BHI Weekly Newsletter Archives

Johns Hopkins University moved up to 13th in the world and ninth among U.S. universities in the newest Times Higher Education world university rankings, published Tuesday.

BioHealth Innovation CEO, Richard Bendis discusses with Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation for #MOCO365 how BioHealth Innovation helps accelerate the growth of life science and biohealth companies.

Five startups have been selected to participate in the inaugural M-1 Ventures health and fitness-focused accelerator program based at Johns Hopkins University.

MdBio Foundation is excited to be partnering with Verizon Innovative Learning to bring a new mobile experience to District of Columbia Public Schools. The Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab is an entirely new way for middle school students to discover concepts of engineering design. The explorer lab is a shared immersive learning experience that combines movie-quality video, special effects, and hands-on educational gaming to create a learning environment that gets kids excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) – right in the school parking lot.

Universities often seek to supplement their coffers by finding ways to access private-sector funds, such as by setting up technology transfer offices and trying to commercialise their research.

Wednesday, October 18 – Friday, October 20, 2017 at the MC Bioscience Education Center in Germantown, MD.

Bio-Trac® Training Programs is currently accepting preregistrations for our 2017 hands-on training workshops. Preregistration is strongly encouraged due to our small class sizes. Simply provide the few required details below and indicate applicable course(s). We will contact you directly with complete details upon receipt of your preregistration.

When: Thursday, September 14, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT

Where: BIOTrain @ Montgomery College Germantown 20200 Observation Drive Germantown, MD 20876

Join BioBuzz and sponsor BIOTrain for our next networking event and showcase of the continuing-education and workforce support programs throughout the county and state.

There also will be a tour of Montgomery College’s state-of-the-art labs in the same building around 6pm.

TEDCO’s 7th Annual Entrepreneur Expo will bring together all of Maryland’s entrepreneurial resources from across the state into one place, at one time.

You can expect to see 700+ of the region’s top entrepreneurs, small and large business executives, angel and venture capital investors, federal and state economic development officials, university leaders and legislators.

Already dubbed a ‘tech hub’, the Baltimore-Washington region has built a solid foundation in cyber activities as they pertain to government agencies and defense contracting. Now a transformation is underway to build up the commercial side of cyber. And that’s precisely what this panel will reinforce.

Women of the Virginia bioscience community from across the state will lead this full day event offering examples of working together to build a stronger bioscience industry, stronger companies and institutions, stronger teams and networks, and stronger individuals.

DATE AND TIME: Thu, September 28, 2017 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT

LOCATION: One MedImmune Way Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Event is for Post-Docs & Professional Scientists currently working in the Therapeutic Areas of:

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

Event will include music, games, hors d’oeuvres, drinks.

The Maryland Department of Commerce invites you to learn about the new Maryland Defense Diversification Assistance Program that is designed to assist Maryland companies with dependence on US Department of Defense contracts to expand into international markets. The presentation will highlight Australia (particularly the State of Victoria) as a destination for exporting and partnerships.

The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) is pleased to announce the 12 finalists selected to pitch their pediatric medical device innovation at our 5th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium on Sunday, September 24th in San Jose, CA.

Pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences has just put up a cool $11.9 billion to acquire Kite Pharma, which has developed a genetic engineering approach for treating cancers.

Can genomics wizards make an informed guesstimate on what a person looks like, based on his or her DNA? J. Craig Venter sure thinks so, per a new PNAS paper. Yet his Human Longevity Institute study is facing Twitter blowback for that claim.

Scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) in San Diego, California have devised a way to optically image tumors with unprecedented clarity using quantum dots. These nano structures are tiny particles, only a few nanometers wide, that generate light of a specific wavelength when they’re themselves stimulated by a light beam. On their own quantum dots are quite bright, but their signal gets washed out by other nearby quantum dots. To clean the signal and be able to see tumors better, the SBP team used a so-called “etchant”.

Do you have experience in digital health? Are you passionate about developing innovative solutions to complex challenges? If so, consider joining the FDA Digital Health team as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence! The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is establishing this Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program to support and help develop our Software Precertification (PreCert) Pilot Program —a critical piece of our Digital Health Innovation Action Plan, announced on August 8, 2017.

It was an audacious undertaking, even for one of the most storied American companies: With a single machine, IBM would tackle humanity’s most vexing diseases and revolutionize medicine.

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, September 6, 2017 – BioHealth Innovation Inc., (BHI) President and CEO Richard Bendis has been named one of The Daily Record’s 2017 Innovators of the Year. Mr. Bendis is one of 26 individuals and companies who have created new products, services or programs that have had a positive effect on business, industry or the community.

“I am grateful to be chosen as an Innovator of the Year by The Daily Record,” said Mr. Bendis. “The Biohealth Innovation team, along with our partners throughout and beyond the BioHealth Capital Region, all deserve a piece of this honor.”

The 2017 Innovator of the Year awards will be presented Oct. 18th at a reception/dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway in Baltimore. Winners will be profiled in a special magazine that will be inserted into the Oct. 19th issue of The Daily Record and available online at www.TheDailyRecord.com.

Machfu, an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company leading the way in the development of an edge intelligence platform for IIoT, announced that it has raised $1.6 million in the first round of institutional financing. This investment, led by Blu Venture Investors, will allow the company to accelerate its successes in the Smart Grid and Smart Water markets, and expand its footprint in the oil and gas industry. The company has also recently received financing from Maryland’s TEDCO and other angel investors.

When Betsy Edmunds met her future husband, Hooks Johnston, through friends at a bar in New York City on March 30, 1985, she couldn’t believe two things about this tired and overworked investment banker — his name, and how he spoke so earnestly about his family.

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health has awarded Children’s National Health System, in partnership with The George Washington University (GW), another prestigious Clinical and Translational Science Award. The grant, made available to facilities across the nation through a competitive process, underwrites the existing Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National (CTSI-CN) and provides funding that is essential to continue the collaborative pediatric-focused translational research occurring at Children’s and at GW. 

Johns Hopkins University remains the leading patent recipient in the state of Maryland.

BioMarker Strategies, LLC, today announced that the Japan Patent Office has granted new patents covering the Company’s SnapPath® Cancer Diagnostics System technology and its PathMAP® Functional Signaling Profile technology.

BrainScope Company, Inc., the medical neurotechnology company which created the first FDA-cleared handheld medical device for assessment of the full spectrum of traumatic brain injury, today announced it has completed a $16 million equity financing. New investor DBL Partners joined previous backers Revolution LLC, ZG Ventures, Maryland Venture Fund and other existing and new investors in the round, which the company will use to support the commercial launch of its flagship BrainScope One medical device, as well as for continued research and development initiatives.

AstraZeneca has sold off marketing and development rights to another one of its pipeline assets.

This time it’s Takeda that’s stepping up, inking a deal package totaling $400 million for development and commercialization rights to its home grown MEDI1341, an alpha-synuclein antibody designed to combat Parkinson’s disease.

The MVR Company (MVR) and Engineered Medical Systems, Inc. (EMS) announced today that they have executed a lease to occupy space at the City Garage in Port Covington. The location will be used for a medical device manufacturing operation and a business development accelerator to support the State’s emerging growth medical technology companies.

Engineered Medical Systems manufactures medical products for their proprietary line, and provides private label and OEM contracts to distribution teams and other medical device companies. Their current facilities operate out of Indianapolis, IN, and Penang, Malaysia. For several years, MVR and EMS have been in discussions regarding the possibility of placing a medical device manufacturing operation in Baltimore to support the growing Medtech ecosystem in the State of Maryland. EMS will produce proprietary and contract products in the new facility and is in discussions with several out of state companies that are interested in producing in the new location. The facility will be known as The Factory™, consistent with the focus of City Garage to develop new capabilities for Baltimore in high value manufactured products. Brad Quinn, Co-President of EMS and Director of Operations, commented “We have been intrigued by the vibrancy of the clinical and innovation atmosphere in Maryland, and have in fact had several productive relationships in the past with researchers and physicians from the area. We view this as a timely opportunity to engage more deeply with the medical device community in greater Baltimore and Maryland.”

