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BHI Appoints Shady Grove Adventist Hospital President John A. Sackett to Board of Directors
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, April 21, 2014 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today the appointment of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital President John A. Sackett to its Board of Directors. Mr. Sackett is filling a vacancy on the BHI board left by William G. “Bill” Robertson, who recently announced that he was leaving his post as President and Chief Executive Officer of Adventist HealthCare for a position in Washington state.
“The addition of John to the BHI Board of Directors affords us with another strong healthcare leader who provides a perspective from the health system side of the business,” said Rich Bendis, President & CEO, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. “His decades of experience as a healthcare administrator will be an asset to BHI as we work with startups who are seeking to commercialize biohealth products and gain acceptance within the healthcare system.“
In April of 2013, Mr. Sackett became President of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. He began his career at Boulder Memorial Hospital in 1982. He served as Vice President for General Services from March 1984 until being named President of Avista Adventist Hospital, formerly Boulder Memorial Hospital, in June of 1989. In 1996, when Avista Adventist Hospital became a member of Centura Health, he was named Senior Vice President for Mission and Ministry, in addition to his responsibilities as Administrator for Avista. He most recently served Centura as the Chief Executive Officer for Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colorado.
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The Montgomery County Department of Economic Development is looking for a senior level professional to formulate and implement the County's economic development strategy related to the growth of the life sciences and health IT industry sectors and to provide policy advice on technology issues in these strategic sectors. The position will foster partnerships and manage projects designed to attract new companies to the County, to enhance the presence of companies in these sectors within the County and to foster a pipeline of new companies in these sectors.
This position will evaluate and make recommendations on the technology policy issues relevant to Montgomery County, and implement creative programs that will expand the County's technological presence in the global marketplace. This position affects the County's economic well-being through the number of additional jobs created, number of companies established, capital raised, and commercial space occupied through new company attraction, retention and growth of existing companies, and a pipeline of startups. The candidate will work collaboratively with DED teammates to build the capabilities and competencies of the Department.
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Qiagen NV, the Dutch diagnostics technology company that bought Gaithersburg-based Digene for $1.6 billion in 2007, is preparing to clear out of Digene's old offices and move staff to an expanded Germantown headquarters.
The move has been in the works for years, but Qiagen can finally push forward following recent FDA clearance of its 270,000-square-foot Germantown site for manufacturing the company's human papillomavirus (HPV) test. That HPV test, developed by Digene, was the impetus for the 2007 acquisition.
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Two Big Pharma companies with strong ties to the Philadelphia region are the subject of the latest mega-merger rumor in the drug manufacturing industry.
Pfizer Inc. has expressed an interest in acquiring AstraZeneca for $101 billion, according to a report in London's Sunday Times. The two companies declined commenting on the report.
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Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) of anthrax disease resulting from suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthracis. Orphan status is given to drugs and biologics that are being developed to treat rare medical conditions, specifically those affecting fewer than 200,000 persons in the U.S. This designation provides incentives to the BioThrax PEP Program, including the waiver of the Biologics License Application (BLA) supplemental regulatory filing fee and marketing exclusivity of up to seven years.
“Emergent is pleased with FDA’s Orphan Drug Designation of BioThrax for post-exposure prophylaxis,” said Adam Havey, executive vice president and president, biodefense division at Emergent BioSolutions. “This designation will help streamline discussions around regulatory requirements at our pre-BLA meeting with FDA next month. We look forward to discussing our supplemental application for the expanded indication of post-exposure prophylaxis and the role of BioThrax in the treatment of inhalation anthrax.”
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The rise of corporate venture capital investors, whether at the seed-stage, in the largest financings or into the billion-dollar valuation club, has been reshaping the VC ecosystem as of late. And while some VCs including Fred Wilson have been critical of corporate venture units, others have syndicated dozens of deals with corporate venture arms in just the past few years alone.
Using CB Insights data, we took a look at which VC firms have co-invested in the highest number of deals with a corporate venture unit since 2008 and how their CVC-syndicated deals added up as a percentage of their overall deal activity.
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Horizon Pharma, Inc. today announced the appointment of H. Thomas Watkins, former director, president and chief executive officer of Human Genome Sciences, to its board of directors. Additionally, Jean-Francois Formela, M.D. has resigned from the Horizon board of directors.
