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.

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.

Mere months after a major venture capital fundraise, Rockville-based biotech RegenxBio Inc. says it's ready to go public. UPCOMING EVENTS AUGUST 18, 2015 , 11:45AM Washington Business Journal: Lead Generation Seminar

In an initial regulatory filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it would trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol RGNX. It has yet to say how much it plans to raise and set either a price for the stock or date for the initial public offering. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (NYSE: MS), BofA Merrill Lynch, Piper Jaffray and Chardan Capital Markets LLC will manage the IPO.

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.

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.

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.

Gliknik Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that its licensee Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) has received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its autoimmune candidate drug GL-2045, a recombinant Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG)-mimetic, has been granted orphan drug designation for Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP). CIDP is a rare neurological disorder characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms.

TOPIC: "Innovating through the U.S. Economic Development Administration"

PRESENTER: Julie Lenzer Kirk, Director Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship U.S. Economic Development Administration

ABSTRACT: Housed within the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) works to foster a more innovative U.S. economy focused on turning new ideas and inventions into products and technologies that spur job growth and competitiveness while promoting economic development. Ms. Kirk will discuss OIE programs including: • Promoting and supporting high-growth entrepreneurship. • Accelerating commercialization of federally funded research. • Working with other agencies and the White House to collaborate on policies and programs to support entrepreneurship and commercialization. • Supporting the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), which is chaired by the Secretary of Commerce. • Leading the $15 million 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies Program competition.

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.”

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."

Scientists throughout are celebrating the scoop that the arena’s first vaccine towards malaria has been authorized by way of the .

The vaccine, named Mosquirix, used to be given the fairway gentle on Friday after , detailed in 230,000 pages of knowledge. It now signifies that the vaccine might be tested via the Global Well being Organisation and, if authorized, may well be administered to youngsters throughout Africa inside of the following few years.

WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. ("WuXi" or the "Company") (NYSE: WX), a leading open-access R&D capability and technology platform company serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries with operations in China and the United States, today announced that it has entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with New WuXi Life Science Limited ("Parent") and WuXi Merger Limited ("Merger Sub"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent.

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.

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.

Announcing the Buzz of BIO: Recognizing the most innovative companies at the 2015 BIO Investor Forum™

Are you an early-stage company looking for your next financing round, or a late-stage private company hoping to make the valuable connection needed to take your product to the next phase? Nominate your company to be the Buzz of BIO at this year's BIO Investor Forum.

Winners receive complimentary conference registration, a Company Presentation and promotion to industry leaders including a spotlight in BioCentury Extra.

You can now use 3D printing to create items using a wide range of filaments, and not just plastics. Metals, edibles, bio and construction materials are just some of the examples that are being developed for 3D printing.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Spritam, an epilepsy medication made using 3D printers.

Healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing remain the bread and butter of the private sector in Madison, WI, and the surrounding region, but healthcare IT has arguably become the area’s most buzz-worthy industry.

Today, Xconomy is adding to the conversation about healthtech’s ascent in the local economy. A new analysis of data gathered by the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) found that there are at least 43 healthtech companies in Dane County employing around 10,000 people. (The list may not be comprehensive, so e-mail us if we missed any companies.)

A new analysis of data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has found that most American adults have experienced some level of pain, from brief to more lasting pain, and from relatively minor to more severe pain. The analysis helps to unravel the complexities of a Nation in pain. It found that an estimated 25.3 million adults (11.2 percent) had pain every day for the preceding 3 months. Nearly 40 million adults (17.6 percent) experience severe levels of pain. Those with severe pain are also likely to have worse health status. The analysis was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and was published in The Journal of Pain.

IBM says that Watson, its artificial-intelligence technology, can use advanced computer vision to process huge volumes of medical images. Now Watson has its sights set on using this ability to help doctors diagnose diseases faster and more accurately.

Last week IBM announced it would buy Merge Healthcare for a billion dollars. If the deal is finalized, this would be the third health-care data company IBM has bought this year (see “Meet the Health-Care Company IBM Needed to Make Watson More Insightful”). Merge specializes in handling all kinds of medical images, and its service is used by more than 7,500 hospitals and clinics in the United States, as well as clinical research organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Shahram Ebadollahi, vice president of innovation and chief science officer for IBM’s Watson Health Group, says the acquisition is part of an effort to draw on many different data sources, including anonymized, text-based medical records, to help physicians make treatment decisions.