News

Montgomery County, MD — The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) announced that Bill Tompkins will step down as President & CEO when his term ends in August 2025. Tompkins has served in this role since August 15, 2022.

“This marks a significant moment for MCEDC,” stated Elana Fine, Chair of the Board of Directors. “We extend our gratitude to Bill for his outstanding leadership over the past six years, as both the Chief Operating Officer and as President & CEO. His dedication has laid a strong foundation for future growth while fostering inclusion, driving collaboration, and ensuring stability during challenging times.”

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Essex Management, an Emmes Group company and a leader in biomedical informatics and health information technology, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Loose as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. David succeeds Kevin Hurley, who has served as CEO since February 2019 and will transition to the role of Executive Advisor.

David Loose joined Essex Management as a partner in February 2009 and has played a pivotal role in the company’s growth. Starting as Vice President for Business Operations and Development, he later served as Chief Business Officer, overseeing critical operations, driving client-focused innovation, and delivering strategic initiatives such as NCI’s Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP). His leadership and dedication to Essex’s mission have been instrumental in building its reputation as a trusted partner in the biomedical and health technology sectors.

“David’s leadership and dedication to Essex’s mission make him the ideal choice to guide the company forward,” said Sastry Chilukuri, CEO of Emmes Group. “His focus on innovation and client success will ensure Essex continues to deliver transformative solutions in biomedical informatics and health IT.”

The Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region has quickly become one of the nation’s top destinations for startups and tech innovation. With over 270,000 tech jobs and $5 billion in venture capital raised in 2023, the DMV stands out as a vibrant and rapidly growing ecosystem.

In a recent LinkedIn post, Christon Hill, Program Manager at Georgetown Tech Ventures (GTV) and the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) at Georgetown University, highlights the factors driving this growth. He points to the region’s proximity to federal agencies, cutting-edge research institutions, and a culture of collaboration as key ingredients for success.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Jan. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) today announced the exercise of contract option and modification valued at approximately $20 million to supply BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The first delivery, which was valued at approximately $7 million began in December 2024, and remaining deliveries are expected in 2025.

COLLEGE PARK, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), a leader in the quantum computing and networking industry, today announced the completion of its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Qubitekk, Inc., a prominent quantum networking company. The acquisition brings Qubitekk’s esteemed team, advanced technology, and extensive patent portfolio into IonQ’s operations, solidifying IonQ’s position at the forefront of quantum networking and computing.

Quantum networks are poised to become important infrastructure, with the potential to drive transformative applications in sectors such as defense, finance, and energy. These networks facilitate highly secure communication between multiple quantum nodes using entangled qubits. The technology also enables precise timing synchronization, a transport layer for quantum sensing, and a backbone for distributed quantum computing. With the development and 2022 launch of the EPB Quantum Network in Chattanooga, Tennessee—the first commercially available quantum network in the U.S.—Qubitekk has established itself as a leader in quantum networking.

ROCKVILLE, MD, Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — I-Mab (NASDAQ: IMAB) (the “Company”), a U.S.-based, global biotech company, focused on the development of precision immuno-oncology agents for the treatment of cancer, today highlighted its strategic outlook for 2025 and a re-prioritization of resources, with a focus on advancing its lead program, givastomig, a CLDN18.2 x 4-1BB bispecific antibody, targeting first-line metastatic gastric cancers, with further potential in other solid tumors.

Kolaleh Eskandanian, chief innovation officer at Children’s National Hospital, said the partnership is meant to address the many challenges with developing devices for children and infants.

Published Jan. 2, 2025 – Elise Reuter, Reporter

A collaboration between a children’s hospital and the Food and Drug Administration aims to address challenges in developing medical devices for children and infants. 

Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., struck a five-year research collaboration with the FDA’s Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories (OSEL) to build regulatory science tools to help evaluate pediatric devices. 

The partners will use de-identified clinical data, multimodal imaging and machine learning to develop open-source tools that can be used to design and test devices more efficiently. 

Precigen has submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA, seeking priority review for PRGN-2012, which could become the first FDA-approved treatment for adults with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP)—a rare and chronic disease currently managed through repeated surgeries. PRGN-2012 has received Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug Designations from both the FDA and the European Commission. The application, submitted under an accelerated approval pathway, is backed by Phase 1/2 study data showing over 50% of patients achieved Complete Response and more than 85% experienced fewer surgeries in the year following treatment. PRGN-2012 was also well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities and no severe treatment-related adverse events.

BHI is proud to support ARPA-H through its Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA), providing EIR commercialization services to advance groundbreaking technologies. Notably, BaySpec, one of BHI’s clients, was awarded ARPA-H’s first SBIR grant to develop cutting-edge diagnostics. Andy Kilianski, Program Manager at ARPA-H, recaps key 2024 milestones, including AI-driven drug discovery, RNA therapies, and the $204M APECx biologics program. These efforts underscore ARPA-H’s commitment to accelerating biomedical innovation.

Portfolio Views from 2024
Andy Kilianski
Program Manager at ARPA-H

December 30, 2024
Happy Holidays Everyone!

2024 was a BIG year for my team and our investments in the biomedical and biotechnology ecosystem. Our goal is to invest in transformative technology that allows biomedical R&D to be predictive of human outcomes, in ways that are currently impossible. I want to capture some of our key milestones (in semi-chronological order) to highlight the amazing work already underway with our team at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) . My team and our performers have been incredibly diligent and dedicated to get us to this point. There are a lot of efforts soon-to-be-announced from us as we head into next year, including the kick-off of the CATALYST program mid-2025.