Chinese investors are pumping money into US drug startups as Beijing seeks to become a global leader in new medicines, adding to a flood of cash flowing to groundbreaking health firms.

More than a dozen biotech companies or researchers from the Maryland biotech cluster, which some have also dubbed ‘Vaccine Alley’, were among the most recognized finalists at this year’s Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) Awards in Washington, DC at the World Vaccine Conference.  In fact, 15 out of the 54 finalists, or 27%. were from right here in Maryland.  This year’s conference was held in Washington, DC so could this have been a case of home court advantage?  Probably not. More than likely it’s because this region holds 20% of the top influencers worldwide in vaccine development.

We hear a lot these days about the so-called “rise of the rest”—the ascent of second-tier American cities such as Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Detroit, and Nashville as challengers to the established tech capitals of the Bay Area, New York, Boston, and Seattle. But the reality is that the rise of the rest is happening mainly in cities outside of the United States.

On Tuesday, April 3, 2018 TEDCO Incubation Challenge finalist FounderTrac had their first Demo Day at Host Sponsor Loews Annapolis Hotel. After a 12 week, rigorous program 10 FounderTrac finalists pitched to a standing room only atrium of over 200 attendees. Over 50 angel investors and venture capitalists were in attendance creating an energy at the event that truly represents the essence of entrepreneurship. Tami Howie, CEO of the Maryland Technology Council says, “We had a huge number of high quality investors attend our showcase to see the amazing growth of our companies over the last 12 weeks of our FounderTrac program.”

Venture capital funds based in China poured US$1.4 billion into private US biotechnology firms in the three months ending March 31, accounting for about 40 per cent of the US$3.7 billion that the companies raised in the period overall, according to data provider PitchBook. 

The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), a proud member of Manufacturing USA® is pleased to welcome Genentech, Celgene, Merck, MilliporeSigma and EMD Serono (the U.S. businesses of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), among others, to its growing membership base.

The first quarter of 2018 saw a decline in investments, given that global deal activity decreased by 4 percent. Despite the fewer deals, global investment reached $46.5 billion, invested across 2,884 deals. The data was revealed as part of a larger report titled Money Tree, put together by CB Insights and PricewaterhouseCoopers, with focus on the latest trends in venture capital funding globally.

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.

The disease, caused by a bacteria producing toxic substances which lead to internal bleeding, swelling and tissue death, is listed as the main biological terror threat to Brits.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

D.C.-area tech companies who pulled in sizable investments contributed to a big venture capital fundraising quarter for the D.C. area to start 2018.

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. 

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.  

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

May 15 & 16, 2018 - Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Small Business and Industry Assistance (CDER SBIA), and Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Division of Industry and Consumer Education (DICE) are pleased to announce a co-sponsored event developed just for you.

Immunomedics, Inc., (NASDAQ:IMMU) (“Immunomedics” or the “Company”), a leader in the field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), today announced the appointment of Robert Iannone, M.D., M.S.C.E., as Head of Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer, effective today. In his new role, Dr. Iannone will oversee and lead all clinical development, regulatory, pre-clinical, translational research and medical affairs strategies and activities of the Company. Dr. Iannone brings more than thirteen years of experience in clinical drug development, including the approval of several targeted and immuno-oncology medicines at AstraZeneca/MedImmune and Merck & Co.

The 2018 Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Awards publicly recognizes achievements by current clients and graduates of Maryland incubators and provides a forum for the nominees to increase their visibility in the business, technology and investment communities.

Business incubators support new and early-stage businesses in Maryland. In 1986, the first public incubator was established at the University of Maryland in College Park. Recognizing the economic challenges facing new companies, business incubators are facilities that provide reasonable market rents, shared services and technical assistance to start-ups and early-stage companies, including manufacturing, biotech, service and technology firms.

An aerospace company born out of the University of Maryland, College Park has raised $1.45 million in a round led by the University System of Maryland and the Abell Foundation.

Funding has been flowing into biotech over the past few years.

Over one week earlier this year, biotech and healthcare startups raised almost $1 billion in capital. And on Tuesday, a cancer-drug startup called Allogene raised $300 million in its series A round.

Accelerate tech product development with MIPS funding.

The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program provides funding for university research projects that help companies develop new technology products.

In reviewing data regarding the hundreds of TBED-related investment funds, SSTI found that 24 of them have invested in at least one dozen startups each over the past year.  The funds are characterized as economic development, university-centric, regionally focused, or impact oriented investment funds, incubators and accelerator programs located in the U.S. or Canada. Data the various funds provide to  Pitchbook is the source of the list below, ranked in order by activity level. Each organization may have used their public or university funding to support operations, due diligence or mentoring of portfolio companies and/or to support direct invest into startups.  University-centered activities in the list are denoted by an asterisk at the end of the entry.  Two of the most active 24 funds are nonprofit, impact accelerators supported in part by foundations and corporation philanthropy.

CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASI), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing high quality, cost-effective pharmaceutical products and innovative oncology therapeutics to patients, announces receipt of a letter from the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) (group within the China FDA in charge of technical review) indicating that EVOMELA® (melphalan) for injection has been scheduled for review by the Expert Advisory Anti-Tumor (Oncology) Drugs Committee (the “Advisory Committee”), which is scheduled to take place between April 25-26, 2018 (the “Advisory Committee Meeting”).

Deadline to apply is April 17, 2018

The Maryland Tech Council and SoBran are celebrating the transformational science coming out of Maryland and surrounding area by establishing the Innovation for Impact Prize. This is an added annual award at the Industry Awards Celebration. Tell us how your innovative research will impact the world one day and describe your research!

The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Engineering (ENG) announces a nationwide search to fill the position of Division Director (DD), Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP). The position provides an unparalleled opportunity to lead the Division to support research, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the forefront of advancing knowledge and stimulating translation of new knowledge into solutions that benefit society; to share in the management responsibility of the Directorate for Engineering to advance NSF’s overall strategic goals “to expand knowledge in science, engineering, and learning, to advance the capability of the nation to meet current and future challenges, and to enhance NSF’s performance of its mission.”

Federal health IT contractor CNSI has sold a majority interest in the company to Alvarez & Marsal Capital, a middle-market private equity firm.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The Kirwan Commission hopes investing in initiatives like full-day preschool and intensified teacher preparation training will help Maryland schools become competitive on an international level.