, M.D., an adjunct partner at Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, and with this financing, has raised $64 million since inception. The company is located in Newark, CA and has 22 employees.
AltAssets
Oraya Therapeutics, Inc., a medical technology company developing radiosurgical treatments for eye diseases, has raised $42m in Series C venturing financing. Venture capital firms Scale Venture Partners and Domain Associates led the round; current investors Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners also participated. As part of the deal, Mark Brooks, a managing director with ScaleVP, and Brian Halak, a partner with Domain Associates, will join the board.
Oraya will use the financing to expand its clinical trials with two independent international studies to support worldwide regulatory approval and commercial efforts for its treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the company said.
"We are very pleased to welcome Mark and Brian to the board at a critical stage for the company," said Michael Gertner, M.D., founder and CEO of Oraya. "We believe our approach to treating AMD will result in a paradigm shift, and are seeing encouraging data from our current trials. We are eager to continue trials of the IRay system both in the US and internationally."
Brooks added, "Oraya has developed a promising and easy-to-administer solution, and the data from the IRay system trials are very encouraging. I'm looking forward to working closely with Michael and the team to help move the product through trials in a timely way and into the market."
Scale Venture Partners is based in Foster City, California, and targets the technology and healthcare markets. Portfolio companies include Alimera Sciences, Discera, Frontbridge, Glu Mobile, mBlox, Monolithic Power Systems, National Healing, NComputing, Omniture, Orexigen, ScanSafe, Somaxon, Vantage Media, Waterfront Media, Xceive and Zogenix.
Domain Associates is a venture capital firm focused on healthcare product opportunities including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and related businesses. Its latest venture capital fund is Domain Partners VI, which is capitalised at $500m. About Oraya Therapeutics Oraya Therapeutics was founded in 2007, and to date has raised $64m.
peHub
Oraya Therapeutics Inc., a Newark, Calif.-based developer of radiosurgical treatments for eye diseases, has raised $42 million in Series C funding. Domain Associates and Scale Venture Partnersco-led the round, and was joined by return backers Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Synergy Life Partners. The company previously raised $22 million
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. said Monday that its obesity-drug candidate Contrave met its main goals in three late-stage clinical trials, and also surpassed a Food and Drug Administration requirement for effectiveness.
Patients who took Contrave had significantly greater weight loss than those who took a placebo, and the drug reduced other risk factors like waist circumference, the company said. For diabetes patients, the drug also diminished blood sugar levels.
The San Diego-based company said it plans to seek FDA approval for Contrave in early 2010.
Orexigen said the drug also tempered food cravings and allowed patients to better control of their eating. Its shares jumped 82 cents, or 14 percent, to $6.51 in morning trading.
In the two trials with non-diabetes patients, after 56 weeks 48 percent and 56.3 percent of patients, respectively, reported weight loss of at least 5 percent, Orexigen said. That compared to 16.4 percent and 17.1 percent for the placebo patients. That more than met FDA testing guidelines that require at least a third of patients must lose at least five percent of their body weight. At least twice as many patients must reach the 5 percent goal compared with those who take a placebo.
In those trials, the Contrave patients had mean weight loss of 8.1 percent and 8.2 percent, or 17.6 pounds and 17.5 pounds. In the diabetes trial, 44.5 percent of patients lost at least 5 percent of their weight after 56 weeks, compared to 18.9 percent of patients who took a placebo. Contrave patients reduced their blood sugar by 0.6 percent, compared to 0.1 percent for the placebo group.
The non-diabetes trials involved 1,742 patients and 1,496 patients, respectively, while 505 people with type 2 diabetes participated in the third trial.
Orexigen said the drug reduced risk factors including waist circumference, midsection fat and triglycerides and improved levels of ''good'' HDL cholesterol.
Mean weight loss in the diabetes trial was 5.9 percent, or 13.5 pounds, compared with 2.2 percent, or 5.1 pounds.
The studies tested Contrave32, which combines bupropion, a drug used against depression and smoking habits, with naltrexone, which is used to fight alcoholism and opiate addiction. Orexigen CEO Mike Narachi said the drug ''targets behavior and reward pathways in the brain.''
Dennis Kim, who leads Orexigen's obesity and metabolic-disorders unit, said Contrave is ''the first drug I'm aware of that addresses cravings in terms of obesity.''
Orexigen has two other doses of Contrave: Contrave16 contains a lower dose of naltrexone, and Contrave48 has more of the drug.
Its rivals, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vivus Inc., also are trying to bring their own obesity drugs to market.
Orexigen said the data show Contrave is safe. The most serious side effects in the trial included a gallbladder infection and seizure, which affected two patients each. One patient reported heart palpitations, while another experienced poor circulation in the limbs and one had vertigo. The most common side effects were nausea, constipation and headache.
Orexigen said it is preparing to file for FDA approval on its own, but is seeking a partner to bring Contrave to the primary-care market and to overseas markets.
