As our next receipt date is approximately 6 weeks away, we wanted to send a reminder to all new (and returning) HHS applicants about the required registrations needed before you can submit your SBIR/STTR grant to grants.gov. This includes the new requirement to register with the SBA Company Registry. It is never too early to start the registration process, even if you are thinking about submitting for December 5th or beyond, but especially for August 5th!
Applicant Organizations
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
Request for Information (RFI): Input on Administration of the NIH-Industry Pilot Program Discovering The goal of this Request for Information (RFI) is to collect feedback from the biomedical research community, pharmaceutical companies, and other members of the public about the “NIH-Industry Pilot Program: Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules” initiative and the application process. NCATS is interested in feedback from researchers and institutions that submitted an application, considered submitting an application but did not, and/or would be interested in submitting an application in the future. NCATS is also interested in feedback from existing and potential pharmaceutical partners.
Higher education is becoming big business as more students head off to college, but they’re also about developing businesses, and the state is turning research and development into new business ventures.
Maryland leads the nation in how much it spends on research but the University System of Maryland — which includes 13 colleges and universities — is trying to take research to a new level by creating more small businesses off campus. The goal so far is to try and create more than 300 new businesses over the next decade.
Montgomery College has become a certified affiliate of the Kauffman Foundation and its FastTrac series of courses intended to support future and current business owners before, during, and after the start-up process.
The course schedule is now available in the attachment below.
FastTrac courses provide entrepreneurs the information, resources, and networks necessary to start and grow successful businesses.
Johns Hopkins University is seeing strong interest for the university’s first business accelerator — a faster than expected response from what director John Fini had projected.
“It’s like we’re tapping into something,” said Fini, who also leads the Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization on the university’s Homewood campus. “The palate was there. They just didn’t have an outlet.”
The accelerator, called FastForward, opened in January to Hopkins faculty members and students interested in pursuing business ideas with their research. The university is holding an official grand opening for the accelerator June 27.
Silicon Valley has long been the epicenter of venture capital-financed high-technology, but a new report shows D.C. is climbing the ranks of best metropolitan areas for venture capital, according to The Atlantic Cities.
Martin Prosperity Institute’s figures for venture capital in 2012 show than the San Francisco-Oakland area has in fact overtaken it as the nation’s leading center for venture capital, with investments reaching more than $6.8 million.
Last fall, the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer introduced an improved Available Technologies search tool that made it faster and easier to search for federal laboratory inventions available transfer to business partners. This tool reduces the time, effort and guesswork in finding opportunities that meet industry’s needs. Instead of sifting through agency or lab records, users can now do single keyword searches for available technologies. Since the search is based on Google search technologies, users can utilize standard Boolean search engine language to perform their searches. Searches return a powerful set of data, including:
description of the invention
application and benefits
current development and patent status
name of inventor
federal laboratory contact person who will facilitate the technology transfer opportunity.
Johns Hopkins student-built devices—a blood clot detection system and a concealable, hands-free breast pump—have won two of the top three awards in a national contest that recognizes innovative biomedical engineering designs that have high commercial potential and social impact.
The honors were announced June 19 in Philadelphia by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), as it concluded its annual Biomedical Engineering Innovations, Design, and Entrepreneurship Awards (BMEidea) competition. Johns Hopkins student teams previously earned first-place in this competition in 2012, 2010 and 2007.
A tiny, tin-coated piece of wood could one day be used as a high capacity and environmentally benign battery.
A team of researchers at the University of Maryland constructed a nano-scale, sodium-ion battery from a sliver of wood more than 1,000 times thinner than paper.
“The inspiration behind the idea comes from the trees,” said Liangbing Hu, an assistant professor of materials science, in a press release. “Wood fibers that make up a tree once held mineral-rich water, and so are ideal for storing liquid electrolytes, making them not only the base but an active part of the battery.”
iVantage Health Analytics, a leading provider of health care informatics and business analytics solutions that transform complex data into actionable business intelligence, announced it has raised $10 million in growth equity from Great Point Partners (GPP). The equity investment will fund expanded sales and marketing efforts, additional investment in technology infrastructure and personnel expansion.
SC&H Capital, an investment banking and advisory firm focused on middle market and growth companies, served as the sole placement agent to iVantage Health Analytics in connection with the transaction.
The NIH has been faced with considerable difficulties as of late in terms of finding the required means to continue moving science forward at the early stage. However, the group recently announced a commitment of $12.7 million to a novel project – funding further research on assets that have been cast-off by big pharma in key indication areas that represent a significant unmet medical need (e.g. Alzheimers, Duchenne, etc.). The initiative has been fittingly named Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules, and it may be a groundbreaking solution to several problems facing drug development today. These include reducing time to market, alleviating early stage investment risk, and creating even more incentive for research scientists to orient themselves towards commercialization of research.
The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland will offer an online MBA program beginning in January 2014. Designed to accommodate working professionals, the flexible online program allows students to earn an MBA degree largely on their own time with minimal on-campus requirements. The program courses are taught by the same top faculty and adhere to the academic rigor of the Smith School’s other top MBA programs.
“This is a major step forward for the university and for business professionals who need flexible access to academic excellence,” said UMD President Wallace Loh. “The Smith School is combining a state-of-the-art online platform with the academic rigor that makes it a leader. University-wide we are exploring how best to use technology-based learning, and this is an excellent model.”
The Department of Defense last week announced the establishment of the world’s first brain tissue repository on the Walter Reed Campus to help researchers better understand traumatic brain injury (TBI).
TBI is common among veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which led to the opening of The Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine Brain Tissue Repository for Traumatic Brain Injury at the Uniformed Services University on the campus.
“Don’t write that we have a cure for cancer tomorrow,” says Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, “but there are some spectacular results.”
Mr Soriot was at MedImmune on Granta Park, AstraZeneca’s current toe-hold on the city and on the day that the pharma company announced its chosen site – Cambridge Biomedical Campus at Addenbrooke’s – to relocate its global HQ and UK R&D activities.
The search for the artificial pancreas continues, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Becton Dickinson ($BDX) have joined forces to develop an insulin-delivery system paired with glucose monitoring for people with Type 1 diabetes.
The foundation and Becton Dickinson have agreed to a three-year partnership, an extension of existing collaborations between the two, with a focus on Type 1 diabetes, according to a release. The device, long sought-after in the industry, would mimic the functions of a human pancreas to release insulin when blood sugar levels indicate it is needed by combining the pump with a glucose-monitoring system. This minimizes the potential for human error, as the standard of care currently requires a pump with a catheter and patient-controlled glucose monitoring.
Hard to understand, slow to exit and more than enough risk to go around.
Not many investors are brave and smart enough to fund startups working to get new pharmaceuticals, medical devices and therapeutics on the market. To highlight this breed of investors, and to give healthcare entrepreneurs a way to find them, we have compiled a list of venture capital firms with a track record of healthcare investing.
Following is a list of 10 alliances announced in recent years, mostly by pharma and biotech giants with venture capital funds, ranked by total size of fund in which the biopharma(s) invested. Alliances are listed by their partners; their purpose; the role of their partners; the financial contributions of their partners, where disclosed; rights and/or options on drugs resulting from alliance activity, again where disclosed; and the date the alliance was announced. An additional two alliances did not disclose size of total investment, and therefore are included in the list without a ranking.
Significantly, five of the 12 listed alliances were formed during 2013, and another five last year, reflecting the industry’s increasing view that the alliances will offer a more efficient way of developing new drugs by requiring much less than the billions long spent up-front by biopharmas on internal R&D. While the alliances require much less capital from industry, it remains to be seen whether R&D activity will increase, and more new drugs win approval and reach the market, to justify the reduced investment.
BECTON, Dickinson and Co.’s announcement that it was about to roll out a new, easy-to-use, disposable pen injector called Vystra hardly caused a stir in October.
Although an executive for the Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based medical technology maker said the injector, unveiled at a Las Vegas convention, would introduce “a new level of flexibility for drug manufacturers,” the announcement made few ripples outside the industry.
This is the season of inaugurations and internships, with the class of 2014 college grads starting a new chapter in life in a recovering yet still challenging job market, and with students beginning a summer of exploring what to do beyond school lives. Whether it’s a full-time job or an internship, the experience is as much about learning the knowledge and skills as it is about self discovery.
