Whenever Baltimore-area companies sell themselves to out-of-state firms, economists and local leaders alike bemoan the loss. Another headquarters gone. Fewer corporate decision-makers here. Possible job cuts.
But Silicon Valley’s deals for two Columbia firms — the planned Micros Systems acquisition, announced last week, and Sourcefire last year — strike local entrepreneurs in an entirely different way.
Reston-based New Atlantic Ventures joined a handful of other venture investors in backing Truveris, a New York startup whose cloud-based platform helps drive down the cost to companies of providing prescription drug benefits.
NAV Fund, an existing investor, joined New Leaf Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners and First Round in Truveris’ $12.75 million Series C round, which was led by Canaan Partners.
Maryland has a new strategy for growing biotechnology business: Roll out the welcome mat for international companies.
International bio companies looking to break into the American market must first get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA regulates medical devices and drugs. The approval process can be complicated even for American companies that are somewhat familiar with the agency.
Niall O’Donnell fancies himself an archaeologist of the pharmaceutical persuasion. His firm, RiverVest Ventures, is scoping out the failed and forgotten drugs of big pharma, building companies to repurpose these benched meds for new indications.
The aim is to find drugs that have passed for safety in clinical trials, but may have shown limited efficacy in the initial disease they aimed to treat.
Today, Under Armour (NYSE:UA), the global leader in sports performance and innovation, announced plans for the 2014 Under Armour Future Show: The Connected Fitness Innovation Challenge, which asks innovators to submit concepts for the next generation of game-changing digital experiences, through apps and wearable technology, while utilizing the MapMyFitness software. Finalists will present their concepts to the Brand’s executive team in October, 2014 at Under Armour’s global headquarters in Baltimore, MD for a chance to win the Grand Prize of $50,000. Winners may then be eligible for an additional investment of up to $150,000. Innovators can now submit their ideas and innovations at idea.underarmour.com for consideration.
Entering its fourth year, Under Armour’s Future Show rewards the Brand’s innovation-inspired consumer base, incentivizing them to design new products that align with the Brand’s forward-thinking vision. The 2014 Future Show will identify the most creative minds in engineering and software development who can implement wearable, wireless and embedded apparel-based technology addressing one or more of the following needs: fitness assessment and training, readiness and recovery, sleep analysis or other novel usages that will help make athletes better.
After stepping up their R&D spending last year, biotechnology companies worldwide must deploy that capital to create more value from their research, EY concluded in this year’s 28th annual edition of its industry report, released Tuesday at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)’s 2014 International Convention in San Diego.
Beyond Borders: Unlocking Value focused on three strategies for creating more value—“Adaptive” clinical trials that allow biotechs to tweak their hypotheses and shift R&D spending based on clinical data; “Precision medicine” that identifies patient subgroups most likely to benefit from a new therapy; and cross-industry collaborations during precompetitive phases, spearheaded by big pharma.
Cyber entrepreneur Mike Binko is launching a second Innovation Sandbox to give exposure to small startup companies.
The program will connect health care, medical and life science organizations with small vendors that are interested in working with the health care sector, said Binko, CEO of cloud services provider Kloudtrack.
May 18 was a glorious Sunday in the Boston area. Tens of thousands of families and friends descended on one of the nation’s best-known education corridors to celebrate the class of 2014. My husband and I were among the happy crowds joined by my family from Shanghai for our son Andrew’s graduation from Tufts University.
We fully immersed ourselves in the joy of gathering, cheering, listening, reflecting and photo snapping—including some selfies. Our weekend of celebration culminated with Andrew’s commencement speech on behalf of the Sociology Department. In a mother’s unbiased opinion, his 5-minute speech was brilliant, perceptive, and entertaining, an affirmation of the value of his college education in shaping his outlook on self and the society. Surrounded by family, I cheered and laughed as I listened to him. It was a moment of pure joy and pride that no other accomplishments of my own could possibly match.
Scientific excellence is an integral part of any pharmaceutical company’s success. By paying attention to staff training and development at all levels, it is possible to embed vital life-long skills and behaviours into the scientists and professionals responsible for discovering and developing new medicines to treat patients.
MedImmune is the global biologics R&D arm of AstraZeneca and is committed to scientific innovation and medical progress. Our state-of-the-art facilities at Granta Park are home to over 550 members of the 2,500-strong global MedImmune team. To support its ambitions to help save lives and improve people’s health, MedImmune works hard to ensure that all employees, across all functions, are given the training they need to excel in their roles and work alongside their colleagues. MedImmune’s Cambridge site is therefore very pleased that it has recently been awarded Gold Standard Status for Training in Life Sciences by Cogent, the organisation responsible for skills in the life sciences sector and connected to government policies in this area.
