Genomenon Inc., a DNA interpretation software company launched from the University of Michigan in FY 2015, recently announced the completion of its extended seed financing of $1.8 million. The financing will fuel the completion and launch of Genomenon’s initial product, Mastermind, a novel analytic and visualization tool for DNA variant interpretation. Investors included two University of Michigan funds, as well as the Michigan Angel Fund and an angel group formed by Rehmann owners.
Nineteen. That’s the number of new drugs approved by the FDA thus far in 2016. With just over two weeks to go, there is little hope for a stellar year like 2015, which yielded 45 approvals.
What gives?
In their bid to host the 2024 Olympics, Washington business leaders plotted a transformation of the region into a more accessible, economically powerful and inclusive place, one that would glisten on the world athletic stage.
State boundaries matter for all sorts of reasons. The state you live in determined how much your vote counted in the 2016 election. It shapes what kind of benefits your employer might offer you, what taxes you pay, what kind of schools you can attend, and much more.
A group of 17 high-powered CEOs led by Russ Ramsey, Ted Leonsis and Peter Scher are forming a new organization aimed at spurring economic growth in the often disconnected region spanning from Baltimore to D.C. to Richmond.
The Greater Washington Partnership will focus on improving infrastructure, transit and workforce development and better branding what has become known as a “megaregion” or “super region” as a hub for business and innovation.
The Inova Health System today announced the official launch of Inova Strategic Investments (ISI), and the Inova Personalized Health Accelerator (IPHA). Hooks Johnston and Pete Jobse have been named managing directors. The fund is designed to raise the standard for affordable, high quality health care at Inova and in our region in an industry undergoing dramatic transformation.
Seeking Emerging International Business Leaders to Join the EDGE Program
We are now accepting applications for the next class of the Emerging and Developing Global Executives (EDGE) Program. The inaugural program was a great success (hear from the Bowe Fellows in their own words), and this year’s group is off to a great start.
Bowe Fellows are a diverse group of globally minded leaders from the Baltimore area who have had significant career trajectories, generally with 10+ years of business experience. They are currently in or transitioning to roles in international operations and possess future growth potential within their companies.
An update on the Cancer Moonshot Initiative and more at the 11th PMWC 2017 Silicon Valley with 250+ speakers and 50+ sessions
While its creation was only announced earlier this year, with Vice President Joe Biden at the helm instilling hope and calling for action, the Cancer Moonshot may shockingly be nearing its end, as we know it. Uncertainties overshadow the future of this initiative as the White House Cancer Task Force is expected to exist in its current configuration only until the end of the Obama Administration, January 20, 2017.
Inova Health System is launching a new venture capital arm, bringing on investment veterans Hooks Johnston and Pete Jobse to help expand the system’s reach into health innovation while earning financial returns. Officials plan to make a formal announcement later on Tuesday.
The NIH has awarded MIMETAS and the University of Pittsburgh a prestigious SBIR grant to develop a Liver-on-a-Chip platform for high throughput discovery and development. Accurate prediction of hepatotoxicity is a major problem in the development of new drugs leading to high development costs. Animal hepatotoxicity testing is expensive, unsuited to high throughput and overall has unreliable concordance with human hepatotoxicity. MIMETAS scientists have teamed up with the University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute led by D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D. to develop a liver-on-a-chip platform of unprecedented throughput, predictivity and usability. “We’re extremely happy to be working with Lans and his team on this project”, says Dr. Anthony Saleh of MIMETAS. “Prof. Taylor is a frontrunner in developing in vitro liver cultures and has vast experience with microfluidic techniques.” “We were extremely impressed when we learned about the MIMETAS OrganoPlate platform”, commented Prof. Taylor. “It enables High Throughput, 3D co-culture with a vascular and hepatic compartments, as well as ease of handling. There is really no equivalent in the Organ-on-a-Chip space”.
