After 10 years as a successful veterinarian, Ignacio "Nacho" Pino decided to dedicate himself to work that could bring state-of-the-art biotechnology research to his home of Puerto Rico.

CDI Laboratories—a company he founded in 2008 along with Johns Hopkins University researchers Heng Zhu and Seth Blackshaw, JHU professor emeritus Jef Boeke, and two others (Dan Eichinger and Joe Bonaventura)—aims to produce research-grade protein and antibody products that support scientific research on cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases. The company is one of more than 30 startups being showcased in Washington, D.C., today as part of the first-ever White House Demo Day, which will highlight the work of a diverse group of entrepreneurs from across the country.

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:

Notices:

• Guidance on Changes That Involve Human Subjects in Active Awards and That Will Require Prior NIH Approval: Updated Notice
• (NOT-OD-15-128) National Institutes of Health
• Prior NIH Approval of Human Subjects Research in Active Awards Initially Submitted without Definitive Plans for Human Subjects Involvement (Delayed Onset Awards): Updated Notice
• (NOT-OD-15-129) National Institutes of Health|
• Findings of Research Misconduct
• (NOT-OD-15-131) National Institutes of Health
• Subscribe to Receive NIH eRA Service Information
• (NOT-OD-15-132) National Institutes of Health
• Notice to Modify RFA-RM-13-006 "NIH Pioneer Award Program (DP1)" regarding the Award Budget, Biographical Sketch, and Research Strategy
• (NOT-RM-15-015)NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice to Modify RFA-RM-13-007 "NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program (DP2)" regarding Biographical Sketch and Research Strategy
• (NOT-RM-15-016) NIH Roadmap Initiatives

Program Announcements:

• Discovery of Genetic Basis of Monogenic Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Disorders (X01)
• (PAR-15-314) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): October 20, 2015; June 15, 2016; June 15, 2017; June 15, 2018 , by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.

AstraZeneca Plc and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. will work together, expanding an earlier collaboration, to seek gene therapy treatments for diseases affecting the heart, kidneys and the body’s metabolism.

AstraZeneca agreed to pay Isis an upfront fee of $65 million plus development and regulatory milestones for each program that the London-based drugmaker advances to clinical development, the companies said in a statement. Isis, based in Carlsbad, California, will earn tiered double-digit royalties on annual sales of each program.

During a tour to Paris, Bruce Springsteen explained that his dream was for the US to adapt a Swedish style welfare state. The famous musician is far from alone in idealizing Nordic policies. The four Nordic nations (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) are often regarded as prime role-models the policies to be emulated by others. Internationally, advocates of left of centre policies view these countries as examples of how high tax social democratic systems are viable and successful. Paul Krugman, for example, has said: “Every time I read someone talking about the ‘collapsing welfare states of Europe’, I have this urge to take that person on a forced walking tour of Stockholm”.

Baltimore will be the first stop for billionaire investor and entrepreneur Steve Case, who in September kicks off a $1 million investment round.

Case, CEO of the Washington, D.C., venture firm Revolution, plans to invest $1 million in startups in cities that are off the beaten path for most venture capitalists. The Rise of the Rest bus tour kicks off Sept. 28 in Baltimore and will make stops in Philadelphia, Buffalo and Manchester and Portland, Maine.

Today Startup Maryland announced updates to the schedule (September 12 - October 2) and the rough route for the Pitch Across Maryland, the fourth annual state-wide tour and celebration of entrepreneurship and high-growth startup companies.

The Pitch Across Maryland tour will again traverse the state all in the name of celebrating Maryland's diverse communities of venture building. A sampling of details, key data and results from previous tours follow:

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that it is launching a ruggedized, military-grade auto-injector device, known as Emergard™, which is designed for intramuscular self-injection of antidotes and other emergency response medical treatments that can address exposure to certain chemical agents and other similar emerging threats. Emergard is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is not currently marketed in the U.S., although the company intends to pursue FDA approval of the device. The company has received preliminary interest for Emergard from countries outside the U.S. and anticipates making its first deliveries in limited quantities in Q4 2015.

The world population is continuing to grow for various reasons, and it’s growing fast.

A recent report released by the United Nations revealed that the current world population is 7.3 billion, is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.

Tom Sadowski, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, joins the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) Board of Directors as a representative appointed by Governor Larry Hogan.  

"It is imperative that our planning efforts complement economic development activity as we work to promote prosperity in the Baltimore region," said Michael B. Kelly, executive director of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. "In Tom Sadowski, BMC's Board of Directors gains a wealth of knowledge and experience - especially in fostering and maintaining regional partnerships and promoting positive economic development initiatives. We look forward to working with him."

Three Maryland colleges cracked the top 100 of the 2015 Forbes’ Top Colleges list.

