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 ROCKVILLE AND BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, September 30, 2014 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, announced today that venture capitalist, Tania Fernandez, Ph.D., has joined the BHI team as a strategic advisor. Dr. Fernandez will be a member of the management team for a new BioHealth Gap Fund, which will provide up to $50 million in seed and early-stage equity investments to therapeutics, medical device, diagnostics, and health IT companies in Maryland. Additional BioHealth Gap Fund management team members include Richard Bendis, Ram Aiyar, Todd Chappell, and Ken Malone, who each bring domain knowledge and industry access to the fund.
"Dr. Fernandez has ten years of experience as a venture capitalist in the life sciences/biotechnology industry. Her work in Silicon Valley, along with her research experience at the National Cancer Institute, makes her a tremendous asset to the BHI team," said Richard Bendis, BHI President & CEO. "Dr. Fernandez brings a West Coast investment perspective, and she will have an active role in helping to manage the BioHealth Gap Fund. She will also support our BHI Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and clients: helping our startups to grow and raise strategic funding."
Dr. Fernandez previously was a venture capitalist with Burrill & Company, a $1.5 billion fund with a portfolio of 103 companies in the biotechnology/life science industry. Dr. Fernandez has over sixteen years of industry experience with the ability to successfully identify and assess promising scientific technologies/products and business models for venture investments across the sectors of therapeutics, diagnostics, next-generation sequencing and healthcare delivery. She has led and managed investments through both operational and Board positions. Roche acquired her lead investment, Bioimagene, for $100 million within two years of investment. Dr. Fernandez plays an active role in training and mentoring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and provides strategic advisory services to companies that range from startups to revenue-driven companies.
BHI's BioHealth Gap Fund is anticipated to be a $50 million fund that will invest in disruptive companies throughout Central Maryland looking to close the gap between seed and early-stage financing. The fund will focus on therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and health IT companies, and provide seed and early-stage equity investments along with follow-on capital for growth to help companies exit successfully.
"It is an honor to have the opportunity to work with BHI and to help manage the new BioHealth Gap Fund," said Dr. Fernandez. "The potential to serve a pressing need in the current life sciences funding landscape in Maryland is tremendous, and I am delighted to be a part of it."
About BioHealth Innovation, Inc.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc., is a regional innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant bio-health innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
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 On September 10, 2014, Tasly Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Tasly) and BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which aims to advance their business partnership. The MOA also lists specific near- and long-term collaboration activities between the two parties.
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U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (both D-Md.) today announced that the Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded $14,957,899 in federal funding to fourteen Maryland community colleges as part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) initiative. The TAACCCT program allows community colleges and other institutions to expand their ability to provide quality education and job training programs in two years or less.
Of the nearly $15 million, Montgomery College received $5,371,743 to lead and fund the Cyber- Technology Pathways Across Maryland (CPAM) Consortium. CPAM is comprised of fourteen Maryland community colleges. It seeks to train and educate Trade Adjustment Assistance workers, veterans, the un- and –under employed and low skilled adults. The Consortium will work to connect participants with employers looking to fill thousands of unfilled job openings. CPAM focuses on bringing women and other underrepresented populations into the growing fields of cyber technology and cyber security.
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 Rich Bendis was interviewed on 99.1 WNEW Newstime about partnering with Roche and describing what it is that BioHealth Innovation does for Maryland.
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 This event is to gather interested small businesses seeking assistance from the Small Business Innovation Research grants program from the National Institutes of Health. This is a free event brought to you by BioHealth Innovation. Hear from the SBIR managers on current Institute funding priorities. Meet one-on-one with program managers regarding your current project. Learn of SBIR assistance provided by BioHealth Innovation.
