Inovio Pharmaceuticals has begun collaboration and sold the exclusive rights to an HPV types 16 and 18 vaccine to MedImmune, the biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, for $700 million, according to a press release.
“[The] collaboration with Inovio leverages our deep internal expertise in the use of vaccines to drive antigen-specific, T-cell responses,” David Berman, MD, PhD, senior vice president and head of MedImmune’s oncology medicine development unit, said in the release.
The Maryland region is one of the richest sources of health care knowledge and research innovation in the world. Here you can find more than 800 life sciences companies, 70 federal labs, regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and elite academic, medical and research institutions. Most of these resources are unique to our area and cannot be replicated anywhere else in the U.S.
It turns out that bacteria could hold a key to transforming how doctors treat disease — at least that’s what Editas, a privately held company that just raised $120 million from investors including Bill Gates, seems to think.
First, a bit of background Editas was founded in 2013 through $43 million in venture funding from the likes of Flagship Ventures and Polaris Partners and the company is researching a fascinating gene-editing technique based on the immune system of bacteria.
Biotech MacroGenics Inc. is growing its footprint, recently leasing 122,000 square feet of wet lab space in the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which focuses on antibody-based therapies for cancer treatment and other diseases, will use the space for its commercial manufacturing of early clinical stage molecules, CEO Scott Koenig said.
Entrepreneurs who want to pitch their business plan to Steve Case when his Rise of the Rest venture tour comes to Baltimore next month should start preparing now. A pitch competition with a $100,000 prize will be a highlight of the tour’s Sept. 28 stop in Baltimore. The contest starts before entrepreneurs hit the stage — in other cities more than 100 entrepreneurs have applied to the contest. Eight are selected to pitch their business to Case and a panel of local judges.
BioMark Diagnostics Inc. (“BioMark” or the “Company”) (CSE:BUX) (FSE:20B), a leader in next-generation diagnostics using metabolites, announces its strategy to expand operations into the U.S. with headquarters in Maryland’s world-class biotechnology center. “Expansion of operations into the U.S. market is a critical step in our growth plan,” said Rashid Ahmed, BioMark’s President and CEO. “This move will support our ability to build upon our leadership position in developing highly sensitive diagnostics that can detect cancer at its very early stages using our proprietary metabolite approach. We are making significant progress in strengthening the clinical validation for our metabolite approach and we are looking to build on the BioMark brand in the U.S. market.”
Aeras announced today a new leadership structure for the nonprofit biotech organization with Jacqueline E. Shea, Ph.D., the current Chief Operating Officer (COO), assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective August 12. Thomas G. Evans, M.D., will step down as CEO to become Acting Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Ann M. Ginsberg, M.D., Ph.D., will continue as Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Evans will serve as Acting CSO while Aeras considers how it wishes to fill the position permanently. “I am extremely happy that Dr. Shea will be leading Aeras as we continue our important work of tuberculosis (TB) vaccine development,” said Dr. Evans. “She is an outstanding choice and I am tremendously pleased to know that Aeras leadership will be in her capable hands. This is the right time for me and the organization to make this change, after five years with Aeras first as CSO, then CEO. As Acting CSO, I will be able to focus on the work I most enjoy. There is much unfinished work for me to do in the science arena, and I am looking forward to having the time to concentrate on a number of exciting TB projects.”
Every year, around 8,000 people die waiting for an organ transplant. There just doesn’t seem to be enough human organs available for those who need them. Biotech company United Therapeutics has been investigating ways to grow pig organs to be used in humans, and in the four years its researchers have been working on it, the company has become the largest commercial backer of xenotransplantation (transplants between species) and has found some initial success.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. EBS, -1.75% today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has exercised options under contract 200-2012-52242 for the supply of Vaccinia Immune Globulin (VIGIV) into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. VIGIV is a therapeutic licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of complications due to smallpox vaccination. The contract options, valued at $44 million over two years, will require Emergent to collect plasma for future manufacturing in addition to current collection requirements, conduct manufacturing runs, and conduct additional activities in support of maintaining the FDA licensure of VIGIV.
Roche (ROG.VX) is buying U.S. diagnostics firm GeneWEAVE BioSciences for up to $425 million, expanding the Swiss group’s commitment to fighting so-called “superbugs” as the threat from drug-resistant microbes grows.
Roche said on Thursday it would pay shareholders in the privately held Californian company $190 million upfront and up to a further $235 million depending on the future success of its products.
