Lockheed Martin in Burlington County, New Jersey is working with a DX-Ceeds, Inc. of Newark, New Castle County, Delaware to assist in identifying small businesses with interesting technology. Through the agreement reached by the companies, Lockheed will be able to communicate with small businesses that use DX-Ceeds' online service, DelExchange. This service allows small businesses to review proposals for Small Business Innovation Research, SBIR, grants. Lockheed will send a message to companies applying for grants to support technology that Lockheed finds of interest. This agreement also stands to benefit the small companies by providng them with a contact at Lockheed Martin.

Next Stage Capital, a Montgomery County company which invests in "seed" or early-stage technology companies recently raised $25 million with the help of Delaware County's Ballamor Capital Management Inc. The venture fund has provided financing for several companies across the region, including:

• RCD Technology in Quakertown, Bucks County, PA;
• HardMetrics in Doylestown, Bucks County, PA;
• Agilence in Camden, Camden County, NJ;
• HxTechnologies in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA; and
• Orbos in Newtown Square, Delaware County, PA.

In an effort to build up its over-the-counter prescription portfolio, Philadelphia-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has reached an agreement to sell the cholesterol drug Mevacor owned by Merck, which has major operations in Montgomery County, PA. Although specific terms were not released, GSK said it would make milestone and royalty payments.