"Tom brings valuable industry experience to our board as a highly regarded biotechnology leader," said Timothy P. Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Horizon Pharma. "As we continue to grow our commercial business and build our organization through in-licensing and acquisitions, his strategic insights and pharmaceutical leadership experience will be important at this critical juncture for Horizon. Also, I would like to thank Jean-Francois for his years of service and counsel as a member of our board. Jean-Francois joined the Horizon board in 2010 in connection with our acquisition of Nitec and has been a valuable member of the board in helping us develop and implement the strategic direction of the Company."
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The Executive Director supports the Senior Advisor for Enterprise Development to the University President in directing and managing the short and long term critical priorities, initiatives and activities that relate to current entrepreneurship, commercialization, innovation, and translational efforts at Johns Hopkins University. The Executive Director represents the Senior Advisor to the President and ensures effective communication, coordination, and integration across various initiatives and programs where appropriate.
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Qiagen has acquired an exclusive worldwide license to a promising biomarker that could aid the diagnosis of a group of blood disorders.
The biomarker calreticulin (CALR) has been found to present mutations in an estimated 15 percent of cases of myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of blood disorders involving overproduction of blood cells that can cause severe complications.
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Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced successful completion of the last licensure-enabling study in its BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) program. This clinical study, also known as the non-interference study, was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of the antimicrobial ciprofloxacin when administered prior to and following the administration of a three-dose series of BioThrax. It was also designed to evaluate the immune response to BioThrax when administered with or without ciprofloxacin. The primary endpoints were the ratio of the maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the curve (AUC) for ciprofloxacin and the secondary endpoint was the ratio of the geometric mean titer of the antibody response to BioThrax two weeks following the last dose. The study met the prospectively defined success criteria for both the primary and secondary endpoints. Data from this study show no interaction between ciprofloxacin and BioThrax.
Emergent has submitted the final clinical study report to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Results from this study will be used to support a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) seeking licensure of a PEP indication for BioThrax to be used in combination with antibiotics in people with suspected or confirmed exposure to anthrax spores. BioThrax is currently licensed for a pre-exposure prophylaxis indication only.
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The University of Maryland announced today that the 2014 University of Maryland Corporate Connector of the Year Award recipient will be Dr. Michael Pecht and the UMD Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE). The UMD Corporate Connect Council annually recognizes a University of Maryland researcher, staff or unit that has achieved significant engagement with the private sector in corporate research, philanthropy, or student support.
Pecht will receive his award as part of the University’s Celebration of Innovation and Partnerships on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at University House in College Park, Maryland. Pecht’s engagement with the private sector has played a large role in making UMD CALCE, headquartered at the College Park campus, the world’s largest manufacturing consortium in electronic parts reliability engineering, accelerated testing, and supply chain management. Over 150 corporations, federal labs, universities and leading international research centers are members.
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The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced today that nine finalists have been selected in the organization’s fourth annual ICE Awards. The awards program, which recognizes Innovation, Corporate Excellence and Entrepreneurship, will reward outstanding businesses and individuals from TEDCO’s diverse portfolio of more than 300 seed and early-stage companies. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 15 from 8:30 am – 11:30 am during the awards ceremony at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel in Columbia, Md.
“TEDCO’s portfolio companies encompass an incredibly diverse range of industries, technologies and innovations,” said Rob Rosenbaum, president and executive director of TEDCO. “We are pleased to announce this year’s ICE Awards finalists and congratulate them on their continued success in some of the fastest-growing and most competitive fields out there. Most importantly, we look forward to continuing to support leading Maryland innovators.”
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Now that the Maryland General Assembly has adjourned for the year, it is time to take a quick review of significant accomplishments. Amid the hotly-contested debate on honoring soft shell crabs, kudos to the legislature for passing two little-noticed initiatives to create jobs and spur local economic development by leveraging the state's huge academic, federal and private research sectors.
The first initiative, the "E-nnovate" bill, creates a $100 million matching fund to recruit the world's best scholars to Maryland in areas as diverse as cyber security, biotechnology, STEM education, autonomous systems, language science and food safety. The fund will require these scholars to work with other Maryland universities, federal labs or with innovative startup companies, ensuring integration of research into economic development.
