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April 26, 2022

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Raymond Blanchard, Associate Director of IP & Licensing with QIAGEN, visits BioTalk

QIAGEN Associate Director of IP & Licensing, Raymond Blanchard, chats with Rich Bendis on BioTalk to discuss innovation, intellectual property and having a large footprint in the BioHealth Capital Region.=

Listen now via #applepodcast https://apple.co/38nyPw4, #googlepodcast https://bit.ly/37Bb83q, #spotifypodcasts https://spoti.fi/3Mx7Ahp, #amazonpodcast https://amzn.to/3OzKN6j, #TuneIn https://bit.ly/3Mspodh, or #YouTube https://bit.ly/38mJB5t. #podcast

MIMETAS participates in €325 million Oncode-PACT initiative to accelerate and improve oncology drug development

LEIDEN, The Netherlands, April 14, 2022 - MIMETAS, a global leader in organ-on-chip-based disease models, is a partner in the Oncode-PACT initiative that has been granted today an amount of €325 million by the Dutch National Growth Fund.

Oncode Institute will lead the Oncode-PACT consortium and its operations. With this investment, the consortium will develop cancer drug candidates faster and bring them to patients sooner. As a partner in Oncode-PACT, MIMETAS will develop the next generation of patient-specific cancer organoid models that include immune cells, blood vessels, and other essential cell types to drive novel cancer drug discovery and developm ent. Using these models, MIMETAS will screen compounds and targets using fully integrated, automatic phenotypic screening lines with AI data interpretation, bringing early validation and de-risking to the cancer drug development pipeline.

Aurinia Announces Year-Two Commitment to Patient Navigation Grant Program to Address Barriers for Individuals Living with Lupus and Lupus Nephritis

Life Sciences Business Strategist

– Company seeks proposals to create and sustain community-focused programs to support underserved populations with these conditions –

VICTORIA, British Columbia & ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AUPH) (Aurinia or the Company) today, affirmed its commitment to individuals living with the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN) through the sponsorship of charitable grants to establish or expand community-focused patient navigator programs. This is the second year of this unique program aimed at eliminating barriers to care for individuals living with SLE/LN. LN is a serious manifestation of SLE that can cause irreversible kidney damage and kidney failure and significantly affects more Black, Asian, and Hispanic individuals than non-Hispanic White individuals. Selected applicants may receive up to $50,000 over a one-year period.

Kite Receives U.S. FDA Approval of New State-of-the-Art CAR T-Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility in Maryland

April 19, 2022 12:00 UTC -- Kite’s Global CAR T-Cell Therapy Manufacturing Network Increasing Capacity by 50% to Meet Patient Demand for New Cancer Therapies -- Scalable and Adaptable Facility Provides Flexibility for Current and Future Cell Therapy Innovation SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kite Pharma, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved commercial production at the company's new CAR T-cell therapy manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland. The site will produce Kite’s FDA approved CAR T-cell therapy used to treat blood cancer.

Maryland Life Science Advisory Board Welcomes New Members · BioBuzz

The Life Sciences Advisory Board added three new members, Ellington West of Sonavi Labs, Michael Weingarten of the National Cancer Institute, and GlaxoSmithKline’s KaShauna G. Rohlehr.

Ellington West West was tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Sonavi Labs in 2018. Along with Ian McLane, she is the co-founder of the Johns Hopkins startup digital stethoscope technology company. West was the founder of West Labs Research Group at Johns Hopkins where the company’s core Feelix technology was developed.

Image: https://biobuzz.io

500,000-square-foot life science campus coming to Jefferson Technology Park in Frederick County

Apr. 22—Construction will start this September on a 500,000-square-foot life science campus in Frederick County's Jefferson Technology Park that the developer says will be a $140 million investment in the community.

The Labs at Jefferson Park will include about 200,000-square-feet of research and development lab space, said Eric Fischer, a managing director with Trammell Crow Co., the project's developer. It is slated to be finished next year.

Initial Results from Novavax' COVID-19-Influenza Vaccine Trial are First to Show Feasibility of Combination Vaccine

Phase 1/2 clinical trial of COVID-19-Influenza combination vaccine candidate indicates vaccine is well-tolerated and immunogenic
Data from this combination trial will inform planned Phase 2 dose confirmation trial, scheduled to begin by the end of 2022
Immune response confirmed in stand-alone influenza vaccine and combination vaccine with potential path forward for both

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced initial results from the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its COVID-Influenza Combination Vaccine (CIC). The CIC combines Novavax' COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, and its quadrivalent influenza vaccine candidate. The CIC trial demonstrated that formulating the combination vaccine is feasible, well-tolerated and immunogenic.

