Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic venture capital arm of 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 formal launch of the Alexandria Seed Capital Platform, an innovative funding model that brings together leaders from across the life science community to catalyze seed-stage investment in the most promising life science startups.

Roche Holding AG (ROG.EB) said Monday that it has entered into a strategic partnership with GE Healthcare to jointly develop and market a digital clinical-decision support platform.

RightEye LLC, an award-winning technology innovator using eye tracking to revolutionize patient care and vision performance, announced today it will be debuting its new RightEye EyeQ system tonight at CES Unveiled Las Vegas at 5:00 p.m. at the Mandalay Bay Shorelines Exhibit Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada. EyeQ gives people a closer look at their health using quick, computer game-style vision tests on an eye-tracking computer. The tests, which only take a few minutes, generate an instant EyeQ Report that provides results in an easy-to-understand format to support discussion with doctors on diagnosis and recommended therapies. 

The use of biomaterials, such as microneedles and nanoparticles, in immunotherapy and vaccine research is a hot topic in bioengineering. But to get the maximum return on investment in these ideas, they need to be seeded among clinicians, according to Christopher Jewell, Ph.D., associate professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. Jewell is the principal author on a new paper in Trends in Immunology that reviews the current state of biomaterials research with an eye toward inspiring multidisciplinary teams of engineers and clinicians to solve some of the complex problems in immunology today.

A drug development company has raised $76 million from investors in China, the United States, and Korea to move its headquarters to the Philadelphia area from Jinan, China, and bring treatments developed by China-based scientists through U.S. clinical testing to patients here.

A Baltimore startup developing artificial organ technology has raised about $3 million in equity funding, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents.

Medical device firm Breethe Inc. reported the round this month, which included 22 investors.

Emmes is proud to have advanced Glaucoma research w/ support from @NatEyeInstitute! Our 1st ophthalmic trial (published in @AmJOphthalmol) showed little visual field deterioration in pts w/ low intraocular pressure

The GammaPod ™ – a first-of-its kind stereotactic radiotherapy system to treat early stage breast cancer – has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), paving the way for the manufacturer to bring the system to market for the treatment of breast cancer patients.

MacroGenics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MGNX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, as well as various autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, announced today that it had entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. to jointly discover and develop novel bispecific molecules to undisclosed targets. During the research term, both companies will leverage their respective platforms, including MacroGenics' DART® platform and Roche's CrossMAb and DutaFab technologies to select a bispecific format and lead product candidate. Roche would then further develop and commercialize any such product candidate.

Currently, we depend upon the eyes, ears, and touch of medical staff to examine the human body and diagnose patients. Physicians must identify abnormalities of the skin, check for any bodily irregularities, examine complex MRIs, listen for arrhythmias, and inspect CT scans day in and day out. While all of these tasks seem routine, they actually test physicians’ knowledge about everything that could possibly be wrong with the human body.

2017 was an extraordinary year in the history of medicine. It was the year when scientists beat cancer, and U.S. regulators approved the first therapy to fix a faulty gene. It was also a year that kept us enthralled with a quickening drumbeat of breathtaking news detailing spectacular advances – trials seemingly curing patients of hemophilia A and sickle cell anemia, and breakthroughs raising similar hopes for Huntington’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and even HIV.

It’s hard to believe that the book has already closed on 2017. As we turn the calendar to 2018, I wanted to pause and share some highlights from MdBio’s monumental last twelve months. Partners, supporters and STEM advocates like you are instrumental to our success – thank you for all that you have done in support of MdBio and our programs.

The 4th annual Biotech and Money/Medtech and Money World Congress will offer insight into the investment landscape for biotech and medtech companies via a series of panel discussions with leading investors in the sector. Those attending the two-day event in London can hear from experienced investors about the current state of funding for life science companies at varying stages of development. This includes a focus on seed funding, with panel discussions on ‘Seed funding for biotech development’ and ‘PanEuropean medtech seed funding’.

Alexandria Real Estate recently completed a large building on the west side of Lake Union and now it's starting to plan one on Eastlake.

Blockchain startup Akiri has received $10 million in Series A funding to develop a distributed ledger platform for health data.