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The University of Maryland, College Park, has announced a new master's degree program that will focus on technology entrepreneurship — and, appropriately, it will be offered online.
The program will be part of the university's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), and enrollees will have access to the institute's Technology Advancement and Venture Accelerator programs in addition to their online curriculum.
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If you have been around UMBC at all in the past few years and involved with the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, you have heard about or met Greg Cangialosi. Some were even lucky enough to take the Digital Marketing class taught by him last Spring (2013).
Cangialosi is also the benefactor and namesake of the Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition getting ready to make it's debut in a just a few weeks.
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Three Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers have been awarded two-year grants for their work on potential treatments for diabetes, Novo Nordisk announced this month. Of the 110 initial submissions to the new Novo Nordisk Diabetes and Obesity Biologics Science Forum Program, only four projects were funded, three of which are led by Johns Hopkins researchers. They are Jonathan Powell, M.D., Ph.D.; G. William Wong, Ph.D.; and Elias Zambidis, M.D., Ph.D.
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For as long as I can remember I have been preparing for college.
And not because I wanted to, but because I was “encouraged” (nagged) by my parents. It started in middle school. I had to get good grades so I could get into a good program at my high school, where I had to get good grades so I could get into a good college.
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Howard County's Economic Development Authority on Thursday unveiled its newest workspace, a prototyping lab devoted to 3D printing and rapid technology.
The Innovation + Prototyping Lab, located at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship's Columbia headquarters on Bendix Road, is an 1800-square-foot space stocked with four 3D printers, computers offering software tutorials and shelves of printed parts.
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Disease Diagnostic Group, maker of an inexpensive handheld device that can diagnose malaria in one minute, was named the winner of the 2014 Cupid’s Cup Business Competition, chaired by Under Armour Founder and CEO Kevin Plank. The ninth annual event was April 4 at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus, hosted by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. In a last-minute twist to the competition, Disease Diagnostic Group's founder, an engineering student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accepted Plank’s offer of an additional $25,000 in exchange for equity, bringing the company’s grand prize winnings to $100,000.
The equity will be held by Plank’s Cupid Foundation, which funds the annual competition. Plank, a graduate of the University of Maryland, started the competition with the Dingman Center to foster interest in student entrepreneurship. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate-level students at accredited U.S. colleges and universities, and recent graduates of these institutions.
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The exuberance of last year's record D.C. region venture totals waned somewhat in the first three months of 2014, with 43 companies raising a collective $217.5 million, according to the MoneyTree report released Friday by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.
The total represents an 18 percent drop compared with the same period last year, and a 31 percent fall from the fourth quarter of 2013.
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Funding and Research Opportunities
The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:
Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.
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In the winter of 1996, as part of my new position as president of the Baltimore Development Corp., I searched for evidence of the city’s technology scene.
There wasn’t much to see.
I first visited the BDC’s “incubator,” housed in an old — but not historic — building at 1444 Key Highway in South Baltimore. It was the only incubator in the region. As I met with the staff, I observed that several buckets had been strategically placed to catch water leaks (a seemingly insurmountable problem, as I was told).
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Sarah Bergbreiter is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, and she and her team build tiny robots.
Just how tiny? Bergbreiter calls it “ant-scale,” but said, “That’s really just a PR term. Our robots are built on the millimetre scale, less than 1 centimeter.”
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For nearly a year and a half, there has been word that Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) — the Massachusetts-based coworking space and business incubator for early-stage startups — would expand and open an office in Baltimore.
As Technical.ly Baltimore reported in July 2013, current plans for CIC Baltimore situates the incubator at 873 W. Baltimore St. near the University of Maryland BioPark. At the time real estate consulting firm Cross Street Partners told Technical.ly Baltimore that the Baltimore-based innovation center — a development project of Wexford company — would be roughly 44,000 square feet when construction is completed in late 2014.
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MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum, to take place April 22-23 in Chicago, unites active investors with corporate business development executives to facilitate investment opportunities with promising Mid-America based startups.
The event showcases emerging innovation and technology dealflow originating in the Midwest, and has earned the reputation as the premier healthcare investing conference.
