Biohealth Innovation - 293rd Edition

BioHealth Innovation

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February 27, 2018

BioTech Forum: What Montgomery County Should be Doing to Foster a Healthy Environment for the Biotech Industry

New BioHealth event free to attend with excellent speakers and no registration required

Sponsored by Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal

Wednesday, February 28, 7-9pm at Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus

Moderator:

Richard A. Bendis, President and CEO BioHealth Innovation Inc.

Panelists:

Jarrod Borkat, Senior Director, External Partnerships & Collaborations, MedImmune

Dr. Chris Austin, Director National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), Nation Institutes of Health

Anthony Saleh, PhD, Founder & CEO, Mirecule

Win $10,000 at the 2018 BHCR Crab Trap

You thought the Shark Tank was tough…

wait until you enter the the BioHealth Capital Region Crab Trap!

Submit your application for the opportunity to be named the company with the most commercial potential at the 2018 BioHealth Regional Forum, $10,000, and MORE!

Application Deadline: March, 30th 2018

Finalists will be announced: April 9th, 2018

Finalist Presentations BioHealth Capital Region Forum Event: April 24th, 2018

Submit an Application »

Attn: BioHealth Industry Directors

April 23-24 | 1 MedImmune Way, Gaithersburg MD 20878

If you are director level or above, please register for 2018 BioHealth Capital Region Forum. This invitation-only event is free for executive level biohealth leaders and is presented by BioHealth Innovation, VirginiaBio, Inova, Children’s National Health System, QIAGEN, Maryland Tech Council, University System of Maryland and MedImmune/AstraZeneca. Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC set the bar high for biohealth innovation. So please join us for our Annual BioHealth Capital Region Forum that will highlight the accomplishments of today and chart our successes of tomorrow.

We are excited to bring you an exceptional line up of speakers. The program will feature sessions that focus on the Advancing Science and Accelerating Innovation.

Montgomery County Hazardous Use Permit Requirements and Registration Training

DATE AND TIME: Thu, March 8, 2018, 8:15 AM – 12:30 PM EST

LOCATION: Germantown Innovation Center, 20271 Goldenrod Lane, 2nd Floor, Germantown, MD 20876

Did you know you that, by law, you are required to file for and receive a Hazardous Use Permit* every year if you are storing, handling or using any hazardous substance in excess of 5 gallons or 50 pounds? Failure to do so could result in civil and criminal penalties.

Leveraging PostDoc Talent for Regional Industry Growth

150 post docs from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other institutes at NIH had the opportunity to meet BioHealth Capital Region industry leaders and discuss possible career paths in the private sector at two different events this month. The events, co-hosted by BioHealth Innovation, WorkSource Montgomery, SciPhd and BioBuzz, were held in conjunction with SciPhd workshops hosted at NIH’s main campus and at the NCI campus in Rockville which are focused on training scientists for professional careers. BioHealth Innovation is working with local partners to support the growth of the region’s biohealth industry talent pool with entrepreneurial and commercially relevant experience.

FluMist back on CDC's recommended list of flu vaccines - UPI.com

FluMist Quadrivalent has returned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended list of flu vaccines, drugmaker AstraZeneca announced.

2018 Industry Awards Celebration Finalists Announced

The Maryland Tech Council's Industry Awards Celebration will take place on May 17, 2018 at The Hotel at the University of Maryland. This is our 30th year recognizing the high achievers in the regional technology, life science and government contracting industries.

New Microgrants to Spark Johns Hopkins’ Student Innovators – JHTV

Johns Hopkins students have access to a new funding source designed to ignite innovative ideas that may one day develop into the next great company founded by a university student.

Novavax shares moving up again - Washington Business Journal

Shares of Gaithersburg-based Novavax Inc. have spiked again, jumping by 18 percent during Friday trading, as the company is increasingly considered a promising acquisition target.

An open letter to Amazon: The D.C. region is where innovation lives - The Washington Post

Our region has a vibrant innovation ecosystem that is one of the most important in the United States. Advanced technologies that drive the country’s economy are nurtured here and further developed and deployed by our highly talented workforce and entrepreneurs. People often don’t see the scale and depth of our innovation and entrepreneurship activity because they focus on the wrong metric.

Duo of Oncology Vaccine Pioneers at the National Cancer Institute to Receive 2018 Annual

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) announced today that the 2018 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research will be awarded to Douglas R. Lowy, M.D., and John T. Schiller, Ph.D., for development of vaccines for human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes 99% of cervical cancer cases. Collaborators for over 30 years at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Lowy and Schiller developed the first Food and Drug Administration approved vaccines specifically targeting cancer.