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 Tuesday, October 07, 2014, 08:00am - 10:00am
At the forefront of innovation, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) unites 2,000 companies in the consumer technology industry and owns and produces the world's largest annual innovation tradeshow, the International CES®. Gary Shapiro, the president and CEO of CEA, knows innovation and is the go-to source to tell you what's cool in consumer electronics. Ask him what's in this year and he'll talk about Ultra HD 4K TV, 3-D robotics, and wireless health. He'll also mention that the biggest drivers of consumer electronics are products that didn't even exist a few years ago. Join Gary as he takes you on a spirited discussion about the importance of innovation in the U.S. economy, green technology, and keeping the American dream alive.
Get a look inside Shapiro's passion for innovation and see what it's like to be at the forefront of a multi-billion dollar industry.
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Tuesday, October 7, 2014 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Rockville, Maryland
In February 2013, The Sunshine Act was included as the Transparency Reports and Reporting of Physician Ownership or Investment Interests section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Sunshine Act requires manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologicals that participate in U.S. federal healthcare programs to report certain payments and items of value (typically $10 or more and totaling $100 annually or greater) given to physicians and teaching hospitals. Failure to stay in compliance may result in fines ranging from $10,000 to $1,000,000 annually. Whether you are a practicing physician or your startup has a medical device, drug, or related product, you are impacted by the ACA’s Physician Payments Sunshine Act. In July, CMS proposed removing the reporting exemption for any payments or transfers of value made to physicians who participate in accredited CME programs. We’ll talk with experts in compliance and policy who will share their experiences in implementing these new policies and how you can understand the implications of the law, dispute inaccuracies, and stay in compliance!
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Thursday October 9, 2014 9:00 AM – 3:15 PM
The DC I-Corps Fall 2014 Regional Cohort officially kicks off on October 9th at the Microsoft building in Chevy Chase, MD. Please register to join us for our Showcase lunch, in which successful teams from previous cohorts will present their businesses and discuss lessons learned from the I-Corps program.
Showcase agenda:
- Welcome and lunch
- Introduction of incoming Fall cohort teams
- Presentations by Accelerator teams
- Q&A
About DC I-Corps: DC I-Corps is a regional program designed to foster, grow and nurture an innovation ecosystem in the nation’s capital, the nearby states of Maryland and Virginia, and the mid-Atlantic region. The program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and jointly run by the University of Maryland College Park, George Washington University, Virginia Tech and Johns Hopkins University. The program provides real world, hands-on training on how to successfully incorporate innovations into successful products. The ultimate goal is to create a new venture or licensing opportunity for program participants.
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The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will receive a top national award for the year’s most outstanding intellectual property licensing deal, for technology transfer of a pioneering, low-cost meningitis vaccine launched in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2014 Deals of Distinction Award will be presented to the two federal agencies and their collaborators by the Licensing Executives Society at the society’s 50th annual meeting, Oct. 5-8 in San Francisco.
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Johns Hopkins University named Leslie Ford Weber director of campus, government and community affairs for Montgomery County in Rockville.
She succeeds Elaine Amir, who retired in September 2013.
Weber had been interim executive director of the campus since October and director of government and community affairs for Suburban Hospital in Bethesda since July 2011.
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Wednesday, October 1st, is the deadline to apply for the next round of BioMaryland Center biotechnology development awards. The BioMaryland Center is partnering this year with Maryland's Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and the Center for Medical Technology Policy (CMTP) to incorporate improved health care quality and cost reduction criteria in the selection process for the Center's annual Awards program.
A total of $1M will be awarded on a competitive basis to projects, $50,000-200,000 each, advancing technologies toward commercialization--with preference given to projects which improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.
BioMaryland, DHMH and CMTP will provide ongoing advice and support to the teams whose projects are selected for funding to address technical, scientific, regulatory and reimbursement issues that may be encountered during the development process.
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Nationally, young firms play a central role in the creation of new employment opportunities. High-tech companies are particularly important to job creation: over 9% of average annual net job creation from 1990-2011 is due to high-tech firms younger than 5 years old. All private firms younger than 5 years old created less than 6% of average annual net job creation.