I recently met a white, middle-aged American, who is highly fluent in Mandarin and successful running a center whose work requires fluency in East Asian cultures and languages. With an impressive list of life experiences under his belt, he was obviously happy with his life and career. When asked how he got to this point in life, he insisted it was pure “dumb luck” because he couldn’t have foreseen the many opportunities related to his interests when he was a young man. I can relate to that. I am more confident and content with my work life than ever before, having finally found my ways of relating and contributing to the world around me. I wish I could say this was all by design, when in fact for the first decade in this country my life was defined by heartbreaks and headaches. As a liberal arts major and a generalist with broad interests, I was not as readily employable as those with technical such as IT and engineering, so I struggled for a long time to find my footing.
UK-based healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced an investment of €17.5m ($23.5m) in a French venture firm to develop new drugs that have the potential to target rare diseases in Europe.
The Kurma Biofund II fund is led by Paris-based venture capital firm Kurma Life Science Partners (KLS) and is supported by other investors namely, CDC Entreprises, Idinvest Partners and New Enterprise Associates.
BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will provide online healthcare to their members with technology from American Well.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana plans to leverage American Well’s telehealth platform as an added feature of its new Quality Blue Primary Care population health and quality improvement program, and will create multiple avenues to use this technology in other programs.
Venture capital firms—and the high-tech startups they support—historically concentrated in suburban office parks, such as Silicon Valley and North Carolina’s Research Triangle.
Richard Florida, co-founder and editor of The Atlantic Cities and director of the Martin Prosperity Institute, has crunched the available data and found (along with some other studies) a shift underway within the venture capital community away from the suburbs and towards urban areas.
Business, civic, and political leaders in St. Louis are coming together to raise $100 million in private funds over the next five years to support the Regional Entrepreneurial Initiative, a new effort aimed at helping emerging regional businesses grow and thrive. The project was launched with funding from the federal government and will draw on several ongoing fundraising initiatives in the community. About 80 percent of the funds will be used to provide capital support for startup businesses, with the remaining 20 percent directed toward entrepreneurial support and mentoring, according to the St. Louis Beacon.
In April 2012, the city and county of St. Louis invited stakeholders to develop a regional economic development strategy that would guide efforts to grow and retain high-growth startups. The St. Louis Regional Entrepreneurship Initative Report received financial assistance from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the state of Missouri, and the St. Louis County Economic Council. The findings of the report suggest that the St. Louis region has a growing cluster of resources to support entrepreneurship, but that they are not of uniform quality and not distributed evenly across sectors. For example, the region’s bioscience sector is relatively well-supported through the efforts of such organizations at BioSTL, BioGenerator and the Helix Center Biotech Incubator. Information technology companies, however, have few local organizations and programs to rely on for support. Resources for the agricultural, energy and advanced manufacturing sectors remain scarce and uncoordinated.
The America Invents Act (AIA), also known as the “patent reform bill,” is designed to modernize the U.S. patent system. One provision of the new bill, that went into effect in March, converts the United States from first-to-invent to a first-inventor-to-file system. You’ve had a few months to get used to the new law, but if you’re still wondering how it could affect biotech and medical-device products you invent, you’re not alone.
The new first-inventor-to-file patent law means that the first person or company to file a patent application on an invention has the right to pursue the patent on it. While this is new in the U.S., it’s the system that’s already being used in every other country in the world. So now the United States should be in synch with the rest of the world, right? Well, not quite.
Boston Children’s Hospital stirred up some buzz this week when it said its researchers had made a breakthrough that could change the face of diabetes treatment.
On its Vector blog, the hospital called attention to a study published earlier this year in the journal Diabetes that identified a certain pathway in the body as the cause of type 1 diabetes. A team led by Dr. Paolo Fiorina from the hospital’s nephrology department studied hundreds of pathways in animals with diabetes and isolated one, ATP/P2X7R, as a trigger of T-cell attacks on the pancreas that inhibit its ability to produce insulin.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
BioHealth Innovation is working to assist relevant SBIR projects through its Commercial Relevance Program for the August 5th, 2013 NIH SBIR Deadline.
If your company is planning a submission for the August 5 deadline, BioHealth Innovation can assist with your submission. Through the BHI Commercial Relevance Program for SBIR/STTR projects select companies submit their federal funding concepts and receive pre-proposal feedback to help strengthen your application. Further support from BHI’s network of professional consultants and service providers is available to assist in improving your application. If you’re are planning a submission for the August 5 deadline contact Ethan Byler for details on possible support from BHI.
NIH SBIR Phase I Program
Companies to complete brief application describing the proposed SBIR project apply by June 18th
All companies notified of SBIR assistance by June 26th
Guidance, writing strategy, direction, and review sessions to be schedule to enable you through grant submission
Feedback and redlined comments on written drafts and proposals materials as well as final submission assistance
Join Nicholas P. Jones, Benjamin T. Rome Dean, Whiting School of Engineering to celebrate the launch of FastForward.
There are a few spots left. RSVP today! 410-516-8723 / engineering@jhu.edu
Get a preview of the innovative technologies created by Johns Hopkins faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students in the FastForward accelerator and see examples of entrepreneurship from across the university. Learn how FastForward, a unique innovation system, can increase the probability of a startup’s success.
6/28 DEADLINE to reserve your place in line for Maryland’s FY2014 Biotechnology Investor Incentive Tax Credits.
$10M (up to $1.5M/co.) distributed first come-first served to investors in MD QMBCs*:
QMBC requirements include:
At least 1 full time employee (cash compensated, not equity) & fewer than 50employees; and
A lease or ownership oflab or office space in Maryland; and
$100,000 in capitalization (sources:equity, convertible debt, long term loans, SBIR financing); and
Evidence of innovative biotechnology research owned by the company and conducted in MD; and
BIITC participation for 10 or fewer years; or
For first time applicants: 10 or fewer years in business (12 years if in a FDA regulatory process)
If your firm qualifies for QMBC certification by Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), your investors may be able to receive a 50% credit on their investments in your company.
6/28 is the deadline to apply to receive a pin number providing access to the 7/8/13 electronic line-up for FY 2014 BIITC funds.
For more information regarding the BIITC and other state funding programs and access to the BIITC investor and company application forms on the DBED web site, check online: www.Bio.Maryland.gov.
*QMBC status will not be determined until after the electronic line-up as applications are being reviewed.
**Additional funds may be available after those requested at the initial electronic line-up on 7/8/2013.
University of Maryland, Baltimore campus President Jay A. Perman, M.D., and University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., wish to announce the establishment of a new center to unite research scientists and physicians across disciplines. The center will employ these interdisciplinary connections to enhance the use of cutting edge medical science such as genomics and personalized medicine to accelerate research discoveries and improve health care outcomes. Participants in the new University of Maryland Center for Health-Related Informatics and Bioimaging (CHIB) will collaborate with computer scientists, engineers, life scientists and others at a similar center at the University of Maryland, College Park campus, together forming a joint center supported by the M-Power Maryland initiative.
University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., with the concurrence of President Perman, has appointed as co-director of the new center Owen White, Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and Director of Bioinformatics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences.
UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN) is the second bidder for the dedicated biotech incubator being set up by the Chief Scientist’s incubator program at the Ministry of the Economy, sources inform “Globes.”
The company will bid for the incubator tender against a consortium of OrbiMed venture capital fund and healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).
The University of Maryland (UM) BioPark announced today that Ocular Proteomics, LLC (OPL), a startup biotechnology company leveraging a new class of biomarkers found in vitreous fluid of the eye to more accurately diagnose and treat retinal diseases, has recently relocated to Building One of the BioPark from Baltimore County. Led by world-renowned and internationally respected retinal surgeon Bert M. Glaser, M.D., OPL is a spin out of the National Retina Institute. OPL’s move to the BioPark comes on the heels of the company’s $1.2 million dollar Small Business Innovation in Research (SBIR) phase 2 grant from the National Institutes of Health. In its new space, OPL will be conducting the research phase of a multi-center clinical trial, which will include 200 patients with macular degeneration.