The FDA has created two benchmarks for obesity-drug candidates, and all treatments must meet at least one to be approved. Contrave surpassed one of the two. The other benchmark requires that a study show a difference in weight loss of at least 5 percent between the drug candidate and a placebo. A previous late-stage trial of Contrave was designed with that goal in mind, but it was unsuccessful, as the difference in weight loss was 4.2 percent. Orexigen reported those results in Januar1y, and its stock plunged.
CEPro
By Geoff Oldmixon
Having trouble understanding the differences between Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter?
Here's a cheat sheet.
Professional Networking
LinkedIn — With over 35 million accounts, LinkedIn enables users to post resumes, cite work history and network with "contacts." Post your company's job openings or ask and answer questions.
MerchantCircle — MerchantCircle, which boasts more than 5 million monthly users, aids small businesses with online and local advertising efforts. Use the site's free e-mail coupon templates to solicit jobs from your own contact list.
Xing — More than seven million registered members use Xing to manage business contacts, profiles, events and community forums. Use the site's contact sorting features to determine a sales channel or pinpoint a marketing audience.
General Networking
Facebook — Users join networks based on neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, etc. On your Facebook page, you could post press releases, promote events or inform "friends" and "fans" about your services and accomplishments. (Become a Fan of CE Pro on Facebook.)
MySpace — With over one million accounts, MySpace offers a huge online network of active members. You can use your account page to post a profile, a blog, videos, etc. It can serve as a reference point for potential customers or partners.
Twitter — Twitter users are able to generate a profile page to send and receive tweets, text-based posts of up to 140 characters. Send tweets to all of your followers. (Follow CE Pro on Twitter.)
Posting Sites
Digg — Users submit and read news from all over the Internet on Digg. Link to your own press releases, marketing communications or sales notifications. Weigh in on the relevant news posted by other Digg users.
Flickr — This photo and video posting site is a great place to store images. Refer potential clients (or even the press) to your Flickr account for high-res images of projects, people or products.
Mixx — Users generate their own "mixx" of content by voting for or against what's been posted by the site's users. Turn to Mixx to determine what its users like best about your services.
Newsvine — This site draws its content from user-posted news stories. Use Newsvine to determine which industry news stories are resonating with readers.
Small Business Brief — This is where you can post and find industry news, advice or resources. A forum provides networking possibilities as well.
Tweako — Calling itself a "user-powered community Web site and social network," Tweako specializes in all aspects of computing and technology. Submit and read original content, including reviews, how-to guides, product information and more.
YouTube — The Web's most popular video sharing site, YouTube is a place to post your installation or sales videos. Reference the URL of your posts to potential clients via e-mail or other social media.
VentureWire
By Staff Reporters
At least six venture capital firms are investing $6 million in specialty pharmaceutical company Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. to become the latest investors lured into a public company with a degraded share price but potential for a comeback.
The PIPE deal, which was completed Wednesday, included Somaxon's existing shareholders Domain Associates, Montreux Equity Partners, MPM Capital, Prospect Venture Partners and Scale Venture Partners, as well as new investors, including Tavistock Life Sciences.
San Diego-based Somaxon is focused on the in-licensing, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products that treat diseases and disorders of the central nervous system.
About 5.1 million shares of common stock, along with warrants to purchase up to another 5.1 million shares, were sold in the private placement. The price paid for the common stock, $1.05 per share, is equal to the consolidated closing bid price on the Nasdaq Capital Market on the day of pricing, which was July 2.
Plummeting stock prices are prompting many venture capital firms, especially those that invest in health care, to snap up what they see as bargain-priced shares of publicly traded companies. In the past 12 months, Somaxon's stock price fell from $4.36 to yesterday's closing price of $1.05.
On Feb. 27, Somaxon's stock plunged 79% to 44 cents after the Food and Drug Administration didn't approve the company's New Drug Application for Silenor, a treatment for insomnia. The FDA raised several issues with the efficacy data, and the agency indicated it was open to a discussion of its concerns.
Somaxon said Wednesday that the FDA has accepted for review the resubmission of its NDA for Silenor. The FDA expects to issue an action on Dec. 4.
PEHUB
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: SOMX), a San Diego-based drug company focused on CNS disorders, has agreed to raise $6 million via a PIPE. Participants include existing shareholders like MPM Capital, Montreux Equity Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Prospect Venture Partners and Domain Associates. Tavistock Life Sciences is also involved.
Xconomy
By Bruce V. Bigelow
San Diego's Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SOMX) says it has submitted a revised new drug application for its insomnia drug doxepin (Silenor), and the biotech raised about $6 million in a private stock placement to see it through the NDA process.
As I noted in February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration turned down Somaxon's initial application, asking the drug developer to address concerns about prolonging the heart's QT interval—a key measure of the heart's electrical rhythm. Somaxon said it intended to regroup and try again, and it met with FDA officials in April to gain a better understanding of the regulators' concerns.
