Biohealth Innovation - 300th Edition

BioHealth Innovation

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April 17, 2018

Last Week to Register: BHCR Forum 2018 - HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar II Confirmed

Don't let your colleagues miss out -- Forward this message to other senior leadership in the Region to invite them to attend the 2018 BioHealth Capital Region Forum. Register with the password: bhcrforum18

The Planning Committee has recently confirmed the participation of Secretary of Health & Human Services, Alex M. Azar II as a keynote speaker. His presentation is an exciting addition to an already robust lineup of speakers.

Check out the BioHealth Capital Region Forum website for regular updates on confirmed speakers and Forum agenda. Download our event application to interact with other attendees and post to the social wall - search for BHCR Forum 2018 in the AppStore or Google Play Store.

Finalists Selected - 3rd Annual BioHealth Capital Region Crab Trap Competition

– Winner to be announced during 2018 BioHealth Capital Region Forum –

Five companies have been selected to present to a panel of investor judges and an audience of industry leaders during the 2018 BioHealth Capital Region Forum, April 23-24, at the MedImmune campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Founded by BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) and MedImmune in 2016, the annual Crab Trap Competition highlights companies from throughout the region in varied stages of business development and industry sectors. Open to applicants from Maryland, DC and Virginia, previous winners are Johns Hopkins University spinouts: LifeSprout (2017) developing the next-generation of synthetic soft tissue substitutes for aesthetic and reconstructive medicine, and Sonavex (2016), developer of a pipeline of novel ultrasound solutions to visualize and quantify critical clinical data for improved outcomes and reduced costs in new surgical applications. The 3rd Annual Crab Trap Competition is sponsored by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The grand prize includes $10,000, incubation space in either Montgomery County, MD or Prince William County, VA, and business mentoring.

BHI Portfolio Company MIMETAS Secures 20 Million Dollar Series B Financing - Mimetas

MIMETAS, leader in organ-on-a-chip products and tissue models, has secured 20.5 million USD in financing from an international syndicate from Asia and Europe. Mimetas will use the proceeds of this Series B financing round to expand its global commercial footprint with the OrganoPlate® organ-on-a-chip platform. In addition, the company will broaden its product portfolio, establish tissue production facilities, develop novel OrganoPlate® products and expand into clinical market segments, including personalized medicine. The company has operations in the Netherlands, USA and Japan.

MedImmune spinoff Viela Bio leads Greater Washington to stellar VC funding quarter, per Pitchbook - Washington Business Journal

The D.C. area saw its biggest first quarter in startup funding in at least 16 years, with companies raking in more than $473.3 million in venture capital with the biotech and software sectors leading the way, according to data provided by PitchBook.

The 2018 Maryland Health Impact Forum - May 15th - 16th, 2018

New York-based Cavendish Global (URL: http://cavendishglobal.com), together with the University of Maryland’s Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR), MedImmune (a member of the AstraZeneca Group), BioHealth Innovation, and BioHealth Capital Region will co-host Cavendish’s sixteenth Health Impact Forum, and the first in the state of Maryland, on May 15th and 16th, at the Chevy Chase Club and IBBR. Cavendish is a by-invitation-only community of select health and life science innovators and researchers, impact investors (single and multi-family offices, foundations, philanthropists, angel investors and pro-social private equity and venture capital investors), along with renowned institutional, nonprofit and public leaders. Cavendish members convene throughout the year at Health Impact Forums held in diverse innovation hubs, to identify, showcase and support the leading innovators addressing health’s greatest unmet needs. To request an invitation:http://cavendishglobal.com/invitation-request

Emergent BioSolutions Announces Successful Completion of Mutual Recognition Procedure for Market Authorization of BioThrax in European Countries

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced the successful completion of the Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP) for market authorization of BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) in five Concerned Member States (CMS) within the European Union (EU), including Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the U.K., and France (where it will be marketed as BaciThrax™). Emergent filed the mutual recognition application based on the existing Marketing Authorization of BioThrax in Germany granted by the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut. Following the positive MRP outcome, national licenses are due to be issued shortly by the five CMS countries.