Said Jim Hughes, President, Research Park Corporation, University of Maryland Baltimore, “The BioPark has once again attracted an innovative and important start-up to our location. We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Glaser and Ocular Proteomics to our roster of commercial tenants. Dr. Glaser founded Ocular Proteomics to use personalized medicine to drastically change the way blinding diseases are diagnosed and treated.”
Irene Pollin, the widow of the late Washington sports team owner Abe Pollin, has donated $10 million to a Johns Hopkins University center for the prevention of heart disease.
Hopkins announced Thursday that Pollin’s gift will support the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease in the division of cardiology.
AstraZeneca (STO:AZN)(LSE:AZN) today announced that MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, and NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. have entered into an exclusive agreement to discover, develop and commercialise novel therapeutics from NGM’s enteroendocrine cell (EEC) programme for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
EECs represent less than 1% of all gastrointestinal (GI) cells, but produce virtually all of the known GI hormones, including GLP-1. EECs are an underexplored source of novel hormones that could play a major role in the positive and negative regulation of metabolism and glucose homeostasis. NGM has established a proprietary platform capable of isolating and analysing EECs in order to identify novel secreted peptide hormones that are potentially linked to the profound metabolic effects of bariatric surgery and serve as potential targets for the treatment of metabolic diseases.
Aside from memory loss and cognitive impairments, often the most difficult aspect of caring for people with dementia is treating their disruptive changes in behavior.
With no reliable medications to treat them and limited information for caregivers regarding alternative therapies, these behavior changes are frequently the source of increased upset, stress and burden to families and often result in nursing home placement.
CoFoundersLab & Society of Physician Entrepreneurs proudly presents an educational and networking forum for entrepreneurs in healthcare and life sciences.
To make the most of your time, please browse CoFoundersLab.com and filter by “Meetup Groups – Society of Physician Entrepreneurs” before attending. If you have not created a profile on CoFoundersLab.com, please note that this is required in order for people to discover you before the event and seek you out during the networking portion of the event.
Many times when I talk with small businesses, they don’t fully understand the difference between a Federal Grant and a Federal Contract. It is important for a small business to completely understand if their government funds are coming from a grant or a contract. The terms and conditions surrounding each have somewhat unique requirements that may have implications on how the business handles the award and, in particular, the accounting related to that award.
The Government defines the difference in fairly easy to understand terms (for the government) at the grants.gov website:
A Grant is an award of financial assistance, the principal purpose of which is to transfer a thing of value from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. 6101(3)). A grant is distinguished from a contract, which is used to acquire property or services for the federal government’s direct benefit or use.
The NIH is one of the ‘easier’ federal agencies to apply to because every year it issues an Omnibus Solicitation, requesting investigator- initiated topics. This means that rather than telling you exactly which projects they will fund, the NIH asks you, the investigator, to come up with the ideas.
As long as these ideas are related to Human Health, have the requisite level of Technological Innovation and Commercial Potential, they may be appropriate for SBIR/STTR. However, you still need to do some homework to make sure your idea fits within the research interests of the NIH’s Institutes and Centers. So before you put a lot of work into developing your proposal, there are a few things you can do:
On May 31, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reissued its Omnibus Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs in order to implement venture capital provisions of the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011.
HHS notice NOT-OD-13-071 will allow small business concerns that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds and/or private equity firms to apply for the NIH SBIR program and compete for up to 25 percent of NIH’s SBIR set-aside in the Omnibus FOA or any other NIH SBIR funding announcement issued hereafter. With this notice, NIH is the first agency to elect to use its authority under Section 5107 of the reauthorization to make awards to majority-owned firms, signaling new and significant opportunities for venture capital in the future.
The University Economic Development Association (UEDA) is currently seeking nominations for its annual Awards of Excellence program, which recognizes leading edge university-based economic development initiatives from across the country. The Awards of Excellence Program recognizes higher education institutions and their partners who are transforming their campuses into engines of economic prosperity through creative initiatives in five categories:
Community Connected Campus: initiatives that promote the physical development of quality connected campuses and their surrounding communities;
Research and Analysis: initiatives that enhance the capacity of colleges and universities to provide new forms of research and tools for community, economic and workforce development practitioners;
Leadership and Collaboration: initiatives that support the development of collaborative economic development strategies and the leaders required to implement them;
Innovation and Entrepreneurship: initiatives designed to support startups, high-growth companies and clusters within a region; and
Talent Development: initiatives that promote the development of 21st-century skills.
It’s a popular sport among startups and the mobile vendor community to figure out what physicians are willing to do on their tablets and smartphones. It has to be said that some of them have come up with some pretty compelling approaches to deepen the relationship between physicians and their mobile devices.
But what is really going on in their practices? In two studies generated from a survey by AmericanEHRPartners of 1,400 with responses from about 696 physicians and 150 allied health professionals has uncovered some interesting information. AmericanEHRPartners was formed in 2010 by formed by Cientis Technologies and the American College of Physicians to help physicians compare and implement electronic health records.
Robert Langer shares the experiences and lessons learned through his involvement with more than two dozen biotech startups.
I started my first company in 1987 because I realized it was an effective path for transforming science into life-saving and life-improving inventions. Startup companies provide one means for accomplishing ends that interested me: creating products that have a positive effect on human health. I did this first with a colleague (Box 1), but through the years I have also started many companies with students and postdocs in my MIT lab.
In the year following its groundbreaking last June, all aspects of Bioscience Connecticut have moved forward on time and on budget. Of note, the project has created about 500 construction and related jobs on the UConn Health Center campus in its first year, including higher-than-required averages for small business participation and 85 percent of all work going to Connecticut-based contractors. The number of construction jobs will rise significantly over the next three years.
“Bioscience Connecticut was an important first step in positioning Connecticut as a leader in the industry,” said Governor Dannel P. Malloy. “This investment, in conjunction with the new Bioscience Innovation Fund and our other efforts, not only creates thousands of good paying jobs with good benefits, but also highlights the commitment we have to growing this sector of our economy. Our vigorous approach to establishing long-term partnerships between our universities, medical centers, and private secto
Emory University has launched a public-private drug development enterprise that will transition scientific discoveries more rapidly and efficiently from university laboratories into the marketplace. The new venture is expected to help address worldwide drug development and commercialization needs.
Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory, LLC (DRIVE) is a not-for-profit company separate from, but wholly owned by Emory.
On Tuesday, GE Healthcare announced plans to invest $2 billion over the next five years on the development of software for health systems and applications, Healthcare IT News reports.
To develop the software, the company will work with the GE Software Center of Excellence in San Ramon, Calif., in addition to several other research and development firms across the world (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 6/12).
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that Rachel King, co-founder and CEO of GlycoMimetics in Gaithersburg, has been named chair of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board (LSAB). King will replace chair H. Thomas Watkins, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Human Genome Sciences, Inc., who has served on the Board since Governor O’Malley and the Maryland General Assembly created it in 2007. As chair, Watkins led the Board through a strategic planning process that, working closely with Governor O’Malley, resulted in BioMaryland 2020, a 10-year, $1.3 billion strategy for moving Maryland’s life sciences industry forward.
The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB) and Maryland Department of Business of Economic Development (DBED) have announced the creation of Advance Maryland, a business program designed to support growth companies, an integral component in the prosperity and sustainability of local economies. Advance Maryland was established to provide resources targeted to second-stage companies. These companies are growth-oriented and have moved beyond the startup phase. They are at the forefront of job creation and critical to vibrant economies. In contrast to traditional business assistance which focuses on finances, business plans and operational issues,
Advance Maryland addresses strategic growth challenges, from developing new markets and refining business models, to gaining access to competitive intelligence. “Maryland has a plethora of organizations and resources devoted to the startup community, but we are limited when it comes to resources for second stage companies. The statistics show how essential it is to recognize these companies and make the necessary tools available to support their growth,” stated Jen Gunner, COO of EAGB and Co-Program Manager of Advance Maryland. Youreconomy.com states that between 1995 and 2009, second-stage companies represented eleven percent of U.S. establishments, but generated more than thirty six percent of jobs and thirty eight percent of sales.
University of Maryland (UM) Ventures and SilcsBio, LLC announced today that SilcsBio has obtained exclusive rights to a technology licensed from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). UM Ventures is an ambitious joint research commercialization effort of the UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). SilcsBio is a supplier of computer-directed drug discovery software and services.
“The license, which we obtained from UMB, creates the core of our product line,” said Kelli Booth, SilcsBio’s Chief Operating Officer. “It’s great to have a university so supportive of our state’s start-up community.”
The Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association, USA (CBA) will host the 18th Annual Conference at the University of Maryland Shady Grove Conference Center on Saturday, June 15th, 2013. The theme of this year’s conference is “Global Partnership in Biopharmaceutics and Translational Medicine;” it will address the critical importance of establishing worldwide collaboration to capture the great opportunity for the advancement of modern medicine and biopharmaceuticals.
The Conference
The Conference includes five sessions:
Drug Discovery: New Strategies and Platforms
Translational Genomics and anti-cancer therapy
Opportunities in New high tech parks in China
Regulatory Compliances in Biopharmaceuticals
Collaborative Opportunities and Partnership for U.S.-China Biopharmaceuticals.
Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.
The NHLBI Division of Extramural Research Activities (DERA) is pleased to announce the addition of Dr Lawrence Mahan, as the Director of the Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination (OTAC). Dr. Mahan’s professional experience spans academia, government and industry in both basic and applied biomedical research. Additionally it includes global business and strategic alliance development, strategic planning, technology evaluation, entrepreneurship guidance, and consulting on platform technology development in the life sciences.
Most recently Dr. Mahan served as Director of Innovation and Business Development for Children’s National Medical Center and its research institutes, the Children’s Research Institute and the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, where he managed intellectual property, strategic business alliance development and the advancement of academic entrepreneurship.
The D.C. region is home to some 765,000 jobs that require knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math, representing 27 percent of the overall workforce, according to a report released Monday by the Brookings Institution. Only Silicon Valley ranked higher in percentage of STEM labor.
Greater Washington has consistently ranked near or at the top of the nation in STEM job rankings, owing largely to the federal government and the contracting industry surrounding it, which grew rapidly following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The region also boasts a substantial cluster of commercial tech companies – many of them situated along the Dulles corridor and Interstate 270 – as well as a small but growing software startup scene.
Almost a quarter of the jobs in the Baltimore-area are science, technology, engineering and math positions, according to a new report by the Brookings Institution.
A total of 281,730 local STEM jobs account for about 23 percent of workforce in the Baltimore-Towson region. Baltimore ranks eighth out of 100 metropolitan areas for its concentration of STEM jobs in the Metropolitan Policy Program study released Monday by the Washington, D.C., think tank.
Maryland is No. 1 — or is it No. 7? On third thought, it might be 41st.
Critics and champions of the Free State’s business climate and tax policy have plenty to argue about most days, and all-over-the-place business climate rankings do little to quell the conflict.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month rated Maryland No. 1 for entrepreneurship and innovation, piling on to an Entrepreneur Magazine ranking calling Maryland the best state in which to start a business.
Histogenics Corp., a regenerative medicine company that combines cell therapy and tissue engineering technologies to develop highly innovative products primarily for orthopedic tissue repair, today announced the appointment of Peter Greenleaf to Chief Executive Officer.
Bringing over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry to Histogenics, Mr. Greenleaf most recently served as President of MedImmune, the worldwide biologics arm of AstraZeneca. During his tenure, he presided over the expansion of MedImmune’s extensive growth and pipeline and spearheaded industry-leading business development and venture deals. Mr. Greenleaf also served as the President of MedImmune Ventures, overseeing more than $300 million in investments in early stage portfolio companies. Prior to becoming President, Greenleaf led the development of the company’s global marketing and portfolio organizations and managed the broader commercial, corporate development and strategy functions.
BioHealth Innovation is working to assist relevant SBIR projects through its Commercial Relevance Program for the August 5th, 2013 NIH SBIR Deadline.
If your company is planning a submission for the August 5 deadline, BioHealth Innovation can assist with your submission. Through the BHI Commercial Relevance Program for SBIR/STTR projects select companies submit their federal funding concepts and receive pre-proposal feedback to help strengthen your application. Further support from BHI’s network of professional consultants and service providers is available to assist in improving your application. If you’re are planning a submission for the August 5 deadline contact Ethan Byler for details on possible support from BHI.
NIH SBIR Phase I Program
Companies to complete brief application describing the proposed SBIR project apply by June 18th
All companies notified of SBIR assistance by June 26th
Guidance, writing strategy, direction, and review sessions to be schedule to enable you through grant submission
Feedback and redlined comments on written drafts and proposals materials as well as final submission assistance
Five to ten years. That’s how long it will be before drug reimbursement in the United States becomes as stringent as in Europe, according to a range of consultants, analysts, and health policy experts with whom I’ve spoken.
This new reimbursement environment – and the expectations leading up to it – is expected to emphasize the value of “profound” innovation, at the expense of less dramatic, incremental innovation.
In a first-of-its-kind operation in the United States, a team of doctors at Duke University Hospital helped create a bioengineered blood vessel and transplanted it into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease.
The procedure, the first U.S. clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of the bioengineered blood vessel, is a milestone in the field of tissue engineering. The new vein is an off-the-shelf, human cell-based product with no biological properties that would cause organ rejection.
NIH has reissued its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Omnibus Grant Solicitation announcement, which states that small businesses that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies are eligible to apply for (1) these SBIR grants and (2) any other NIH SBIR funding opportunities announced after January 28, 2013. The NIH grant solicitation announcement can be found here.
With this re-issuance, small businesses that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds and/or private equity firms are now eligibleto apply to the NIH SBIR program and compete for up to 25% of NIH’s SBIR set-aside.
Healthcare providers are taking telemedicine to new heights, with the market seeing growth of a whopping 237 percent within a five-year period, according to a new Kalorama report.
Officials say the telemedicine patient monitoring market grew from $4.2 billion in 2007 to more than $10 billion in 2012. According to the report, the market itself is considered small- to moderate in size but makes up for it with its notable number of competitors and “increasing awareness of effectiveness.”
Investing in biotechnology is a riskier bet these days. The community of life sciences venture capital firms is contracting, despite scientific advances across many fields like genomics, immunology, and diagnostics. Many promising new enterprises fail to produce marketable drugs, and even successful therapies may struggle to gain markets in an environment of health care cost cutting.
That’s exactly why Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) chose to expand its programs that nurture very early stage biotechnology and device startups in the Bay area, J&J executives said as they opened the company’s California Innovation Center in Menlo Park, CA, this week.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals who regularly analyze images will be interested in the findings of a research study designed to assess how the phenomenon called “inattentional blindness” among radiologists could cause them to possibly miss things hiding in plain sight.
‘Inattentional Blindness’ Occurs Even Among Highly-trained Radiologists
In a recent study, psychological scientists from Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that 83% of radiologists didn’t notice an image of a gorilla embedded in a computed tomography (CT) lung scan.
Health Tech Hatch, a site launched last fall as a crowdfunding site specifically for health startups, is joining forces with one of the biggest crowdfunding platforms on the web, Indiegogo.
From the beginning, the company planned to help health startups both crowdfund and beta test their products with patients and physicians. But now, founder and CEO Patricia Salber said Health Tech Hatch plans to focus more closely on the beta testing side, while working on the crowdfunding piece through Indiegogo.
San Francisco digital health accelerator Rock Health is kicking off its fifth program next week, and it has some unique startups in the mix.
Bound to be the most talked about is Augmedix, which is developing a healthcare app for Google Glass. Co-founders Ian Shakil and Pelu Tran haven’t said much about exactly what kind of app they’re working on, but it apparently will leverage Glass’s augmented reality and voice activation to help doctors keep their focus on patients. Augmedix has already raised $55,000 from 32 Upstart backers.
More than 60 companies showed off their health data applications at Datapalooza IV this week and Krishna Yeshwant, a partner at Google Ventures, was the MC for a demo session on Tuesday afternoon.
As one of the presenters was fighting with his PowerPoint demonstration and the projection system, Yeshwant answered a few questions about opportunities for healthcare startups with the search company’s investment group. He said that the outlook has changed for healthcare IT startups now that Obamacare is here to stay.
Through collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Innovation and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), Janssen will create a 5,000-square-foot lab space within QB3’s 24,000-square-foot incubator space in San Francisco.
The company said that the new Bay Area incubator will use the San Diego model for its innovation space.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius opens Health Datapalooza IV with an emphatic introduction speech asking those in attendance to continue driving more ideas and innovation in data and information exchange to improve the future of the US health system.
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, June 4, 2013 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, is proud to announce the publication of the Central Maryland BioHealth Entrepreneur’s Resource and Finance Guide 2013. The Guide was developed by BHI, the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, in collaboration with the Baltimore Business Journal.
The Guide serves as a compendium of resources to biohealth innovators and entrepreneurs working to start and grow new companies and technologies in the region. This essential entrepreneurial resource includes a compilation of information on financial resources, university facilities and programs, economic development programs, and existing federal laboratory facilities and programs, as well as how to work with these assets. The Guide is one of the many projects BHI is developing to successfully transform the regional environment for biohealth startups through harnessing Central Maryland’s biohealth assets and establishing an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The Guide has been distributed through the Baltimore and Washington business journal subscribers, and is being distributed to all regional partners. For your copy of the guide please download here or contact BioHealth Innovation for details on how to receive a hard copy.
CoFoundersLab & Society of Physician Entrepreneurs proudly presents an educational and networking forum for entrepreneurs in healthcare and life sciences.
To make the most of your time, please browse CoFoundersLab.com and filter by “Meetup Groups – Society of Physician Entrepreneurs” before attending. If you have not created a profile on CoFoundersLab.com, please note that this is required in order for people to discover you before the event and seek you out during the networking portion of the event.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, June 4, 2013 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, is proud to announce the publication of the Central Maryland BioHealth Entrepreneur’s Resource and Finance Guide 2013. The Guide was developed by BHI, the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, in collaboration with the Baltimore Business Journal.
The Guide serves as a compendium of resources to biohealth innovators and entrepreneurs working to start and grow new companies and technologies in the region. This essential entrepreneurial resource includes a compilation of information on financial resources, university facilities and programs, economic development programs, and existing federal laboratory facilities and programs, as well as how to work with these assets. The Guide is one of the many projects BHI is developing to successfully transform the regional environment for biohealth startups through harnessing Central Maryland’s biohealth assets and establishing an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The Guide has been distributed through the Baltimore and Washington business journal subscribers, and is being distributed to all regional partners. For your copy of the guide please download here or contact BioHealth Innovation for details on how to receive a hard copy.
BioHealth Innovation is working to assist relevant SBIR projects through its Commercial Relevance Program for the August 5th, 2013 NIH SBIR Deadline.
If your company is planning a submission for the August 5 deadline, BioHealth Innovation can assist with your submission. Through the BHI Commercial Relevance Program for SBIR/STTR projects select companies submit their federal funding concepts and receive pre-proposal feedback to help strengthen your application. Further support from BHI’s network of professional consultants and service providers is available to assist in improving your application. If you’re are planning a submission for the August 5 deadline contact Ethan Byler for details on possible support from BHI.
NIH SBIR Phase I Program
Companies to complete brief application describing the proposed SBIR project apply by June 18th
All companies notified of SBIR assistance by June 26th
Guidance, writing strategy, direction, and review sessions to be schedule to enable you through grant submission
Feedback and redlined comments on written drafts and proposals materials as well as final submission assistance
BioHeaIth Innovation aims to transform Central Maryland into a commercialization hub by building an entrepreneurial ecosystem using the research, funding, networks and business development resources available in the region.
The market for Health Information Technology concepts and new products are moving at a rapid pace. Since the signing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) by President Obama in 2009 that allocated $36 billion to aid investments in healthcare IT and spurring new initiatives like the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) the environment and funding available to test new products significantly escalated.
Fast forward four years—there remains to be enormous untapped market opportunity with many new products being brought to fruition and highly innovative new concepts under development by the private and public sectors.
Maryland, a significant center of the health care industry nationally and home to the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Johns Hopkins University, the University System of Maryland, and a robust private sector has emerging opportunities within the Health IT industry sector from telemedicine and remote monitoring to electronic medical records and mobile health.
RFA-TW-13-002: Research on the Role of Epigenetics in Social, Behavioral, Environmental and Biological Relationships, throughout the Life-Span and across Generations (R21) This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages exploratory and developmental grant applications to lay the foundation for innovative and collaborative basic research on the role of epigenetics in social, behavioral, environmental and biological relationships, throughout the life-span and across generations. Research plans that are responsive to this FOA will use existing bio-psycho-social and environmental data from human cohorts or animal studies that have biospecimens available for epigenetic profiling.
RFA-HL-14-015: Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) for the NHLBI Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Clinical Trials Network (U01) This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is for a Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) for a new National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Clinical Trials Network for the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (ALI) (PETAL Network). The Network will develop and conduct randomized controlled clinical trials to prevent, treat, and/or improve the outcome of adult patients with, or at risk, for ALI or the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). This FOA solicits applications for a CCC and runs parallel with a separate FOA for the CCs (RFA-HL-14-014).
RFA-HL-14-014: Clinical Centers (CC) for the NHLBI Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Clinical Trials Network (U01) This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is for Clinical Centers (CC) for a new National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Clinical Trials Network for the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (ALI) (PETAL Network). The Network will develop and conduct at least 3-5 randomized controlled clinical trials to prevent, treat, and/or improve the outcome of adult patients with, or at risk for, ALI or the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This FOA solicits applications for CCs and runs parallel with a separate FOA for the CCC (RFA-HL-14-015).
Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has entered into a collaborative agreement with Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the company’s portfolio of clinical stage antibacterial assets for treating hospital and biothreat infections.
The contract is unique in that it is the first in which BARDA has taken a portfolio approach to funding drug development with industry.
Through new agreements with the Canadian BC Cancer Agency and Columbia University, the company now has access to biomarkers for lymphoma, glioblastoma, and several other cancers. These biomarkers will be developed into diagnostic assays that can assist physicians in choosing targeted treatments, Qiagen says.
The company’s glioblastoma cancer biomarker, acquired from Columbia University, detects the presence of FGFR-TACC fusion genes. The lymphoma biomarker, acquired from BC Cancer Agency, detects the Y641 EZH2 gene mutation. This type of lymphoma is targeted by pharmaceutical manufacturers like Epizyme and Constellation.
Partner companies Theravance and the GlaxoSmithKline have received Food and Drug Administration clearance for their new drug for the treatment of COPD, Breo Ellipta. COPD encompasses what used to be known as emphysema and chronic bronchitis – the new drug should be an improvement on current treatment options which can ease the symptoms of this disease. COPD, which is strongly linked to smoking, is the third most significant cause of death in America.
Curtis Rosebraugh, director of FDA Office of Drug Evaluation II, commented that this new long-term maintenance treatment for COPD will provide new care options for the millions of people in the USA who suffer from the condition. The companies have stated that the drug should be available during the third quarter of 2013. Breo Ellipta, which requires a single dose per day, should surpass existing treatments which require two doses.
COPD
COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a progressive condition (one which continually worsens) which causes breathing problems in those who suffer from it. The symptoms are coughing and the associated overproduction of mucus, shortness of breath especially during exercise and tightness of chest. COPD is also associated with a greater susceptibility to chest-infections. Doctors used to refer to ’emphysema’ and ‘chronic bronchitis’, though these are now officially grouped under this general condition.
A disease which is currently under-diagnosed, this condition refers to the inflammation and subsequent damage to the interior of the lungs, and results in lower efficiency in taking on oxygen and in problems with the mechanics of breathing. Smoking is the top cause of COPD, though a genetic predisposition can cause it in some people. While the damage which it causes cannot be repaired, sufferers who subsequently quit smoking can slow down the progress of the disease.
QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced two agreements adding promising new biomarkers involving glioblastoma, lymphoma and other cancers to QIAGEN’s expanding portfolio of potential companion diagnostics that is being developed to help doctors use a patient’s genomic information to guide treatment decisions.
In the glioblastoma project, QIAGEN has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing option on FGFR-TACC fusion genes with Columbia University in New York. QIAGEN intends to develop this biomarker into a diagnostic test for routine use in diagnostic workups, which may enable doctors to identify glioblastoma patients who could benefit from targeted treatments now under development. Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive form of primary brain tumor, a serious unmet medical need because the disease is generally fatal despite aggressive therapy. Fusions between members of the FGFR and TACC gene families also have been identified recently as present in several other malignancies, including bladder cancers.
The Greater Washington Board of Trade is forming a joint task force with the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore to promote the region as a global hotbed for the cybersecurity industry.
The Baltimore-Washington Cyber Task Force plans to work with both public and private sector groups to develop a strategy for cyber industry growth around the new U.S. Cyber Command at the Army’s Fort Meade, located halfway between Washington and Baltimore.
React Labs, an early stage company commercializing a comprehensive mobile technology platform for real-time polling, has been awarded $100,000 in funding from the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), company officials announce today.
Founded by University of Maryland Professor Philip Resnik, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Linguistics and at the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), React Labs offers a mobile application that allows a very large numbers of participants to register their moment-by-moment reactions to live and televised events, providing a highly engaging user experience and producing rich, detailed data for analysis.
A team of students at the Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering has designed for NASA a new stethoscope that delivers accurate heart- and body-sounds to medics who are trying to assess astronauts’ health on long missions in noisy spacecraft.
Space is serene, because no air means no sound. But inside the average spacecraft, with its whirring fans, humming computers and buzzing instruments, is about as raucous as a party filled with laughing, talking people.
Maryland was recently named the top state in the nation for entrepreneurship and innovation. The state has the second highest concentration of STEM employment and adds STEM jobs faster than all but five other states.
With Maryland’s commitment to growth in science, technology, engineering and math, UMBC continues to develop and expand its professional programs to meet the needs of the state’s STEM-centric workforce.
The board of GenVec Inc. has voted to liquidate and dissolve the struggling Gaithersburg biotech, it announced Tuesday in a securities filing.
The move follows a string of setbacks for GenVec, which three years ago saw its lead pancreatic cancer drug candidate, TNFerade, fail in late-stage trials. In 2011, longtime CEO Paul Fischer announced his retirement from the company.
Please join us for an exclusive, invitation-only event to be held in conjunction with PwC and the Technology Council of Maryland.
This event has been designed especially with you in mind. You’ll have the opportunity to network with your peers in an intimate setting and learn what it took companies within your industry to grow and become $1 billion market leaders. Presenter Brian Williams is a successful life sciences entrepreneur. Now consulting for PwC, Brian will present a roadmap other life science companies have followed to experience explosive growth in a dynamic and demanding environment.
Amid the volatile blend of opportunity and challenge that characterize the global life sciences industry, only a few small companies have managed to catapult their revenue over the $1 billion mark over the past two decades. Whether they chose to expand their focus and product portfolios, enter new geographies, or grow their core business, these aspiring giants pursued three distinct strategies to jump start growth:
Leveraging core product/technology capabilities to launch differentiated products
Using mergers & acquisitions and partnerships to gain new products and/or expand geographic presence
Building a strong, stable leadership team armed with a compelling vision and relentless drive
We hope you can join us to explore these topics and discuss their applicability to you and your company.
When: Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Time: 8:00 – 8:30 am – Registration and networking 8:30 – 10:30 am – Program
Location: The Universities at Shady Grove Conference Center 9630 Gudelsky Drive Building II, Room 11-1042 Rockville, Maryland
If you have any questions regarding the event, please Deana Mary at deana.mary@us.pwc.com or 703.918.3631<
QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) and SIP Biotech Development Co., Ltd. (BioBAY) today announced the opening of QIAGEN (Suzhou) Translational Medicine Center, a translational medicine R&D Corporation which aims to accelerate the discovery and validation of biomarkers, and to create companion diagnostics for the Chinese market. QIAGEN (Suzhou) is a joint venture of QIAGEN and BioBAY, the innovative life sciences cluster in Suzhou Industrial Park near Shanghai. The companies announced the launch of QIAGEN (Suzhou) today in an opening ceremony on the BioBAY campus, which currently hosts more than 330 companies and research groups.
QIAGEN (Suzhou) will provide services and consulting with state-of-the-art QIAGEN molecular technologies for international and Chinese pharmaceutical companies, as well as research institutes to enable translational medicine, the multidisciplinary process of advancing discoveries from laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside. The center will work with partners located at BioBAY and elsewhere in China to provide fully integrated biomarker solutions to accelerate drug development, as well as to commercialize companion diagnostics. The four key service sections include biobanking, pharmacogenetics, next generation sequencing (NGS) and pharmacogenomics. This innovative alliance builds on QIAGEN’s leading global position in Personalized Healthcare, using genomic information to produce individualized treatment decisions for patients. QIAGEN (Suzhou) is expected to grow to about 50 employees within three years.
It’s tough to move the needle on a multi-billion-dollar venture fund. That’s one reason New Enterprise Associates, which has managed mega-funds about as long as anyone in the business, makes a habit of taking large stakes in portfolio companies.
That strategy can pay off well in the event of a big exit – which is what happened last week with the IPO of data analysis provider Tableau Software. NEA, a backer in all of Tableau’s venture funding rounds, was the largest shareholder at the time of the offering. And as Tableau shares soared post-debut, NEA’s stake did as well. The firm sold 1 million shares in the offering for $31 million, and its remaining 18.6 million shares were worth more than $900 million as of last week.
If you’re a medical intern, most of what you need to do your job can be pulled off a computer screen: Blood test results. Paged messages. Orders to start a medication. All but, of course, how sick a patient is.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, suspecting that more and more of an intern’s time is spent in front of a computer, looked into just how today’s intern spends her working hours on an inpatient ward. They asked trained college students to shadow 29 internal medicine interns from two different Baltimore teaching hospitals and document how much time they spent talking to patients, eating lunch, reading charts, and the like — over the course of three weeks. Their recently published results confirm a trend that old-timers nostalgically lament and that those of us in training know to be all too true: Only a small percentage of our time is spent in direct patient care.
Remember Plexxikon? The Berkeley, CA-based company had a lot of talent for structural biology-based drug design, an impressive new treatment for melanoma, and a strong management team.
Two years ago, nobody on Wall Street cared one whit. Plexxikon flirted with the idea of going public, found little interest, and sold itself off to Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo for a more than 10-fold return on investment. It was a poster child for how dead the biotech IPO market was in 2010 and 2011.
Five top Japanese drug companies are to open their “libraries” of experimental compounds to scrutiny by scientists hunting new treatments for malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases affecting the world’s poor.
The initiative, announced on Thursday, is the first project under a new $100 million partnership between the drugmakers, the Japanese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund research into neglected tropical diseases.
This week, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius posted separate entries on the White House Blog touting the effect of federal initiatives on health IT adoption and health industry innovation, FierceHealthIT reports.
The posts were written in response to a New York Times commentary published by columnist Thomas Friedman last week about health industry innovation related to the Affordable Care Act and other federal initiatives.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and participating Institutes invite grant applications for research on the development of safe, real-time, non-invasive (or minimally invasive), in vivo methods to assess the development and function of the human placenta.
Background
The placenta is essential for the maintenance of pregnancy. The prominent function of the placenta is in the transfer of nutrients, gases and waste products between the mother and fetus. It is effectively the lung, gut, and kidney of the fetus. Abnormalities of placental development and function are known to underlie many major pathologies of pregnancy including spontaneous preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, and preeclampsia. Most information on placental biology is obtained studying placental tissue obtained from pathological pregnancies, such as a preterm deliveries occurring predominately in the third trimester, or from term deliveries in which placental development has already crested. Hence, there is a paucity of information obtained earlier in gestation, a period of time when many of the pregnancy pathologies are believed to have their origins, as well as very limited information gleaned throughout gestation from normal pregnancies. The development of real-time, non-invasive (or minimally invasive) methods to assess the development and functionality of the placenta in vivo throughout gestation would serve as valuable research tools to enhance our understanding of placental biology and rooted pathologies. The development of these tools could lead to the identification of markers and predictors of pregnancy outcome, and provide a future foundation for better pregnancy monitoring in the clinical setting.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
BioHeaIth Innovation aims to transform Central Maryland into a commercialization hub by building an entrepreneurial ecosystem using the research, funding, networks and business development resources available in the region.
The market for Health Information Technology concepts and new products are moving at a rapid pace. Since the signing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) by President Obama in 2009 that allocated $36 billion to aid investments in healthcare IT and spurring new initiatives like the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) the environment and funding available to test new products significantly escalated.
Fast forward four years—there remains to be enormous untapped market opportunity with many new products being brought to fruition and highly innovative new concepts under development by the private and public sectors.
Maryland, a significant center of the health care industry nationally and home to the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Johns Hopkins University, the University System of Maryland, and a robust private sector has emerging opportunities within the Health IT industry sector from telemedicine and remote monitoring to electronic medical records and mobile health.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, today announced its selection of Ram Aiyar, Ph.D., M.B.A., as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) for BHI at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Aiyar will help advance fundamental research discoveries to new therapeutics, diagnostics and devices that can be used clinically and commercially.
“We’re pleased to add Dr. Aiyar to our roster of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence,” said Rich Bendis, BHI President and CEO. “He is now our third EIR – joining Todd Chappell, who is EIR at NIH, and Ken Malone, our EIR working with the University of Maryland Ventures. The growth of this program will be a benefit to BHI and our partner organizations for years to come, and will result in transitioning more early-stage biomedical technologies to commercial potential. ”
Hall of Fame award underlines long history of commitment to Maryland technology community
The Tech Council of Maryland honored Lockheed Martin with the 2013 Hall of Fame Award at its 25th annual Tech Awards Celebration, held at the Bethesda North Marriot Hotel and Conference Center in Bethesda, Md.
The Tech Awards Celebration is the mid-Atlantic region’s largest and most prestigious awards ceremony that recognizes leaders and innovators in the technology and life science communities from Maryland and the surrounding regions.
Doug Doerfler, CEO of Gaithersburg-based MaxCyte Inc., was this month named the Tech Council of Maryland’s new chairman. He steps into the position with a wealth of TCM experience under his belt, having spent three years as chairman of the trade group’s biotech division. I caught up with Doerfler on his plans for TCM, the interplay between its IT and bio contingents and the search for a new full-time CEO.
The threshold for reporting on marketing stunts is a high one, and United Therapeutics Corp. has just cleared it.
Reaching us by mail today is the Silver Spring biotech’s 2012 annual report, written as a spoof of a children’s book and called “Good Year UTHR.” UTHR, of course, is the ticker symbol for United Therapeutics, which has a history of doing this sort of thing.
Medical technology pioneer AstraZeneca has chosen the Cambridge Biomedical Campus at the Addenbrooke’s Hospital site in Cambridge UK for its new global headquarters.
It will make a formal announcement in June. The Biomedical Campus has been chosen over Granta Park where AZ’s biologics division MedImmune has massively grown its presence. None of the parties involved are making any comment. The decision is a major boost for the Biomedical Campus where The Queen today officially opened the MRC’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
In a unique program called Preparing the Future (PTF), 334 students have completed classroom and hands-on training to equip them to address the HIV epidemic, according to Alexandra “Allie” Reitz, the programýs coordinator for the JACQUES Initiative (JI) of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The PTF at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is designed as a model for the nation and is supported by a grant from Gilead Sciencesý HIV FOCUS Program, for the JACQUES Initiative (JI). By participating, UMB students “gain invaluable communication skills through the PTF’s interprofessional approach,” says Reitz.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plc and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have agreed to a first of its kind collaboration that will support the development of several antibiotics to fight antibiotic resistance and bioterrorism.
This public-private agreement marks the first time that HHS has taken a “portfolio approach” to funding drug development with a private sector company. This unique collaboration provides flexibility to move funding around GSK’s antibacterial portfolio, rather than focusing on just one drug candidate and allow medicines to be studied for the potential treatment of both conventional and biothreat pathogens.
GlaxoSmithKline has created a contest for academic researchers that it hopes will accelerate the speed by which academic research can be turned into novel therapies.
The London pharmaceutical company, which has large operations in the Philadelphia region, on Tuesday launched a competition program it is calling Discovery Fast Track.
The StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition was founded in 2003 by Rockville Economic Development Inc. (REDI) to encourage and support women’s entrepreneurship. Currently in its tenth year, StartRight! awards prizes for winning business plans annually. The women who join our competition receive more than the opportunity to win a top prize of $5,000 – they also receive valuable coaching and feedback on their business plan!
There are 3 Prize Categories – Total of $15,000 in prizes with a top prize of $5,000! You select the category in which you wish you plan to be entered.
Technology
General Business
Life Science
If you have additional questions or need assistance, contact alicia@marylandwbc.org or call us at 301-315-8096.
Biotech has never quite taken flight in Northern Virginia. Whether that’s due to the lack of a big corporate anchor or blue-chip research university, the dearth of wet labs, the attraction of a stronger scene in Montgomery County or pure dumb happenstance is anyone’s guess.
But on this side of the D.C. suburbs, the life sciences are not thriving. The story of Virginia biotech right now has much more to do with Charlottesville than it does with Fairfax.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Bethesda Country Club
We often hear that capital formation is among the most difficult challenges faced by biotechnology companies. Please join us on June 12th for an MdBio breakfast program to hear from four seasoned local venture capital investors, all to discuss investment trends, strategies and opportunities in Maryland. The event will offer a great platform to hear and have dialogue about the broader dynamics in investment, what has changed and where the capital opportunities are.
Speakers:
David Mott, General Partner, NEA
Lars Hanan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, BroadOak
Brian Carney, Principal, Herbert Venture Partners
Kyp Sirinakis, Managing Partner, Rock Spring Ventures
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission (Commission) has completed its review of the 171 applications received in response to its FY 2013 Requests for Applications (RFAs). The board of directors of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) approved the Commission’s recommendation to fund 31 new proposals with the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund’s (MSCRF) $10.4 million FY2013 budget. These projects, which include pre-clinical research and a clinical trial, will advance the field of regenerative medicine.
“These awards are critical to ensuring that the groundbreaking research being done has the opportunity to move to the commercial marketplace,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “I congratulate this year’s grant recipients and look forward to the contributions they make to the improved health and wellbeing of our citizens.”
Would it surprise you to learn that Fast Company magazine just ranked Maryland the third-most innovative state in the nation? Or that Maryland took the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s No. 1 spot for both innovation and entrepreneurship? It’s a fact: In our state’s dynamic mix of world-class universities and professional schools, institutes for advanced research, teaching hospitals, think tanks, hubs for start-up businesses and more, there exists this mysterious, economically essential activity known as innovation.
So if we are as innovative as Fast Company and the leaders of free enterprise say we are — and I believe it’s true — we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions: How did it happen? And how can we keep it going?
Poor maternal, infant, and child health as well as inadequate coverage of family planning remain significant global health problems facing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) today. Despite a 47% reduction since 1990, nearly 300,000 women still die annually from causes directly related to pregnancy. The majority of these deaths are attributed to preventable obstetric complications prior to, during, and following delivery, with developing countries carrying the vast majority (99%) of the burden. Additionally, although mortality for children under five years of age has decreased from 12 million annually at the beginning of the last century (in 1900), to 6.9 million annually in 2011, the burden of these deaths now falls primarily in LMICs, with most of these deaths also due to preventable causes. In these same countries mobile phone coverage and access has become nearly ubiquitous, with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimating in 2013 that the number of mobile phone subscriptions (6.8 billion) is nearly equal to the human population of 7.1 billion. The opportunity this represents is one that has not been lost on the global health community.
There is a critical unmet need in the U.S. and around the world for the development of pediatric medical devices, with support coming only from a scarce number of available grants and some private investments and philanthropy. The testing and marketing of new devices for children raise unique challenges as well. Finally, there has been much controversy around the 510(k) process for device approvals, which leads to additional need for new innovative approaches that improve the regulatory pathways for medical device development.
As we shift to a value-based healthcare system, regulatory bodies, innovators, and manufacturers must find the right balance between two noble goals: encouraging and enabling innovative medical advancements and ensuring that patients receive treatment that is as safe and effective as possible.
Please join us on June 13, 2013, for a day long symposium with leaders from the FDA, NIH, IOM, and industry, as well as policymakers, clinicians, lawyers, scientists, and bioethicists from around the world to discuss these critical issues in pediatric surgical innovation and device development.
