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ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc., (“ITI”), a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the study of nucleic acid immunotherapy platforms and Ichor Medical Systems (“Ichor”), a privately held biotech company based in San Diego, CA, announced today that the companies have entered into a license agreement to support the development of ITI’s investigational plasmid DNA vaccine therapy, ITI-1001.

ITI will leverage Ichor’s TriGrid® Electroporation technology to increase cellular uptake of ITI-1001 when administered to patients with newly diagnosed Glioblastoma, or GBM. DNA vaccines delivered by conventional injection have experienced challenges to delivery efficiency, resulting in suboptimal immune responses in clinical trials. Ichor’s TriGrid technology utilizes the application of electrical fields in a target tissue to increase intracellular nucleic acid uptake in the local area, resulting in enhanced gene expression.

ROCKVILLE, Md., June 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Emmes today announced that it was selected as one of the best places to work in the greater Washington area. The Washington Post’s 2020 Top Workplaces list ranked private, public, nonprofit and government agencies based on the highest engagement ratings from their employees.

The Washington Post partnered with employee research and consulting firm Energage, LLC, to conduct the survey, and the highest ranked workplaces were chosen based on employee responses about their own company. There were 3,500 area companies invited to participate, and 406 were surveyed. This is the seventh year the survey has been conducted.

GlaxoSmithKline got its first taste of synthetically lethal cancer therapies via an acquisition. Now it’s trying for a bigger bite of this emerging drug class through a research alliance with Ideaya Biosciences that spans three of the biotech’s programs, all slated to reach clinical trials in the next three years.

Royalty Pharma, a business built on investing in other people’s medicines, raised $2.2 billion in a record IPO on Tuesday, and the early hours of trading boosted its valuation to more than $25 billion.

The company, founded in 1996, priced about 78 million shares at $28 each. Royalty Pharma opened trading at $44, an instant 57% increase, suggesting the company’s bankers left a fair amount of money on the table.

Developing and Manufacturing Novel RNAi drug Candidates Using Precision NanoSystems’ NxGen™ Platform

GAITHERSBURG, MD and VANCOUVER, BC, June 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – Sirnaomics Inc. (Sirnaomics) and Precision NanoSystems Inc. (PNI) jointly announced a partnership on the development and manufacture of Sirnaomics polypeptide nanoparticle-based RNAi therapeutic product. This strategic joint effort includes the execution of a NanoAssemblr® platform license and supply agreement, plus successful production of multiple batches of Sirnaomics drug product candidates, STP705 and STP707, for ongoing IND enabling safety and toxicity studies, as well as several clinical studies.

ROCKVILLE, Md. and FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., June 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NasdaqCM: REXN) and Ocuphire Pharma, Inc., a privately-held clinical-stage ophthalmic biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of eye disorders, today announced the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Ocuphire will merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rexahn in an all-stock transaction. Following closing, which is expected to occur in the second half of 2020, the combined company will change its name to Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. and is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “OCUP.” The combined company will focus on the advancement of its pipeline of ophthalmic drug candidates.

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) will invest $75M in its Canton, Massachusetts facility, focused on the development and manufacturing of drug substance for live viral vaccines and plans to expand into viral vector and gene therapy.

The investment will include a state-of-the-art, multi-suite operation up to 1000L scale.

Business is booming for Emergent BioSolutions as it has assisted in the country’s push to create COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. Emergent is developing two plasma-based treatments for COVID-19 and has partnered with four companies on vaccine candidates. It is additionally partnering with the Federal Government to develop and manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. As a result of this wave of new business, the company is hiring approximately 300 new employees in Baltimore and Rockville.

Emergent BioSolutions has unveiled plans to strengthen its contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) capabilities by expanding into viral vector and gene therapy. The company will invest $75 million in its Canton, MA facility, which is focused on the development and manufacturing of drug substance for live viral vaccines, including the company’s smallpox vaccine.

Lockheed Martin Ventures — the defense company’s technology startup investment arm — has backed two companies through separate avenues announced this week.

In a release Tuesday, quantum computing company IonQ said it grew its total fundraising amount to $84 million through a new Series B round that represents its second significant round of investments since the 2015 founding with $2 million in seed money.

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