News Briefs

Cree Inc. of Durham, N.C., a maker of semiconductors for solid-state lighting, power and communications products, announced today the addition of Clyde R. Hosein to its board of directors and audit committee. Hosein is vice president and chief financial officer of semiconductor maker Integrated Device Technology Inc. . . . Germany-based Bruker Daltonik GmbH, the Cooperative Center for Rheumatology at the University of Goettingen and biotech company Panatecs GmbH announced their new collaboration in protein biomarker discovery and molecular diagnostics research based on mass spectrometry. Panatecs will use Bruker Daltonics' Clinprot tools to develop new tests for the molecular diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, Panatecs will offer services for biomarker identification using Bruker's mass spectrometry equipment. Bruker Daltonik is a division of Bruker Daltronics of Billerica, Mass.; Panatecs is a spinoff of the University of Tuebingen. . . . Austin, Texas-based solar energy technology company HelioVolt Corp. has named solar energy industry veteran Robert Oswald as its new vice president of engineering, where he will oversee product development. With 25 years of experience in the industry, Oswald is recognized as an expert in applied thin-film photovoltaic manufacturing. Most recently, Oswald served as director of new processes and equipment at BP Solar. . . . PhotoMedex Inc. of Montgomeryville, Pa., a developer of excimer lasers and fiber optic systems for dermatological applications, has settled the outstanding litigation it brought against Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Edwards Lifesciences LLC and Baxter Healthcare Corp. in January 2004 in the Superior Court of California for Orange County. The action, which was scheduled to go to trial in January 2006, concerned an agreement between Edwards and PhotoMedex for the development and marketing of an excimer laser for use in transmyocardial revascularization, a procedure used to relieve severe angina or chest pain in patients who aren't candidates for bypass surgery or angioplasty. Specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but PhotoMedex President and CEO Jeffrey F. O'Donnell said it provides some working capital to the company, which it will use in the domestic marketing of its Xtrac eximer laser.