Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) Ph.D. students Michelle Bookstaver, John Daristotle, Mary Doolin, and Emily Gosselin were recently named recipients of the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Together, their NIH F31 fellowships could total up to $235,000 in funding over two years to support research in vaccine design, sprayable surgical sealants, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and new therapies to treat multiple sclerosis. 

Vaccines have reduced the public health threat of many infectious diseases, including polio, measles, mumps, and small pox. 

In the face of growing international concerns over antimicrobial resistance, Qiagen has launched a one-stop shop that compiles publicly available genomic data, scientific literature and phenotypic information on potential superbugs.

Funding and Research Opportunities

The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:

General Notices

Notice of Information for RFA-HL-20-009, "BLOODSAFE: Research to enhance availability of safe blood for patients with severe anemia and hemorrhagic conditions in low or lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (UG3/UH3 CT Optional)"
(NOT-HL-19-706) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Notice of Information for RFA-HL-20-010, "BLOODSAFE: Research to enhance availability of safe blood for patients with severe anemia and hemorrhagic conditions in low or lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa-DCC (U24 CT Not Allowed)"
(NOT-HL-19-707) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

A large pharmaceutical company is spending more than $11 billion to acquire the maker of two drugs used to treat skin cancer.

New York-based Pfizer said Monday it would acquire Boulder, Colorado-based Array BioPharma for $11.4 billion, or $48 per share.

Baltimore-Md.-based Inner Loop Capital is giving D.C.-area startups a financial boost with this new fund.

AstraZeneca said it would invest $630 million into Korea’s biotech and healthcare sector over the next five years.

Leif Johansson, chairman of the British-Swedish drugmaker, announced the plan at the Korea-Sweden Business Summit, attended by President Moon Jae-in, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven in Stockholm on Friday, local time. The business summit was held as part of President Moon’s state visit.

Viela Bio today announced the successful completion of a $75 million private placement of its Series B preferred stock, bringing the total capital raised since the Company's launch in February 2018 to more than $300 million. The financing round was led by HBM Healthcare Investments, and additional new investors participating included Viking Global Investors, Cormorant Asset Management, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Barer & Son Capital. Existing investors participating included Temasek.

CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASI), a U.S. biopharmaceutical company that is focusing on developing and accelerating the launch of innovative therapeutics and pharmaceutical products in China, the U.S., and throughout the world, announces the signing of a license agreement for exclusive worldwide license and commercialization rights to an autologous anti-CD19 T-cell therapy product (CNCT19) from Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd., a China-based domestic company located in Tianjin City, China. Juventas will continue to develop CNCT19 with CASI’s participation on the program’s steering committee. CASI will be responsible for payment of certain future development milestones and sales royalties.

FREDERICK, A KEYPLAYER IN THE BIOHEALTH CAPITAL REGION

After last year’s BIO International Convention in Boston was overshadowed by reports of topless women dancers bearing the logos of biopharma company sponsors at an unofficial party, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization in October sent its members a letter insisting that they pay more than lip service to diversifying their historically male executive suites and boardrooms.

The C3i Program is designed to provide medical device innovators with the specialized business frameworks and essential tools for successful translation of biomedical technologies from the lab (concept) to the market (clinic). Through this program, the NIH fosters the development and commercialization of early-stage biomedical technologies by engaging investigators who are interested in better understanding the value of their innovation in addressing an unmet market need. The curriculum and customized mentoring provided by the C3i Program are intended to guide investigators as they assess the commercial viability and potential business opportunity for their innovation.

The first facility has opened at Dayton, OH’s 4.3-acre OneFifteen campus, a treatment center for opioid addiction. The project is a partnership of life sciences REIT Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Verily, an Alphabet company, with Alexandria leading design and development.

RoosterBio, a regenerative medicine manufacturing technology leader, has received a $300,000 grant from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission to facilitate new product development. RoosterBio is one of three Maryland-based companies who received the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) Commercialization Program Award totaling $899,990 to assist with the creation of start-up companies or new technologies developed in Maryland.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019 from 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM EDT

Attendees will be provided an overview of Virginia Neuroscience (VNI) Initiative and how it accelerates neuroscience research by providing strategy, infrastructure, and research tools to clinicians, researchers, and industry. VNI members conduct basic and translational research in neurobiology to advance our understanding of brain diseases.

D.C.'s top economic development official is leaving government to join Amazon as the tech giant builds its second headquarters in Northern Virginia.

Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner, who has held the position for over four years, will join Amazon to tackle regional economic development issues, the Washington Business Journal reports. 

70 Years of Scientific Research on Diseases (1947-2017) - number of research articles published (PubMed) # For more interesting & helpful content on healthcare & data science, follow me & Brainformatika on LinkedIn.

Corvidia Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, announced today the initiation of patient screening for a Phase 2b dose-finding study of ziltivekimab. Previously known as COR-001, ziltivekimab is a proprietary anti-interleukin-6 ligand monoclonal antibody (anti-IL6 mAb), targeting residual inflammatory cardiovascular risk in patients living with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD).

On behalf of AURP, and our BIO Health Caucus Co-Chairs Mark Romney and Rich Bendis, we would like to thank all who participated at the inaugural BIO Health Caucus, making it a grand success!

