BHI Weekly Newsletter Archives

Immunomic Therapeutics’ is pleased to announce five finalists for the Cancer Discovery Incubator Award.

Immunomic’s unique incubator award offers the selected innovator an opportunity to develop a proof-of-concept experiment in their laboratories. Additionally, the winner will be gifted funding, lab equipment and a unique mentorship with the Immunomic executive team for one year. The goal is to empower the innovator to conduct proof-of-concept experiments and ultimately, help the winner attract funding, partnerships, and fuel growth.

Gaithersburg-based NexImmune, a biotech developing immunotherapy treatments for cancer, has been acquired by a consortium of big-name biotech veterans and investors.

MagBio Genomics, Inc. announces the launch of its new Blood STASIS™ 21- ccfDNA tube for venous whole blood collection and room temperature stabilization of circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA).

The Blood STASIS 21-ccfDNA is a direct draw whole blood collection system that contains a proprietary reagent that prevents post-collection release of genomic DNA from white blood cells, resulting in efficient and accurate recovery of ccfDNA with minimal genomic DNA (gDNA) contamination leading to more informative and quality data.

Thursday, Feb 23 Vigilant Bioservices Open House (UMB Biopark) Come explore our Biorepository then join us for the UMB BioPark Holiday Happy Hour! Tours are from 1:00-5:00pm

Vigilant Bioservices provides GMP storage solutions for Biotech organizations, including outsourced temperature controlled storage and risk mitigation/business continuity services.

If you demand a return on the cost of quality, we offer peace of mind knowing your biomaterials are safe.

OncoImmune, Inc. today announced that is has closed on a $15.0 million Series A round of fundraising led by 3E Bioventures Capital (“3E”).

The new capital will be used primarily to develop a novel clinical stage asset targeting the CD24-Siglec pathway that regulates host inflammatory response to tissue injuries, which has broad implications in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, cancer and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). OncoImmune will continue clinical testing of its lead clinical product, CD24Fc, in a Phase II trial for the prevention of acute GvHD following myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. CD24Fc has received orphan drug designation for GvHD in both the US and Europe. The funding will also support development of other immuno-oncology (IO) assets with a focus on solid tumor targeting monoclonal antibodies, cancer vaccines, and immunotherapy-related adverse events.

You thought the Shark Tank was tough? The second annual BioHealth Capital Region Crab Trap is now accepting applications!

Submit your application for a chance to be named the company with the most commercial potential at the BioHealth Capital Region Forum.

Deadline for entries is March 24 – Finalists will be announced by April 6 – Regional Biotech Forum Event: Panel Presentation is on April 20

Apply Now!

Get a sneak peek of the country’s largest, most advanced mobile STEM lab. Please join us for an Open House onboard MdBio’s new mobile laboratory, the Mobile eXploration Lab.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017 |  4 – 6 PM  

Johns Hopkins University Montgomery Parking Lot

9601 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850

Corner of Key West Avenue & Broschart Road. Ample free parking available.

Join Sinai Hospital BioIncubator on Thursday, February 23, 2017, for the second seminar of our Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by TEDCO. Keynote speaker Jeff Gibbs, a member of our Innovation Council, will be speaking about the FDA and regulatory affairs.

Event information: When: Thursday, February 23, 2017 from 4:00-5:30pm Location: 2401 W. Belvedere Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215 Room: Phyllis and Leonard J. Attman Board Room (Sinai Hospital Board Room) Parking: Please park in the general hospital parking visitor’s lot, located outside the main entrance of the hospital. This will give you the easiest access to the Phyllis and Leonard J. Attman Board Room.

About The Speaker

Mr. Gibbs is a Director at Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., Washington, DC, the largest law firm specializing in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues. Prior to entering private practice, he served as Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement at FDA. Mr. Gibbs is currently the chairman of the Food and Drug Law Institute, and he previously served as a member of the George Mason University Human Subjects Review Board. He has written and spoken extensively on FDA issues. Mr. Gibbs graduated from Princeton University and New York University School of Law.

The Washington DC/Baltimore Chapter of Women In Bio is presenting a program to learn about how bioscience discoveries move from the bench to the market. The route from discovery to market is not linear. Our panelists will relay their experiences with clinical trials, manufacturing, and marketing and will discuss how each of these aspects interacts along the way. Whether you are looking to enter the world of bench to market or are just curious about the process, this will be an informative and fun event. Moderated by Lynn Johnson Langer, Program Director, Sr. Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, our panel includes the following individuals:

• Neta Nelson – Associate Director, Clinical Operations & Project Management, Technical Resources International, Inc.
• Maura Kahn – Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, Noxilizer, Inc.
• Kathy Webb – Senior Director GMP Operations, Paragon Bioservices, Inc.

Date/Time: Thursday, February 23, 2017 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST

Venue: Johns Hopkins University – Montgomery Campus 106-110 A&R Building 9601 Medical Center Drive Rockville, MD 20850

The products that make cities “smart” will be developed, tested and perhaps scaled in our backyard.

A partnership of the Herndon-based Center for Innovative Technology, D.C.-based Smart City Works and 22 CityLink, the master developer of the Gramercy District smart city planned for Ashburn, is accepting applications for its initial cohort of companies in Smart City Works @ Herndon.

Welcome to the fifth edition of the U.S. Chamber International IP Index, “The Roots of Innovation.” This year’s index recognizes the indispensable role of intellectual property (IP), in facilitating innovative and creative activity on a socially transformative scale.

Each economy in the Index presents a unique IP profile. As this Index has grown from 11 economies in its first edition to 45 in the current publication, it has become exceedingly clear that just as elections matter, so do IP policy choices. These choices are not simply a matter of East versus West, developed versus less-developed, or rich versus poor. Rather, the Index represents a broad spectrum of sovereign policy choices. Those choices have important consequences for each economy’s innovative and creative success, and for the collective welfare of all the world’s citizens.

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum is a Community of over 5000 CEOs, Entrepreneurs, VCs and angels, CXOs and other business leaders in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Each quarterly CONNECTpreneur Forum mashes up 400+ top founders, investors and business leaders for a morning breakfast event featuring awesome networking, newsmaking speakers, and a showcase of 7-8 exciting early stage companies.

This UNIQUE EVENT is like NONE OTHER in our region, due to the high quality of our attendees and participants, as well as our programming and unprecedented networking.

Most of the attendees are INVITATION ONLY, and we strictly limit service provider participation in order to maximize the experience for our Attendees and Sponsors.

Tuesday, March 7th 8:00am—5:00pm

This one-day event will highlight the latest trends in medical devices and technologies and feature resources in the state that help bring products from invention to market. Topics include bioelectronics, cybersecurity for medical devices, convergence of devices and drugs, big data, robotic prosthetics, and additive manufacturing applications. Organizations representing Maryland innovation, entrepreneurial, funding, regulatory, and product scale-up resources will be there to discuss ways that they work with the medical device community.

This event is sponsored by the University of Maryland Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Maryland Department of Commerce, Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC), FLC Mid-Atlantic Region, National Institute for Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership , and TEDCO.

Niche-specific content is usually not readily available through regular generic search engines. One example is the academic and scholarly content. While running a search query about an academic topic through a generic search engine such as Google would probably render fairly decent results, it, however, usually takes digging into so much fluff before finally landing on relevant results. This is where having access to topic-specific search engines comes in handy. Such search engines do not only provide specific content tailored to the topic under study but their content is more likely to be reliable and authoritative. To this end, we have compiled this list of excellent academic search engines that teachers, student researchers and academics can use to quickly locate and access scholarly works and publications. We have only included what we believe are the most relevant and popular titles out there. If you have other suggestions to add to the list please share with us on our Facebook page.

March 14-15, 2017, Washington, DC

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in collaboration with the Chamber of Digital Commerce announces a health standards and data innovation Code-a-Thon. Code-a-Thon contestants will use open source distributed ledger technology and health-specific standards to address one of the following health IT Tracks:

What’s the best way to build a startup? Bootstrap it, raise little or no VC funding, and (ideally) sell it for hundreds of millions—or billions—of dollars, according to two venture capitalists.

That’s what they did at least. Andrew Farquharson, now the managing director of InCube Ventures in San Jose, CA, was the chief operating officer of Almeda, CA-based Operon Technologies when it sold to European nucleic acid company Qiagen in an all-stock deal worth around $110 million in 2000. Farquharson and his co-founders tried, but failed, to raise venture funding and instead were able to bootstrap.

Illumina Accelerator, the genomics-based company creation engine focused on building early stage genomics startups welcomes three new companies to its fifth funding cycle. Since its inception in 2014, Illumina Accelerator has helped startups validate and create next-generation sequencing applications and bring those solutions to market. To date, Illumina Accelerator has invested in 13 startups working to advance breakthrough applications in genomics.

After listening to hundreds of startup pitches, and reading even more business plans, most new venture investors develop their own favorite list of “red flags” that signal the beginning of the end of their interest. Others, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal.

