Drug costs are astronomical – this we know.

But we don’t have a transparent, informed way of calculating – or understanding – the true costs of drug development, argued Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor of pharmacoeconomics at Harvard University, in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine. 

Awful patient experience, poor communication, increasing out-of-pocket costs. Investors assembled for a panel discussion of the future of investing in aging technology at the AARP Innovation@50+ focused more on pain points that could apply to healthcare generally not specifically to senior care.

Jody Holtzman, senior vice president of thought leadership at the AARP, moderated the panel.

In just three months, demand for lab and office space at the Johns Hopkins innovation hub, FastForward East, has exceeded supply. The FastForward program, designed to move academic findings through translational research into the commercial marketplace, was introduced to East Baltimore earlier this year in an interim facility in the Rangos Building at 855 N. Wolfe St. In that time, all of its offices and lab benches have been rented.

Currently, preparations are being made to expand FastForward East from 6,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet of office and lab space. This facility will be a part of a new seven-level, $65.6 million laboratory and office building development, 1812 Ashland.

WHO’S GETTING FUNDED

Sickweather sold $95,000 in debt out of $250,000 offered, according to an SEC filing. The company makes an illness-tracking app, and recently released an Apple Watch version.

CyberSpa sold $350,000 in equity, according to an SEC filing. The downtown company makes technology that provides technical support on Windows PCs.

Emergent BioSolutions announced that a new phase I study has begun at the University of Oxford that will evaluate the use of its modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) Ebola Zaire vaccine candidate as a prime boost to GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK - Analyst Report) Chimp Adenovirus type 3 Ebola vaccine candidate.

The study will enroll 38 volunteers and be conducted in the UK and is being supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for International Development. Emergent BioSolutions manufactured the supply of MVA Ebola Zaire vaccine candidate to be used in this phase I study.

What’s the difference between a “good” state for telemedicine and a “bad” one?

The American Telemedicine Association released two reports at its annual conference earlier this month in Los Angeles, a state-by state analysis of coverage and reimbursement policies for telemedicine services and another on physician practice standards and licensure in each state.

Circulomics Inc has been awarded a $1.5M Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to develop its Ligo-miR microRNA assay platform. This award follows a previous $400k Phase I award and will create a comprehensive portfolio of Ligo-miR products designed to address broad swaths of the microRNA market.

The NIH is the premier biomedical research center for the world. Its 27 Institutes and Centers employ approximately 18,000 employees doing a vast array of jobs, all supporting efforts for a healthy nation. For information on the NIH mission, goals, and Institutes and Centers, visit NIH Overview

This position is located in the Transfer Technology Center (TTC) of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. The candidate selected for this position serves as a member of one of the Technology Transfer Center Units with responsibility for advising on and performing the full range of services that facilitate the transfer of new technologies and research materials, particularly with the private sector, for further research or commercial development as appropriate. Works closely with industrial, academic and federal scientists in the development and execution of complex Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). Manages and monitors the processes for handling CRADAs and potential inventions and licenses. Originates Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs), Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs), and other agreements required by the organizations serviced. Advises scientists on the suitability of each agreement for desired research project. Collaborates with the NIH Office of Technology Transfer to ensure that the interests of the NCI are represented in all technology transfer matters. Advises researchers and administrators on matters involving both domestic and foreign patent rights, policies and procedures. Participates in the development and conduct of educational programs designed to train NCI intramural and extramural scientists and administrative staff about inventions, patents, licensing, trade secrets, copyrights, and research and development agreements.  Provides advice and guidance in resolving intellectual property issues in a variety of grants and contract initiatives. For more information, please visit http://ttc.nci.nih.gov/

The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), Maryland’s largest technology trade association, last night announced the winners of its 27th Annual Industry Awards. The celebration and ceremony, which took place at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, was attended by more than 700 technology and business leaders from around the state.

“The breadth of accomplishments of this year’s award recipients is impressive – from the innovations being developed here in Maryland to the leadership of executives and educators to foster inspired workplace and school environments,” said Phil Schiff, TCM’s CEO. “We are proud to honor this year’s winners, which underscore the quality and value of the state’s technology and life sciences communities, and the importance of their work around the world.”

Soligenix, Inc. (OTCQB: SNGX) (Soligenix or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing products that address unmet medical needs in the areas of inflammation, oncology and biodefense, announced today that it has initiated a development agreement with Emergent BioSolutions to implement a commercially viable, scalable production technology for the RiVax™ drug substance protein antigen.  RiVax™ is a vaccine candidate being developed to protect against ricin exposure.  Soligenix will transfer the manufacturing processes and analytics to Emergent to conduct process development work that could potentially lead to a future commercial manufacturing collaboration.   