The company also spent some time on a financial makeover. Somaxonsaid in May it had erased $15 million in debt, although the company also had depleted its available cash from $14.3 million at the end of December to $3.8 million at the end of March. The company also reduced its operating costs. Somaxon reported a loss of $4.5 million for the first quarter that ended March 31, down from a loss of $7.1 million during the same quarter in 2008. As a development stage pharma, the company had no revenues.
The company also said in May it's continuing to look for a Big Pharma partner to help further development of doxepin, and it signaled its intent to raise cash for another go at FDA approval. Several of the company's existing investors are participating in the financing, including MPM Capital, Montreux Equity Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Prospect Venture Partners and Domain Associates, as well as Tavistock Life Sciences and other new investors.
In a statement today, Somaxon CEO Richard W. Pasco says, "We expect that the cash raised in this financing, together with our existing resources, will allow us to operate our business through the FDA review cycle of the NDA resubmission and extend our cash runway through the second quarter of 2010."
soCalTech.com
San Diego-based Somaxon Pharmaceuticals reports today that the publicly held firm has received a $6M, private equity financing. The firm said that the funding came from its existing venture investors, including MPM Capital, Montreux Equity Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Prospect Venture Partners and Domain Associates, as well as new investors Tavistock Life Sciences and others. Somaxon said the cash infusion will extend its cash runway through the second quarter of 2010, and will allow the firm to operate through the FDA review cycle and NDA resubmission of its lead candidate, Silenor, which is being applied to the treatment of insomnia. The firm said that the FDA has accepted for review the New Drug Application for Silenor, and that it expects the review cycle to be six months.
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Jaspersoft Named to the JMP Securities "Hot 100: The Best Privately Held Software Companies"
The "Hot 100: The Best Privately Held Software Companies" list is selected by the software research team at JMP Securities, a full-service investment bank headquartered in San Francisco, and a subsidiary of JMP Group, Inc. |
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Jaspersoft Named to the Red Herring 100, North America
The list of 100 privately held companies in North America recognizes those that play a leading role in innovating in the technology business. After receiving more than 1,000 submissions and nominations, Red Herring's editorial staff rigorously evaluated Jaspersoft and the other contenders through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development.
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Jaspersoft Named to the InfoWorld 100, Awarded Publication’s Highest Honor For Technological Innovation in 2008
The InfoWorld 100 Awards celebrate 100 IT organizations that have implemented and integrated technologies in innovative ways in pursuit of concrete business goals. |
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Dr. Dobb's Jolt Productivity Award, 2008 for Libraries, Frameworks and Components
JasperReports
Dr. Dobbs recognizes products, books and websites that have "jolted" the industry in the past year. |
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Ventana Research Technology Leadership Award - Business Intelligence
RLPTechnologies was recognized as a Technology Leader for using Jaspersoft open source business intelligence. Award finalists were chosen by an expert research team of Ventana Research, by scoring the submissions based on overall best practices plus alignment of people, process, information and technology and business impact. The Leadership Awards for overall Performance Management and 10 categories span from BI to contact center performance management. |
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LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards
JasperSoft's Business Intelligence Suite Professional Edition
Finalist, "Best Database Solution."
The awards cover a wide variety of open solutions categories, and are voted on by a panel of independent judges and industry experts in recognition of product/service innovation and solutions in open computing. |
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Duke's Choice Award
JasperReports Community Edition project was named among Coolest products in the World for Java Technology. The Duke's Choice Awards celebrates the best and most innovative technology-based applications and services in the business from among all the cool projects in the world of Java technology. |
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Java Developer's Journal Readers' Choice Awards, Finalist
The Java Developer's Journal Readers' Choice Awards recognize the best products and tools for Java technologies. Winners were selected through reader-submitted nominations, followed by online voting at the Java Developer's Journal online magazine.
SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards
Enterprise Project First Runner-Up, 2006
JasperReports
The SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards recognize projects and their authors who have excelled in a variety of software categories to foster the open source movement and community. |
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DM Review Readership Merit Award, 2005
The Readership Merit Awards replace the DM Review 100. We decided to try a new approach as the number of vendors in the businesss intelligence and data warehouse space is shrinking and as we extend our focus beyond data to analytics in the worlds of process and applications as well. Survey respondents were asked in the 2005 DM Review Readership Study conducted between May and August 23, 2005 to rate the level of products services at use in their organizations. Each of Readership Merit awardee received at least two votes of stisfactory or higher. |
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Red Herring 100 North America
Finalist, 2006
For 10 years, Red Herring's editorial team has diligently surveyed entrepreneurship around the globe. Technology industry executives, investors, and observers have regarded the Red Herring 100 lists as an invaluable instrument to discover and advocate the promising startups that will lead the next wave of disruption and innovation |
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Java Pro Readers' Choice
Finalist, 2006,
JasperReports
The annual Java Pro Readers' Choice Awards, cosponsored by Sun Microsystems and Java Pro, honors the top products of as selected by Java Pro readers. The Awards are selected by a panel of Java Pro editors and presented to individuals and organizations that have contributed the most to Java technology. JasperReports was the only open source nominee in the "Best Java Reporting Tool" category. |
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