News

COLLEGE PARK, MD – July 15, 2025 – IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), a leading commercial quantum computing and networking company, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Capella Space Corporation, an American space tech company with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and satellite solutions for government and commercial applications. 

The closing marks a significant step in IonQ’s mission to develop the world’s first space-to-space and space-to-ground satellite quantum key distribution (QKD) network, enabling quantum-secure global communications.

By Sara Gilgore – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal – Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s D.C. incubator is preparing to leave Children’s National Hospital’s Research and Innovation Campus at Walter Reed.

J&J’s innovation arm informed the pediatric health system that it intends to “begin transitioning site operations and management for select JLabs locations back to site owners in 2026,” Dr. Nathan Kuppermann, Children’s National’s chief academic officer, wrote Tuesday in an internal memo to staff, obtained by the Washington Business Journal.

The JLabs incubator will begin winding down its operations at that site ahead of a planned departure in January 2026, according to the email. Kuppermann said the change “does not alter” the system’s vision or long-term goals and, rather, “opens the door to new possibilities for growth and innovation” at the campus.

July 14, 2025 | Jon Kelvey – A team of researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) recently won a $250,000 prize from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve technologies for delivering genome editing tools to targeted cells in the body. They were one of four winners in a competition after successfully demonstrating a new technique to deliver genome editing biotechnology across the blood-brain barrier to brain cells in preclinical models. 

Maryland companies looking to expand their global reach can now apply for the Maryland Global Consulting Program, returning this fall with a new cohort of student-led international business consulting teams. Projects begin the week of September 22, 2025, and enrollment is open on a rolling basis.

Organized in partnership with the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and the Maryland Department of Commerce, this program pairs local companies with graduate student teams to solve global business challenges and support international expansion efforts.

By John Carroll, Editor & Founder – The numbers aren’t all bad in biotech. But you’d be forgiven if you thought they were. And you’d be in good company. Once again, Chris Dokomajilar at DealForma has been checking the data for us on what Q2 and the first half indicate for the rest of 2025. Once again, Chris Dokomajilar at DealForma has been checking the data for us on what Q2 and the first half indicate for the rest of 2025.

Significantly, dealmaking is holding up, particularly for prime late-stage drugs, as M&A popped a bit in the first half of this year and licensing numbers edged up in biotech. But once you look past dealmaking, it’s a question of just how much the numbers have eroded from last year — or last quarter.

July 8, 2025 – The U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program announced the 29 semifinalists advancing to the next stage of the second competition – spanning critical technologies and applications ranging from energy grid security to maximizing the yield of critical minerals mining to advanced optical sensors. The semifinalist teams, many of whom have been building their regional coalitions for a year or longer, are led by universities, nonprofits, private industry and other organizations from across the United States. View a map of the NSF Engines semifinalists.

The Accelerate Investor Conference is a venture investor and startup conference and early stage business competition that showcases our region as a powerhouse for innovation and business opportunity.

The competition fuels innovation-based business growth by showcasing the best and brightest new tech startups to potential investors to foster their development.

Dozens of top tech companies and 20+ student teams will compete to win cash and bragging rights. The competition targets entrepreneurs with early to mid seed stage, high growth businesses with the potential to have an immediate and positive impact on our local economy, as well as student concepts with longer-term business viability.

VIENNA, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CEL-SCI Corporation (“CEL-SCI” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: CVM), a clinical stage cancer immunotherapy company, today announced the pricing of a best-efforts offering of 1,500,000 shares of its common stock. Each share of common stock is being sold at an offering price of $3.82 per share, priced at-the-market under NYSE American rules. Total gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting the placement agent’s fees and other offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $5.7 million. The offering is expected to close on July 14, 2025, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

VIENNA, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE American: CVM) today announced it has reached an agreement with one of Saudi Arabia’s premier pharmaceutical and healthcare companies for a partnership that spans regulatory and commercial activities for Multikine* (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia. The formal agreement is expected to be signed with the Saudi pharmaceutical partner which will file a Breakthrough Medicine Designation application for Multikine with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) in the coming weeks. According to the SFDA, the response time to a Breakthrough Medicine Designation application is approximately 60 days. Following the granting of the Breakthrough Medicine Designation, Multikine would immediately become available for patient access and reimbursement/sale in Saudi Arabia. Several leading Saudi funds have expressed interest in investing in Multikine, CEL-SCI, and/or a potential joint venture to serve the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market.

Today, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced its groundbreaking Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue (FRONT) program, a transformative initiative to restore brain function and position the U.S. as the global leader in brain repair technology. FRONT aims to use cutting-edge neurodevelopmental principles and stem cell technology to regenerate brain tissue and restore lost functions.