Each of our speakers and sessions shared significant insight into what is on the horizon for our global biomedical innovation district. Everyone's active presence was paramount in our ongoing mission to help the AURP community thrive. This gathering of bio-focused professionals served as an opportunity to establish, promote, and assemble health-related anchor institutions, creating new technologies, developing biotechnology partnerships, and improving health outcomes.

The next BIO Health Caucus will converge at the AURP IC2019 on November 5, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.

A vaccine for HIV. Nanoparticles. A topical ointment for sickle cell disease.

Those are just three examples of technologies discussed at a showcase held by the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute.

Inova Center for Personalized Health, Fairfax You’re invited to spend the day with innovative entrepreneurs, professionals and industry leaders. Discover opportunities to help you navigate through a rapidly evolving modern industry & gain access to cutting edge technologies and tools.

Join forces with industry and academia leaders, researchers and decision-makers, all gathered together, at the same time, and at the same place, bringing ideas together to make a global impact and change the world.

Women Building Bio is where the future is transformed into reality.

You are invited to join Learning Undefeated as we expand our reach again and welcome three new mobile laboratories.

Drop Anywhere Labs are the newest innovation in mobile STEM education, custom-built shipping containers that serve as flexible laboratory and classroom space for middle and high schools. Tour all six of our mobile laboratories including Drop Anywhere Labs, the Mobile eXploration Lab, MdBioLab, and Verizon explorer lab.

Event Info

Date: Thursday, August 1, 2019

Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM

MCEDC talks with Douglas Liu, SVP of Global Operations for Qiagen, about how his company makes improvements in life possible.

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 that it has strategically partnered with Columbia University to open Alexandria LaunchLabs®, the premier life science startup platform, at the university in the spring of 2020. Building upon the success of the flagship Alexandria LaunchLabs site at the Alexandria Center® for Life Science – New York City, Alexandria LaunchLabs @ Columbia will increasingly focus on promising life science startups emerging from Columbia and peer institutions, which serve as the greatest source of new company formation in the NYC life science ecosystem.

Hundreds of politicians, Capitol staff members, and campus top brass will gather on Wednesday in Washington to hear about researchers’ work. The scholars aren’t leaving any detail to chance.

Last week two new partnerships were formed between Maryland and the United Kingdom. Biohealth Innovation, a MD based public-private nonprofit focused on accelerating commercialization for biohealth, will be collaborating with Catalyze, an Amsterdam based company dedicated to bringing non-dilutive funding for biomedical innovations.

Andrew Lees, Ph.D., is founder and scientific director of Fina Biosolutions, LLC (Rockville, Md.), a company focused on promoting affordable conjugate vaccines by making the technology available to emerging market vaccine manufacturers. Among his contributions in the field, Lees developed an efficient linking chemistry which is widely used in conjugate vaccines, a class that includes vaccines for S. pneumoniae and meningococcal disease. The chemistry has helped to reduce the cost of these vaccines.  

REGENXBIO Inc. (Nasdaq: RGNX), a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapy based on its proprietary NAV® Technology Platform, today announced the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a gene therapy that leverages REGENXBIO's proprietary NAV Technology Platform, Novartis AG's ZOLGENSMA® (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi; AVXS-101). ZOLGENSMA was approved by the FDA as a one-time infusion for pediatric patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who are less than two years of age.

How does the healthcare sector stack up on gender equality? To answer that question, we look at pipeline practices, employee experiences, and policies and programs the industry has implemented to promote diversity and inclusion. We also hear from industry leaders on what it takes to accelerate change across the sector.

A just-released study co-sponsored by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and AUTM provides new evidence of the significant contribution academic patent licensing makes to the U.S. economy. The report is the most recent in a series, and the numbers are astounding.

Gene therapies represent some of the most promising advancements in science and human health in recent history.  The BioHealth Capital Region, and Maryland in particular, is rapidly becoming a hub for companies in this field. With the NIH and the National Cancer Institute at the nucleus, some of the most advanced scientific research and technology development in the field is happening in a short 30-mile radius around Montgomery County, Maryland.

Ceres Nanosciences, Inc. (Ceres), University of Virginia (UVA), and George Mason University (Mason) today announced the receipt of a $600,000 award from the Virginia Catalyst for the development of a Nanotrap® liquid biopsy collection device. This award will be matched by $1.2 million in product development funding by Ceres Nanosciences.

Fortune 500 healthcare company Baxter International is planning to partner with a trio of Baltimore organizations.

The Chicago-based company plans to work with Johns Hopkins University, LifeBridge Health and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Maryland state delegate Lily Qi shares her path to becoming a first-generation Chinese-American lawmaker. Qi is from Shanghai.

BRAINBox Solutions today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Device Designation for the company's BRAINBox TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) test in development, the first to aid in both the diagnosis and prognosis of mild TBI (concussion). The BRAINBox TBI test is a multi-modality, quantitative test that combines injury-related blood protein biomarkers with computerized neurological assessments.

At the molecular level, we may not age gracefully; that is, we may not follow a continuous, linear downward slope. Instead, we may fall precipitously after we lose control of our exquisitely balanced anti-aging programs, sometime in our 50s. These findings, derived from a study of tissue-coding and noncoding RNA, may help explain why human disease burden increases so sharply from the sixth decade of life onward. They may also lead to therapies that enhance longevity, provided the natural termination of protective gene expression patterns does not indicate that they have outlived their usefulness.