At any rate, here is my own list of red flags, from my years of experience advising and investing in aspiring entrepreneurs, which cause me to lose interest and start looking for a way out the door:

In order to address the unmet needs and create opportunities that benefit patients with rare disease in India, a group of volunteers created a not-for-profit organization named Organization for Rare Diseases India (ORDI; www.ordindia.org). ORDI plans to represent the collective voice and advocate the needs of patients with rare diseases and other stakeholders in India. The ORDI team members come from diverse backgrounds such as genetics, molecular diagnostics, drug development, bioinformatics, communications, information technology, patient advocacy and public service. ORDI builds on the lessons learned from numerous similar organizations in the USA, European Union and disease-specific rare disease foundations in India. In this review, we provide a background on the landscape of rare diseases and the organizations that are active in this area globally and in India. We discuss the unique challenges in tackling rare diseases in India, and highlight the unmet needs of the key stakeholders of rare diseases. Finally, we define the vision, mission, goals and objectives of ORDI, identify the key developments in the health care context in India and welcome community feedback and comments on our approach.

If you’re learning how to develop CRADAs or have ever wished for an easy guide, take our newest free e-course! “The CRADA Developer’s Guide” is now available to take at your own pace in our Learning Center!

The CRADA is one of federal tech transfer’s most powerful tools. This course helps you understand the process and considerations for developing and managing a good CRADA, including:

When to choose a CRADA How to craft a CRADA Managing a CRADA Troubleshooting strategies.

A group of scientists and their supporters are set to march Sunday in Boston’s Copley Square in an event they’ve dubbed “a rally to stand up for science” in the Trump years.

Inside a large nearby convention center, meanwhile, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the United States’ largest general scientific society, has featured speeches and panel sessions further underscoring the sense that under President Trump, scientists could face wide-ranging political conflicts and challenges, and will have to decide how to meet them.

A record number of biotechnology, life sciences and other tech-related companies with a presence in New Jersey stand to benefit from private investments spurred in part by tax credits approved by state officials last year — a sign the Garden State continues to serve as the nation’s medicine chest.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority announced Tuesday it has approved 251 applications from “angel investors” who are eligible for state income-tax credits to help offset the more than $96 million in private funding they funneled to Garden State tech firms during 2016 — the highest annual total since the program launched three years ago.

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has a suggestion for humans who want to stay relevant in a future of artificial intelligence: merge with the machines.

“Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,” Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai, according to CNBC. “It’s mostly about bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output.”

The Baltimore Ravens Innovation Challenge at Light City is a live pitch competition where six startup companies will present in front of a panel of judges to win a year-long marketing package with a value of $200,000 from the Baltimore Ravens.

The Competition will take place during the SocialLab@LightCity – April 6, 2017. Labs@LightCity will bring together national and local thought leaders and engaged, inspired citizens from diverse backgrounds to explore cutting edge concepts for sparking social change.

A discounted ticket for friends of Light City is now available for $99 (a discount of $50). Use the code LCFriends50 when checking out and your discount will be automatically applied to your registration. You may also share the code with friends who you believe would want to join the conversation, vote during the Pitch Competition, learn and have a real impact on the Labs, Baltimore, and beyond!

Hot off the (online) presses: the first annual Year-End Market Report produced by MCEDC. How does the employment rate in Montgomery County compare to the state? What are the biggest business highlights from last year? How does the future look for the county? Find these answers, and more.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that it has received a task order from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) valued at up to $30.5 million to develop monoclonal antibody therapeutics for viral hemorrhagic fever. This task order will utilize the company’s Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) facility located in Baltimore, Maryland. Using monoclonal antibodies from Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., the company will conduct technology transfer of process materials and information, perform process and analytical method development, execute small-scale production runs, and perform cGMP cell banking leading to cGMP manufacture of bulk drug substance. The task order consists of a 36-month period of performance with a base task order valued at $7.4 million and options that, if executed, will bring the total task order value over three years to up to $30.5 million.

Which state has the nation’s most research-intensive economy? California? Massachusetts? North Carolina?

Actually it’s Maryland. A greater portion of Maryland’s economy comes from private, federal, and university research spending than any state (with the exception of rural New Mexico with its two large federal labs). But not enough of us recognize that.

Researchers from the University of Maryland College Park (UMD) and Baltimore (UMB) campuses have developed a blood test that could help doctors more quickly diagnose schizophrenia and other disorders. Their study, “Redox Probing for Chemical Information of Oxidative Stress,” was recently published in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

“We hope our new technique will allow a more rapid detection and intervention for schizophrenia, and ultimately lead to better outcomes,” said Gregory Payne, one of the authors and a joint professor with UMD’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) and the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR).

Gynecological surgery device developer SurgiGyn said today it inked an exclusive license arrangement with the University of Maryland, Baltimore for laparoscopic surgical device technology developed at the University.

The Baltimore, Md.-based company said it also closed a seed round of funding from UM Ventures and a private investor, with funds slated to support accelerated development of its uterine electrosurgical device

On the first two days of February, I testified before Maryland legislative committees in support of Governor Larry Hogan’s FY 2018 budget proposal for the University System of Maryland (USM).

Governor Hogan has proposed state support for USM of $1.35 billion. This is an increase of $26.6 million — or approximately 2 percent — over the final FY 2017 budget, which includes the November Board of Public Works reduction of $14.2 million.

Build the MoCo STEM community by attending this free event for educators from pre-K to college, business leaders and employers, County Councilmembers, county government leaders and service providers, industry practitioners, interested parents and students. We are showcasing best practices, laying out a vision and asking for input on an effective STEM engagement strategy for Montgomery County.

12:30pm – 1pm: Networking and STEM Demonstrations

Orgenesis Inc. (OTCQB: ORGS), a fully-integrated cell therapy and contract development and manufacturing company, announced that its Belgian subsidiary, Orgenesis SPRL, has received the formal approval from the Walloon Region, Belgium (Service Public of Wallonia, DGO6) for a budget of EUR 12.3 million ($12.8 million) support program for the GMP production of AIP cells for two clinical trials that will be performed in Germany and Belgium. The project support will be for a period of three years commencing on January 1, 2017.

Of the approved amount, a total of EUR 3.3 million is budgeted for a development work at our Belgian-based subsidiary, MaSTherCell S.A.

Funding and Research Opportunities

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

Notices:

• Impact of Washington, DC Area Federal Office Operating Status on NIH Grant Application Due Dates
• (NOT-OD-17-041)
• National Institutes of Health
• Notice of NIA’s Participation in PA-17-101 “Research on the Health of Women of Underrepresented, Understudied and Underreported (U3) Populations – An ORWH FY17 Administrative Supplement (Admin Supp)”
• (NOT-AG-17-004)
• National Institute on Aging
• NHLBI Priorities for HIV Research and Funding
• (NOT-HL-17-486)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Notice of NLM’s Participation in PA-17-101 “Research on the Health of Women of Underrepresented, Understudied and Underreported (U3) Populations An ORWH FY17 Administrative Supplement (Admin Supp)”
• (NOT-LM-17-004)
• National Library of Medicine

Thursday February 16, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST

Join BioBuzz and founding sponsor The Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus at Growlers in Gaithersburg on February 16th for our 1st networking event of 2017. The Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus offers part-time graduate courses in several disciplines, including education, biotechnology and liberal arts. Students attend classes in the evenings and on Saturdays, enabling them to hold full-time jobs during the day. Depending on the degree area, students can fully complete their coursework in Montgomery County. Other students take some courses in Baltimore and/ or online.

Scientists are no strangers to having their work questioned by lawmakers, and now they are fighting back.

On April 22, scientists and their supporters will hold a March for Science to advocate for science and evidence-based research in policies. The main march will be held in Washington, D.C., and satellite marches will be held in other cities, as they were with the Women’s March the day after the inauguration. And the march’s organizers say they aren’t just fighting for more funding for science, or more influence in policy, but also to raise awareness about the type of research they’re doing.

The recent flurry of activity around the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has many people confused about where it stands, and what the employer’s obligations are. The following summarizes the activity so far.

Legislative Repeal Activity

A popular meme suggests that the Senate voted to eliminate virtually all of the provisions of the ACA, including the ability to obtain insurance in spite of pre-existing conditions, the requirement to cover adult children up to the age of 26, etc. This is not the case.

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s comments today supporting biopharmaceutical innovation:

“We look forward to working with President Trump and his team to enact policies that ensure better access to and affordability of today’s medicines and the vision the President laid out in his inaugural address ‘….to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.’ The ideas the President laid out in his meeting today–policies that would cut unnecessary regulation, enforce fair trade, increase competition, support small companies’ ability to attract capital and strengthen and promote market-based solutions–are ideas that BIO has been advocating for and working to build consensus on with others in the healthcare system. They will go a long way toward ensuring that patients have affordable access to today’s innovative medicines and that our companies have the policy and regulatory environment they need to bring a new generation of breakthrough medicines to our children and grandchildren.