On April 30, 2015, KeyGene USA, celebrated the opening of its new R&D facilities co-located at the University of Maryland’s Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) in Rockville, Maryland. The R&D facilities include offices, molecular biology labs, a state-of-the-art greenhouse and access to modern growth chambers, tissue culture facilities and other resources. KeyGene USA is part of KeyGene, a leader in molecular breeding and translational agriculture with its headquarters in Wageningen, the Netherlands. KeyGene USA’s research programs will primarily be focused on crops of significance to the North and South American markets.

The angel investor market in 2014 had a slight correction in investment dollars and in the deal size. Total investments in 2014 were $24.1 billion, a decrease of 2.8% over 2013, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. A total of 73,400 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in 2014, an increase of 3.8% over 2013 investments. The number of active investors in 2014 was 316,600 individuals, an increase of 5.9% from 2013. The change in both total dollars and the number of investments resulted in a deal size for 2014 that was smaller than in 2013 (a decrease in deal size of 6.4% from 2013). These data indicate that angels were active investors in 2014 but at decreased valuations than in previous years, indicating a slight market correction in valuations. However, the $24.1 billion is a robust amount and is close to the market high of $26.0 billion that occurred in 2007.

Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser has named Matt Bailey the first director of technology innovation for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

The appointment is part of an effort to create innovative solutions to address the challenges that Washington, D.C., faces as a city, said Bowser in a release.

There seems to be something special about coworking spaces. As researchers who have, for years, studied how employees thrive, we were surprised to discover that people who belong to them report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale. This is at least a point higher than the average for employees who do their jobs in regular offices, and something so unheard of that we had to look at the data again.

Forest City Enterprises and its partners on Friday will break ground on a $65.6 million, 165,000-square-foot building at 1812 Ashland Ave. that will be a hub for Johns Hopkins University’s efforts to commercialize research.

Construction is expected to be completed in August 2016.

When it came to deciding where drug giant AstraZeneca would expand its work making biologic medicines, there was no question the project would happen in Maryland, the company's top U.S. official said this Wednesday. "I don't know where else we would go in terms of innovation," said Paul Hudson, AstraZeneca's U.S. president as the company unveiled progress on its $200 million expansion in Frederick.

A mid-stage trial of Roche Holding AG's experimental immunotherapy showed that it doubled the likelihood of survival for lung cancer patients with the highest levels of a specific biomarker.

The drug, known by the code name MPDL3280A, is part of a new class designed to help the body's immune system fend off cancer by blocking a protein known as Programmed Death receptor (PD-1), or a related target known as PD-L1, used by tumors to evade the body's defenses.

Cancer is costly, pervasive and a growing problem for businesses.

It already accounts for between 10 percent and 15 percent of employers' health costs. As employees work longer before retiring, the bill could get bigger. That’s why Johns Hopkins Medicine is launching a new program that could reduce the business costs of cancer by helping employees better prepare for and cope with it.

Luis Branco didn't originally plan to head to the front lines of the Ebola crisis.

His Germantown-based startup, Zalgen Labs LLC, was testing its diagnostic kits in Sierra Leone last May for a different illness called Lassa Fever, which is endemic in West Africa and kills scores of people there every year. But then, Ebola began to spread.

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) announced that it has entered an agreement with Abbott (NYSE: ABT), a global healthcare company, to develop companion diagnostic tests to identify patients with severe asthma who are most likely to benefit from the investigational biological therapy, tralokinumab. To date, no companion diagnostic blood tests have been approved for use in asthma.

Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will develop and commercialise diagnostic tests to measure serum levels of the proteins periostin and DPP4 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4), which have been identified as potential predictive biomarkers of up-regulated IL-13 in severe asthma. The tests will be developed in conjunction with AstraZeneca’s Phase III trial of tralokinumab, a potential treatment for patients with severe, inadequately controlled asthma, developed by the company’s biologics research and development arm, MedImmune. Periostin has been previously described as a potential biomarker for asthma1, and DPP4 is a novel and promising predictive biomarker identified by MedImmune.

A new phase 1 study has begun at the University of Oxford that will investigate the use of a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) Ebola Zaire vaccine candidate (MVA EBOZ) as a prime-boost to GSK's Chimp Adenovirus type 3 (ChAd3) Ebola vaccine candidate. The study, being conducted by the clinical research group of Professor Adrian Hill of the Jenner Institute, has received regulatory approval to begin from the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a policy vision for the healthcare industry, which outlines the basic plan for each health sub-sector.

Presented during the ‘2015 Bio & Medical Korea’ held at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul last month, the ‘Healthcare Industry Promotion Plan’ is expected to boost Korea’s competitiveness in the healthcare industry.