Young, innovative companies have generated the majority of new jobs in Greater Baltimore over the past 5 years. This trend is consistent with similar metropolitan regions and the coun- try as a whole. New technologies, research, and ideas spawn new teams, divisions, and entire companies. Continuing to support and encour- age innovation is imperative to sustaining growth in the Greater Baltimore economy.
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Circulomics Inc has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop its Nanobind DNA and RNA isolation technology for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. This grant was made by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to create a novel method for extracting molecular information from archived tissues. FFPE sample archives contain a wealth of molecular biomarker information that can be compared to standard histological analysis and correlated to clinical outcomes. However, the DNA and RNA isolated from FFPE samples are often degraded due to damage from the FFPE preservation process as well as contaminated by residual formalin and paraffin wax.
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Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced the initiation of the pivotal non-clinical efficacy study to demonstrate that BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) manufactured at large scale in the company’s new modern facility, Building 55, is comparable to the BioThrax currently manufactured in its approved facility, Building 12. Data from this study will be used to support licensure of Building 55. BioThrax is the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of anthrax disease.
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ATCC increases focus on scientific reproducibility and leverages technological advances with new senior executive appointments
ATCC, the premier global biological materials resource and standards organization, is pleased to announce two important appointments to the senior leadership team. Barbie Bigelow has joined ATCC as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Technology and Dr. Maryellen de Mars also joins as the Senior Director for the Standards Resource Center. Both roles are new positions at ATCC.
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AstraZeneca announced today that its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, has received fast track designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational monoclonal antibody (mAb) MEDI3902 for the prevention of nosocomial pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa).
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) causes serious disease in hospitalised patients. The FDA’s Fast Track programme is a process designed to expedite the development and review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need.
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There are two prevailing perceptions about innovation and start-ups: first, they are all tech driven, and second, they originate from just a few regions — chief among them, Silicon Valley. I’ve seen firsthand that innovation can happen anywhere, and that it is accelerating in places that typically don’t grab headlines. And I have met hundreds of entrepreneurs living in cities in “flyover country” that are building great companies and creating jobs in a wide range of industries.
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A drug used to treat advanced breast cancer has had what appears to be unprecedented success in prolonging lives in a clinical trial, researchers reported on Sunday.
Patients who received the drug — Perjeta, from the Swiss drug maker Roche — had a median survival time nearly 16 months longer than those in the control group.
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Medimmune, the global biologics research and development arm of Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), has entered into a collaboration to establish a joint lab in Cambridge, UK, with Cancer Research Technology, the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK.
The new laboratory will be the first partnership of its kind of both organizations, and will focus on the discovery and development of biologic cancer treatments over an initial five-year period.
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Officials from local and state government as well as business and education attended a virtual ribbon cutting on Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the new $71 million Center for Communications and Information Technology at Maryland's Frostburg State University.
“This is one of the most technologically advanced learning centers in the United States. Every inch of this building fosters learning,” said Jonathan Gibralter, FSU president.
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The Baltimore Business Journal has selected honorees for its first-ever Health Care Innovators awards.
These winners created new health care products and strategies that have made health care more accessible, efficient and effective. They will be featured in the Nov. 7 issue of the Baltimore Business Journal and will be recognized at a breakfast at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve on Nov. 7. Farzad Mostashari, the former national coordinator for health IT for the federal health department, will be the keynote speaker at the event.
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The FLC is pleased to offer its latest on-demand, and FREE, e-learning course, "Introduction to CRADAs"! If you’re new to tech transfer and need to know more about one of its most important mechanisms, this introductory-level e-course is perfect for you.
Available free of charge and at your convenience, the course covers essential CRADA knowledge:
- CRADA function and purpose
- What CRADAs can accomplish
- When CRADAs are used.
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GSK and venture capitalists Avalon have launched two early-stage R&D biotechs in San Diego, California.
Silarus Therapeutics and Thyritope Biosciences will each receive $10m (€8m) in a Series A financing round to investigate the hormone behind anaemia, and anautoimmune disease.