Press release - KeyGene's Directed Genomic Selection Strategies Patent Upheld by European Patent Office after Opposition - Keygene

Today, KeyGene announces that its European Patent EP 2813141 entitled ”Directed strategies for improving phenotypic traits”, was upheld after oral proceedings at the European Patent Office. The patent, granted August 5, 2015, is part of KeyGene’s accelerated molecular breeding estate and protects methods for improving phenotypic traits of interest in crops or animals.

How TEDCO and the Abell Foundation are quietly building Greater Baltimore’s startup ecosystem - Baltimore Business Journal

TEDCO and the Abell Foundation are the might and money behind local startups.

CosmosID Brings Biology into the 21st Century - GEN

“If an 1890s physicist time-travelled to a physics laboratory today, he would be totally flummoxed. But, if Louis Pasteur were transported to a microbiology laboratory just a few years ago, he very likely would have rolled up his sleeves and gone to work. That’s because, compared to physics labs, not much has changed regarding microbial systematics. Microbial systematics—the identification and characterization of microorganisms—simply had to be modernized,” says Rita Colwell, Ph.D., founder of CosmosID.

Stanford, MIT, Johns Hopkins University and Waterloo University eye Hong Kong as regional base for stem cell research | South China Morning Post

Four world-renowned universities are eyeing Hong Kong as a stronghold in Asia for developing cutting-edge stem cell research as the city’s financial chief is expected to announce incentives to make it easier for foreign research institutions to invest in innovation and technology locally, the Post has learned.

The Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices - A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland

The Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices is bringing together skilled scientists, medical doctors, health practitioners, and bioengineers who are working to research, design, and build biomedical devices to benefit humanity, while simultaneously training the next generation of innovators.

Innovation for Impact Prize - SoBran, Inc.

Tell us about the impact your research may make on the world. You could win a free pre-clinical research study valued up to $20,000 and $1,000 in cash, or additional cash prizes.

SoBran and the Maryland Tech Council are celebrating the transformational science coming out of the Maryland and surrounding area by establishing the Innovation for Impact Prize.

PitchMasters™ announces 2018 dates, seeks entrepreneurs for pitch presentations: Law Firm, Attorneys - Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia - Shulman Rogers

PitchMasters™, a recently launched event for entrepreneurs preparing to raise their first institutional or ‘A’ round of capital, has announced dates for 2018. The event series aims to bring together four early-stage or start-up companies and experienced entrepreneurs, investors and industry influencers to hone pitching skills, provide practical insights and guidance, and form new network connections. For 2018, PitchMasters seeks participants for its March 7, June 6, September 12 and December 6 events.

Biotech company celebrates move to new Frederick location -fredericknewspost.com

Margot Connor has global ambitions for her company, RoosterBio Inc. But she expects that it will stay connected to its Frederick roots.

GAO: Medicaid experiments aren't being properly evaluated to determine if they improve care, save money - MedCity News

With federal spending on Medicaid experiments soaring in recent years, a congressional watchdog said state and federal governments fail to adequately evaluate if the efforts improve care and save money.

Public universities band together on completion rates and achievement gaps

A group of 100 public universities will work with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities to produce hundreds of thousands of additional degrees while also reducing achievement gaps for underrepresented student groups.

10 Breakthrough Technologies 2018 - MIT Technology Review

Dueling neural networks. Artificial embryos. AI in the cloud. Welcome to our annual list of the 10 technology advances we think will shape the way we work and live now and for years to come.

Drinking Red Wine May Help Prevent Tooth Decay and Gum Disease - GEN

Prior research has found that drinking a glass of red wine a day may protect against cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders. The latest laboratory studies by researchers in Spain now suggest that the polyphenols in red wine could also protect against the bacteria that cause tooth cavities and gum disease.

The CEO of Merck on Race, Leadership, and High Drug Prices

Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of North America, discusses his upbringing and how it influences his leadership as chief executive. He is one of the few African-American CEOs in the Fortune 500, and shot to prominence after resigning from a council advising the Trump White House. Frazier discusses the importance of values in leadership and how Merck thinks about R&D and drug prices.

Startup Professionals Musings: 8 Smart Tips To Soliciting Friends And Family Funding

It’s great to start with a big dream as you contemplate a new business, but finding the money you need takes more than dreaming. As an advisor to young entrepreneurs, I find that many are a bit naïve about how the investment process really works. For example, I just read an otherwise impressive business plan last week from a first-timer who asked for $10 million to get started.