Wed, October 5, 2016, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Relevant Health Rockville, Maryland

Learn from the experts in the fields of Legal, Finance, Biotech, and Regulatory Affairs as to what to look out for and how best to avoid those pitfalls. Bring your personal stories to share with other SoPE members and connect with healthcare innovators and entrepreneurs with a passion for bringing new technologies to our patients.

Bethesda-based health technology company RightEye LLC has acquired exclusive rights to tests it says could help doctors diagnose autism and Parkinson’s disease earlier and more accurately than ever before.

Next Proposal Deadline October 14, 2016

BioFactura, Inc., an emerging Maryland biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing company, announced today entry into a non-exclusive license agreement with Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA), a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, relating to one of the biosimilar product candidates that Momenta is developing. As part of this non-exclusive license agreement, BioFactura is developing a cell line using its NS0-based StableFastTM Biomanufacturing Platform, a proprietary system to rapidly generate stable cell lines that have the potential to lower cost, produce follow-on biologics and are single-use technology compatible. The companies are actively working together to further optimize productivity. Momenta has the right to obtain an exclusive research and commercial license to StableFastTM for clinical development and commercial manufacture of the undisclosed biosimilar product candidate.

BrainScope Company Inc. scored a big win last week when it received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to market a new medical device that assesses traumatic brain injuries.

The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore is set to develop a plan focused on growing jobs in the region through innovation districts.

EAGB received a $233,500 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the effort. It will allow the organization to take inventory and map incubators and other areas of clustering that already exist in the city, as well as in Baltimore County. The roadmap would have several layers, bringing in demographics and other features.

Sanaria Inc. today announced it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track designation for its preventative vaccine for malaria, Sanaria® PfSPZ Vaccine. Sanaria believes its PfSPZ Vaccine is the only malaria vaccine to have ever received this distinction.

According to the FDA, “Fast Track is a process designed to facilitate the development, and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. The purpose is to get important new drugs to the patient earlier.” A drug (or vaccine) that receives Fast Track designation is eligible for Accelerated Approval and Priority Review,which can considerably speed the time to market.

A mobile health company with Johns Hopkins roots earned the $50,000 top prize Thursday at Beta City’s daylong startup showcase and pitch competition in Baltimore.

Tissue Analytics, founded by JHU biomedical engineering graduates Kevin Keenahan and Josh Budman, presented its mobile application designed to help doctors and nurses track wound healing. It was one of eight startups to present business plans, according to The Baltimore Sun.

AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development arm MedImmune has entered into a licensing agreement with Allergan for the global rights to MEDI2070, which is currently in a Phase IIb clinical trial for moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease and ready for Phase II for ulcerative colitis. Under the terms of the deal, Allergan will make an upfront payment to AstraZeneca of $250m for the exclusive, worldwide licence to develop and commercialise the drug.

Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 5:30 PM - Columbus Center 701 East Pratt Street Baltimore, MD

1st Pitch Life Science is coming to Baltimore for the first time. Hear what happens AFTER a start-up company presents to an investor group! Usually after a pitch, the investors have a closed-door discussion to decide whether the opportunity merits further investigation and possible investment. 1st Pitch Life Science (http://www.1stpitchlifescience.com) offers presenters and audience members the chance to hear what happens in those closed-door discussions, and to learn what really matters to investors.

Maryland lawmakers voted in March to unite the University of Maryland and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This legislation, which aims to increase the prestige of the university system, goes into effect today. The MPowering the State partnership between the two schools paves the way for new initiatives to bring more funding to the campuses and attract more businesses and services to each respective community.

Johns Hopkins University will relocate its original FastForward business incubator in April from the Stieff Silver building near the university's Homewood campus on Wyman Park Drive to nearby R. House at 301 W. 29th St. in Remington.

FastForward R. House will be smaller — about 9,000 square feet of office, meeting and lab space, compared to its 13,000-square-foot space at Stieff Silver — but gives Hopkins an opportunity to move its startups into a space designed with startups in mind.

Looking over a cross-section of members of the region’s tech community, real estate developer David Cordish, Gov. Larry Hogan and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake stood on a stage and spoke of the importance of startups and entrepreneurs for job creation.

Rawlings-Blake talked about how the new coworking space they were gathered to open, called Spark Baltimore, was a sign that “smart, young people from around the country are trying to move here.” After they flipped the switch on the ceremonial lightbulbs, Cordish, whose firm developed the space, raised both arms in celebration, as if celebrating a championship.

Universities are the secret weapon of national startup hubs like Silicon Valley and Boston. And over the last few years Baltimore has done its best to follow suit.

Consider spaces like Johns Hopkins’ FastForward incubator, the University of Maryland BioPark and IMET’s Harbor Launch incubator, and even accelerator programs like Dreamit Health Baltimore. These are all spaces where research takes the leap into commerce.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded five new grants to teach entrepreneurship and to support research and innovation at regional hubs across the United States under its Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program.

The innovation hubs, known as I-Corps nodes, provide the research infrastructure and training to help researchers transition fundamental science and engineering discoveries to the marketplace. They also support a number of I-Corps sites across the country and deliver a seven-week I-Corps curriculum to the I-Corps teams.

The 2017 FLC Awards is now open for nominations. One of the most coveted honors in the technology transfer field, the FLC Awards have been presented to over 200 federal laboratories since their inception in 1984. Many of our winning technology transfer efforts have gone on to become products and devices that are indispensable in our daily lives, including:

• Digital mammography to detect breast cancer (2002)
• Rechargeable lithium batteries (2004)
• Plug-and-play Ethernet adapter for high-speed downloads of files, music and videos (2005)
• Gardasil™ vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus (2007)
• Proton therapy system used to treat prostate cancer (2008)
• Robotics used to improve vehicle manufacturing and safety (2011)
• Apple trees developed to resist diseases and insect damage (2015)
• Truck side guards that help prevent collisions with pedestrians and cyclists (2016)

Last week researchers released the first results from the UK Biobank Imaging Study, a massive effort that ultimately aims to scan the brains of 100,000 people and use the data in conjunction with detailed health information to investigate disease progression during aging. The findings from their first 5,000 subjects offer an early peek at an enormous data set that includes a treasure trove of health information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and other measures. The study is one of several projects worldwide taking a population-level approach to better understand diseases, and is part of an ongoing movement in neuroscience toward global, collaborative brain research.

Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced $10 million in awards to 10 "Big Data Spokes" projects to initiate research on specific topics identified by the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs).

Project topics range from precision agriculture to personalized education. The data spokes reflect the unique priorities and capabilities of the four BD Hubs, which represent consortia from the Midwest, Northeast, South and West of the country.

As the child of a military physicist, Richard Lifton was forced to move around a lot, from Washington D.C., to Albuquerque, New Mexico to Ankara, Turkey. As an adult he settled in Connecticut, where he became a renowned geneticist at Yale University.

Now he’s on the move again, relocating to New York, where he faces perhaps his biggest challenge yet: serving as president of one of the city’s famed research institutions, Rockefeller University, and in so doing taking over for Marc Tessier-Lavigne, someone widely seen as igniting the city’s biotech scene.