admin

DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) announced today that it was awarded a $36m one-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) for enterprise data integration and data management to support the NCATS Secure Scientific Platforms Environment.

Palantir’s Foundry software will be provided in various configurations to the NCATS Secure Scientific Platforms Environment, which supports several critical health missions through the integration, management, security, and analysis of any kind of scientific data, and provides controlled access to internal and external collaborators.

The Silver Spring company first filed in mid-September to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT and the first, longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, today announced that it has been recognized by the Center for Active Design (CfAD), the operator of Fitwel®, as the first-ever company to achieve a Fitwel Viral Response Certification with Distinction, the highest certification level within the Fitwel Viral Response module. Alexandria’s comprehensive and industry-leading COVID-19 prevention guidelines and practices, which expand upon its existing rigorous health and safety standards for its tenants, employees, visitors, service providers and key industry stakeholders, contributed to this highly impactful and tremendous accomplishment.

BALTIMORE — Johns Hopkins University is getting a $1.44 million federal grant to study potential COVID-19 testing gaps and disparities for transgender persons.

The grant is from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The COVID, transgender research funding was announced by U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes and Kweisi Mfume. They are all Maryland Democrats.

Baltimore, Md. (Sept. 30, 2020)—The Maryland Momentum Fund has invested $300,000 in Rockville-based N5 Sensors Inc., a company developing smart, microscale, wearable sensors to detect gas, chemicals and additional environmental conditions for a variety of applications, fund officials announced today.

The investment completes a financing round of more than $1 million for the company and includes funding from Blu Venture Investors.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) announces six awardees chosen in its annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition to share in $250,000 in grants funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support the advancement of pediatric medical devices. The competition, powered by NCC-PDI partner MedTech Innovator, focused on cardiovascular, NICU, and orthopaedic and spine devices, which are areas of critical need where innovation can significantly improve children’s healthcare. The virtual event aired today as part of the 8th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium presented by Children’s National Hospital in conjunction with The MedTech Conference, powered by AdvaMed.

Whether it’s “Mom and Pop” retail storefronts, family-run services companies or life science companies developing innovative, life saving products, family owned-and-operated businesses are the lifeblood of the global economy.

According to Cornell University’s SC Johnson School of Business, “There are 5.5 million family businesses in the US. (FEUSA, 2011) Family-owned businesses contribute 57% of the U.S. GDP (that’s $8.3 trillion), employ 63% of the workforce (FEUSA, 2011), and are responsible for 78% of all new job creation. (Astrachan & Shanker, 2003) 35% of Fortune 500 companies are family-controlled. (Businessweek.com, 2006).” 

One of Kansas City’s most under the radar startups is scaling up amid COVID-19 — thanks in part to a share of $250 thousand in non-dilutive funding from a Los Angeles-based accelerator and FDA sponsored pediatric device consortia.

“When COVID hit, one of the things I took from that was, ‘When you’re not selling, your process better be impeccable,’” said Chris Mathia, CEO of Innara Health, the healthtech startup behind the NTrainer — the only FDA approved solution for improving oral coordination in premature babies. 

Image: Chris Mathia, Innara Health

The state of Maryland is the global epicenter of vaccine research and development. This has never been more evident than right now as scores of Maryland companies have risen to the global challenge of developing the first approved vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. 

We’ve written extensively about the region’s push to develop a viable, effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine. Companies like Novavax, Emergent BioSolutions and Altimmune are on the leading edge with some of the most promising COVID-19 Vaccine candidates progressing through clinicals.  While Maryland as a global vaccine R&D juggernaut might be news to those outside of the region, Maryland’s life science ecosystem has been a leading vaccine R&D hub for years. 

Image: https://biobuzz-io.cdn.ampproject.org

The vaccine-related activity is creating more demand for lab space in an already tight market, further reducing vacancy rates and driving up rents. This dynamic is leading developers to consider breaking ground on spec and converting vacant office buildings to lab space, multiple experts said Thursday on Bisnow’s Life Science Surge webinar.

Image: Courtesy of HFF The GSK Global Vaccine Center in Rockville