Biohealth Innovation - 303rd Edition

BioHealth Innovation

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May 8, 2018

Montgomery County, Maryland-based BeneVir Biopharm, Inc. to be acquired by Janssen Biotech, Inc. for up to $1.04B

Company’s announcement latest in recent trend of significant investment in Montgomery County biohealth companies.

BeneVir Biopharm, Inc. (BeneVir), a privately-held Montgomery County biotech company, has entered into an agreement under which it will be acquired by Janssen Biotech, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company for up to $1.04 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Janssen will make an upfront cash payment of $140 million at closing of the transaction, plus additional contingent payments of up to $900 million based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones. BeneVir was a client of BioHealth Innovation (BHI) from 2013 until its Series A investment in 2014.

2018 BioHealth Capital Region Forum Survey…Please complete

As we wrap up this year's Forum and begin planning for 2019, we would like to hear from you! Tell us what you loved, what we can improve, and what you are most interested in seeing from the BioHealth Capital Region in the coming year.

Click here to complete the 2018 BHCR Forum Attendee Survey. We thank you in advance for your time in providing your feedback.

Save the Date for 2019! The 2019 BioHealth Capital Region Forum will take place on April 8-9, 2019.

These Are the 25 Public Colleges With the Biggest Payback - University of Maryland College Park Made the List

How much is an undergraduate degree really worth? The average 20-year payoff for a bachelor’s degree—even after factoring in tuition and other college costs—is roughly $225,000, according to salary data released Tuesday from PayScale.

HC2 Announces Pansend Life Sciences Portfolio Company BeneVir Biopharm to be Acquired by Janssen Biotech, Inc. for up to $1.04 Billion NYSE:HCHC

HC2 Holdings, Inc. (“HC2”) (NYSE:HCHC), a diversified holding company, announced today that BeneVir Biopharm, Inc. (“BeneVir”), a privately-held biotechnology company developing oncolytic immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Janssen Biotech, Inc. (“Janssen”).

Mechanistic and Human Translational Results for BT-11 in Models of IBD - Landos Biopharma

Landos Biopharma, Inc., an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved treatments for autoimmune diseases, announced the publication of findings on the mechanisms of action for its top lead candidate, BT-11, in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, the Official Journal of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. The study concludes that through the activation of the Lanthionine Synthetase C-Like 2 (LANCL2) pathway, BT-11 induces changes in the interface of inflammation and metabolism within immune cells in the gut that are critical to provide lasting therapeutic efficacy against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These changes in metabolism enhance regulatory CD4+ T helper cell responses and promote lasting therapeutic actions locally within the gut. The mechanistic findings demonstrate the translatability of the therapeutic efficacy of BT-11 to the clinic.

Horsham-based Janssen Biotech, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, to buy Benvir BioPharm - Baltimore Business Journal

Janssen Biotech has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on the red-hot field of cancer immunology.

Financial terms of the deal for BeneVir BioPharm are being kept confidential.

MoCo Supports Businesses

MCEDC SUPPORTS BUSINESS

FY 18 HIGHLIGHTS

Highmark Health’s VITAL Innovation Program to evaluate WellDoc’s® BlueStar® mobile app for

Highmark Health announced today that through its VITAL Innovation Program, a test-and-learn platform, it will be evaluating WellDoc's® BlueStar® mobile app, an FDA-cleared, proven digital therapeutic for individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Can the U.S. Get 1 Million People to Volunteer Their Genomes? - Scientific American

One of the enduring mysteries of medicine is how individual genes, environment and lifestyle may combine to spark sickness or protect us from it. Unraveling this puzzle remains essential for scientists hoping to achieve the elusive goal of offering tailored treatments or personalized prevention plans.

FDA Unveils Health Data Science Projects Under Incubator Program

Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has introduced information technology initiatives under the agency’s data science incubator program during the Health Datapalooza conference in Washington, D.C., MedCityNews reported Thursday.

WHO WILL LEAD BALTIMORE’S TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES? A DISCUSSION ABOUT TALENT DEVELOPMENT - attracting it, acquiring it, managing and developing it

When: Thursday, May 17, 20184:00 - 7:00 PM EST Where: University of Maryland BioPark, 801 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Join the fourth in the TEDCO funded Anchor Ventures events series for an important discussion about Talent. Our expert panel will discuss how to draw the right candidates to your company, the role personnel plays in the investment process, opportunities for enhancing your existing team, and the regional supply of entrepreneurial talent.

BioBuzz with UMBC Shady Grove

When: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT

Where: UMBC Shady Grove, 9630 Gudelsky Drive ,Rockville, MD 20850

Join BioBuzz and sponsor UMBC Shady Grove in Rockville on May 16th for our next great networking event. UMBC at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) has a 17+ year history of providing high caliber and industry desired academic programs in Rockville, MD. This Fall, UMBC is launching its first Bachelors of Science degree at USG in Translational Life Science Technology. This degree, designed in partnership with Montgomery College, combines the theory of a traditional life science degree with real-world applications used by scientists in academic and industry research.