Thursday, February 23, 2017 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST

Johns Hopkins University – Montgomery Campus 106-110 A&R Building 9601 Medical Center Drive Rockville, MD 20850

Washington DC/Baltimore Chapter of Women In Bio is presenting a program to learn about how bioscience discoveries move from the bench to the market. The route from discovery to market is not linear. Our panelists will relay their experiences with clinical trials, manufacturing, and marketing and will discuss how each of these aspects interacts along the way. Whether you are looking to enter the world of bench to market or are just curious about the process, this will be an informative and fun event. Moderated by Lynn Johnson Langer, Program Director, Sr. Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, our panel includes the following individuals:

• Neta Nelson – Associate Director, Clinical Operations & Project Management, Technical Resources International, Inc.
• Maura Kahn – Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, Noxilizer, Inc.
• Kathy Webb – Senior Director GMP Operations, Paragon Bioservices, Inc.

To the Editor:

We the undersigned, founders and leaders of biotech companies, write to express our deep concern and opposition to the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on January 27, 2017, barring the entry of citizens from seven countries into the United States1.

The United States is the world’s greatest developer of medicines and new inventions to ameliorate and cure intractable diseases, a status achieved through massive investment in private and public companies, academia and R&D. Most importantly, our success has been founded on the creativity and dedication of our most precious resource—our people.

Tuesday, March 7th 8:00am—5:00pm

This one-day event will highlight the latest trends in medical devices and technologies and feature resources in the state that help bring products from invention to market. Topics include bioelectronics, cybersecurity for medical devices, convergence of devices and drugs, big data, robotic prosthetics, and additive manufacturing applications. Organizations representing Maryland innovation, entrepreneurial, funding, regulatory, and product scale-up resources will be there to discuss ways that they work with the medical device community.

This event is sponsored by the University of Maryland Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Maryland Department of Commerce, Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC), FLC Mid-Atlantic Region, National Institute for Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership , and TEDCO.

After listening to hundreds of startup pitches, and reading even more business plans, most new venture investors develop their own favorite list of “red flags” that signal the beginning of the end of their interest. Others, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal.

At any rate, here is my own list of red flags, from my years of experience advising and investing in aspiring entrepreneurs, which cause me to lose interest and start looking for a way out the door:

In order to address the unmet needs and create opportunities that benefit patients with rare disease in India, a group of volunteers created a not-for-profit organization named Organization for Rare Diseases India (ORDI; www.ordindia.org). ORDI plans to represent the collective voice and advocate the needs of patients with rare diseases and other stakeholders in India. The ORDI team members come from diverse backgrounds such as genetics, molecular diagnostics, drug development, bioinformatics, communications, information technology, patient advocacy and public service. ORDI builds on the lessons learned from numerous similar organizations in the USA, European Union and disease-specific rare disease foundations in India. In this review, we provide a background on the landscape of rare diseases and the organizations that are active in this area globally and in India. We discuss the unique challenges in tackling rare diseases in India, and highlight the unmet needs of the key stakeholders of rare diseases. Finally, we define the vision, mission, goals and objectives of ORDI, identify the key developments in the health care context in India and welcome community feedback and comments on our approach.

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has a suggestion for humans who want to stay relevant in a future of artificial intelligence: merge with the machines.

“Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,” Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai, according to CNBC. “It’s mostly about bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output.”

Last month, we outlined our top 10 do’s and don’ts for getting your Phase I NIH proposal in shape and ready to submit before the April 5 deadline. This month we continue that theme by presenting what we have determined, over years of reviewing proposals, to be our top 10 brilliant ideas or stupid mistakes for Phase II proposals. Here are our favorites:

In labs testing how brain implants could help people with physical disabilities, tales of success can be bittersweet.

Experiments like those that let a paralyzed person swig coffee using a robotic arm, or that let blind people “see” spots of light, have proven the huge potential of computers that interface with the brain. But the implanted electrodes used in such trials eventually become useless, as scar tissue forms that degrades their electrical connection to brain cells (see “The Thought Experiment”).

President Donald Trump’s new health secretary took office Friday after becoming the latest Cabinet nominee to eke out a confirmation victory in the bitterly divided Senate.

Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Tom Price, of Georgia, at the White House hours after the Senate confirmed him 52-47 in a party-line vote. That roll call came in the dead of night, thanks to Democrats’ tactic of forcing prolonged debates to broadcast their opposition to Trump and his team.

Cuddles, kisses, and caring conversations. These are key ingredients of our close relationships. Scientists are finding that our links to others can have powerful effects on our health. Whether with romantic partners, family, friends, neighbors, or others, social connections can influence our biology and well-being.

Build the MoCo STEM community by attending this free event for educators from pre-K to college, business leaders and employers, County Councilmembers, county government leaders and service providers, industry practitioners, interested parents and students. We are showcasing best practices, laying out a vision and asking for input on an effective STEM engagement strategy for Montgomery County.

12:30pm – 1pm: Networking and STEM Demonstrations

1pm – 4pm: Panels and Discussion

MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith to speak at 1:15pm

As part of REDI’s 20th Anniversary, we’ve created a new retention program aimed at solidifying relationships with the City’s leading businesses: Rockville Key Visits, or RKVs for short.

REDI is joined on the monthly visits by representatives of the Mayor & City Council, our Board of Directors, and partner economic development organizations.

RKVs are arranged with businesses that are major employers, operating in a priority industry, and/or exhibiting fast growth potential. The program creates an open line of communication to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the local business community, which benefits all parties through a regular exchange of information and resources.

The first RKV took us to Supernus Pharmaceuticals, which focuses on developing and commercializing products for the treatment of central nervous system disorders and employs over 160 in its Rockville headquarters. As a major employer operating in the region’s important biotech cluster with strong potential for growth, Supernus was a great visit to kick off RKV!

Thursday, February 16, 2017, 05:00pm – 07:00pm

Join BioBuzz and founding sponsor The Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus at Growlers in Gaithersburg on February 16th for our 1st networking event of 2017. The Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus offers part-time graduate courses in several disciplines, including education, biotechnology and liberal arts. Students attend classes in the evenings and on Saturdays, enabling them to hold full-time jobs during the day. Depending on the degree area, students can fully complete their coursework in Montgomery County. Other students take some courses in Baltimore and/ or online.

Growlers

227 E Diamond Ave

Gaithersburg, MD 20877

The volume of startups says a lot about an area’s viability.

But as that number keeps growing, it’s worth considering which of those companies are “real.” It helps people who track startups (like, say, journalists) keep tabs on the next big companies coming out of Baltimore.

The black sports bra and matching leggings that Under Armour began selling Monday don’t look particularly distinctive from the rest of the workout attire on its website.

But, in fact, the garments are different in a key way: They were made in the United States, marking a key milestone in the company’s ambitious bid to significantly rethink its manufacturing strategy.

Nestlé announced last week it is moving its US headquarters from California to Arlington, Virginia. We see similarities to other recent headquarters moves, yielding lessons for communities seeking to attract or retain these high profile activities.

Date: February 22, 2017

Time: 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Registration and Networking 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Program

Curious about Lean Startup? What does it really mean and why is everyone talking about it? Lean is a way of thinking that can shorten cycles for developing products and business startups. It is a logical, scientific approach that helps businesses and entrepreneurs draw distinct lines between the fuzzy dream in their head and the reality on the ground. Best of all it teaches us how to create a deep, lasting relationship with the most important person our business will ever know: our customers.

Come join moderator Bob Smith, a serial entrepreneur and Lean Startup instructor and a panel of experienced Lean practitioners as they provide an overview of the process and how it can be used during any phase of the business life cycle; startup to new product development.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a prevalent and highly lethal condition affecting stem cell transplant recipients. Unfortunately, biopsies are a painful, invasive and slow procedure that cause discomfort to patients and does not yield rapid results. The National Cancer Institute seeks licensees to commercialize this improved method for detection of diseases that are characterized by the presence of rapidly-dividing cells using deuterated water as a label for dynamic measurement of in vivo cellular kinetics.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer congratulates the winners of its 2017 Awards. With over 90 nominations submitted this year’s competition was fierce, which made our judges’ task of selecting winners an unenviable one. We thank our winners, and their competitors, for a great job in realizing the technology transfer potential within their laboratories.

The awards will be presented on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at the FLC National Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. To register for the meeting and/or awards ceremony, visit meeting.federallabs.org.

Men whose prostate cancer comes back after surgery are more likely to survive if, along with the usual radiation, they also take drugs to block male hormones.

The finding, published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, comes from a long-running study that experts say will help clarify treatment for many patients.

President Donald Trump wants to remake the Food and Drug Administration. And he happens to have a “fantastic person” in mind to do it, he said Tuesday — someone who will turn the agency into an industry-friendly shop that cranks out new cures on the double.

With over 75 scientific ventures to its name, Flagship’s startup network has now generated 16 IPOs and $19 billion in aggregate value over 17 years.

Things were going well, but Flagship Pioneering (formerly Flagship Ventures) still felt the need for a name change in December of last year.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 07:00am – 11:00am

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur BALTIMORE Forum

“The Best Networking Event in the region.”

Over 70% of previous attendees surveyed say that CONNECTpreneur is the “Number One” tech and investor event in the Mid-Atlantic region!

DCInno calls CONNECTpreneur “The Best Networking Event in the region” and a “NETWORKING JACKPOT” of the area’s TOP Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, CXOs, Angels, and VCs.

Presented by Tech 2000 and LORE Systems, this UNIQUE EVENT is like NONE OTHER in our region, because of the high quality of our attendees, speakers and presenters. 

And YES, the networking is unprecedented!

Thursday, February 09, 2017, 08:00am – 05:00pm

Combining motherhood and a career is a juggling act, and was even more so before the breast pump. Women didn’t always have access to pumps in the workplace, however nowadays many breastfeeding mothers rely on a breast pump when returning to work to help extend breastfeeding and the work/life balance. Join us as Debra Kurtz, President, Kurtz Consulting Inc, discusses:

• the history of breast pump innovation
• how these class II medical devices assist with maternal employment
• leverage user insights to drive product requirements and IP strategy
• the opportunities we have to improve health products, advance employee benefits, and improve work/life balance  for future generations of women

Along with announcing a merger of two of the state’s big tech councils on Tuesday night in Annaoplis, Gov. Larry Hogan talked about how the state wants to help the tech community.

He talked about meeting with Israeli cybersecurity companies during a trip last year and opening the upgraded version of the MdBio Foundation’s mobile eXploration lab earlier that day.

Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), a leader in the engineering and industrialization of biology to improve the quality of life and health of the planet, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNVC), a clinical-stage company and pioneer in the development of AdenoVerse™ gene delivery technology.

Redox, a Madison, WI-based startup that develops digital tools that enable healthcare applications to access data from electronic health records systems, says it has raised $9 million from investors.

New York-based RRE Ventures led the Series B financing. Other participants in the funding round included return backers .406 Ventures (in Boston), HealthX Ventures (Madison), and Flybridge Capital Partners, which has offices in Boston and New York. .406 Ventures led Redox’s $3.5 million Series A round, which was announced in late 2015.

The Germany Federal Ministry of Health’s Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) has approved Emergent BioSolutions’ (EBS -1.4%) large-scale Lansing, MI-based manufacturing site, Building 55, that will make its anthrax vaccine BioThrax. The approval allows product made there to be marketed in Germany, the only anthrax vaccine so licensed.

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 the issuance on January 24, 2017 of a seventh patent (number 9,549,940) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering Trokendi XR®, its novel once-daily extended-release topiramate product. The patent provides protection for the product with expiration that is no earlier than 2027.

A Johns Hopkins initiative has grant money available for research projects that take a cross-disciplinary approach to urban policies and issues.

The 21st Century Cities program has seven grants available of about $35,000 each, according to the JHU Hub. The projects must have Johns Hopkins faculty members acting as leads, but also must include a community organization or business.

The Greater Washington Partnership, a group of chief executives and business leaders from the Baltimore-Washington area, has tapped a former White House staffer as its CEO.

Jason Miller, who previously worked as deputy assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, begins his tenure as CEO of the newly formed business group April 1.

The MdBio Foundation, a non-profit that provides STEM education and workforce development to underserved communities, will unveil its new mobile laboratory, the Mobile eXploration Lab (MXLab), in Annapolis, Md., on January 24. The event will include an open house and tour of the MXLab, as well as a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring Gov. Larry Hogan, state officials and business leaders.

The MXLab is the largest mobile laboratory of its kind in the U.S. and will enable MdBio to expand its mission of giving students the opportunity to experience hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The lab provides students with access to cutting-edge technologies and techniques not typically available at schools and experience with practical, real-world applications in use by today’s scientific and tech communities.

NHLBI seeks to facilitate and accelerate the development of new clinical interventions by bridging the gaps between mechanistic, discovery, and early translational research. This includes providing appropriate mechanisms to support investigator-initiated research, addressing resource and knowledge gaps, and creating initiatives to support career development of translational scientists and biomedical entrepreneurs.

The NHLBI is considering providing support for the earliest phases of developing a target/compound/biologic for use as a therapy or diagnostic. It is envisioned that projects assisted by such a program would be investigator-initiated grants of relatively short duration, designed to answer one to two specific questions (which may or may not be hypothesis driven), and focused on whether the target in question is reasonable to pursue as a therapy or diagnostic.

When: Thursday February 16, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST

Location: Growlers 227 E Diamond Ave Gaithersburg, MD 20877

Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus is also a site for the popular Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Geared toward retirees, these non-credit classes cover topics including opera, literature, history, politics and more.

The campus is home to approximately 35 research companies and entrepreneurs. Scientists on campus are studying cervical cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cell therapy, proteins and other health issues. Other companies focus on technology, medical devices and consulting services. The Rockville Science Center’s administrative offices are located here. Start-up companies, second-stage businesses and more established companies are welcome.

From striving to increase sales to recognizing the need for larger facilities, growth is often on the minds of business owners. If you’re a business owner who set out to grow your Maryland business in 2017, use the infographic below as a guide.

A few weeks before I began my freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I received an official- looking envelope from a student group. Expecting information about a club or event, I was surprised to find such sentences as “MIT certainly lowers standards for women and ‘underrepresented’ minorities” and “The average woman at MIT is less intelligent and ambitious than the average man at MIT. The average ‘underrepresented’ minority at MIT is less intelligent and ambitious than the average non-‘underrepresented’ minority.” (MIT’s Association of Student Activities later stripped the student group of its official recognition as a result of the unapproved mailing.)

The coming $1.1 billion acquisition of CoverMyMeds LLC – Ohio’s first tech startup ” unicorn” – is a huge win for the Ohio Third Frontier program.

McKesson Corp., one of the three biggest U.S. health-care products distributors, announced Wednesday it would acquire the fast-growing Columbus software maker in a deal that could grow to $1.37 billion depending on its financial performance over the next two years.

Pig embryos that had been injected with human stem cells when they were only a few days old began to grow organs containing human cells, scientists reported on Thursday, an advance that promises — or threatens — to bring closer the routine production of creatures that are part human and part something else.

Computers can classify skin cancers as successfully as human experts, according to the latest research attempting to apply artificial intelligence to health.

The US-based researchers say the new system, which is based on image recognition, could be developed for smartphones, increasing access to screening and providing a low-cost way to check whether skin lesions are cause for concern.

EVERY year about 120,000 organs, mostly kidneys, are transplanted from one human being to another. Sometimes the donor is a living volunteer. Usually, though, he or she is the victim of an accident, stroke, heart attack or similar sudden event that has terminated the life of an otherwise healthy individual. But a lack of suitable donors, particularly as cars get safer and first-aid becomes more effective, means the supply of such organs is limited. Many people therefore die waiting for a transplant. That has led researchers to study the question of how to build organs from scratch.

Introducing The Medical Capital Innovation Competition to be held April 25-26, 2017 at the Global Center for Health Innovation, Cleveland OH in the HIMSS Innovation Center. Where innovators with big ideas on the collection, management, analysis and optimization of healthcare big data can submit their idea(s) and present their innovation.

With $100,000 in cash prizes, the competition will reward the best innovations with meaningful funding, mentoring, and potential access to three world class healthcare systems and collaborators who can turn big ideas into new big business realities. The Medical Capital Innovation Competition is open to and encourages participation from professional and collegiate teams.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, an audacious biotech billionaire who has pledged to “solve health care,” has been in talks with the Trump administration about the possibility of serving in a senior role overseeing the US health care system, according to individuals familiar with the discussions.

Soon-Shiong, a trained surgeon, has met with President Trump and his advisers at least twice in recent weeks. During those discussions, he raised the possibility that he could serve as a “health care czar” with a broad portfolio in the administration as it seeks to reshape the health care system and replace the Affordable Care Act, according to two individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“John knows exactly what he’s doing and needs little management. He works rapidly but without any mistakes so he delivers an amazing amount of high quality work. No one can do what he does.”

This was the response I received when I asked a manager how John was doing. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Read on.

In a unique collaboration, a concurrent degree program featuring Penn State Harrisburg’s master of business administration and the Penn State College of Medicine’s doctorate in biomedical sciences allows students to get on a fast track to jobs that combine scientific research with positions of management responsibility. The concurrent program gives students an edge in a highly competitive field by providing them with a foundation in management in addition to specialization in biomedical science.