AstraZeneca announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Faslodex (fulvestrant) as monotherapy for use in women with hormone-receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer who are postmenopausal and have not received previous endocrine therapy.

Lightower Fiber Networks, the premier provider of all-fiber, high-performance networking solutions delivered over its own network, announced the availability of a newly constructed, all-fiber Potomac River crossing near Ashburn, VA. Wholly owned and operated by Lightower, the crossing serves as a strategic route that bypasses the greater Washington D.C. area, allowing for superior network connectivity to data centers, cloud providers, and other service locations in northern Virginia, including the Ashburn area.

Virginia Bio, the premier statewide non-profit association of the life science industry in Virginia, elected Andrew J. Krouse to a two-year term as Chairman of the Board of Directors, during the annual meeting of the Board held at i.Lab at UVA.

In a bid to detect cancers early and in a noninvasive way, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report they have developed a test that spots tiny amounts of cancer-specific DNA in blood and have used it to accurately identify more than half of 138 people with relatively early-stage colorectal, breast, lung and ovarian cancers. The test, the scientists say, is novel in that it can distinguish between DNA shed from tumors and other altered DNA that can be mistaken for cancer biomarkers.

The MOVE program is an innovative approach intended to attract new businesses to Montgomery County, Maryland. Eligible new businesses will receive a one-time grant upon signing a commercial lease within the county.

Businesses new to the county that lease up to 20,000 square feet of Class A or B office space may receive a grant of $8/sf. All grants are capped at 10,000 square feet for purposes of calculating the grant award.

Maryland Tech Council CEO, Tami Howie talks with Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation for #MOCO365 on educating, advocating and connecting biotech and tech companies in Maryland.

When: Thursday, September 14, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT

Where: BIOTrain @ Montgomery College Germantown 20200 Observation Drive Germantown, MD 20876

Join BioBuzz and sponsor BIOTrain for our next networking event and showcase of the continuing-education and workforce support programs throughout the county and state.

There also will be a tour of Montgomery College’s state-of-the-art labs in the same building around 6pm.

Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 7:30 AM – American Visionary Art Museum800 Key HighwayJRVC 3rd FloorBaltimore, MD 21230

Already dubbed a ‘tech hub’, the Baltimore-Washington region has built a solid foundation in cyber activities as they pertain to government agencies and defense contracting. Now a transformation is underway to build up the commercial side of cyber. And that’s precisely what this panel will reinforce.

TEDCO’s 7th Annual Entrepreneur Expo will bring together all of Maryland’s entrepreneurial resources from across the state into one place, at one time.

You can expect to see 700+ of the region’s top entrepreneurs, small and large business executives, angel and venture capital investors, federal and state economic development officials, university leaders and legislators.

The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:

Notices

• Notice of Participation of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on RFA-CA-17-031 ” Limited Competition: A Data Resource for Analyzing Blood and Marrow Transplants (U24)
• (NOT-AI-17-038)
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Notice of Applicant Information Webinar for the Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network Centers (U54)
• (NOT-EB-17-010)
• National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
• Notice of Intent to Publish: Stimulating Access to Research in Residency Transition Scholar (StARRTS) (K38)
• (NOT-HL-17-533)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Notice Announcing an Applicant Information Webinar for Phase II of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (RFA-RM-17-019, RFA-RM-17-018, RFA-RM-17-017, RFA-RM-17-016, RFA-RM-17-015)”
• (NOT-RM-17-038)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives

Requests for Applications

• Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) (R38)
• (RFA-HL-18-023)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Program Announcements

• Continuation of Existing Grant Based Epidemiology Cohort Studies in Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Diseases and Disorders (U01)
• (PAR-17-338)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Clinical and Epidemiological Research on Chronic Disease in the Caribbean (R01)
• (PAR-17-470)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Corporate venture firms are a well-established presence on the biotech funding scene, with the likes of Novartis and Glaxosmithkine’s SR One among the most active investors in the sector. However, the past few years have seen some different names crop up more and more: Pfizer, Celgene and Roche have noticeably stepped up their financing activity, a new analysis by EP Vantage finds.

Corporate venture capital (CVC) has long been an important source of capital for early-stage biotechs and shows no signs of diminishing, with more and more biopharma companies stepping up their investment activity.

We built it, but they didn’t come. In another less-than-glowing analysis of Florida’s innovation economy, the Florida Research Consortium says the state lags in overall number of scientists and in the number of scientists publishing research.

On May 11, Scott Gottlieb, M.D., officially became the 23rd commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Gottlieb has previous FDA experience, having served as deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs, among other positions, during the George W. Bush administration. More recently, he was a venture partner at the world’s largest venture capitalist firm, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), sitting on the boards of several pharmaceutical companies, including GSK, Daiichi Sankyo, and Vertex. He was also a clinical assistant professor and practiced medicine at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, and is a cancer survivor (Hodgkin’s lymphoma).

In July 2017, Nanochon LLC and CEO Ben Holmes were awarded a Phase I SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will fund the development of an implantable medical device for cartilage repair in the knee, based on 3D printing technology. Nanochon LLC was founded by Ben Holmes and Nathan Castro and is based on their work in Grace Zhang’s Tissue Engineering Lab.

Join us on September 24, 2017 in San Jose, CA, one day before The MedTech Conference powered by AdvaMed, for the 5th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium. This year’s theme is “Partnering for Breakthroughs in Pediatric Surgery and Care.”

TOP REASONS TO ATTEND

Experienced Startup Development Officers Help Universities, Faculty, Researchers, Students and Entrepreneurs Create, Develop and Fund University Startups and IP

Join this webinar to learn more about: How to Attract Venture Capital Wednesday, September 6, 1:00 pm ET/10:00 am PT

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Researchers, Students, Faculty, Entrepreneurs, Startups, Vice Presidents of Research, University Tech Transfer Offices, Open Innovation Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, Angel Groups, VCs, University Venture Funds, University Angel Groups

September 28, 2017 11a PT/ 2p ET

Join us for a web panel discussion on how to successfully move a life science organization from founding to exit. During this discussion, founders will provide guidance on how executive teams can partner business and science together to overcome the stumbling blocks along the way and achieve results. Learn what is real and what is myth!

The university and life science giants AstraZeneca and MedImmune have joined forces with the burgeoning Cambridge Biomedical Campus and pledged to work with the Government and partners in areas identified as major catalysts for growth.

Biotech/Health execs play for a small $50 donation in the tournament that will benefit Zaching Against Cancer Foundation organization.

Welcome to the 2017 Biotech / Health Invitational, a DogDenGolf managed event that is being supported by top executives at Medimmune, other Biotechnology / Health companies and Vendors in the region. This year’s event will be held on October 23, 2017, at Cattail Creek Country Club in Glenwood, MD and will determine the Biotech / Health Executive Golfers of the Year.

Proceeds from this event will benefit Zaching Against Cancer Foundation (ZACF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation established to provide support to cancer patients and their support networks through scholarships, research and outreach. Money raised by ZACF goes toward several college scholarships, an internship and donation to cancer research and outreach organizations.

For more information, visit their websites at www.zachingagainstcancer.org.

A company that creates vaccines is expanding in Gatihersburg and adding to the quickly growing bio-technology industry in Montgomery County.

Gaithersburg’s Altimmune just announced that the company will expand to a new, 14,000 square foot building.

Q&A WITH JONATHAN GENN FOR VIVA WHITE OAK

We recently spoke to Jonathan Genn, Executive Vice President & General Counsel for Percontee, Inc. & Global LifeSci Development Corporation, about the Viva White Oak, a public-private partnership between Global LifeSci Development Corporation, an affiliate of Percontee, Inc., and Montgomery County to build a global state-of-the-art life sciences center in eastern Montgomery County.

Marriott is branching out from hotels into the world of travel experiences in an innovative collaboration between Accenture and Incubator 1776.

The Travel Experience Incubator is a 12-week programme commencing on 12 September which has already received 165 applicants, from which six will be selected to take part in an ideas competition.

The Inova Personalized Health Accelerator (IPHA) announced today that health and biosciences industry veteran Michael Thomas has been appointed Director of the Accelerator. Prior to joining Inova, Michael was founder and CEO of Appian Partners, an Annapolis life sciences consulting practice. His med-tech experience has spanned several early stage, growth stage, and turn-around ventures as CEO of Appian Partners, ReGear Life Sciences, NuSomnea, Tanzen Medical, Mommy’s Medicine Cabinet, Appian Medical, iSonea, and NovaSom. He also served on the board of directors for AdvaMed and Circadiance. He started his career in the pharmaceutical industry with Merck & Company and GlaxoSmithKline. Michael earned a BS in Microbiology from Cornell University.

It’s a common trope that government has a lot to learn from Silicon Valley when it comes to technology. But in cybersecurity, Washington is leading the way in many respects.

When federal leaders and lawmakers praise industry’s tech savvy, they’re usually talking about innovation, flexibility and speed to market. IT companies aren’t burdened by a labyrinthine acquisition process. They can shift quickly when customers want something different, abandon failing efforts and push products out at the lowest cost.

TEDCO’s 7th Annual Entrepreneur Expo will bring together all of Maryland’s entrepreneurial resources from across the state into one place, at one time.

You can expect to see 700+ of the region’s top entrepreneurs, small and large business executives, angel and venture capital investors, federal and state economic development officials, university leaders and legislators.

Cambridge headquartered AstraZeneca and its global biologics R & D arm MedImmune, plan to develop new therapies for respiratory disease through a five-year collaboration with Munich-based Ethris GmbH.

The Cambridge UK duo will pay Ethris €25 million upfront, plus research funding; Ethris is also eligible for future R & D milestones, including sales-related royalties on commercialisation.

Intralytix, Inc. announced that it received $17.5 million in new equity funding from Lesaffre, a French family group. This investment marks the beginning of a close collaboration between both companies to develop and commercialize bacteriophage-based products, for various benefits in human health and in other areas of mutual interest.

As a global key player in yeasts and fermentation, Lesaffre designs, manufactures and markets innovative solutions for Baking, Food taste & pleasure, Health care and Biotechnology. This new investment is perfectly in line with Lesaffre’s ongoing expansion strategy in nutrition and health. In 2015, Lesaffre had already announced the investment in Gnosis, an Italian company specialized in ingredients for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and veterinary industries.

As digital healthcare completes its migration to a mobile-centric world, profound innovations are moving full speed ahead toward solutions that aid in chronic care diagnosis, treatment, and management. “There’s a lot of noise—activities, press releases, and investments—and a lot of partnerships going on in digital health,” says Kevin McRaith, chief executive officer of WellDoc.

WellDoc, a digital health company based in Columbia, Md., is an active participant in several such key partnerships. The Columbia, Md.–based company was founded by an endocrinologist with her vision to create an engaging, effective digital health solution for adults with type 2 diabetes. More than a decade later, WellDoc has established itself as a leader in the field of digital health

Gliknik Inc. today announced that clinicians have enrolled and dosed the first of 80 patients in the company’s phase 2 clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of biropepimut-S (GL-0817), an immunomodulatory therapeutic targeting the prevention of recurrence of squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity in patients at high risk of recurrence after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

“We are pleased to enroll the first patient in this phase 2 trial of biropepimut-S, which will further our understanding of the potential role of this advanced-design cancer vaccine with immune enhancing adjuvants in high-risk oral cavity cancer,” said Jeff Herpst, Senior Director of Clinical Development at Gliknik.

AN INTERVIEW WITH GSK’S CHRISTOPHER MADDOX, DIRECTOR OF SITE OPERATIONS MOCONNECT

Recently interviewed GSK’s Christopher Maddox, Director of Site Operations for The Slaoui Center for Vaccines Research in Rockville. The company made news when it selected Rockville to serve as its U.S. R&D Center, furthering strengthening Montgomery County as a major player in global healthcare.

Maryland Technology Development Corp.’s board of directors elected four new executive officers, including a new chairman.

Francis Smyth, CEO Century Engineering, has been named chair. He replaces former chairman Newt Fowler, an attorney from Womble Carlyle, who will remain on the board.

GlaxoSmithKline is scrapping more than 30 drug development programs. The major cull of pipeline prospects will see GSK focus 80% of its R&D budget on the top candidates in four therapeutic areas and potentially exit the rare disease space.

A number of local movers and shakers with ties to Johns Hopkins have landed on the “40 Under 40” list published by the Baltimore Business Journal.

The journal’s annual list takes note of “innovators, professionals, and entrepreneurs in Greater Baltimore who have already made great strides before the age of 40,” including developers, CEOs, educators, and nonprofit founders. A Nov. 16 ceremony will celebrate this year’s b

Inova Genomics Laboratory is thrilled to offer you our exclusive MediMap® PGx (pharmacogenomics) panel – as well as tests for up to two family members, if applicable at your event.

What is MediMap?

MediMap is a one-time genetic test that may indicate how a person will respond to some prescription medications. The test helps guide healthcare providers to better medication choices and doses for their patients. MediMap testing provides information to more effectively manage illnesses and improve patients’ health. To learn more, please visit www.inova.org/MediMap. What’s involved?

All that’s needed is a painless cheek swab, which we will conduct after you have registered by filling out the form below.

The PMatX Yavne incubator will serve Israeli startups and focus on next-generation electronics and advanced materials.

German pharmaceutical, life sciences and chemicals giant Merck Group today announced the founding of a technological innovation laboratory that will function as an incubator for startups in Israel. The incubator, to be called PMatX, will focus on next-generation electronics. The program will be supported by other partners, including printing solutions manufacturer HP and the Battery Ventures fund.

DATE AND TIME: Tue, September 19, 20177:30 AM – 10:00 AM EDT

LOCATION: American Visionary Art Museum800 Key Highway JRVC 3rd Floor Baltimore, MD 21230

Already dubbed a ‘tech hub’, the Baltimore-Washington region has built a solid foundation in cyber activities as they pertain to government agencies and defense contracting. Now a transformation is underway to build up the commercial side of cyber. And that’s precisely what this panel will reinforce.

Host: UM BioPark & Wexford Science + Technology

Location: UM BioPark 801 W. Baltimore Street, Patio, Weather permitting Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Time: 5:00pm to 6:30pm

Please join the BioPark’s Monthly Networking Event. Mingle with BioPark tenants, and UMB faculty and staff.

Following a ceremonial signing with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao for the federal government’s $900 million Full-Funding Grant Agreement, Governor Larry Hogan started demolition to make way for the new Purple Line Operations Center and begin construction on the long-awaited Purple Line. Governor Hogan and Secretary Chao were joined by Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Secretary Pete K. Rahn, MDOT Maryland Transit Administrator Kevin Quinn, Purple Line Transit Partners officials, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Anthony Brown, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, and Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, as well as other state and local elected officials and Purple Line advocates. The Purple Line light rail project will run from New Carrollton in Prince George’s County to Bethesda in Montgomery County.

Innovative renewable energy, biotechnology, and information research is conducted in our community every day at the Frederick Innovative Technology Center (FITCI).

The Fort Detrick Alliance, which serves as a community partner and liaison to the five federal agencies located at Fort Detrick, will partner with FITCI on September 6, for its 9th Annual FITCI Technology Showcase.

In conjunction with the event, FITCI will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Biotech Shared Lab. Attendees will tour the new lab and meet FITCI entrepreneurial businesses professionals. Dr. Kenneth Bertram, Principal Assistant for Acquisition, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, the keynote speaker, will speak about research advancements.

Women Building Bio: the XX factor is a day long conference to recognize and learn from leading women in the bioscience industry as pioneers paving the path to success. These women have faced their own unique challenges and carved out lasting legacies.

This day will catalyze the formation of a diverse network. It is a convergence of academia and industry, men and women, researchers and innovators, professionals and decision-makers gathering together to build relationships. This day long conference provides extraordinary opportunities to exchange new ideas, highlight areas of bioscience and research opportunities, and find partners for future collaboration.

In the run up to the inaugural Techweek Washington D.C., presented this year by AARP and held Oct. 2-6, Techweek today announced the Techweek100, honoring leading technology-focused firms in the D.C. area, as selected by an Executive Advisory Board comprised of 10 D.C.-based tech leaders.

The academic biomedical research community is a hub of employment, economic productivity, and scientific progress. Academic research institutions are drivers of economic development in their local and state economies and, by extension, the national economy. Beyond the economic input that the academic biomedical research community both receives and provides, it generates knowledge that in turn affects society in myriad ways.

The 2018 FLC Awards is now open for nominations. One of the most coveted honors in the technology transfer field, the FLC awards have been presented to over 200 federal laboratories since their inception in 1984. Many of our winning technology transfer efforts have gone on to become products and devices that are indispensable in our daily lives, including:

New York City’s existing 1.7 million s/f of life science and research space is currently fully occupied, pushing companies to establish outposts in Westchester County and New Jersey.

According to a report from brokerage firm Transwestern, New York City is facing space constraints as it hosts the highest concentration of academic institutions and the largest life science workforce in the country.

Biotech/Health execs play for a small $50 donation in the tournament that will benefit Zaching Against Cancer Foundation organization.

Welcome to the 2017 Biotech / Health Invitational, a DogDenGolf managed event that is being supported by top executives at Medimmune, other Biotechnology / Health companies and Vendors in the region. This year’s event will be held on October 23, 2017, at Cattail Creek Country Club in Glenwood, MD and will determine the Biotech / Health Executive Golfers of the Year.

Proceeds from this event will benefit Zaching Against Cancer Foundation (ZACF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation established to provide support to cancer patients and their support networks through scholarships, research and outreach. Money raised by ZACF goes toward several college scholarships, an internship and donation to cancer research and outreach organizations.

For more information, visit their websites at www.zachingagainstcancer.org.

Paige Decker is the Manager of External Relations and Alliance Development at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Upon her arrival at BIO, she contributed to the inaugural launch and content creation of BIOAction, BIO’s grassroots advocacy tool. She is a former staffer of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where she worked alongside Chairman Fred Upton and Chairman Greg Walden during her tenure. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a B.A. in English. The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIOAction’s primary mission is to engage the biotech community to use their voice against harmful policies that deter from the progress of innovation. Critical to this success is connecting biotechnology company employees and enthusiasts in the discussion with their elected officials at the federal, state and municipal level. BIOAction allows constituents to let their voice be heard in just a few clicks. Paige will be discussing the importance of fostering and educating advocates for biotechnology; why they must lend their voice to balance the public policy debate by sharing their own stories and debunking the many myths and misinformation told about their innovation.

Pfizer’s interest in developing innovative ways to solve some of the current challenges with healthcare have spanned drug development to early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. A collaboration between the pharma company and Drexel University is using a variation on the Minecraft video game to improve health literacy and reduce the anxiety children and their caregivers might have of managing hemophilia, according to a news release.

Gaithersburg’s 3iDx will pitch to investors at next month’s BIO Investor Forum in San Francisco. Help the BioHealth Capital Region and 3iDx gain more visibility by voting for them to be a featured company, “The Buzz of BIO,” at this conference. Voting runs daily through Friday, September 1st. You may vote once a day, every day of this week to provide a total of 4 votes. Click here and select 3i Diagnostics under Diagnostics and Beyond.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced today that its board of directors elected four new Executive Officers. The officers will serve for one year. “Providing the right tools and resources to Maryland’s entrepreneurs is vital to strengthening our workforce and ensuring that our state is open for business,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “I would like to congratulate the new executive officers of TEDCO as they work to guide Maryland’s growing number of innovators, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies to achieve even greater successes.”

Montgomery County, particularly Gaithersburg, has become a central hub for vaccine research and development, and to a lesser extent for vaccine manufacturing.

The County is a key vaccine development center “not only for the country, but the world,” said Brad Fackler, senior director for life sciences at the c.

Netherlands-based biotechnology firm MIMETAS has partnered with Roche to develop a new organ-on-a-chip system to support intestinal permeability assessment.

The new system is designed to enable evaluation in perfused three-dimensional (3D) gut tubules in high throughput under exposure to pharmacological compounds. As part of their research, the firms are reported to have grown more than 350 gut tubules under flow to form leak-tight structures.

Altimmune, a drug company based in Gaithersburg, has agreements with investors to raise about $14.7 million, excluding fees and expenses, in a second round of financing. The company plans to sell 15,565 shares of convertible preferred stock and warrants to new and existing investors in a round that the company expects to close around Aug. 21.

Senseonics Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: SENS), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of Eversense®, a long-term, implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for people with diabetes, today announced the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering. Senseonics is offering 11,637,500 shares of its common stock, par value $0.001 per share, at a price to the public of $2.15 per share. In connection with the offering, Senseonics has also granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,745,625 shares of common stock offered in the public offering to cover over-allotments, if any. Senseonics intends to use the net proceeds from the offering primarily to begin commercialization of Eversense in the United States, if approved, to fund continued research and development of future configurations of Eversense, and for working capital and general corporate purposes. The offering is expected to close on August 23, 2017, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions.

Creatv MicroTech, a biotechnology company developing noninvasive diagnostics for cancer, has received a $250,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) to test the company’s CellSieveTM system for determination of residual disease in lung cancer patients after chemoradiation therapy, and for early detection of lung cancer recurrence. Creatv MicroTech’s discovery of a very large cell, the cancer associated macrophagelike cell (CAML), in patient blood has enabled more informative and reliable blood based cancer diagnostics. The presence of the CAML biomarker indicates the presence of cancer. Creatv developed CellSieveTM technology to capture and analyze CAMLs. In collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Creatv will assess the use of CAMLs in lung cancer patients to determine residual disease following treatment. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, with an estimated 158,040 deaths (86,380 men and 71,660 women) from this disease in 2015. Ideally, treatment should be continued as long as necessary and stopped only after the cancer has been eradicated. The problem is that standard imaging techniques, CT and MRI, cannot detect small residual cancers, and thus treatment regimens may be insufficient for a patient’s individual need. The goal of Creatv’s study is to determine the point at which chemoradiation should be stopped, reducing the likelihood of recurrence. “We are honored to be recognized for the progress we have made in developing precision blood-based cancer diagnostics,” said Cha-Mei Tang PhD, President and CEO of Creatv MicroTech. “Our collaboration with the world renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center and support from the NIH will further demonstrate the value and utility of the CellSieveTM system and CAMLs in the battle against cancer and will ultimately save lives.”

I’m thrilled to let you know that our gut-on-a-chip work has been published this week in Nature Communications. 350 mini-guts on-a-chip, 20,000 data points, the largest organ-on-a-chip dataset ever published! The paper features the all new 3-lane OrganoPlate®, supporting barrier integrity and transport assays in even more complex tissue models.

Our colleague Elena Naumovska is a major contributor to this work. She joined us last year from the arctic circle to work on gut-on-a-chip models in a collaboration with Galapagos and Sheffield University.

And finally, we’re looking forward to see you at no less than 6 conferences in the coming 6 weeks, starting next week at the WC10 Congress 2017 in Seattle.

With kind regards, Jos Joore Managing Director, MIMETAS

Once considered a potential Democratic challenger to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan next year, John Delaney has set his sights higher — much higher. The three-term representative of Maryland’s 6th Congressional District is aiming to unseat President Trump with a promise to jump-start the U.S. economy by bringing innovation and entrepreneurship to Washington.

Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUPN), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products for the treatment of central nervous system diseases, today announced, following a four-day bench trial, that the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that TWi Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its subsidiary infringed U.S. Patent Nos. 7,722,898, 7,910,131, and 8,821,930 by submitting to the FDA an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) seeking permission to market a generic version of Oxtellar XR® before the expiration of Supernus’ patents. The District Court ruling also confirmed the validity of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,722,898, 7,910,131, and 8,821,930.

Maryland gained 800 jobs in July and unemployment fell for the third consecutive month.

The private sector added 11,500 positions while government positions decreased by 10,700, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Maryland’s unemployment rate dropped to 4 percent in July from 4.1 percent.

Venture capital spending continues to lag behind the record activity of recent years, but startups needn’t worry; industry analysts say there’s still billions in dealmaking still to be done.

Nationally, VC firms invested roughly $38 billion in startups and other early-stage companies during the first two quarters this year, down 10 percent from the $42 billion recorded during the same span in 2016 and off about $2 billion from 2015, according to data collected by Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association.

The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) at the University of Maryland, College Park seeks an organized, energetic person to assist with operational functions and related activities for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program in the Honors College.

This nationally award-winning program helps to develop the entrepreneurial mindsets, skill sets, and resources for first and second-year students. The position-holder would provide coordination and support for: 1.) program operations and administration; 2.) courses and curriculum; 3.) student activities and engagement; 4.) marketing and recruiting; and 5.) development and grants.

This is an exciting opportunity for a self-starting, highly motivated, tech-savvy individual with experience in or desire to engage in an entrepreneurial and/or higher education environment. The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor’s degree along with excellent skills in verbal, written and interpersonal communication, teamwork, multi-tasking, problem-solving, event management, and customer service.

This is a 6-month, hourly, contractual position, up to 40 hours per week, that would begin immediately. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to eip@umd.edu. For best consideration, please apply by August 28, 2017.

The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland has a pair of new board members.

Silent Circle CEO Gregg Smith and EZShield VP of Technology Darrell Laffoon were elected to the board of the organization, according to a statement. Elected to a second term was Karen Austin, publisher of United States Security Magazine.

Johns Hopkins’ accelerator for impact-focused entrepreneurs opened up applications for its next cohort.

The JHU Social Innovation Lab will accept up to 10 companies for the next cohort, which begins in the fall. The program is open to entrepreneurs who are Greater Baltimore residents, as well as the Johns Hopkins community.

September 18, 2017 | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Maryland Department of Commerce World Trade Center Baltimore 401 East Pratt Street, 17th floor

The Maryland Department of Commerce invites you to learn about the new Maryland Defense Diversification Assistance Program that is designed to assist Maryland companies with dependence on US Department of Defense contracts to expand into international markets. The presentation will highlight Australia (particularly the State of Victoria) as a destination for exporting and partnerships.

9 November 2017 – Munich

Future X Healthcare offers a unique platform to connect key innovation drivers in healthcare for an open and inspiring exchange of ideas, insights and solutions. The one-day event fosters new networks between the worlds of science, industry, VCs, accelerators, start-ups and politics.

The mission for 2017: to shape the future of healthcare by making big data meaningful – from science to patient care. The increasing availability of healthcare data – from genomic profiling, advanced imaging, digital biomarkers to electronic health records and mobile health – creates the foundation and framework for a more targeted, personalized healthcare. Together, we can change the way we do research, prevent and diagnose diseases, and treat patients.

Experience a day full of inspiration at Alte Bayerische Staatsbank in Munich with top speakers, start-up pitches, a networking innovation fair and two brand-new awards.

Muhammad Najee-Ullah has long been interested in technology, and he recognized the potential for art, tech and design to engage youth in Baltimore.

With Pop-Up Robotic Gaming Grounds (PURGG), Najee-Ullah introduces youth to STEAM. At after-school programs and events, PURGG lets students compete with teams of robots to gather items on a field. It’s also about learning what goes into designing and building the robots through educational “Design/Build/Compete” workshops that introduce coding, 3D printing, game design and plenty of other concepts.

GlaxoSmithKline opened its new $56.6 million vaccines plant in Montrose, Scotland, that will manufacture sterile aluminum salts and includes a microbiology lab. But the small addition comes as a much bigger project has been canceled.

Join us on Thursday, August 24 for the 2017-18 Fall Term FAES Graduate School Open House to meet and mingle with FAES faculty. Bring yourself, a friend, and your questions about registering for the Fall 2017 courses. The event will be held in the FAES Academic Center, Building 10, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 4:00 – 6:00 PM. Light refreshments will be served!

Job Summary: BioFactura is seeking highly motivated applicants with an entrepreneurial spirit for an open position in our biosimilar development programs. We are looking for qualified candidates with a masters or doctoral degree in the life sciences with highly relevant skills and bench experience. The selected candidate will participate in the development and validation of various biosimilar product assays. In this position, the candidate will be responsible for planning, conducting, execution and analysis of experiments using various techniques in protein analysis. Relevant skills include HPLC/U-HPLC (HILIC, RP, SEC, CEX, AEX, affinity), capillary electrophoresis (CE), mass spec, SDS-PAGE, IEF, ELISA, qPCR. Knowledge of protein purification methods and process development/scale-up is a plus. Knowledge of Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) including analytical method qualification/validation and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) are desired. Experience in the preparation and delivery of oral and written presentations as well as participation in the preparation and submission of grants and/or manuscripts for publication are a plus. Excellent communication skills and the ability to analyze and interpret data, design appropriately controlled experiments independently, and maintain up-to-date laboratory notebooks are a must. This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience with an innovative, small, young Biotech company and build a career in the biopharmaceutical industry. Candidates should feel comfortable working in a high risk/potential high reward environment and able to work overtime and weekends as project needs are determined.

Wed, October 25, 2017

PITCH. NETWORK. LEARN. BE INSPIRED.

TEDCO’s 7th Annual Entrepreneur Expo will bring together all of Maryland’s entrepreneurial resources from across the state into one place, at one time.

You can expect to see 700+ of the region’s top entrepreneurs, small and large business executives, angel and venture capital investors, federal and state economic development officials, university leaders and legislators.

The 2017 Biomedical PhD Career Fair offers a great opportunity for employers to connect with potential hires about opportunities in their organizations. Pairing companies from across the region and country with PhD students and trainees from Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, NIH, and Howard University, the Biomedical PhD Career Fair caters to employers who are looking to recruit top talent from some of the country’s strongest biomedical programs. 

Trainees attending the Career Fair specialize in disciplines including:

• Biochemistry
• Biomedical Engineering
• Biophysics
• Health Sciences Informatics
• Genetics
• Immunology
• Molecular Biology
• Neuroscience
• Pathobiology
• Pharmacology 

AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm MedImmune, has appointed Dr Geoffrey Kim and Dr Jean-Charles Soria, respectively. Kim and his team will focus on the development of the company’s late-stage immuno-oncology combinations programme, aiming to develop combination regimens that will deliver innovative medicines to patients.

CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE American: CVM) today announced it has received a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that the clinical hold that had been imposed on the Company’s Phase 3 cancer study with Multikine* (Leukocyte Interleukin, Inj.) has been removed and that all clinical trial activities under this Investigational New Drug application (IND) may resume.

25-year biopharma industry veteran joins the Company to drive further growth of its innovative high-performance cell engineering platform for use in commercial drug development

MaxCyte, a US-based global company dedicated to driving the acceleration of the discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of next-generation, cell-based medicines, announced today that it has appointed Brad Calvin, a 25-year veteran within the drug development and biotechnology industries, as Executive Vice President of Global Marketing. In his role, Mr. Calvin is responsible for leading MaxCyte’s marketing function to drive growth of the Company’s drug discovery and cell therapy business.

Doug Doerfler, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted to have someone of Brad’s caliber join MaxCyte to lead our marketing and market development efforts. Brad’s broad biopharmaceutical industry experience has provided him with an in-depth understanding of working across global markets and supporting all phases of product life cycles. His appointment comes at an opportune time for the Company, as we continue to develop new offerings based on our Flow Electroporation® Technology.”

Pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) and Natco announced the final ANDA approval of Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The product, as the first generic, will be launched shortly.

Natco’s Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base) are generic equivalents of Shire Development LLC’s Fosrenol Chewable Tablets 500 mg, 750 mg and 1000 mg. Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base) are indicated to reduce serum phosphate in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Sucampo’s (NASDAQ:SCMP) share price has been stuck in a range for a considerable time, but the company wasn’t idle – management has been working hard to move the company away from its legacy product Amitiza into rare diseases. Sucampo made two transactions since early 2016 and now has two late-stage orphan assets (one wholly owned and an option on the other) with data readouts in 2018. Sucampo is generating strong free cash flow and expects to continue to build out its late-stage orphan drug pipeline. Meanwhile, Amitiza has been growing at a steady pace and that’s despite the growing competition in the constipation space. I believe that cash flow from Amitiza provides downside protection while the orphan pipeline stands to add significant value in the long run.