Personal Genome Diagnostics, a Baltimore-based cancer diagnostics company, has raised $75 million to expand access to genomic testing for cancer patients.

More than ever, academic technology transfer is driving economic development.

• The number of invention disclosures — a direct measure of institutional impact on innovation — has been on the rise the past five years, growing to 25,825 in 2016.
• 16,487 new U.S. patent applications were filed, a gain of 3 percent over the prior year, and 7,021 U.S. patents were issued, up 5 percent from last year.
• The 1,024 startups formed made a direct impact on local economies with more than 73 percent of these new businesses remaining in the institution’s home state.
• Consumers and businesses benefited from 800 new products.

Originally, the BIVF was designed to put investments of up to €10-15m into early stage companies focused on immunomodulation, tissue regeneration, small and large molecule drugs, and new therapeutic modalities. The fund, launched in 2010, had a volume of €100m, 22 portfolio companies from which already one exited (Okairos).

Cancer research helmed by a Johns Hopkins radiation oncology professor is the first to receive backing from a fund backing work that might create startups.

Canton-based Personal Genome Diagnostics closed on $75 million in Series B funding and plans to triple its square footage with a new office.

WellDoc®, a leading digital health company, announced today that its clinically proven hemoglobin A1C reductions for users of its BlueStar® digital therapeutic with type 2 diabetes can translate into significant healthcare cost savings.

Silver Spring, Md.-based United Therapeutics Corp. and the FDA are duking it out in court over whether the agency improperly denied the biotechnology company seven years of orphan drug exclusivity for its drug Orenitram.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced the initiation of a Phase 2 dose ranging study to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, and clinical benefit of FLU-IGIV, the company’s anti-influenza immune globulin being developed as an intravenous treatment for serious illness caused by influenza A infection in hospitalized patients.

Making predictions can be a tricky business. Nevertheless, Xconomy recently brought together some of San Diego’s most prominent life sciences leaders to offer their vision for what the regional biotech cluster will be like in five years.

Scott Gottlieb seems like the pharmaceutical industry's idea of a dream FDA Commissioner, with pharma ties and an ideological bent toward deregulation. 

Centrexion Therapeutics, a Boston-based startup led by ex-Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler, just raised $67 million to bring its painkiller drug into Phase III trials. If it works, the treatment should appease regulators concerned with addiction problems, as the drug is a non-opioid and non-steroid way to treat pain.

Centrexion Therapeutics Corporation, a company focused on developing non-opioid, non-steroidal therapeutics for the treatment of chronic pain, today announced the successful completion of a $67 million Series D financing.

NexImmune, an emerging leader in the field of antigen-directed immunotherapy, announced the closing of a Series A financing co-led by new investor ArrowMark Partners and existing investor Barer & Son Capital, along with significant participation from Piedmont Capital Partners.  In conjunction with the financing, Tony Yao, MD, PhD, a Partner at ArrowMark Partners, will join NexImmune’s Board of Directors.

I expect progress. Here’s my list of major trends and issues that will affect the lives of cancer patients in 2018:

The grants came through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Science Foundation.

Join us on Thursday, January 11 for the 2017-18 Spring Term FAES Graduate School Open House to meet and mingle with FAES faculty. Bring yourself, a friend, and your questions about registering for the Spring 2018 courses. The event will be held in the FAES Academic Center, Building 10, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 4:00 - 6:00 PM. Light refreshments will be served!

The biopharma sector has had quite a year. Under FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the regulator approved a record number of drugs and helped usher in innovative gene therapy treatments. Behavioral health drugs also marked a milestone with the approval of Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s Abilify MyCite, embedded with a sensor developed by Proteus Digital Health to remotely monitor medication adherence for people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

The FDA has released a range of decisions regarding the agency's role in regulating digital health technologies since Scott Gottlieb, MD, assumed the role of commissioner in May.

Here are three highlights from the FDA's year in digital health.

In covering the D.C. innovation economy comes the inevitable: funding news. Trust us, there’s a lot of it floating around the D.C. metro area. Here’s a roundup of all of the major funding news from the region in December: 

Dr. David Feinberg has served as president and CEO of Danville, Pennsylvania-based Geisinger since 2015. Previously, he was president of UCLA Health System, CEO of UCLA’s hospitals and associate vice chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences.