News Briefs (Jan. 31, 2006)

Cyberlux Corp., a manufacturer of solid-state diodaltm lighting solutions based in Research Triangle, N.C., has been awarded a US patent for its innovative emergency lighting technology based on LEDs. The patent pertains to a lighting system capable of providing long-term solutions for emergency and interim lighting via an array of LEDs, the means for providing electrical energy to the LED array and all other means of electrical energy support. . . . Electro-Optical Sciences Inc. (EOS) of Irvington, N.Y., a medical device company developing a non-invasive instrument to assist in the early diagnosis of melanoma, has entered into an agreement with Germany-based Askion GmbH for the production of the MelaFind handheld imaging device. Under the agreement -- the financial terms of which were not disclosed -- Askion will make the devices needed for EOS's upcoming pivotal trial at more than 20 clinical study sites in the US. The purpose of the trial is to establish the safety and effectiveness of MelaFind in imaging suspicious skin lesions which could be melanoma, the deadliest of skin cancers, which has no cure at advanced stages. . . . PerkinElmer Inc., a global technology provider in the health sciences and photonics markets, including sensors and specialty lighting, announced that Robert F. Friel has been named president of PerkinElmer's $1 billion, Boston-based business unit, Life & Analytical Sciences, which focuses on providing applications-based solutions to customers in the genetic screening, biopharma and analytical sciences markets. Friel will continue as PerkinElmer's vice chairman and as a board member. Prior to being appointed vice chairman, Friel served as PerkinElmer's executive vice president and CFO. He joined the company in 1999 and is considered one of the primary architects of its transformation into a health sciences and photonics provider. Friel succeeds Peter B. Coggins, who will retire in February, but who will continue on through mid-2007 as a senior advisor and consultant.