VA BEACH BIO INNOVATION CHALLENGE Letter of Intent Form

This is the Letter of Intent Form (LOI) for Phase 0 of the VA BEACH BIO INNOVATION Startup Challenge. The Team Leader of each team should fill out and submit one form for this challenge. The last date to submit an LOI is May 31st.

Page 1: Basic information and Confidentiality Page 2: Additional Team information (can be completed during Phase 1)

Anyone can Enter!

No minimum team size - you can enter individually Your Background: Anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit! No Geography Restrictions: This challenge welcomes international participants

Inova 2018 Discovery Series: Early Stage Investing in Health Technology

Come join us on June 21, 2018 for our first event of the INOVA 2018 Discovery Series.

Inova Center for Personalized Health Conference Center - 3225 Gallows Road, Fairfax, VA 22031

6:00pm - Reception

7:00pm - Presentation: State of Healthcare Investing; Analysis: Investor Panel Discussion/Q&A

1.13M Patient Records Breached from January to March 2018 - Protenus

1,129,744 patient records were breached between January and March 2018, according to new data released today in the Protenus Breach Barometer. Published by Protenus, an artificial intelligence platform used by top health systems to analyze every access to patient data inside the electronic health record (EHR), the Breach Barometer is the industry’s definitive source for health data breach reporting.

Baltimore tech company leaders appointed to TEDCO board - Technical.ly Baltimore

A pair of Baltimore-based tech leaders are joining the board of directors for TEDCO.

With the appointment by Gov. Larry Hogan, each will serve a four-year term on the board that oversees the state’s quasi-public agency backing early-stage tech companies.

Cambridge life sciences cluster set to deliver additional £1billion to the UK economy by 2032 - Cambridge Network

The Cambridge life sciences cluster has the potential to contribute an additional £1bn to the UK economy by 2032, according to independent research commissioned by AstraZeneca.

NIST wants public insight on how to streamline R&D collaboration

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is looking for the public’s help in refreshing how it uses research and development funds to help bring new products to market.

These 6 UMB student teams have big ideas for new companies - Technical.ly Baltimore

Students at UMB are looking to form new startups that will bring change to a range of different areas in healthcare and beyond, from the pockets where nurses keep supplies to the ways that drugs are delivered.

What Is Blockchain? Three Videos Explain the New Technology That Promises to Change Our World | Open Culture

You've heard the word "blockchain" many times now, but probably not quite as many as you've heard the word "bitcoin." Yet you surely have a sense that the referents of those two words have a connection, and even if you haven't yet been interested in either, you may well know that blockchain, a technology, makes Bitcoin, a currency, possible in the first place. Their sheer novelty has already given rise to a mini-industry of explainer videos, more of them dealing directly with bitcoin than blockchain, but in time the latter could potentially overtake the former in importance, to the degree that it becomes as vital to society as the protocols that undergird the internet itself.

Jonathan Aberman: This study shows how cybersecurity can foster economic growth - Washington Business Journal

What does it take to be a founder of a cybersecurity startup in the Greater Washington region? Prior experience, according to a new study from American University’s Kogod School of Business.

Fast-growing Twist Bioscience finds Peninsula expansion space with investor-landlord Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: ARE) - San Francisco Business Times

When Twist Bioscience Corp. started in Mission Bay five years ago with the idea of making synthetic genes for researchers, it consisted of Emily Leproust and her two co-founders. Today, the 240-employee company is priming to move to nearly 61,000 square feet in South San Francisco.

All You Need to Know for Round 2 of the CRISPR Patent Fight - Scientific American

It’s baaaaack, that reputation-shredding, stock-moving fight to the death over key CRISPR patents. On Monday morning in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hear oral arguments in University of California v. Broad Institute. Questions?

HHS Secretary Alex Azar Gives Industry Leaders a Map of the New Healthcare - Healthcare Blogs

It was quite fascinating to cover the speech that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar gave this week in Washington, D.C. In a keynote address on Wednesday morning at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Secretary Azar laid out his agency’s overall policy strategy, for attendees at the World Health Care Congress, which annually gathers together leaders from all the major sectors of the U.S. healthcare industry, from hospitals to physician groups to post-acute and behavioral healthcare, to health plans/health insurers, employer-purchasers, pharmaceutical leaders, and healthcare IT leaders. It’s an ideal venue for senior federal healthcare officials to make announcements—and they usually do show up every year, and sometimes, make news.

As digital health companies proliferate, it's getting tougher to spot the strongest businesses - MedCity News

The digital health rocket seems to have gotten supercharged lately, at least when it comes to fundraising. Depending on who you ask, either $1.62 billion (Rock Health’s count) or $2.5 billion (Mercom) or $2.8 billion (Startup Health’s count) was plowed into digital health companies in just the first three months of 2018. By any measure Q1 2018 was the most significant quarter yet for digital health funding. This headline has been everywhere. Digital health: to infinity and beyond! But what is the significance of this? Should investors and customers of these companies be excited or worried? It’s a little hard to tell.

9th Call of the U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund-Introduction

"Commercializing Technologies for Societal Impact"

The governments of the United States of America (through the Department of State) and India (through the Department of Science & Technology) have established the United States - India Science & Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) for the promotion of joint activities that would lead to innovation and technopreneurship through the application of science and technology. The Endowment Fund activities are implemented and administered through the bi-national Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF).