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:

• Notice of Potential Delays to NIH Issuing Awards in May 2015
• (NOT-OD-15-088) National Institutes of Health
• Racial and Ethnic Categories and Definitions for NIH Diversity Programs and for Other Reporting Purposes
• (NOT-OD-15-089) National Institutes of Health
• Reporting Publications in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR)
• (NOT-OD-15-090) National Institutes of Health

Program Announcements:

• Administrative Supplements for Tobacco Regulatory Research on Tobacco Flavors and Flavorings (Admin Supp)
• (PA-15-183)
• National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, National Cancer Institute, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Office of Disease Prevention
• Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement.

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.

National Institutes of Health
Food and Drug Administration
National Cancer Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Office of Disease Prevention
Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement.

In an effort to tap patient communities for insights on drug development, AstraZeneca has inked a five-year deal with PatientsLikeMe, according to a company statement.

Ed Godber, executive vice president of Life Sciences Ventures at PatientsLikeMe, said unlike most of its pharma collaborations, which have been with U.S. affiliates of drug companies, “this one integrates us into the engine of R&D globally. AstraZeneca is putting the patient voice and PatientsLikeMe into the DNA of their innovation process.”

Lung disease lands thousands of patients in the hospital every year. And that’s where many of them stay, unable to breathe without a cumbersome respirator to help circulate air through their lungs.

Breethe Inc., a startup out of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, wants to change that experience. The company is developing a portable, artificial lung that will allow patients to continue treatment outside the hospital. Breethe on Monday announced it had finalized an agreement with UM Ventures, the university’s commercialization office, to license the technology behind its invention.

University of Maryland (UM) Ventures and Breethe, Inc. announced today that Breethe, an early-stage, Baltimore-based medical device company, has obtained exclusive rights to University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) intellectual property (IP) for the development of a wearable, portable blood pump oxygenator that will function as an artificial lung system for patients suffering from respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary collapse. Faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) developed the core licensed technology, with Breethe also obtaining important supporting technology co-owned by UMB and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as part of the license agreement.  The Breethe team plans to leverage the technology to bring the first wearable 'out-of-hospital' artificial lung system to market. UMB has made a $100,000 investment in Breethe through UM Ventures.

All it takes is one hit. And Christy Wyskiel likes her chances.

Johns Hopkins University, where Wyskiel heads up technology commercialization, is among the institutions scrambling to transform more faculty research into startup companies, patents and licenses. Hopkins in 2014 reported $16.5 million in licensing revenue, but is still far behind universities that have been leaders in commercialization. Columbia University, for example, earned $150 million in licensing revenue last year.

AstraZeneca's global biologics R&D arm MedImmune has received fast track designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop MEDI8897, an investigational recombinant human immunoglobulin G1 kappa (IgG1κ) monoclonal antibody (mAb).

This monoclonal antibody is being examined for the prevention of lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants and young children.

We're back in Baltimore thanks to The University of Maryland's Biotech Research and Education Program (BREP) who is sponsoring this BioBuzz networking event on April 9th at @HeavySeasAleHse.  Join us to share an evening with BREP and Baltimore's growing Biotech community. Heavy Seas Alehouse is located in a very accessible part of the city and has plenty of free street parking and a garage directly across the street.

Like plenty of science-oriented high school kids, Andrew Jin is interested in human evolution. But Jin, one of three $150,000 first-place winners in this year's Intel Science Talent Search, took that interest further than most. For his project, the high school senior came up with machine learning algorithms that detect mutations in the human genome—mutations that could one day be used to develop drugs to combat diseases like HIV and schizophrenia.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, this week continued her Maryland Jobs Tour at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Senator Mikulski announced that she has introduced new legislation, the Accelerating Biomedical Research Act, to ensure NIH receives stable funding year after year to support community health, innovation and jobs across Maryland and the nation. Senator Mikulski was joined by NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins and NCATS Director Dr. Christopher P. Austin in touring the NCATS translational research facility to see first-hand state-of-the-art screening for potential new treatments and cures for diseases that can be delivered to patients faster.

The decline in first quarter digital health investment was a notable shift from the steadily rising levels since 2010. That’s probably the most striking development in StartUp Health’s latest report which otherwise highlighted some pretty consistent trends. In the the first three months of 2015, big data attracted the most investment (led by Health Catalyst, which raised $70 million). Plus, more venture capitalists are moving into the sector – at least 20 made two digital health investments. But the second half of the report, which looks at digital health subsectors and deals relevant to the graying market – ie. almost every aspect of consumer health – was a promotional, business-intelligence look at what’s happening with the constituents of one of its sponsors, AARP. Reading the report, I wonder if it really provides enough firepower for innovators to help that 50+ population.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the first 26 recipients of the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program grants. Managed by the Economic Development Administration, the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program is designed to advance innovation and capacity-building activities in regions across the country through three different types of grants.

BALTIMORE, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the School of Medicine (UM SOM) plans to establish a major new Institute for Global Health (IGH), bringing together decades of UM SOM research, treatment and vaccine development around the world, and expanding the School's platform as the premier, leading center for global health research, treatment and prevention. The new Institute will focus on vaccine development and malaria research, and will house the UM SOM's reconfigured Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) as well as a newly-formed Center for Malaria Research (CMR).

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline announced plans Thursday to open a new vaccine research center in Rockville by this fall, a project that could bring up to 700 new jobs to Montgomery County. The center — at the site of the former Human Genome Sciences, which Glaxo acquired in 2012 for $3.6 billion — would combine two Glaxo research facilities on the East Coast and is expected to employ 1,000 people by 2016, a company spokeswoman said.

The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), Maryland’s largest technology trade association, today announced the finalists for its 27th Annual Industry Awards. Winners will be revealed at a celebration on May 13 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. This year, the Industry Awards Celebration recognizes the achievements that inspiration can bring. Achievements in technology and life sciences that were nurtured locally, and grew to have a global impact.

Though the Terrapins men’s basketball team didn’t pass the second round of the NCAA tournament, this university found success in a different kind of bracket. This university was named the “Nation’s Greenest University” by SaveOnEnergy.com in its March Mania Bracket, taking on Kansas University, Duke University and the University of Virginia before defeating the University of Louisville in the championship. In the spirit of March Madness, SaveOnEnergy.com — an online energy comparison website — created March Mania to mimic the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. The tournament included 16 of the nation’s top men’s basketball teams and ranked them based on their green efforts, according to the March Mania website.

Thrasos Therapeutics, a biotherapeutics company focused on delivering new solutions for kidney disease, today announced that it has completed a $21M Series D financing led by BDC Capital and SR One with participation by all current investors. Thrasos’ Board of Directors will be expanded with the addition of Ela Borenstein, Managing Partner at BDC Capital Healthcare Venture Fund.

Another startup-focused program from TEDCO is on the way. The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) an innovation grant this week. TEDCO will use the $500,000 i6 Challenge award to launch a program for commercialization of medical devices. The program, called Maryland Structure Efficient Professional Product Development (mdSTEPP), is aiming to create 5-7 new medical device companies a year. It’s another example of the state working to turn the research that emerges from Maryland’s hospitals, labs and other centers into profitable businesses. The announcement also comes as University of Maryland officials are looking to expand the institution’s BioPark in Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins University is finally making the investment in commercialization that many have long wanted.

When serial entrepreneurs Greg Cangialosi and Dave Troy launched the Baltimore Angels in 2009, the small group of investors heard pitches from hopeful entrepreneurs in a cramped Baltimore conference room, with maybe a pizza and bottle of water to share. Six years later, the Baltimore Angels are a crew of 40 investors, making deals upwards of $100,000. As Baltimore’s startup scene grows, Cangialosi is tightening the screws on the Baltimore Angels to attract new members, raise more money, ink more deals and be a driving force in the city’s entrepreneurship community.

CLARKSVILLE, MD--(Marketwired - Apr 6, 2015) - Neuronascent, a biopharmaceutical company developing non-invasive, neuron regenerative therapeutics aimed at reversing cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease, today announced the closing of a round of financing for up to $1.2 million. Neuronascent's human neuronal progenitor-based discovery platform identified a number of novel orally-available therapeutics that promote new neuron generation at the same time inhibiting loss of neurons. Proceeds from this first institutional investment will allow the development of Neuronascent's lead Alzheimer's candidate, NNI-362, to the point of first-in-human clinical testing. The Company expects to complete all IND-enabling studies in 2015, with the considerable support of the National Institute of Aging's (NIA) Alzheimer's Disease Translational Research Program.

I’ve reached the stage of my career where I’ve been invited to give “career retrospective talks” to grad students and post-docs at academic institutions. It’s been an interesting and enjoyable experience meeting a new generation of young scientists and hearing what’s on their minds. After delivering my seminar and sharing lots of stories and advice, the discussion quickly turns to jobs: what’s available out there, and how do you get one?

FastForward, the catalyst for the advancement and commercialization of Johns Hopkins innovations, will help drive business development. There will be some available space outfitted as a core lab facility with shared equipment. Approximately 115,000 SF of the building is already committed. An additional 53,000 SF of lab and office space is available. Additionally, there will be 2,000 SF of retail space that will open directly to the lobby and serve as the social hub for innovation activities in the building. This space will have 180 degree exposure to Ashland Avenue and Eager Park. The retail tenant can extend its outdoor operation onto the ground floor building terrace and into Eager Park.

WASHINGTON DC—AARP today announced the launch of a new program to give developers of popular and emerging products insight into how Americans 50-plus use technology in order to identify ways to improve the devices for mature consumers. The initiative is called Project Catalyst and its first study is focused on popular activity and sleep trackers. In conjunction with UnitedHealthcare and Pfizer Inc., this is the first of several technology studies that AARP will conduct with the goal of accelerating innovation for aging Americans. “Technology that is designed well – designed for all – can be used by a 5-year-old and a 95-year-old, alike. We are thrilled about starting this study and commencing the launch of the Project Catalyst program, said Jody Holtzman, AARP senior vice president of Thought Leadership. “The goals of Project Catalyst are in direct alignment with the mission of AARP – to identify challenges and determine solutions to improve the quality of life for people as they age.”

Did you know you could use your iPhone to monitor your pulse and oxygen levels? From nanobot surgery to microchip medical records, new medical technologies come about in different ways. Check out the infographic below to see what affects medical research, research spending numbers, and some of the important technologies now available as a result:

When it comes to dividend income, there are few industries more sought after than pharmaceutical stocks. More specifically, investors tend to focus on the 10 largest companies by market cap in pharmaceuticals because they're likely to have established product portfolios, deep drug development pipelines, and significant cash flow that allows them to pay dividends regularly higher than the S&P 500 average of 2%. In fact, of the 10 largest companies by market cap in pharmaceuticals, there isn't one with a dividend yield lower than 2.2%, and the combined operating cash flow of these 10 companies over the trailing-12-month period equaled -- get ready for this -- $91.3 billion!

The Institute of Medicine has tapped Dr. Margaret Hamburg, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to serve as its next foreign secretary. Hamburg stepped down from the FDA last month after nearly six years at the agency, the longest term served since Dr. David Kessler, who served in the presidential administrations of both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Dr. Stephen Ostroff has been named acting commissioner at the FDA. In her new, part-time role as the IOM's foreign secretary, Hamburg will serve as a senior adviser on international matters to the IOM president and council, as well as a liaison to other countries' academies of medicine and science. A part of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute provides independent advice to policymakers, health professionals, businesses and the public.

We have a few critical updates for you as well as news on many other issues. How about breaking the DoD SBIR program out from the others and making it permanent? How about breaking the DoD services (Army, Navy Air Force) out from under the OSD? We've got this and much more for you.

Johns Hopkins University is set to open a new branch of FastForward in East Baltimore. The incubator’s new location, called FastForward East, is located in a building just north of the university’s medical campus, at the corner of Wolfe and Ashland Streets. The original FastForward space, near JHU’s Homewood campus, is currently at capacity with 12 startups. FastForward also runs an accelerator program, which has helped 41 startups. University officials have openly acknowledged that JHU lags behind other universities of similar stature when it comes to tech transfer. The expanding physical space offers the university the chance to nurture companies that have grown directly out research at the university, and become a more visible player in the local startup scene.

M&A may seem hot in the life sciences, but that and IPO activity is starting to cool across all sectors, according to a new report from the National Venture Capital Association. The first quarter of 2015 saw less than 20 venture-backed IPOs since the first quarter of 2013. Independent of sector, when it comes to deal size, this quarter was the slowest in M&A since the first quarter of 2013. But the bulk of the IPOs completed were, of course, in the life sciences – 13 of the 17 exits were in the medical and biotech sectors.

Katie Kirsch did not expect a move to Baltimore. Wrapped in a pashmina scarf in Baltimore’s Harbor East, she sips her chai and shrugs her shoulders, “We were destination agnostic.” Kirsch is the chief marketing officer of Sisu Global Health, a startup that creates medical devices for emerging markets. Sisu got its start in Grand Rapids, Mich., but acceptance into DreamIt Ventures’ Baltimore Health IT accelerator had them pick up and move east.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has encouraged a culture of entrepreneurship, UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, said in remarks at the 2015 Maryland Regional BioTech Forum. Perman appeared with three other university presidents on a panel, “How Academia Can Help Drive our Region’s Biotech Cluster.” The theme of the forum, “Growing Our Ecosystem,” referred to ways that corporate, governmental and academic partners can collectively make the region a leading hub of groundbreaking science and technology.

Cerner Corporation and Epic Systems have joined iPatientCare as CMS Designated Test EHR Program participants. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced the two rival companies' participation April 6. The CMS program, designed to test electronic data exchange capabilities, is voluntary. Since the Test EHR Program was launched just over a year ago, more than 4,000 providers have registered to conduct tests, and more than 5,000 have successfully attested to the transition of care meaningful use core objective, ONC notes. In the past the program also included MEDITECH and McKesson.

Foundation Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ:FMI) today announced the closing of its strategic transaction with Roche. This transaction included the purchase by Roche of approximately 15.6 million shares of common stock by means of a tender offer from Foundation Medicine stockholders at a price of $50 per share. Concurrently Roche also purchased an additional 5 million newly issued shares directly from the company at the same price per share for gross proceeds to Foundation Medicine of $250 million. As a result of these two related transactions Roche is a majority shareholder in Foundation Medicine. Foundation Medicine will maintain its operational independence with Roche having minority representation on Foundation Medicine’s Board of Directors.

STONY BROOK, N.Y., April 8, 2015 – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has granted Stony Brook University’s Center for Biotechnology a three-year $3 million award through the SUNY Research Foundation to establish the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH). The award is part of the NIH’s Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) program and one of only three granted nationwide. The LIBH will be a collaboration between Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory, and is designed to help accelerate the translation of biomedical discoveries into new drugs, devices, and diagnostics to improve patient care and enhance health.

MDHIMSS annually awards scholarships of $2,500 each to two deserving students in the healthcare information system field:

• One awarded to a student studying healthcare information systems or related computer science
• One awarded to a student enrolled in certification or technical programs in computer technology, networking and telecommunications.

Gaithersburg-based MedImmune says it has received fast-track designation from the Food and Drug Administration for its MEDI8897, a drug being developed to prevent respiratory infections in infants and young children caused by respiratory syncytial virus. “We are working with a sense of urgency to develop a next-generation RSV [treatment] that we believe has the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands more infants, both in the U.S. and around the world,” said Steve Projan, senior vice president of research and development and infectious diseases and vaccines at MedImmune. “If successful, the fast-track designation will enable us to more quickly deliver a preventative solution.”