Alexandria LaunchLabs, the Premier Life Science Startup Platform, to Open in Fall 2018 at the

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT uniquely focused on collaborative life science and technology campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, today announced the expansion of Alexandria LaunchLabs®—its premier, full-service life science startup platform—into the thriving East Cambridge life science ecosystem. Alexandria LaunchLabs will open in the fall of 2018 in One Kendall Square, one of the most sought-after locations for life science companies in the United States. Building upon the success of Alexandria LaunchLabs' initial flagship site, which opened at the Alexandria Center® for Life Science – New York City in June 2017, the company will now bring its validated Alexandria LaunchLabs platform to Cambridge to meet the cluster's critical demand for life science startup space.

Building up the BioHealth Capital Region - FederalNewsRadio.com interview with BHI CEO Rich Bendis

What’s Working in Washington EXTRA is an opportunity for us to discuss an issue of particular interest to the region. We’re talking today about life science, biotechnology, medical devices, and how these industries are successful and well-represented represented here in the D.C. region. Joining us to discuss the growth of these sectors are two experts: Richard Bendis, president & CEO of BioHealth Innovation Incorporated, and Jeff Gallagher, CEO of Virginia Biotechnology Association, or VABio.

HGMD enables you to provide better care with better knowledge! - White Paper

In 2016, a mother filed a lawsuit relating to the death of her son Christian against a diagnostic company. When Christian began experiencing a series of unrelenting seizures, the company performed a massive battery of tests, including the sequencing of a gene called SCN1A. At the time, the company reported that he had a variant of unknown significance (VUS) there. What the company did not realize was that there was a peer-reviewed study that had identified the same SCN1A mutation in an Australian family one year earlier. Christian received inappropriate treatment and died from a seizure months later.

TEDCO 2.0 initiative rolls out new funding, programming efforts for Md. startups - Baltimore Business Journal

TEDCO CEO George Davis has spent several months in his new role traveling the state and talking to startups and other tech industry players, trying to figure out how his organization can best serve Maryland's entrepreneurial community beyond what it has been doing for the past 20 years.

Hopkins teams with Lockheed Martin to enhance STEM programming for Baltimore students | Hub

The Johns Hopkins University and Lockheed Martin today announced a partnership aimed at enhancing opportunities for Baltimore City public school students pursuing academic and career fields in science, technology, engineering, and math. The collaboration is designed to close the STEM gap that exists primarily in Pre-K through 12th grade.

NHLBI 70th Anniversary Lecture Series

This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). NHLBI began as the National Heart Institute on June 16, 1948, when President Harry S. Truman signed the National Heart Act. In 1969, the Institute expanded its mission (and name) to cover research on lung diseases, and in 1976, the Institute grew further to include blood disorders.

To commemorate the Institute's 70th anniversary and showcase important investments in scientific research, NHLBI is featuring lectures throughout the year from prominent thought leaders representing areas of high scientific priority in heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.

Epidarex-backed Enterprise Therapeutics raises £29 million (USD$41 million) funding

Enterprise Therapeutics Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of novel therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases, today announced that it has closed an oversubscribed £29 million ($41 million USD) Series B round co-led by Versant Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund. The syndicate also included new investor Forbion, founding investor Epidarex Capital and existing investor IP Group.

New Enterprise Associates, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, GV and Greycroft top ranking of most active Q1 venture investors - Silicon Valley Business Journal

Y Combinator has broadened its investment focus beyond the seed funding it gives to startups in its accelerator batches, and has become one of the most active investors in the country in subsequent stages.

GSK divests line of rare disease drugs

GlaxoSmithKline divested its portfolio of rare disease gene therapies to Orchard Therapeutics through a strategic agreement, the company announced April 12.

First annual Kendall Square Challenge to take place May 17 - News - Cambridge Chronicle & Tab - Cambridge, MA

The first annual Kendall Square Challenge, an app-driven fundraiser competition benefiting various nonprofits, will take place May 17 in Cambridge.