Women Building Bio: the XX factor is a day long conference to recognize and learn from leading women in the bioscience industry as pioneers paving the path to success. These women have faced their own unique challenges and carved out lasting legacies.

This day will catalyze the formation of a diverse network. It is a convergence of academia and industry, men and women, researchers and innovators, professionals and decision-makers gathering together to build relationships. This day long conference provides extraordinary opportunities to exchange new ideas, highlight areas of bioscience and research opportunities, and find partners for future collaboration.

Senseonics Holdings, Inc. (NYSE-MKT: SENS), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of a long-term, implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for people with diabetes, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017.

September 25th – 27th, 2017 – San Jose, California

The MedTech Conference is your opportunity to connect with thousands of medical technology professionals this September. Join us in San Jose for business development, innovative technology, and networking with policymakers, business executives and industry leaders.

At the John’s Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, researchers have been working for years to figure out how prostate cancer cells are able to move from one infected organ and spread to other parts of the body.

“Because we know that’s the type of cancer that eventually will kill a man with prostate cancer,” said Johns Hopkins Associate Professor of Oncology and Pathology. Dr. Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian.

Calling all medical device innovators! This year’s symposium will host the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) competition. Up to six innovations will be awarded up to $50,000 each during the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition.

The company alleges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration isn’t honoring a drug designation program Congress passed in 1983.

It figures a personalized health accelerator would want to personalize the experience for its companies.

When Virginia health system Inova Health closed on the 117-acre former Exxon-Mobil campus in Fairfax back in 2015, it was clear there was plenty of space to do something bold. (It was called the real estate deal of the year.) And from the start personalized medicine was going to be the focus.

Join the Greater Baltimore Committee for its annual Economic Outlook Conference, which this year will focus on Washington uncertainties and what does it mean for Maryland’s economy. Hear from Paul Heckley, Health Economist and Leading Expert on U.S. Health Industry Trends and Reform, and Dean Zerbe, Former Senior Counsel to U.S. Senate Finance Committee, AlliantGroup National, Managing Director.

When: Thursday, September 14, 2017; 7:30 a.m. registration, 8 a.m. program

Where: Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202

At Illumina, we’re committed to unlocking the power of the genome, and we know we can’t do it alone. Illumina Accelerator is our way of accelerating innovation in the entrepreneurial community. With extensive mentorship, financial support, and access to sequencing systems, reagents, and lab space, we are building a dynamic ecosystem to help genomics startups launch in the San Francisco Bay Area. Together, we’ll advance breakthrough applications in genomics, including therapeutics, diagnostics, agriculture, synthetic biology, forensics, and direct-to-consumer applications.

Every metro area in the U.S. has strong industry clusters that are readily identifiable and reflect the unique competitive advantages of the region—Oil and Gas in Houston, Automotive in Detroit, and Financial Services in New York City are just a few examples. These clusters represent the backbone of their metro economies. The importance of clusters to regional competitiveness and economic performance was first established in the 1990s. Since then, research has shown that the co-location of businesses in clusters increases the productivity of companies and job creation, drives innovation, stimulates the formation of new businesses, and supports the survival and growth of small businesses.

Among NSF activities, the SBIR/STTR program has a unique goal to attract high-tech startups and small businesses from diverse audiences nationwide. To better engage this distinct audience, NSF presents a new SBIR/STTR website (seedfund.nsf.gov), which maintains the NSF brand while providing a more tailored look, tone and presentation aimed at entrepreneurs.

Over the past few months, the NSF SBIR team worked with 18F – an office within the General Services Administration (GSA) tasked with building effective, user-centric digital services for government – to explore the most effective ways to reach target audiences and redesign the website. As part of this process, 18F interviewed applicants, grantees, former grantees and qualified entrepreneurs or small businesses who hadn’t heard of NSF’s SBIR program. The results informed the design, tone and presentation of the new site. The updated logo and brand elements, created by Brunet-García Advertising, build on the government-wide SBIR tagline – “America’s Seed Fund.”

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that it has been awarded approximately $23 million to develop a novel multi-drug auto-injector for nerve agent antidote delivery. Emergent’s device is being designed for intramuscular self- or buddy-administration of antidotes for use in military environments and for civilian emergencies.

Adam Havey, executive vice president, business operations at Emergent BioSolutions, said, “Ease of use and rapid delivery of antidotes are critical features of auto-injectors that are intended to mitigate the health effects of nerve agent exposure. Emergent’s device seeks to satisfy the requirements of the Department of Defense for a novel auto-injector platform technology, and we look forward to collaborating with our development partners to meet the DoD’s needs.”

It’s an exciting time to be in Montgomery County. Discover the diverse tapestry of business success in the We Are Montgomery County video series, and consider sharing your unique perspective with us. From our highly-educated talent and regional connectivity to our culturally rich communities and superb quality of life, there’s no better time to be in MoCo.

MedImmune and Sanofi Pasteur are creating and marketing MEDI8897, a drug that aims to prevent lower respiratory tract illnesses that stem from respiratory syncytial virus.

Respiratory syncytial virus, which has symptoms that are related to colds, leads the way when it comes to what gives children and infants lower respiratory tract illness.

Over the past year, Johns Hopkins University has played an integral role in bringing a nationwide program designed to boost small businesses to Baltimore and helping it flourish.

Today, program partners Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a five-year, $10 million commitment to continue the program in Baltimore and named JHU the host site.

WellDoc® and the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) announce the collaborative launch of “The Diabetes Digital Health Learning Network” at the AADE17 conference. The goal of this Learning Network is to assist diabetes educators in gaining next-generation skills in using digital health therapeutics to improve clinical care and outcomes cost-effectively. “As a digital health leader, WellDoc is proud to launch ‘The Diabetes Digital Health Learning Network’ in collaboration with AADE to support its members who are on the front lines of diabetes care and management,” said WellDoc President and CEO Kevin McRaith. “This is a natural progression of our already-established partnership with AADE that began with our collaboration to incorporate The AADE Diabetes Education Curriculum into our FDA-cleared digital therapeutic platform, BlueStar®.”

Gilead Sciences, under intense investor pressure to do a significant M&A deal, may have found a target it likes. It is said to be evaluating United Therapeutics, although it finds itself in competition with GlaxoSmithKline and perhaps others.

The Evening Standard, citing unnamed sources, said that Gilead Sciences is considered the most likely candidate to win a bid for United Therapeutics. But the newspaper also said that GSK has Citi and Lazard helping it assess the United, a company founded in 1996 on a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) drug that had been discarded by GSK.

You are invited to travel with County Executive Ike Leggett, MCEDC, other county officials and select area business leaders on an exclusive Business Development trip to South Korea and China, October 20-29, 2017. Our delegation will visit some of the most forward-thinking technology hubs and global commerce destinations of East Asia including Seoul, Daejeon, Xi’an and Shanghai.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017 9:00AM-5:00PM

Women of the Virginia bioscience community from across the state will lead this full day event offering examples of working together to build a stronger bioscience industry, stronger companies and institutions, stronger teams and networks, and stronger individuals.

BHI Q&A with 3i Diagnostics, Inc. President & CEO, Jim Janicki & Chief Technology Officer, Rajesh Krishnamurthy

Company: 3i Diagnostics, Inc. “3iDx” www.3iDx.com

Location: Germantown Innovation Center/Launch Labs

Founded: 2013

Overview: 3iDx is an early stage company developing a new technology platform that is able to isolate and analyze microbes directly from samples for the purpose of identifying antimicrobial resistant strains in less than an hour without having to wait for up to a week for blood culture results. Their ultimate aim is to create a 15-minute test that runs in a battery powered handheld device.

Goal: Our goal is to enable true precision medicine for infection. We see this as the largest single global healthcare issue today, as measured in lives and dollars.

New this year, we’re co-locating our event with The MedTech Conference powered by AdvaMed, to San Jose, CA!

Join us for this important program that dives into the changing landscape and the issues facing our pathway to greater innovation. This year’s theme is “Partnering for Breakthroughs in Pediatric Surgery and Care.”

Albeit small, Baltimore’s startup community is a thriving one. Just 45 minutes outside of the District, the city’s innovation scene is rich with opportunity and talent.

Maybe that’s why Baltimore is one of the most successful places working with Venture for America, a two-year salaried fellowship program that matches recent college grads with startups in 18 different cities.

As Inova Health System prepares to open its new personalized health accelerator this fall, startups recently learned the terms of winning a spot there.

Inova plans to offer $75,000 in funding in exchange for 10 percent equity in early-stage companies selected to join the accelerator, Managing Director Hooks Johnston told an audience at a D.C. event last week. Johnston went on to say, according to Technical.ly DC, companies that make it through an individualized program for four or five months and can get $250,000 in third-party commitments can receive an Inova match.

Tue, December 12, 20174:30 PM – 8:00 PM EST

Join more than 400 of the region’s business, government and community leaders for the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore’s Annual Meeting, December 12, 2017 at M&T Bank Stadium. As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we will take a look back at the success and growth that the region has experienced over the last two decades, while also featuring Greater Baltimore’s future as a global leader. As we celebrate the results of longstanding partnerships that have led to Baltimore’s economic success, we look forward to celebrating the visionaries and leaders who will shape our tomorrow.

The Precision Medicine Policy and Ethics Conference is a forum for national and industry leaders to address the most pressing challenges in the clinical adoption and integration of genomic medicine. The discussion will take place before an audience of providers, policymakers, scientists and academics. Programming for the conference will examine the ethical and regulatory issues surrounding this topic, including integrating precision medicine into physician education and practice, demographic and socioeconomic barriers to widespread access, and the role and rights of patients concerning genetic data.

Georgetown University’s MS in Biotechnology Program seeks biotech companies and labs to provide internships. If you have a project that’s been on the back burner, this is a great opportunity to get it done with quality and qualified interns at no cost to you.

For more information, check out the flyer below and/or contact: Vasna Nontanovan, MS Associate Dir. and Internship Course Dir. vn5@georgetown.edu or 202-687-6136

The Fort Detrick Alliance, in partnership with the Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc., will host a Technology Showcase

September 6, 2017 – 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Join us for an evening of networking, innovative technology demonstrations, and a tour of Frederick County’s only business incubator and accelerator, FITCI. This event promises to be an exciting opportunity. Learn about the newest technologies to come into the marketplace and meet with the companies developing them!

Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic Cordially Invites You to Attend Our August 2017 Meetings

Featuring Entrepreneurs and Companies from Technology-(Internet, Software, Security, SaaS, Mobile Systems, etc.), Life Sciences-Pharma-Medical Devices, Consumer Products, Real Estate, & more!

Keiretsu Forum is the world’s largest private equity angel investment network with more than 1350+ accredited investors in 31 North American chapters and 1000+ investors in 21 international chapters, who have invested more than $850m+ in early stage companies in the last 17 years.

Join peers, thought leaders, venture capitalists, and angel investors at this month’s Keiretsu Forum Meeting and see for yourself why Keiretsu Forum is a major force in Private Equity-Angel Investing today.

Last November, Pharmaceutical Online had the privilege of visiting GSK’s U.S. global R&D hub in Upper Providence, Pa. The 1.4-million sq. ft. facility will soon house the company’s consolidated U.S. R&D activities across the areas of HIV and infectious disease, oncology, immune-inflammation, metabolic pathways and cardiovascular, and dermatology. By 2018, it will be home to more than 3,200 employees, who will collaborate on target identification, safety studies, active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacture, and many other R&D-related activities.

AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and its research arm MedImmune, today announced the appointment of two internationally-recognized immuno-oncology leaders.

Dr Jean-Charles Soria joins MedImmune as senior vice president, head of oncology innovative medicines, and Dr Geoffrey Kim has been appointed as head of oncology strategic combinations at AstraZeneca.

NIIMBL is pleased to announce the Quick Start Project (QSP) call. The QSP call solicits proposals for open topic, industry-wide projects focused on the NIIMBL mission of advancing biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Proposal Submission Process Details regarding the proposal submission process and required documents can be found in Section 6 of the RFP document.

After several weeks of talks, Discovery Communications Inc. has reached a deal to acquire the owner of HGTV and Travel Channel.

The Silver Spring-based company announced Monday morning that it would acquire Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $14.6 billion. The transaction is valued at $90 per share — roughly a 4 percent premium on Scripps’ Friday closing price of $86.91 and a 34 percent premium on its share price since Scripps ownership began discussing a sale earlier this month.

With more than 15 years as a nonprofit professional, Amanda joins the Fort Detrick Alliance with extensive experience in communications, marketing, fundraising, event planning, public relations, and management. She replaces Eileen Mitchell, who served as Executive Director since December 2015 In her career, Amanda served as the Assistant Director at the Historical Society of Frederick County; Marketing Manager at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton; Marketing director of Black Rock Center for the Arts; and Public Relations Specialist at the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown. Amanda has been instrumental in tourism marketing in the region and served for four years on the Tourism Council of Frederick County’s marketing and group sales committees. As a writer and journalist, Amanda published articles in Frederick Magazine, Find It Frederick magazine, Eastern Home and Travel, the Baltimore Sun, and other regional publications. Amanda may be reached at 301-788-9896 or email director@fortdetrickalliance.org Thank you for your continued support of Fort Detrick and the Alliance. We hope to see you at one of our events. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Alliance, please feel free to contact me at director@fortdetrickalliance.org.

Sincerely,

Amanda Johnston Executive Director

On Thursday, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a pilot program to look into a “pre-certification” for medical software start-ups.

And even the FDA’s harshest critics are excited about it.

Scientists for the first time have successfully edited genes in human embryos to repair a common and serious disease-causing mutation, producing apparently healthy embryos, according to a study published on Wednesday.

With a focus on improving health, driving economic growth, and expanding the country’s research capacity, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. Because of NIH’s central role in supporting science, technology, and innovation, a better understanding of the agency’s footprint may be helpful to the technology-based economic development practitioner community. This edition of Useful Stats utilizes data from NIH’s Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) and covers each year from 2007 to 2016. The data does not include projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

As far as healthcare goes, Boston has historically focused on biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceuticals. Until a few years ago, digital health wasn’t a big talking point in the Boston healthcare scene. After a multilateral initiative launched in 2016, however, Boston wants to be regarded as a national leader in digital healthcare investment and activity.

Between now and 2020, we can expect to see a wave of innovation in pharma. But how will the coming drug launches fare in today’s challenging market? Consider these facts: the number of drugs per indication has risen by 37 percent since 2006, while the top company in an indication still commands at least half of the market. At the same time, restrictions to market access are rising in Europe, the United States, and emerging economies as advances in analytics and multichannel engagement open new opportunities to differentiate products.

Join the newly merged Maryland Tech Council for a casual, fun-filled evening where you can relax, network and celebrate with your community of technology, life science, and business professionals.

BHI Q&A with 3i Diagnostics, Inc. President & CEO, Jim Janicki & Chief Technology Officer, Rajesh Krishnamurthy

Company: 3i Diagnostics, Inc. “3iDx” www.3iDx.com

Location: Germantown Innovation Center/Launch Labs

Founded: 2013

Overview: 3iDx is an early stage company developing a new technology platform that is able to isolate and analyze microbes directly from samples for the purpose of identifying antimicrobial resistant strains in less than an hour without having to wait for up to a week for blood culture results. Their ultimate aim is to create a 15-minute test that runs in a battery powered handheld device.

Goal: Our goal is to enable true precision medicine for infection. We see this as the largest single global healthcare issue today, as measured in lives and dollars.

Sucampo’s (NASDAQ:SCMP) share price has been stuck in a range for a considerable time, but the company wasn’t idle – management has been working hard to move the company away from its legacy product Amitiza into rare diseases. Sucampo made two transactions since early 2016 and now has two late-stage orphan assets (one wholly owned and an option on the other) with data readouts in 2018. Sucampo is generating strong free cash flow and expects to continue to build out its late-stage orphan drug pipeline. Meanwhile, Amitiza has been growing at a steady pace and that’s despite the growing competition in the constipation space. I believe that cash flow from Amitiza provides downside protection while the orphan pipeline stands to add significant value in the long run.