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Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE STEM) funds research projects that identify factors that are effacacious in the formation of ethical STEM researchers in all the fields of science and engineering that NSF supports. CCE STEM solicits proposals for research that explores the following: ‘What constitutes ethical STEM research and practice? Which cultural and institutional contexts promote ethical STEM research and practice and why?' Factors one might consider include: honor codes, professional ethics codes and licensing requirements, an ethic of service and/or service learning, life-long learning requirements, curricula or memberships in organizations (e.g. Engineers without Borders) that stress social responsibility and humanitarian goals, institutions that serve under-represented groups, institutions where academic and research integrity are cultivated at multiple levels, institutions that cultivate ethics across the curriculum, or programs that promote group work, or do not grade. Do certain labs have a ‘culture of academic integrity'? What practices contribute to the establishment and maintenance of ethical cultures and how can these practices be transferred, extended to, and integrated into other research and learning settings?
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When Kathleen Sebelius took the helm of one of the largest civilian departments in the federal government, the first thorny issue on her desk was responding to the H1N1 flu virus, a new pandemic flu strain that seemed to target otherwise healthy young people. After less than week on the job her first public speech focused on how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration, was responding to the public health emergency. She released millions of antiviral drugs from the national stockpile and warned against fake flu cures while calling for continual investment into research to stay ahead of future flu outbreaks. Talks about women’s and children’s health, obesity and AIDS soon followed.
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On Friday, March 28th, a contingent of Johns Hopkins University Department of Biomedical Engineering (JHU BME) undergraduate students and faculty visited the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Md. to participate in the second annual JHU–UMD Undergraduate Research Day with undergraduates from the University of Maryland’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering (UMD BioE).
This event is organized by the two universities’ student Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) chapters — under the leadership of chapter presidents Anvesh Annadanam (JHU BME), and Luke Peterken (UMD BioE).
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As early as February, analysts were saying that it would be a good year for healthcare IT companies looking for venture capital.
Communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital echoed that today with results from its first-quarter investment analysis which found that healthcare IT companies raised more VC money last quarter than in any quarter before.
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Governor Deval Patrick announced Thursday a plan to keep highly-skilled international students in Massachusetts post-graduation. Under his proposed Global Entrepreneur in Residence program, however, the "highly-skilled" appear to have one trait in common: technical talent. And now is not the time to be focusing solely on science, technology, engineering and math.
Patrick's proposed legislation exploits a loophole in federal immigration law, and could bolster the number of H-1B visas the state is allotted. Students eligible for a nonimmigrant visa but unable to obtain it due to a federal cap will be designated an "entrepreneur in residence" if they have plans to start or grow a business locally.
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Healthbox, which helps medical startups grow through accelerators in the U.S. and U.K., is expanding its business through a $7 million fundraising.
Healthbox CEO Nina Nashif Healthbox Healthbox and groups like Rock Health and Blueprint Health help entrepreneurs launch businesses in hot markets like health information technology and digital health. Medical software and information services startups raised $297 million in the first quarter, a 130% jump from Q1 of 2013, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
Funding in the wider category of digital health topped $1.9 billion last year, up 39% from 2012, according to Rock Health.
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Today Healthbox announces it has closed $7 million in funding to expand on its accelerator model and launch three new business verticals that will continue to drive actionable innovation through collaboration between entrepreneurs and the healthcare industry.
This is a bold vision for a healthcare accelerator. Healthbox closed the $7 million from a collaborative group of leading healthcare organizations to form Healthbox Global Partners, LLC, representing the common need to find and implement transformative solutions that will improve health outcomes.
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Join us as we bring together the major players in Maryland’s startup ecosystem to celebrate entrepreneurism and award nearly $1,000,000 in prizes to the state’s most promising early-stage companies.
Who will win the Cyber, Life Sciences, IT and General Industry Categories? Join us May 19th to find out!
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The most fundamental way for a nation to build its strength in innovation is to invest in its research universities because this investment brings forth new knowledge and human capital – two key aspects that help accelerate innovation, according to Dr. L Rafael Reif, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
“New knowledge is the foundation of all truly important innovation while human capital helps in transforming knowledge into new technologies, solutions, companies and jobs,” explained Dr. Reif, who was delivering a talk titled, ‘Science, Technology and Education: Research Universities as Engines of a Modern Economy’ at Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. A large number of staff and faculty members with students and other stakeholders attended the event that was organized as part of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology’s Distinguished Lecture Series program.
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