The schools and their rankings on the list are:

No. 27: U.S. Naval Academy No. 62: Johns Hopkins University No. 93: University of Maryland, College Park

Chevy Chase-based New Enterprise Associates ranked among the VC firms with the best exits (meaning biggest acquisitions and initial public offerings) between 2009 and 2015, according to a new report from CB Insights.

Silicon Valley firms Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners were also included at the top of the list.

A gel being developed in the lab at Johns Hopkins University is designed to make all signs of wounds disappear.

Gemstone Biotherapeutics, which focuses on wound care, grew out of the research of Hopkins engineering professor Sharon Gerecht. The winner of Hopkins’ first-ever President’s Frontier Award, Gerecht’s work is focused on tissue repair.

MedImmune has received a state award recognizing the company's commitment to environmentally conscious practices.

Maryland's Green Registry announced Thursday that MedImmune was one of its five 2015 Leadership Award winners. 

GenArraytion, Inc., is pleased to announce a manufacturing license agreement with Chemring Detection Systems, Inc. (“CDS”), a subsidiary of Chemring Sensors & Electronic Systems (CSES) and part of Chemring Group PLC (“Chemring”), in support of the development of the Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Athina Consumable Cartridge product. GenArraytion will provide a highly multiplexed molecular assay panel on Luminex magnetic beads that will detect multiple biological warfare agents in a single reaction as part of the Athina Consumable Cartridge solution. 

CDS was awarded a $14,934,533 cost-plus-incentive-fee incrementally funded JBTDS contract with options last month.  The Athina product technology is the basis for the awarded JBTDS solution. Fiscal year 2015 research, development, testing and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,456,639 were obligated at the time of the award.  CSES was granted the contract after an evaluation and selection process that began in early 2014.

Three venture firms stand out in a new study by CB Insight of who consistently enjoyed the biggest exits — IPOs or sales — of their portfolio companies.

Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and New Enterprise Associates had at least five of the top exits in two windows used in the study. They were the only ones to be in the top five for both periods used in the CB Insights research.

Three American universities are set to conduct wide-ranging research on cryptocurrencies using roughly $3m in grant funding from the National Science Foundation, a US government agency that supports and funds scientific research.

Cornell, the University of Maryland and the University of California Berkeley will focus on developing new cryptocurrency systems that, according to principal investigator Elaine Shi, will address “pain points” attributed to bitcoin and other existing networks.

The Pentagon today awarded its years-in-the-making multibillion contract to upgrade its electronic health records system, to defense IT firm Leidos, which partnered with electronic health record vendor Cerner and Accenture Federal.

The Defense Healthcare Management Systems Modernization contract’s base value is $4.3 billion over 10 years, with an expected 18-year lifecycle value of $9 billion, and will put Leidos in charge of building a next-generation health records system responsible for DOD’s 9.6 million beneficiaries.

Developing lab research into the foundations of a profitable biotech company has always been a high-risk, high-reward business.

Deerfield Management, a New York-based healthcare investor with more than $5 billion under management and two decades of experience, has created a new $550 million fund that targets early stage science from academic medical centers and hospitals. The fund is specifically focused on innovative treatments for genetic disorders, cancer, and orphan diseases.

Event is open to Post-Docs & Professional Scientists currently work in the Therapeutic Areas of:

• Oncology
• Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmunity
• Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases
• Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
• Related scientific disciplines

Business roles who support the groups above should also register!

Event will include music, lawn games, hors d'oeuvres, and drinks

A recent Kauffman Foundation study found that year-over-year startup activity in the U.S. increased in 2015 for the first time in five years and showed the largest increase in more than 20 years. This is particularly good news from an employment perspective because new firms create the vast majority of net new jobs. And, fortunately for the Greater Baltimore market, Maryland is recognized as a leader in innovation. When compared to other Northeast Corridor metros, Greater Baltimore has historically had a greater startup rate than Boston and Philadelphia.

Maryland Technology Development Corp.’s new board chair, Newt Fowler, is stepping in as the investment agency’s responsibility grows five-fold.

TEDCO this year will take over disparate investment programs from Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development, most notably the state’s Maryland Venture Fund. All told, the shift will put an additional $100 million under TEDCO’s management beginning Oct. 1.

Silver Spring-based United Therapeutics' quarterly sales got a boost from its newest treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, while higher research and development costs, and a bigger payroll, dragged down the bottom line.

United Therapeutics had second quarter revenue of $347.2 million, up 7.5 percent from $322.8 million in revenue in the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $99.2 million, or $1.91 per share, compared to net income of $111.9 million, or $2.10 per share a year ago.

The term 'translational sciences' means different things to different people. For MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, the term refers to our expertise in accelerating drug development through the careful selection of the right patients in early clinical trials. As recently shared by Dr. Bahija Jallal, Executive Vice President, AstraZenenca, and Head of MedImmune at the recent 'ON Helix' translational research conference hosted by One Nucleus, translational science is a mind-set that's embedded throughout MedImmune.