The day after emocha® Mobile Health, Inc., launched in 2013, CEO Sebastian Seiguer (pronounced SAY-ger) heard about a 3-year-old tuberculosis (TB) patient being treated at a Baltimore clinic. Maryland requires healthcare providers to watch patients take every dose of their medication for active TB treatment, an approach known as directly observed therapy (DOT). But coordinating with the clinic every day was proving too difficult for the girl’s mother to manage. To keep up with the treatments, she would have had to quit her job.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced a licensing agreement with Valneva SE for global exclusive rights to Valneva’s Zika vaccine technology, ZIKV. Emergent and Valneva will co-develop ZIKV-VLA1601, a highly purified inactivated vaccine candidate against the Zika virus, from preclinical development through completion of a Phase 1 safety and immunogenicity clinical trial. ZIKV-VLA1601, which has shown to elicit functional antibody responses, is based on Valneva’s established inactivated, whole virus manufacturing platform on which its licensed Japanese Encephalitis vaccine was developed and produced.

The University System of Maryland (USM) has named business innovator David W. Wise, MALD, as director of the Maryland Momentum Fund (MMF), a $25 million fund to support startups formed within the system’s 12 institutions and its incubators. He joined USM on July 24.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has been selected as one of “The Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The results of its national survey, which were released in the magazine’s Academic Workplace supplement that came out July 21, lauded UMB in the categories of collaborative governance, compensation and benefits, and confidence in senior leadership.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is axing 130 ‘non-core’ brands and overhauling its prescription drugs business to focus on products that deliver stronger returns.

It is also stepping up a cost reduction program that has already bitten into media and marketing budgets across the consumer healthcare portfolio.

AstraZeneca and Merck & Co. announced on July 27, 2017 that they have entered a global strategic oncology collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialize AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib) for multiple cancer types. Lynparza is an oral poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor for treating BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer in multiple lines of treatment. It was approved by FDA in December 2014 and generated 2016 sales of $218 million.

The Inova Personalized Health Accelerator (IPHA) is preparing to accept applications from early-stage startups focused on predicting, preventing and treating disease. Falls Church-based Inova Health System announced plans for the accelerator last December when it also launched Inova Strategic Investments, a venture-capital program. Both projects are housed at the new Inova Center for Personalized Health, a 117-acre campus in Fairfax County.

In the craft-beer industry, the majority of hops — the flowers used in production that add bitterness and aroma to the product — come from the Pacific Northwest region.

Could Maryland, too, be a fertile region for hops?

GlaxoSmithKline will cut more than 30 drug development programmes and may sell its rare diseases unit, as the FTSE 100 group seeks to inject more “edge and pace” into its decision making, its new chief executive Emma Walmsley has said.

No area is hotter or attracting more dollars in pharma than immuno-oncology–the idea of harnessing the immune system to fight cancer. My fellow Forbes contributor Bruce Booth has recently characterized the intensifying interest in this space as the “exploding supernova” of cancer research.

IonQ, an early-stage company developing quantum computing for commercial applications, today announced completion of a $20 million series B round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and GV (formerly Google Ventures), with participation from new strategic investors. Building on the pioneering work of world-renowned experts at the University of Maryland and Duke University, IonQ plans to bring general-purpose quantum computers to market by late 2018.

Calling All Medical Device Innovators!

We are now accepting proposals for our annual $250K pediatric medical device pitch competition. Up to six innovations will be awarded up to $50,000 each during our 5th Annual Pediatric Surgical Innovation Symposium.

Registration Open – 5th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium We are pleased to announce that our 5th annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium, “Partnering for Breakthroughs in Pediatric Surgery and Care,” is co-locating in San Jose, California in a joint effort with The MedTech Conference powered by AdvaMed – the premiere gathering of medtech professionals in North America.

Join us Sunday, September 24, 2017

Here are some of the event highlights:

Keynotes and panels on topics related to pediatric device innovation Make your Medical Device Pitch for Kids! competition – $250K in funding Invaluable networking opportunities to meet, learn and get inspired by your fellow medtech innovators Special savings when you attend the Symposium and The MedTech Conference

The Galien Foundation announced today the 2017 Annual Prix Galien USA Awards Nominees.

Worldwide regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical and medical technology research, the Prix Galien recognizes outstanding biomedical and technology product achievement that improves the human condition.

Canaan has put together an $800 million investment fund. The fund positions Canaan to place a fresh round of bets on early-stage biotechs, continuing the strategy that has delivered it paydays as companies including Johnson & Johnson and Teva have snapped up pieces of its portfolio.

Global University Venturing’s last issue before the summer provides an opportunity to look back at the first six months of the year – as the data reveals, it has been a busy period with activity picking up significantly towards the end of the second quarter.

That increased activity, however, appears not to have translated into a boost for the total amount of capital raised compared with the same period last year. Although there were 44 deals in June, they amounted to only $365.3m of transaction value – a drop of nearly $90m from May.

Australian biotech, Trimph, has successfully completed a first-in-human trial of its proprietary bone “glue”, TrimphDent, the only bone graft substitute in the world to be applied in liquid form, halving the time of patient recovery, and requiring no specialised preparation or additional surgical expertise.

This breakthrough will allow Trimph to progress towards registering TrimphDent and launching into global markets, which could provide significantly more affordable and accessible oral surgeries to rural and disadvantaged communities across the globe.

The global population will increase to almost ten billion by 2050 while greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture continue to rise. We need to intensify food production while shrinking agriculture’s impact on the environment. Canadian biotechnology is helping farmers produce more food while simultaneously reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture.

Dear friends,
Last Friday, the emocha team onboarded two of our newest video DOT partners: San Diego County and the State of Delaware. From Collin County, TX, to Columbus, OH, we’ve continued working with innovative tuberculosis programs to make directly observed therapy more convenient and cost-effective.

We’re taking all opportunities as we grow to gather user feedback and improve the emocha experience for patients and providers. That’s why earlier this month, our team visited the Puerto Rico Department of Health to learn how our technology has impacted their TB program.

In late 2016, the island was dealing with a TB outbreak in a facility for mentally impaired men. We volunteered the emocha platform pro bono to help manage the outbreak with Dr. Dana Thomas, then Medical Director, championing the effort on behalf of the TB program. Within months, all patients using emocha showed clinical signs of improvement.

“emocha is so important because we have lost staff and fiscal resources over the years,” said Dr. Olga Joglar, TB Control Program Director.

In Puerto Rico and around the country, emocha helps public health departments save time and money on DOT programs. NIH-supported research shows that our platform for video observation can secure 92% adherence with significant cost savings.

READ MORE FROM THE NIH

The emocha platform is used worldwide for TB, HCV, HIV and opioid use disorder treatment. Ready to learn more? Visit our website or reach out at info@emocha.com

About the Cluster Action Plan TOHealth! brought together diverse participants from Human Health and Sciences ecosystem in the Toronto region to develop Ontario’s first draft Cluster Action Plan under the Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act. The draft Plan has been approved by the Minister of Economic Development and Growth / Research Innovation and Science and is now subject to a 30 day public consultation. Please download the draft documents using links above and share your comments using the button below. The consultation period ends August 11, 2017.

A new type of trial design can help the healthcare industry bring beneficial therapies to patients sooner and stop researching inferior ones earlier.

Value has found a place at the heart of healthcare innovation. For money-conscious governments and other actors in the system, it’s not enough that a new treatment be beneficial and safe. It also needs to be cost effective.

As the White House and the US Congress continue to lock horns over President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, scientists are once again anxious about funding levels. But more money is not enough to create better science. Indeed, the scientific enterprise has been betrayed by the mismanagement of its financial support.

The road to launching a life science start-up can be a long and difficult one, with founders often struggling to secure funding and manage the logistics of setting up a business. In a move to encourage innovation and help start-ups hit the ground running, there are an increasing choice of accelerator and support programs becoming available.

We spoke to Giovanni Rizzo, PhD MBA Chief of Innovation Division, Z-Cube S.r.l. to learn more about such programs and the difference they can make to innovation, as well as share some tips for academics beginning a start-up venture.