You’ve got an amazing idea for a new medical product, it’ll save lives, speed recovery, be less expensive, more accurate and durable than the product already available on the market – or it may fill a gap where there is no product available. You have an amazing team, strong IP, an understanding of the regulatory and reimbursement coverage data requirements – all you need to get to market is MORE MONEY! In this Small Biz Hangout one of NHLBI’s funded companies will demonstrate how to deliver a strong pitch to investors and our Investor-in-Residence will comment on the most effective and impactful aspects of the delivery.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

4:00 PM to 6:30 PM (Eastern)

Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research

9600 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850

BDO and Crowell & Moring are proud to present a two-part panel discussion on IP Strategy for the BioPharma Industry. This is a “must attend” event for companies engaged in drug, vaccine, biologic, or medical device research and strategic product development. IP and the strategy to procure and sustain it is one of the most critical aspects to revenue generation and commercial success. Our panel members are admired veterans in this field and will present intriguing case studies that will emphasize lessons learned and practical solutions to creating a successful IP strategy.

Combining motherhood and a career is a juggling act, and was even more so before the breast pump. Women didn’t always have access to pumps in the workplace, however nowadays many breastfeeding mothers rely on a breast pump when returning to work to help extend breastfeeding and the work/life balance. Join us as Debra Kurtz, President, Kurtz Consulting Inc, discusses:

• the history of breast pump innovation
• how these class II medical devices assist with maternal employment
• leverage user insights to drive product requirements and IP strategy
• the opportunities we have to improve health products, advance employee benefits, and improve work/life balance  for future generations of women

The Big Idea CONNECTpreneur BALTIMORE Forum

February 28, 2017

“The Best Networking Event in the region.”

Over 70% of previous attendees surveyed say that CONNECTpreneur is the “Number One” tech and investor event in the Mid-Atlantic region!

DCInno calls CONNECTpreneur “The Best Networking Event in the region” and a “NETWORKING JACKPOT” of the area’s TOP Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders, CXOs, Angels, and VCs.

Presented by Tech 2000 and LORE Systems, this UNIQUE EVENT is like NONE OTHER in our region, because of the high quality of our attendees, speakers and presenters. 

And YES, the networking is unprecedented!

So, here we are: With a new president come new concerns over surveillance powers that could so forcefully bite us in the ass.

The public has good reason to believe that President Donald Trump would love to expand data-collection programs in his administration. He’s said, repeatedly, that he’d like to surveil mosques. Rep. Mike Pompeo—Trump’s pick for CIA director who’s likely to be confirmed in the next few days—has also advocated for expanded spy efforts. All signs point to lots of little electronic eyeballs, watching us always.

President Donald Trump’s hiring freeze will last only as long as it takes his administration to come up with an alternative attrition plan, according to a memorandum released by the White House Monday, and could provide broad exemptions for agency leaders.

Trump said his hiring moratorium would “be applied across the board in the executive branch” and apply to any positions vacant as of Jan. 22. It would bar agencies from creating new positions. Agency heads can exempt positions they deem “necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities.”

PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE MKT: PIP) and Altimmune, Inc., a privately-held immunotherapeutics company targeting infectious diseases, announced today the signing of a definitive agreement for the merger of PharmAthene and Altimmune in an all-stock transaction. Altimmune’s current investors include Novartis Venture Fund, HealthCap, Truffle Capital and Redmont Capital. The combined company will be a fully-integrated and diversified immunotherapeutics company with four clinical stage and one preclinical stage programs. The proposed transaction does not affect PharmAthene’s previously announced special one-time cash dividend of $2.91 per share of common stock.

A multicenter study led by investigators at Johns Hopkins University just reported on a full genomic analysis of tumor samples from a small number of people who died of pancreatic cancer. The new data suggests that epigenetic changes control how DNA operates to confer survival advantages on subsets of pancreatic cancer cells. Those advantages, the researchers say, let such cancer cells thrive in organs like the liver and lungs, which receive a sugar-rich blood supply.

Tuesday, January 31 at 2:00 PM ET

You’ve got an amazing idea for a new medical product, it’ll save lives, speed recovery, be less expensive, more accurate and durable than the product already available on the market – or it may fill a gap where there is no product available. You have an amazing team, strong IP, an understanding of the regulatory and reimbursement coverage data requirements – all you need to get to market is MORE MONEY! In this Small Biz Hangout one of NHLBI’s funded companies will demonstrate how to deliver a strong pitch to investors and our Investor-in-Residence will comment on the most effective and impactful aspects of the delivery.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is advancing its anthrax preparedness strategy with multiple contract actions for the company’s anthrax vaccines.

Psyadon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, announced today that its lead product — ecopipam — produced significant reductions in total tic severity scores in children (7-17 years) with Tourette’s Syndrome.

The study’s primary endpoint was a statistically significant reduction in the mean Yale Global Tic Severity Score Total Tic Score (YGTSS-TTS). This is a well-validated and standard measure of the clinical efficacy of drugs treating Tourette’s Syndrome. Ecopipam caused significant reductions in the YGTSS-TTS at both two- and four weeks after initiating treatment. Furthermore, the side effects seen in the subjects taking ecopipam were comparable to those seen in the placebo-treated subjects, including no clinically significant changes in standard clinical lab tests or ECG’s, and no increases in body weights.

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the acquisition of OmicSoft Corporation, providing access to OmicSoft’s powerful multi-omics data management infrastructure solution as well as expertly curated ‘omics’ data sets that complement QIAGEN’s bioinformatics portfolio that are relied upon by customers worldwide to gain valuable insights into complex biological data.

Paragon Bioservices received a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide product development services for a variety of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) medical product development activities. The IDIQ mechani

Machfu Inc., a technology solutions company based in Germantown, filed to raise an added $1 million in private equity and extend the life of its 2016 offering.

The company has raised $425,000 since February of last year, when it initially reported raising $125,000, one quarter of its total offering amount at the time, according to a Thursday filing. The amended offering amount is $1.5 million.

AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine today announced that they signed a five-year collaboration agreement with the goal of advancing medical oncology research and discovery at both organizations.

Designed to build strong collaboration between AbbVie and Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, the agreement will focus on several areas of oncology research, which could include lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer.

Dr. Francis Collins is being held over as the director of the National Institutes of Health by the Trump administration, his office announced Thursday afternoon. Collins had been prepared to step down from the post on Friday, after Trump’s inauguration, and return to his lab at the NIH Bethesda campus. However, with Thursday’s news, he will remain as director for the time being.

Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures released photos of a new incubator space that’s set to open later this year.

FastForward 1812 is located within 1812 Ashland Ave., which is near Johns Hopkins Hospital in the Eager Park development (and the FastForward East incubator space).

Digital health leader WellDoc announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the Company 510(k) class II clearance for a non-prescription version of the BlueStar® digital therapeutic. This BlueStar® option will allow WellDoc more flexibility in offering the product through additional channels to adults living with type 2 diabetes.

“This FDA clearance is a significant milestone for WellDoc,” said Kevin McRaith, WellDoc President & CEO. “We can now integrate BlueStar® more seamlessly into the healthcare ecosystem as we commercialize the product and significantly scale it by working with our existing partners as well as others with which we are actively engaged.”

One new member of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is from Baltimore, and part of his job will involve tech policy.

Reed Cordish, a real estate (not software) developer who is a principal with the Cordish Companies, will serve as an assistant to the president on “intragovernmental and technology initiatives,” the Trump transition team announced.

The Maryland Cybersecurity Awards Celebration is designed to honor the companies, organizations, and individuals that have protected businesses and government agencies with their cutting-edge technologies; thwarted cyber criminals with their outstanding cybersecurity services; demonstrated exemplary knowledge, expertise, leadership and innovative thinking; or made a significant contribution to Maryland’s cybersecurity ecosystem. Help us celebrate the best and brightest of the Maryland cyberscurity community by nominating yourself or another individual, company, or organization for one of the prestigious Maryland Cybersecurity Awards. The nomination process is quick and easy, and will only take a few moments. Multiple nominations are encouraged.

Nomination Deadline: January 31st.

A half-dozen student-run startups at Johns Hopkins are getting some funding and help with developing their ideas.

Through the O’Connor Fund, the undergraduate student teams get a $5,000 grant plus access to mentors and other resources. There’s also an opportunity to receive another $5,000 if the teams reach specific business milestones. The program is run by Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures.

The Accelerator Director serves as a principal member of the IPHA evaluation, selection and mentoring team responsible for the identification and development of new personalized health companies with the potential to produce disruptive technology solutions and achieve a high rate of growth.

The Accelerator Director is responsible for sourcing and conducting due diligence on IPHA applicants, evaluating and supporting new company formation strategies, mentoring entrepreneurs in personalized health product development, facilitating IPHA member network relationship development, maintaining board-level relationships and mentoring entrepreneurs in securing equity based capital for growth.

Additionally, the Director will support the growth and management of the IPHA mentor network whose participants provide guidance to portfolio companies. The Director will also work with members of the Inova Strategic Investment team to support the diligence process prior to subsequent investment transactions.

The premiere medical technology start-up competition has just announced they are accepting applications for their next batch of world changing companies. Medgadget had the chance to be present at the last MedTech innovator finals held at AdvaMed in Minneapolis this past October, which was clearly the highlight of the entire conference. Attendees were on the edge of their seats as the finalists laid out their personal stories and health-oriented technologies. The crowd, by popular vote, laid down judgement on our hopeful finalists awarding the grand prize to Green Sun Medical.

Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s largest research and innovation initiative, with nearly €80 billion in funding allocated for over seven years. The program focuses on three overarching priorities: excellent science, industrial leadership, and solutions to global challenges. Horizon 2020 is open to participants from anywhere in the world as the program recognizes the growing importance of internationalizing how knowledge is produced and used.

Please join our speakers to hear their testimonials and to learn about the different types of international cooperation that Horizon 2020 supports, namely on an individual, collaborative, or program level. The presentations will also address in detail the main elements of Horizon 2020 with regards to content, types of activities funded, forms of participation, and application procedures.

As Donald Trump is sworn into office today, we look at what the next 100 days and indeed the next four years could mean for the biopharma industry through his recent candidates for the top healthcare roles, his policies (which are still coming into focus), and the power that 140 characters can have.

It’s been more than a decade since California launched an unprecedented experiment in medical research by direct democracy, when voters created a $3 billion fund to kick-start the hunt for stem cell therapies.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state budget proposal puts most of its economic development bets on life sciences and biotech rather than semiconductors and nanotechnology. Cuomo’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal, which he revealed to the public late Tuesday, includes the first $300 million of a previously announced $650 million five-year plan to build up the state’s life sciences research cluster to support biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Tuesday, February 7, 20174:00 PM to 6:30 PM (Eastern)Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research9600 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850

BDO and Crowell & Moring are proud to present a two-part panel discussion on IP Strategy for the BioPharma Industry. This is a “must attend” event for companies engaged in drug, vaccine, biologic, or medical device research and strategic product development. IP and the strategy to procure and sustain it is one of the most critical aspects to revenue generation and commercial success. Our panel members are admired veterans in this field and will present intriguing case studies that will emphasize lessons learned and practical solutions to creating a successful IP strategy.

Scientists have created a new soft robot that successfully reanimated several pigs’ hearts after they failed. The technology could one day keep an ailing human heart pumping as a patient waits for a transplant.

Last week’s 35th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco was packed with thousands of healthcare investors, analysts, large multinational healthcare companies, startups, and everything in between.

In a week that saw countless broken umbrellas and end to the Bay Area’s prolonged drought, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco featured what it always does: set the fertile ground for healthcare and life sciences dealmaking and networking. From the buzz around Vice President Joe Biden’s appearance to talk about the Cancer Moonshot to Illumina’s partnership with IBM Watson Health, there were plenty of headlines generated at the main conference and the satellite events that accompany it. Here were the biggest stories that emerged from them:

In a dream Brian Hanley told me about, he’s riding a bus when he meets a man in dark leather clothing. Next thing he knows, he is splayed across a tilted metal bed, being electrocuted.

Ask anyone to identify Baltimore’s big anchors, and Under Armour and Johns Hopkins will likely appear in the same sentence.

Now the two are teaming up — brought together by tech.

The Accelerator Director serves as a principal member of the IPHA evaluation, selection and mentoring team responsible for the identification and development of new personalized health companies with the potential to produce disruptive technology solutions and achieve a high rate of growth.

The Accelerator Director is responsible for sourcing and conducting due diligence on IPHA applicants, evaluating and supporting new company formation strategies, mentoring entrepreneurs in personalized health product development, facilitating IPHA member network relationship development, maintaining board-level relationships and mentoring entrepreneurs in securing equity based capital for growth.

Additionally, the Director will support the growth and management of the IPHA mentor network whose participants provide guidance to portfolio companies. The Director will also work with members of the Inova Strategic Investment team to support the diligence process prior to subsequent investment transactions.

A half-dozen student-run startups at Johns Hopkins are getting some funding and help with developing their ideas.

Through the O’Connor Fund, the undergraduate student teams get a $5,000 grant plus access to mentors and other resources. There’s also an opportunity to receive another $5,000 if the teams reach specific business milestones. The program is run by Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures.

Massachusetts stole a second straight victory in Bloomberg’s ranking of the most innovative U.S. states, a testament to how much the economy’s wheels are greased by investment in higher education and research.

Venture capitalists invested $300 million in Maryland companies in 2016, a 70 percent drop from $1 billion the year before.

Funding and Research Opportunities

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

Notices:

• NIH & AHRQ Update Font Guidelines for Applications to Due Dates On or After
  • January 25, 2017
  • (NOT-OD-17-030) National Institutes of Health
• Technical Assistance Videocast for RFA RM-16-019 “NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory – Demonstration Projects for Pragmatic Clinical Trials (UG3/UH3)”
  • (NOT-RM-17-005)
  • NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Availability of Frequently Asked Questions and a Recording of the Pre-application Webinar on the NIH Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) Program Website for RFA-RM-16-024, RFA-RM-16-025, and RFA-RM-16-026
  • (NOT-RM-17-006)
  • NIH Roadmap Initiatives

Requests for Applications:

• National Centers for Cryoelectron Microscopy (U24)
  • (RFA-RM-17-002)
  • NIH Roadmap Initiatives
  • Application Receipt Date(s): June 30, 2017, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on this date.

Program Announcements:

• Research on the Health of Women of Underrepresented, Understudied and Underreported (U3) Populations An ORWH FY17 Administrative Supplement
  • (Admin Supp)
  • (PA-17-101)
  • Office of Research on Women’s Health
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
  • National Eye Institute
  • National Human Genome Research Institute
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Under Armour Inc. CEO Kevin Plank’s keynote speech Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show stressed the importance of product innovation and provided another clear sign that this is not your mom and pop’s CES anymore.

New East Baltimore Partnership (“FC-NEBP”) and Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, Inc. (“Toshiba Medical”) announced today that they have executed a lease to construct a medical research center at 1812 Ashland Avenue, the newest building in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins. When it opens, the Toshiba Medical research center will showcase next-generation technology that will offer a unique opportunity at the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Medical Campus to collaborate with researchers seeking the most advanced imaging capacity in the world.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, New York State and the New York Genome Center today announced a collaboration to launch a new JLABS in New York City. Called JLABS @ NYC, the 30,000-square foot facility will be located at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) in SoHo and will open in 2018. The project is receiving $17 million in New York State funding. The site will be open to biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health companies. A QuickFire Challenge seeking companies working in these areas, particularly startups working on cross-sector solutions to prevent, intercept or cure diseases, will be launched by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, with the winner(s) eligible for one year of residency at JLABS @ NYC.

The DoD SBIR 17.1 & STTR 17.A Broad Agency Announcements are Now Open for Proposal Submission on January 10, 2017

You may now submit your Phase I and Direct to Phase II proposals for the open SBIR 17.1 and STTR 17.A Broad Agency Announcements (BAA) through the DOD SBIR/STTR proposal submission website at https://sbir.defensebusiness.org. All proposals for this Announcement must be received by 6:00 am. ET on Wednesday, February 8, 2017.

In the Obama administration’s final days, the National Cancer Institute is establishing an ambitious new program designed to allow scientists to more quickly access new drugs and compounds for novel research.

One of the last achievements of Vice President Joe Biden’s cancer moonshot initiative before he leaves office, the program was unveiled Wednesday and will begin as an agreement between the institute and six drug companies.

Geisinger Health System CEO Dr. David Feinberg used the StartUp Health Festival to launch its population health initiative, Springboard Health during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco this week.

Prickly pear trees and the brown seaweed, commonly known as Peacocks tail, are a common sight in the Mediterranean. [Stephanie Ghio] It would seem that Juan Ponce de Leon’s trip to the New World in search of the fountain of youth may have been even more in vain, given that it may have been right in his “backyard.” Evidence from a new study by investigators at the University of Malta and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS/University of Bordeaux) shows that chemicals in ubiquitous Mediterranean plants could hold the key to delaying age-related diseases.

Below is 450+ pages of our most popular research reports from last year. As always, if you find these reports helpful, share with friends. If you think they’re terrible, please send to your enemies.

IBM Watson Health and Illumina have officially joined forces, announcing a new partnership on Monday as the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off.

Watson Health is a serial collaborator, but it chose a pivotal agreement to spotlight at JPM. By integrating with Illumina’s platform, the two companies can create an end-to-end tumor sequencing workflow that could increase accessibility and scalability in the field. It could also address a major problem, said Watson Health Vice President Steve Harvey; a lack of standardization.