Newt Fowler, a longtime advisor and business planner for Baltimore entrepreneurs and investors, has been named chair of the Maryland Technology Development Corp.

Fowler, a business transactions partner with Baltimore's Womble Carlyle LLP, is among four officers elected by the 15-member board of directors.

The federal government is attempting to ensure that doctors don't inadvertently compromise patient data when they use smartphones to access electronic health records. 

The National Institutes of Standards in Technology this week released a step-by-step guide for hospitals and IT professionals, listing ways to secure the connection between devices and electronic health records.

The shift from fully integrated pharmaceutical companies (FIPCOs) to virtually integrated pharma companies (VIPCOs) has made biopharmas more reliant on external R&D. Often, that external R&D comes from startups nurtured through the venture funds of biopharma giants.

This year’s List offers three significant changes since last year’s ranking of corporate venture funds. One is the exclusion of Novo Ventures and Novo Seeds from the list, since the funds do not invest for the benefit for Novo Nordisk, but for its holding company Novo A/S. 

Baxalta Incorporated, a $6 billion global biopharmaceutical leader dedicated to delivering transformative therapies to patients with orphan diseases and underserved conditions, has completed the acquisition of the Oncaspar (pegaspargase) portfolio from Sigma-Tau Finanziaria S.p.A.

The acquisition includes Oncaspar, an important biologic treatment for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the novel investigational biologic calaspargase pegol, and established global clinical and commercial resources. Baxalta previously announced plans to acquire the portfolio for approximately $900 million.

AstraZeneca's global biologics R&D arm MedImmune has entered into a five-year multi-project research collaboration with the University of Sheffield to carry out breakthrough research in cell factory technology process.

With the in cell factory technology, living cells can be controlled and manipulated to make specific proteins with therapeutic benefits.

Johns Hopkins University tops the list of private, non-government employers in the Baltimore region, although three of the top five Baltimore-area employers are health systems — an unsurprising fact given that most workers in the Baltimore area are in health care or education.

Health care and education employees make up 19 percent of workers in the Baltimore area, more than any other supersector, according to May data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, there are large employers of many different industry types in the Baltimore area. Subscribers can check out the full list here.

MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and the University of Sheffield announced today that they have entered into a multi-project research collaboration to generate breakthrough research in cell factory technology, the process by which living cells can be controlled and manipulated to make specific proteins with therapeutic benefits. 

As part of the five-year collaboration, MedImmune will provide funding and in-kind contributions to support University of Sheffield post-doctoral and doctoral research projects to address key challenges in cell engineering. The aim is to produce tools to ensure that manufacturing success is “designed in” from a much earlier stage than occurs with current screening-based strategies, to improve the development and production of biologic medicines. The collaboration will focus on harnessing expertise from both MedImmune and the world-leading group in the University’s Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre to advance research specifically in mammalian cell factories.

Bioscience companies up to 7 years old can now apply for state funding that was formerly available only to younger companies.

BioInnovation Connecticut, managed by Connecticut Innovations, a state financing entity, invests in bioscience companies to speed the path to commercialization through its CT Bioscience Innovation Fund. Until July 1, only companies 3 years old and younger were eligible to apply, said Margaret Cartiera, vice president and fund manager for BioInnovation CT.

It is no secret that 2015 has been a highly active year for deal-making in the life science space.  However, what is often overlooked is exactly where in the space those deals are taking place. Life Science Nation’s financing rounds database contains detailed information on over 250 of these rounds that have taken place since January 1 of 2015. We track this data from a variety of sources however as many companies and investors chose not to disclose this information this should be viewed as a sample of the entire data set of financings. With this article will highlight what our data tells us about the rounds that have taken place thus far in 2015 for therapeutics companies around the globe.

Venture-backed biotechs continue their blistering pace of funding. According to the latest MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), with data from Thomson Reuters, over $2.1B was invested in biotech companies in 2Q 2015, bringing the year to date total to almost $4B(covered here, here). Four of the last five quarters are amongst the largest record-setting quarters in ten years.

It’s one of the best periods for biotech funding in the history of the industry, offering an opportunity for emerging companies to scale and develop their pipelines more significantly than ever before.

Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EDT) Washington, DC

The Washington DC region is part of an east coast corridor rich in life science talent, technical know-how and business development expertise. Montgomery County, Maryland itself is host to a unique ecosystem of potential resources for startups in health tech: centers of research, strong universities, leading biotech and pharma companies, and government agencies. This ecosystem means that health tech founders can immediately access resources and build the strategic partnerships to support their rapid growth.

This event will discuss Relevant Health, a new health tech startup accelerator program based in Rockville, Maryland, and the regional environment for startups in health tech. Come ready both to hear about opportunities for startups and discuss your experiences and needs as someone interested in building our health tech capital.