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GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Vaxart, Inc. (Nasdaq: VXRT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, whereby Emergent has agreed to utilize its molecule-to-market contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services to develop and manufacture Vaxart’s experimental oral vaccine candidate for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Development services will begin immediately, and upon Vaxart’s election, Emergent agrees to produce clinical material expected to enable Vaxart to initiate a Phase 1 clinical study anticipated early in the second half of 2020. Vaxart’s oral recombinant vaccine candidate is based on its proprietary VAAST™ platform.

GERMANTOWN, Md. — German company Qiagen is racing to assemble new COVID-19 test kits. Already approved for use in Europe, Qiagen’s new kits are now getting assembled in their North American headquarters in Germantown, Maryland.

Image: Qiagen’s North American headquarters in Germantown, Maryland Nathan Baca

MORRISTOWN, N.J., March 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — In an ongoing series of research conducted by KMK Consulting, Inc. covering Innovation & Customer Value, GSK was ranked as the top company delivering superior customer value and sales force engagement, as well as delivering therapeutic innovation in the asthma market according to pulmonary disease specialists. The research was conducted in February 2020, using KMK’s Rapid Pulse Survey platform. AstraZeneca, Genentech, and Novartis rounded out the top organizations driving innovation and customer value in this space.

Novavax and Emergent Biosolutions are not the only Maryland companies developing COVID-19 countermeasures. More than 15 local companies will meet virtually Friday to share their efforts.

Image: Maryland biotechs are coming together to build vaccines and diagnostic tests for COVID-19. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

A massive effort is under way to develop a UK vaccine for coronavirus within months and make it available to save lives before the end of the year, the Guardian has learned.

Researchers at Oxford University, led by Prof Sarah Gilbert, are planning a safety trial on humans of what is expected to be the UK’s first coronavirus vaccine next month. Provided that it goes smoothly, they will move directly into a larger trial to assess how effective the vaccine is at protecting against the infection.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A Maryland company said it’s ready to manufacture multiple potential coronavirus vaccines.

Emergent BioSolutions manufactures drugs like Narcan and was involved in the Ebola response. Now, the Baltimore manufacturing facility will be involved with two companies hoping to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

“Our people certainly feel that level of responsibility and they’re giving it their all,” Emergent’s senior vice president Syed Husain said.

Image: https://baltimore.cbslocal.com – From Video

Thirty innovators will compete on March 23, 2020 in a virtual showcase

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ —  Thirty semi-finalists have been named in the annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition presented by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Medical Devices (NCC-PDI).  The competition is adopting a virtual format for the March 23rd event to eliminate the need for travel or an in-person gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organized by nonprofit accelerator MedTech Innovator, contestants and judges will connect in online meeting rooms for the pitch presentations, which feature innovations in cardiovascular, orthopedic and spine, and NICU devices.

Hosting Online Event Leadership Summit, Thursday, March 19 @ 1 pm EST

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — VIVA Creative, a leading Metro DC live events producer and creative agency, is helping companies quickly move canceled events online. VIVA became a leading producer of online and virtual events post 9/11, and again during the global financial crisis. Today, the company brings expertise in audience engagement and communication in times of restricted travel.  As several brands and event organizers are canceling or postponing major meetings due to COVID-19, VIVA is offering immediate solutions. 

The biopharma industry spent $90 billion on R&D in 2016, a figure that represents about 20% of total sales. Despite this significant financial investment by the industry and splashy media headlines, how much, or little, is healthcare really digitizing?

During the 2020 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, a panel of senior executives, including Brent Saunders, chairman, president and CEO of Allergan, Tariq Shaukat, president of industry product and solutions for Google Cloud, and Sara Nayeem, MD, partner at New Enterprise Associates, joined me to share their perspectives and insights on how biopharma and medtech companies are driving digital health.