From a brand new take on the electric breast pump to a discreet way to check sobriety during a night on the town, trust us, there’s a lot of neat stuff on the horizon.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Location: 

UM BioPark, Life Sciences Conference Center

801 W. Baltimore Street

Baltimore Maryland 21201

Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm

Coffee Hour Seminar with Bob Dass, Ph.D., Field Applications Scientist Pall ForteBio

• Powerful Research Platform

• Antibody and Antibody Fragment Characterization
• Protein-protein and protein-peptide interactions
• Protein-DNA/RNA interactions
• Virus and vaccine research
• Protein-small molecule interactions
• Biotherapeutic Development/Biopharma Workhorse

• Cell line development
• Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
• Target identification and validation
• Lead identification
• RSVP to Mahasti Alavi

January 19, 2017 4pm – 8pm

Governor Calvert House

58 State Circle

Annapolis, Maryland

Maryland Health Information Management Systems Society (MDHIMSS) is pleased to announce our 10th Annual Advocacy event being held in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday, January 19, 2016 at Governor Calvert House from 4-8pm. This event focuses on balancing the need for information exchange for Population Health and responsibility to protect and secure that information. In addition to legislative updates a panel discussion and technology showcase will be on display.

You will have the opportunity to meet and network with legislators from the House of Delegates, Senate and the Office of Governor Hogan during our evening event including hors d’oeuvre and cocktails. 

Your legislators are very interested in hearing your suggestions to further improve our State’s healthcare. This years’ 90-day legislative session is set to have a fast start on Jan. 11th with numerous bills already being drafted for introduction; many that will impact healthcare. Join us in being a resource to our legislators by helping to further educate and provide resourceful information related to healthcare IT.

To attend you MUST REGISTER by January 16.

There is NO FEE for MDHIMSS Members. For Non-Members the fee of $60 covers admission plus a ONE YEAR free membership to MDHIMSS!

Thank you for your participation and we look forward to seeing you on January 19th.

Formed in 1997, the Greater Rockville Partnership, now Rockville Economic Development, Inc. has evolved and grown to be an organization that has helped thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs in the City of Rockville. And we are so excited to hit 20 years of support and growth that we are going celebrate ALL YEAR LONG!

We have events and promotions planned throughout the year including our Business Appreciation Week, the REDI Commercial Broker Breakfast , the REDI Resource Meet up (R2M), as well as special 20th Anniversary events —you won’t want to miss any of them.

We are also offering 20th Anniversary sponsorship opportunities for companies looking for exposure by supporting our events throughout the year. If interested, you can contact Michael Steifvater via email or 301.315.8096.

Vtesse, Inc., a company committed to developing medicines to benefit patients with ultra rare, life-threatening diseases, announced today the appointment of Jason Meyenburg as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Meyenburg joins the company from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, The Americas.

“As we near completion of enrollment in our pivotal Phase 2b/3 clinical trial of our lead drug candidate, VTS-270, our primary goal is to advance regulatory submissions. Assuming we receive favorable responses from U.S. and European regulatory agencies, our next goal will be to rapidly provide access to VTS-270 for the children suffering from NPC and its debilitating symptoms,” said Ben Machielse, Drs., President and Chief Executive Officer of Vtesse, Inc. “As someone with deep experience supporting the roll out of rare disease medicines, Jason has the know-how, passion and dedication required to help us to quickly make VTS-270 available for patients in need, pending regulatory approvals.”

MaxCyte®, Inc., a developer and supplier of cell engineering products and technologies to biopharmaceutical firms engaged in cell therapy, drug discovery and development, biomanufacturing, gene editing and immuno-oncology, announces data to be presented at the Keystone Symposia on Precision Genome Engineering summarizing in vitro and long-term preclinical toxicity and engraftment studies following targeted gene correction aimed at reversing mutations to wild-type sequence at clinically relevant levels in CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) obtained from individuals with X-CGD. The oral and poster presentations will highlight use of MaxCyte’s proprietary, cGMP-compliant delivery platform in development of ex vivo gene-corrected cell therapies as a potential treatment for monogenic diseases. The Symposia is taking place January 8 to 12, 2017 in Breckenridge, Colorado.

MdBio Foundation is hiring a team of enthusiastic individuals to operate the Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab, a custom designed 45-foot bus that will travel to middle schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. In addition to providing instruction to middle school students aboard the bus, the team will also assist in the development of associated curriculum, coordinating school visits, and moving and placement of the vehicle.

The explorer lab is currently being built in Burbank, California and will travel across the United States for a “road show.” The road show will include a series of school visits and PR events between March and August 2017. In August 2017, the explorer lab will arrive in Washington, DC and will serve the DC Public School system for the 2017/2018 school year.

Funding and Research Opportunities

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

Notices:

• NIH & AHRQ Update Font Guidelines for Applications to Due Dates On or After
• January 25, 2017
• (NOT-OD-17-030) National Institutes of Health
• Technical Assistance Videocast for RFA RM-16-019 “NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory – Demonstration Projects for Pragmatic Clinical Trials (UG3/UH3)”
• (NOT-RM-17-005)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Notice of Availability of Frequently Asked Questions and a Recording of the Pre-application Webinar on the NIH Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) Program Website for RFA-RM-16-024, RFA-RM-16-025, and RFA-RM-16-026
• (NOT-RM-17-006)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives

Requests for Applications:

• National Centers for Cryoelectron Microscopy (U24)
• (RFA-RM-17-002)
• NIH Roadmap Initiatives
• Application Receipt Date(s): June 30, 2017, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on this date.

Program Announcements:

• Research on the Health of Women of Underrepresented, Understudied and Underreported (U3) Populations An ORWH FY17 Administrative Supplement
• (Admin Supp)
• (PA-17-101)
• Office of Research on Women’s Health
• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
• National Eye Institute
• National Human Genome Research Institute
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

The NHLBI’s Strategic Vision rests on four mission-driven goals that will benefit from sustained Institute focus. Eight objectives organize the 132 Research Priorities.

Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI), the genomics-driven, health intelligence company, today announced Cynthia Collins as the new Chief Executive Officer effective January 9, 2017. Collins, who has a successful track record and extensive leadership experience in the life sciences sector, will lead HLI and be responsible for all functions of the company including commercialization of HLI key products and strategic operations. She will also join the Board of Directors.

Venter, who is a co-founder, will relinquish the CEO role but will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the HLI Board of Directors and will remain in a daily role leading the scientific strategy and direction of HLI.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, New York State and the New York Genome Center today announced a collaboration to launch a new JLABS in New York City. Called JLABS @ NYC, the 30,000-square foot facility will be located at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) in SoHo and will open in 2018. The project is receiving $17 million in New York State funding. The site will be open to biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health companies. A QuickFire Challenge seeking companies working in these areas, particularly startups working on cross-sector solutions to prevent, intercept or cure diseases, will be launched by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, with the winner(s) eligible for one year of residency at JLABS @ NYC.

Imagine that you found a drug at a government lab that others passed over which promises to cure, not just treat, certain blood cancers. You entered into a cooperative R&D agreement where your funding doubled the lab’s budget in a critical research area while they leverage the expertise of your company. You’re a small American company taking on the big boys, with a state of the art facility hoping to be first to market with a revolutionary therapy.

Dickson Data is back at it. On Thursday it released a new infographic [below] showing which drug patents are set to expire in 2017.

It follows the template of its popular 2016 infographic, which highlighted several major biopharma threats and trends. Times were tough for AstraZeneca, which had $7.4 billion in sales under threat as Crestor and Seroquel XR lose patent exclusivity.

Blood cancer treatments may one day include special dietary restrictions: researchers have found that an essential amino acid plays a crucial role in the creation of blood stem cells—a discovery the scientists say could lead to a potential alternative to chemotherapy and radiation.

Boston Scientific has made a name for itself with devices that are implanted into the body to prevent heart attacks. But through its Connected Patient Challenge, launched last month, the company is looking to get more involved in the kind of preventative medicine that’s based on the data generated by doctors, patients and the growth of wearable devices.

The healthcare industry’s transition toward value-based care is forcing providers to adopt new and emerging business models in lieu of traditional fee-for-service payment. At their core, these business models have the principle of value-based reimbursement, in which providers must meet certain quality care standards while controlling costs in order to get paid.

WHAT: The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) will host a meeting of the board of directors of the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII).

Created by the General Assembly and administered by TEDCO, the MII promotes the commercialization of research conducted in five qualifying Maryland universities. The initiative encourages universities to partner on commercialization proposals, strategies and funding sources. The MII program facilitates technology transfer from university labs to start-up companies and boosts economic development in Maryland.

NOTE: The MII board of directors may, in open session, follow the required procedures to go into closed session, which will be limited to matters that are permissibly discussed in closed session under the Maryland Open Meetings Act. For more information, please refer to www.oag.state.md.us/opengov/index.htm.

WHEN: Thursday, January 12, 2017

TIME: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

WHERE: TEDCO 7021 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 200 Columbia, MD 21046

DIRECTIONS: Visit http://tedco.md/contact-us/122-2/for directions.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Location: 

UM BioPark, Life Sciences Conference Center

801 W. Baltimore Street

Baltimore Maryland 21201

Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm

Coffee Hour Seminar with Bob Dass, Ph.D., Field Applications Scientist Pall ForteBio

• Powerful Research Platform

• Antibody and Antibody Fragment Characterization
• Protein-protein and protein-peptide interactions
• Protein-DNA/RNA interactions
• Virus and vaccine research
• Protein-small molecule interactions
• Biotherapeutic Development/Biopharma Workhorse

• Cell line development
• Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
• Target identification and validation
• Lead identification
• RSVP to Mahasti Alavi

January 19, 2017 4pm – 8pm

Governor Calvert House

58 State Circle

Annapolis, Maryland

Maryland Health Information Management Systems Society (MDHIMSS) is pleased to announce our 10th Annual Advocacy event being held in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday, January 19, 2016 at Governor Calvert House from 4-8pm. This event focuses on balancing the need for information exchange for Population Health and responsibility to protect and secure that information. In addition to legislative updates a panel discussion and technology showcase will be on display.

You will have the opportunity to meet and network with legislators from the House of Delegates, Senate and the Office of Governor Hogan during our evening event including hors d’oeuvre and cocktails. 

Your legislators are very interested in hearing your suggestions to further improve our State’s healthcare. This years’ 90-day legislative session is set to have a fast start on Jan. 11th with numerous bills already being drafted for introduction; many that will impact healthcare. Join us in being a resource to our legislators by helping to further educate and provide resourceful information related to healthcare IT.

To attend you MUST REGISTER by January 16.

There is NO FEE for MDHIMSS Members. For Non-Members the fee of $60 covers admission plus a ONE YEAR free membership to MDHIMSS!

Thank you for your participation and we look forward to seeing you on January 19th.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 05:30pm – 08:30pm

Host: Tech Council of Maryland

Location: Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West Street, Annapolis Maryland 21401

Time: 5:30pm to 8:30pm

Each year TCM’s Leadership Dinner in Annapolis connects business leaders from technology and life science with policymakers in Annapolis. This is a must-attend event where executives, TCM’s Board of Directors and members from the Maryland General Assembly get together and discuss important policy issues.

For more information and sponsorship opportunities, email Wendy Worm or call 240-243-4050

Cancer Research: 5 Reasons You Should Apply

Immunomic Therapeutics is committed to providing a workplace that bolsters scientific ideas. The Cancer Discovery Incubator will enable and accelerate beginning ventures with the capacity for measurable change in oncology health. The goal is to empower the beneficiary to conduct proof-of-concept experiments and ultimately, attract funding, partnerships, and fuel growth.

Medigene AG (http://www.medigene.de) (FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard, TecDAX) announced today that it has granted an exclusive, worldwide license for the development and commercialization of its preclinical stage adeno-associated virus like particles (AAVLPs) technology to the Swedish biotech company 2A Pharma AB, located in Malmö, Sweden. Under the terms of the agreement, Medigene is eligible to receive clinical, regulatory and commercial milestone payments in addition to royalties on net sales of future AAVLP products by 2A Pharma AB. Further financial details were not disclosed.

MaxCyte, Inc. announced today a strategic collaboration with leading academic research institution, Washington University in St. Louis (“Washington University”) to advance next-generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-based cell therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

MaxCyte and Washington University will develop unique immunotherapy drug candidates, based on MaxCyte’s proprietary cell engineering platform technology, CARMA.

This collaboration builds on MaxCyte’s efforts with The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center around pre-clinical development of CAR therapy for solid cancers.

The University of Maryland will be a key partner in a new institute to advance U.S. leadership in pharmaceutical manufacturing that was announced by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Friday, December 16, 2016. The National Institute for Innovation of Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) will be the 11th Manufacturing USA Institute, and includes the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. A team of more than 150 companies, educational institutions, nonprofits and state governments will operate NIIMBL under a newly formed nonprofit.

Astellas Pharma Inc. (President and CEO: Yoshihiko Hatanaka, “Astellas”) and Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (Founder & CEO: William Hearl, Ph.D., “Immunomic Therapeutics”) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for the drug candidate ASP0892 for the mitigation of severe hypersensitivity reactions due to peanut allergy. ASP0892 is a new DNA vaccine program based on the investigational LAMP-Vax platform. A Phase I clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immune response of ASP0892 in adults allergic to peanuts has been initiated.

Sometimes lab research leads to a discovery that’s commercially viable enough to start a company. But for scientists with little business experience, making the jump to the private sector can be intimidating without support. In an effort to address this issue, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has partnered with the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) (link is external) to award a new round of N-STEP grants, which support early-stage entrepreneurs in ways that other grants do not.

MdBio Foundation is hiring a team of enthusiastic individuals to operate the Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab, a custom designed 45-foot bus that will travel to middle schools in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. In addition to providing instruction to middle school students aboard the bus, the team will also assist in the development of associated curriculum, coordinating school visits, and moving and placement of the vehicle.

The explorer lab is currently being built in Burbank, California and will travel across the United States for a “road show.” The road show will include a series of school visits and PR events between March and August 2017. In August 2017, the explorer lab will arrive in Washington, DC and will serve the DC Public School system for the 2017/2018 school year.

Formed in 1997, the Greater Rockville Partnership, now Rockville Economic Development, Inc. has evolved and grown to be an organization that has helped thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs in the City of Rockville. And we are so excited to hit 20 years of support and growth that we are going celebrate ALL YEAR LONG!

We have events and promotions planned throughout the year including our Business Appreciation Week, the REDI Commercial Broker Breakfast , the REDI Resource Meet up (R2M), as well as special 20th Anniversary events —you won’t want to miss any of them.

We are also offering 20th Anniversary sponsorship opportunities for companies looking for exposure by supporting our events throughout the year. If interested, you can contact Michael Steifvater via email or 301.315.8096.

The NHLBI’s Strategic Vision rests on four mission-driven goals that will benefit from sustained Institute focus. Eight objectives organize the 132 Research Priorities.

Facebook’s shadowy Building 8 research team needs help from academia to invent futuristic hardware. But today’s pace of innovation doesn’t allow for the standard 9-12 month turnaround time it takes universities to strike one-off research partnerships with private companies.

“Population Health, Privacy, Security. The Ultimate Balancing Act!”

January 19, 2017 4pm – 8pm

Governor Calvert House, 58 State Circle Annapolis, Maryland

Maryland Health Information Management Systems Society (MDHIMSS) is pleased to announce our 10th Annual Advocacy event being held in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday, January 19, 2016 at Governor Calvert House from 4-8pm. This event focuses on balancing the need for information exchange for Population Health and responsibility to protect and secure that information. In addition to legislative updates a panel discussion and technology showcase will be on display.

Boston Scientific has made a name for itself with devices that are implanted into the body to prevent heart attacks. But through its Connected Patient Challenge, launched last month, the company is looking to get more involved in the kind of preventative medicine that’s based on the data generated by doctors, patients and the growth of wearable devices.

The healthcare industry’s transition toward value-based care is forcing providers to adopt new and emerging business models in lieu of traditional fee-for-service payment. At their core, these business models have the principle of value-based reimbursement, in which providers must meet certain quality care standards while controlling costs in order to get paid.

Cascadia Capital’s healthcare team contemplates the outlook for 2017, we believe the future of the industry will be affected by the agenda of the new administration. Where we believe this will have significant impact is on expense containment and prioritization of the wellness agenda.

Headquartered in Hayward, California, Intarcia Therapeutics is a force to be reckoned with in the biotech world. It has raised over $1 billion in total equity funding and recently acquired Phoundry Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed amount.

It hasn’t gone public.

The year 2016 presented the world with a number of big surprises. Some positive, some negative, depending on whom one asks. Here at Medgadget, 2016 will be remembered for many amazing and pleasantly unexpected medical technology developments, many of which are foreshadowing cures for spinal cord injuries, effective treatment of diabetes, new ways to fight heart disease, and many other long sought-after medical solutions. Virtual and augmented reality systems, new imaging techniques, and innovative delivery approaches are changing the way doctors learn and take care of patients.

Superflex, a “powered” clothing startup that was spun out of SRI International, the well-known robotics nonprofit, announced earlier this week that it has raised $9.6 million in a Series A round of funding.

The Menlo Park, California-based company is developing a lightweight, connected apparel that can be worn underneath regular clothing. It’s called “powered” because integrated electric circuits throughout the apparel act as muscles providing strength and mobility to the body’s actual muscles and joints.

New research suggests it is possible to slow or even reverse aging, at least in mice, by undoing changes in gene activity—the same kinds of changes that are caused by decades of life in humans. By tweaking genes that turn adult cells back into embryoniclike ones, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reversed the aging of mouse and human cells in vitro, extended the life of a mouse with an accelerated-aging condition and successfully promoted recovery from an injury in a middle-aged mouse, according to a study published Thursday in Cell.

Michael Lewis’s 2003 book, Moneyball — later made into a movie starring Brad Pitt — tells the story of how predictive analytics transformed the Oakland Athletics baseball team and, eventually, baseball itself. Data-based modeling has since transcended sport. It’s used in hiring investment bankers, for example. But is academe really ready for its own “moneyball moment” in terms of personnel decisions?