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With so much venture capital being foisted onto the digital health space, it’s beginning to beg the question: how long will this last, can it sustain itself, and what’s an entrepreneur to do? And, what are the implications for emerging companies versus traditional healthcare companies and systems?
Those were just a few of the burning questions discussed at Health 2.0‘s Pre, Post, M&A IPO panel held in Santa Clara.
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American University’s Kogod School of Business on Friday plans to show off its new on-campus start-up incubator, the latest in a string of co-working spaces to pop up in and around the nation’s capital.
The incubator, one of the key components of the school’s recently announced Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative, aims to provide current students and recent graduates with work space and pair them with a business mentor to help get their fledgling ventures off the ground. In addition, each business team will received a $1,500 grant to cover some initial start-up costs, such as the legal work necessary to incorporate a company.
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New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm that has backed the likes of Groupon and Salesforce, is now investing in a biotechnology company developing a treatment for cancer.
The venture firm, which has a significant health care business, has led a $104 million financing round in Adaptimmune Limited, the company announced on Wednesday evening. The round, at the Series A stage, is believed to be among the largest for a biotechnology company at this early point of its development.
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The Atlantic Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics Summit is a first-of-its-kind event to showcase Maryland's global leadership as an epicenter of vaccine innovation, development and commercialization. The Tech Council of Maryland is presenting this conference to bring together the industry's foremost researchers and business leaders for the purpose of educating, sharing, and collaborating on important issues affecting the new generation of vaccines.
The Summit's agenda will focus on a spectrum of topics including global R&D; government priorities and challenges; regulatory processes and policies; university and academic development; models for regional synergy; and vaccine market impact. We invite you to join us for this two-day event on May 7-8, 2015 at the Bethesda North Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Winners of the second annual Baltimore Innovation Awards included a civic hacker and a youth outreach organization.
The awards, a centerpiece of Baltimore Innovation Week’s Innovation Celebration, held Friday outside Under Armour headquarters in Tide Point, were announced in a brief presentation by Christopher Wink, editorial director and cofounder of Technical.l
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The success of Alibaba's blockbuster initial public offering in the U.S. has catapulted founder Jack Ma into the limelight and given him the status of China's richest man.
The making of Alibaba began in 1999 when e-commerce was unheard of in China. Recalling the days when he started the venture with 17 friends in his flat in the South-eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Ma once said: "I called myself a blind man riding on the back of blind tigers." 15 years later, the firm is the dominant player in China's e-commerce space. Between its two main online marketplaces Taobao and TMall, Alibaba accounts for nearly 80 percent of the mainland's e-retail transactions.
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Tanisha Robinson is on tech startup No. 4 or so, with two running simultaneously at the moment, and aiming to make the latest a billion-dollar business. Here’s her best test to find if someone has what it takes to become an entrepreneur:
“If I were to take your wallet and your phone and your keys, and say you have to survive on your wits for a week,” she said.
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Being an entrepreneur can mean a demanding, unpredictable schedule; spreading oneself way too thin; and trying to pull off tremendous, seemingly impossible feats. This sometimes leads to burnout, and even if we don’t want to admit it, unhappiness. Matthew Toren penned a piece for Entrepreneur about habits of healthy, happy, and wise entrepreneurs. One of the best practices that leads to happiness? Setting and enforcing boundaries. Sounds obvious, but definitely easier said than done when you’re trying to please everyone from employees to spouses. Toren recommends:
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In the 24 years since the founding of the Georgia Research Alliance, federally-funded research and development grants to Georgia’s universities has increased five-fold.
The state’s total share of federal research funding increased to nearly 3 percent, ranking 12th and one of only five of the top 16 states that is increasing its market share.
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The Texas Medical Center has more square footage, more doctors and more hospitals than any other medical center in the country. However, that has not translated into product commercialization necessarily.
Its new accelerator may be the catalyst that changes that, experts say.
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