May 31-June 3, 2015 - Washington, DC

Health Datapalooza is a national conference focused on liberating health data, and bringing together the companies, startups, academics, government agencies, and individuals with the newest and most innovative and effective uses of health data to improve patient outcomes.

As a serial entrepreneur who now runs an Israel-based platform that helps companies raise money from investors, Jon Medved has seen more than a few locales.

“If you’re looking for innovation outside of Silicon Valley in the states, you can really do no better than Maryland,” said Medved, the CEO of OurCrowd.

Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: PIRS), a biotechnology company advancing its patented and proprietary Anticalin® biotherapeutic technologies, announced today that Jean-Pierre Bizzari, M.D., has joined the Company's Board bringing the total number of directors to six.

Dr. Bizzari was the Executive Vice President, Group Head, Clinical Oncology Development at Celgene Corporation. Since joining Celgene in 2008, he directed the development and approval of a number of leading oncology products including REVLIMID®, VIDAZA®, ISTODAX®, and ABRAXANE®.

One of the region’s biggest real estate investors just plunked down more money into the South of Market neighborhood that will soon give rise to a swarm of new offices for technology companies.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: ARE) – which has specialized in life sciences and now is building offices for Uber in Mission Bay and Stripe in SoMa– will team up on a joint venture with TMG Partners on the already-approved 505 Brannan St. TMG made the announcement Tuesday morning.

Baxter International is shelling out $900 million on Sigma-Tau’s Oncaspar (pegaspargase) product portfolio, in a move designed to strengthen its commercial foothold in the global oncology market.   Oncaspar is a first-line biologic used as part of a multi-agent chemotherapy regimen to treat the blood cancer acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), currently pulling in sales of around $100 million a year.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Oncaspar® (pegaspargase) product portfolio from Sigma-Tau Finanziaria S.p.A. The acquisition further accelerates the innovation capabilities and the commercial presence of Baxter BioScience in growing oncology markets for rare and orphan diseases. The company gains the leading marketed biologic treatment Oncaspar, the investigational biologic calaspargase pegol, and an established oncology infrastructure with clinical and sales resources. The Oncaspar transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. By mid-year, Baxter expects to establish the BioScience business as a separate, publicly traded, innovation-oriented biopharmaceutical company, Baxalta Incorporated.

Congratulations to all the winners in the third InvestMaryland Challenge. All four will receive a $100,000 top prize from the Department of Business and Economic Development. Check out the rest of the prize winners in the list below, and an explanation of all the different prizes provided by sponsors and partners here.

The Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE), a non-profit translational science research integrator, accelerator and incubator, and ATCC, the premier global biological materials resource and standards organization, announced today a collaboration to establish The ATCC Center for Translational Microbiology at ILSE (the “Center”).

The focus of the Center will be on key challenges identified by both ATCC and ILSE in current translational microbiology, including antimicrobial resistance, synthetic biology, microbial bioinformatics and the microbiome. Research laboratories and staff will be located at ILSE facilities within the state-of-the-art New Jersey Center for Science, Technology & Mathematics (NJCSTM) building at Kean University. Kean University is a founding member of ILSE.

Welcome to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Strategic Visioning Forum. The Institute is gathering ideas for the most compelling scientific priorities in the four NHLBI Strategic Goals to address over the next decade.

Your opportunity to submit initial ideas to help the NHLBI Strategic Visioning process will close on May 15. Click on Submit a New Question or Challenge and don’t miss your chance to share your voice!

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced an agreement to feature Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funded early-stage biomedical companies in an expanded Innovation Zone at the 2015 BIO International Convention®. The Innovation Zone companies, focused on drug discovery, diagnostics and other therapeutic platform technologies, will have dedicated exhibit space and participate in BIO One-on-One Partnering™. Select companies will make 15-minute company presentations in the BIO Business Forum. The Innovation Zone will also feature six universities funded under the prestigious NSF Accelerating Innovation Research Program (AIR). This select group will demonstrate advanced biomedical prototypes that are very close to commercialization stage.

UNC and pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline are joining forces to try developing a cure for HIV/AIDS, with the British company pledging a five-year, $20 million contribution to the effort.

GSK is also chipping in a 10-person research team, to work with faculty members, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students attached to four different labs in UNC’s medical and pharmacy schools.

I’ve known Edmund Pendleton from the University of Maryland as the Director of the D.C. National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Node (a collaboration among the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins). But it wasn’t until seeing him lead the first I-Corps class at the National Institutes of Health that I realized Edmund could teach my class better than I can. After seeing the results of 500+ teams through the I-Corps, the NSF now offers all teams who’ve received government funding to start a company an introduction to building a Lean Startup.