"We continue to evaluate the dynamic public health landscape and believe there may be a need for recurrent boosters to fight both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza," said Gregory M. Glenn, M.D., President of Research and Development, Novavax. "We're encouraged by these data and the potential path forward for a combination COVID-19-influenza vaccine as well as stand-alone vaccines for influenza and COVID-19."

The safety and tolerability profile of the combination vaccine was consistent with the stand-alone NVX-CoV2373 and quadrivalent nanoparticle influenza vaccine reference formulations in the trial. The combination vaccine was found to be generally well tolerated. Serious adverse were rare and none were assessed as being related to the vaccine.

The ARPA-H (Health) Headquarters: Where Will It Be, and Should I Care?

The medical science publication Stat just published an article about Congressional interest in the location of ARPA-H headquarters, the new $6 billion effort to fund high, risk-high reward health research and cures. We are about to witness a biotech version of the Amazon HQ2 competition, with states and jurisdictions across the country angling to land this headquarters facility.

It is great to see the national interest in housing ARPA-Headquarters, but this project should not distract jurisdictions from planning for the far more important and
numerous other opportunities emerging as Congress and the White House put the finishing touches on current and new programs and projects to fund applied science and health research programs. Both the science community and commercial real estate (CRE) industry should take notice.

Biden’s Biotech Moonshot Has The Money. Now Cities Want It In Their Backyard

Cities and states jockeying for position in the race for biotech dollars and talent have their sights set on a whale that comes along once in a generation.

When President Joe Biden announced last year that the federal government is launching a new outfit, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, dedicated to funding moonshot tech research, he kicked off a new, high-stakes battle among municipalities that are eager to land the headquarters of a federal agency dedicated to advancing and funding cutting-edge research.

Image: Creative Commons The new ARPA-H, an agency designed to fund moonshot health research, will fall under the umbrella of the National Institutes of Health.

AURP Announces Executive Team Realignment - Digital Journal

TUSCON, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / April 5, 2022 / AURP, the leading nonprofit representing research parks, innovation districts and regional technology clusters, today announced a realignment of its executive team to optimize AURP’s continued success and global development strategies.

Vickie Palmer, current Director of Operations, has been appointed AURP CEO. Palmer assumes this executive leadership role following her 15 years of experience significantly expanding AURP’s membership and sponsorship community, plus overseeing AURP’s roster of events and programs. During her time with AURP, Palmer has led the organization’s membership, event management and overall operations while working closely with the organization’s CEO, Board of Directors and membership community.

Don't Miss Out! Pitching To Get Attention Workshop

Join ETC and Squadra Ventures on May 18, 2022 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm at Monument City Brewing for the second Open Mic Pitch Night! This is an opportunity for the Baltimore community to embrace new technology and foster connections. This is where entrepreneurs can practice pitching their startup or idea to an audience and receive feedback from a group of like-minded peers, investors, and tech leaders in a safe space.

Pitches will be casual - no presentations - simply get up on stage and spend 2 minutes telling the audience about your company or idea. During the networking hour, audience members will have the opportunity to ask companies questions.

To apply to pitch; please fill out this form by Tuesday, May 17th, 2022 at 11:59 PM. After completing the form you will receive an email with instructions on what to expect, your pitch timeslot, and any other information you may need. If you have any questions, please contact Breonna Massey at bmassey@etcbaltimore.com.

Happy hour drinks and light appetizers will be provided.

Click here to register.

Join BLUE KNIGHT™ this June: Accelerating preparedness together

Did you hear? Our second BLUE KNIGHT™ Symposium will take place June 9, 2022, and we’re excited to present your first chance to register! Tune in virtually from wherever you are around the world for a day of live programming. This year’s theme, The Power of Partnering to Accelerate Preparedness, aims to answer the questions startups have around accelerating innovations and earning a seat at the global preparedness table.

We echo that theme in today’s exclusive Q&A with Dr. David Boucher of ASPR and Dr. Karen Martins of BARDA, on the power of collaboration to build global resiliency toward health security threats. These experts share advice for early-stage companies and explore their experiences partnering to move "faster and better". Read more here.