Their ability to innovate, to inspire others, to power a business along the difficult journey from start-up to market leader is truly extraordinary. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award celebrates these special people who have created many of the world’s most dynamic and successful companies. We invite you to join us in celebrating their success at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 Maryland Awards Gala.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 Baltimore Marriott Waterfront 700 Aliceanna Street | Baltimore, MD 21202 6:00 p.m. — Cocktail reception 7:00 p.m. — Dinner and awards ceremony Black tie
Today is Demo Day for Techstars Boston. I love Techstars Demo Days for many reasons, not the least of which is the amazing community that gathers to hear the brief, well-rehearsed pitches from the various start-ups who have spent months planning for this big event.
As accelerators like Techstars gain in popularity, many entrepreneurs wonder whether they should be applying and, if admitted, joining an accelerator and when they shouldn’t. I get this question a lot from my students, particularly as they’re graduating and scrambling to figure out where they should start their company, how to raise capital and whether an accelerator is right for them. Here are a few guidelines that I would think about if I were an entrepreneur making such a decisions.
There are lots of myths about venture capital and biotech in particular, as noted previously on this blog. Many of these myths are deeply held beliefs about returns, what works and what doesn’t, and the state of the industry. Told often enough, these beliefs are presumed to be true by many observers, including practitioners in the field, Limited Partners, and pundits.
Surprisingly, data exists to address lots of these points, and I’ve attempted here to summarize (and link to) a number of prior posts aimed at debunking these myths and sharing a few observations on them.
The Public Health Service Act indicates that the purpose of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is to advance translational sciences by coordinating and developing resources that leverage basic research in support of translational science; and by developing partnerships and working cooperatively to foster synergy in ways that do not create duplication, redundancy and competition with industry activities.
The Affordable Care Act, aka health care reform, aka Obamacare, is spurring a massive creation of new business opportunities.
So says Bryan Sivak, the chief technical officer and entrepreneur-in-residence at the Department of Health and Human Services, the cabinet-level agency that regulates the $2.8 trillion U.S. health care market. Sivak joined VentureBeat’s HealthBeat conference today via a video conference (see photo above).
Just one of the areas that’s becoming fertile ground for entrepreneurial innovation: the health insurance exchanges mandated by the law.
More than half of all eligible providers nationwide have received federal incentive payments for demonstrating meaningful use of electronic health records, rates that have more than doubled since last year alone, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday.
Sebelius says HHS has met and exceeded its goal for 50 percent of doctor offices and 80 percent of eligible hospitals to have adopted EHRs by 2013’s end.
Zina Moukheiber said the New York Digital Health Accelerator Is a Model to Emulate at the beginning of the program. With the proliferation of accelerators, I thought I’d share an insider’s perspective on what it was like to be in the program now that it is complete. I’ll also share some ideas on how can take it to the next level building off of their already-strong foundation.
Zina described the program as follows:
One of the toughest hurdles for health IT start-ups is getting in front of customers. Doctors are reluctant to pay, and sales cycles at hospitals can take months. Entrepreneurs often inspired by a negative personal experience, and moved to fix the problem, find later that their product doesn’t fit the hospital’s “workflow,” or offers no incentive for doctors to adopt it.
Optimistic and confident in their abilities, a diverse and growing percentage of U.S. citizens engage in entrepreneurship, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
U.S. entrepreneurship rates climbed to the highest level in more than a decade according to the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) U.S. Report issued today by Babson College and Baruch College. In 2012, the average Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity rate (TEA) increased to nearly 13 percent, an all-time high since GEM first began tracking entrepreneurship rates in 1999.
“Despite a sluggish economy, 2012 was marked by U.S. entrepreneurs reporting greater optimism and confidence in their abilities to start new businesses,” commented the GEM Report’s lead author, Donna J. Kelley, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College. “In fact, nearly 13 percent of the U.S. adult population was engaged in entrepreneurship with the vast majority starting businesses to pursue an opportunity rather than out of necessity. On the downside, Americans closing businesses were twice as likely as those in other innovation-driven economies to cite difficulties financing their ventures.”
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, today announced its selection of Ram Aiyar, Ph.D., M.B.A., as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) for BHI at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Aiyar will help advance fundamental research discoveries to new therapeutics, diagnostics and devices that can be used clinically and commercially.
“We’re pleased to add Dr. Aiyar to our roster of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence,” said Rich Bendis, BHI President and CEO. “He is now our third EIR – joining Todd Chappell, who is EIR at NIH, and Ken Malone, our EIR working with the University of Maryland Ventures. The growth of this program will be a benefit to BHI and our partner organizations for years to come, and will result in transitioning more early-stage biomedical technologies to commercial potential. ”
POSITION DESCRIPTION – Health IT Entrepreneur-in-Residence The Health IT Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) will lead in the evaluation of early-stage health IT technologies, advise BHI on opportunities for new ventures, and build a portfolio commercially relevant health IT opportunities. The Health IT EIR influences the BHI organization by managing and providing information, intelligence and insights that drive critical business decisions. The Health IT EIR will work with early stage companies to launch and validate those companies while providing recommendations and insights on the direction of potential technologies. The Health IT EIR has the potential to also serve in a co-management role in a health IT accelerator.
The award luncheon will provide countless opportunities to show your appreciation for the estimated 33,000 small businesses of Montgomery County—businesses that contribute directly to the strength of the area’s economy. Eight awards will be presented to eight distinct companies.
Registration and networking with exhibits will begin at 11:00 AM, followed by the program at 12:00 PM./p>
America urgently needs a national, research-based effort to empower all undergraduates and help more of them, particularly underrepresented minorities, graduate with science and engineering degrees, said Freeman Hrabowski, III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) during the 2013 William D. Carey lecture.
Hrabowski addressed the 38th Annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy on 2 May 2013—fifty years to the day after he had participated in the historic Birmingham Children’s March, which was inspired by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I wanted a better education,” Hrabowski said of his participation in that 1963 event. “All children really do want to be well-educated.”
The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the Maryland Department of Business of Economic Development announced Monday that they created a new program to help companies that have moved beyond the start-up phase to continue to grow.
Advance Maryland is designed to assist these companies with developing markets, fine-tuning their business models and boosting growth with the help of a research specialist. Similar models have been adopted in other states, the groups said.
Please join us for an exclusive MedTech networking event hosted by QIAGEN. Learn more about AdvaMed 2013: The MedTech Conference and discover your local MedTech community.
The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), the state’s largest technology trade association with more than 400 biotechnology and technology members employing more than 200,000 in the region, announced at its 25th annual Dinner and Awards Celebration last night that Doug Doerfler was elected as chairman of TCM’s board. Doerfler was the association’s vice chairman and succeeds Larry Letow, who has served as chairman since 2010. TCM also named four current board members to executive leadership positions.
“I am honored to continue serving TCM at such an important and promising time,” said Doerfler. “Our members have become the catalysts of Maryland’s dynamic economy, creating new, high-paying jobs and discovering breakthrough technologies that can change our world. We may come from diverse backgrounds, but a single mission unifies us: creating a healthier, safer world with game-changing innovations right here in Maryland. I especially thank Larry Letow for his outstanding board leadership these past three years. He has positioned TCM, our membership and Maryland for a very bright future.”
The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), Maryland’s largest technology trade association with more than 400 biotechnology and technology members employing more than 200,000 in the region, last night announced the winners of its 2013 TCM Awards. The 25th annual celebration was attended by more than 750 technology and business leaders from around the state.
“Maryland is ripe with innovative companies – from ones focused on high tech and IT solutions that make businesses and governments run smoothly and securely, to biotech companies that are developing cutting-edge cures for serious diseases,” said Doug Doerfler, chairman of TCM’s Board and founding president and CEO of MaxCyte, Inc. “Winners of the 2013 Tech Awards exemplify this broad cross section of individuals and companies that make up the Tech Council membership and are key to driving advances in all aspects of technology.”
As a follow up to a $1 billion initiative last year that funded projects across the nation designed to improve outcomes and save money in the healthcare system, the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services today announced a second, $1 billion round of Health Care Innovation Awards.
According to CMS, funding will be awarded to provider groups, health systems, payers, states, public-private partnerships, for-profit organizations or any other parties that have developed innovative payment and delivery models to improve population health, quality of care and cost efficiency.
Fifty years ago this month, I chanced to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. I was a mild-mannered kid with a speech impediment and a love of math. That day, I was focused on solving math problems, not issues of justice and equal rights. But King broke through to me when he said this: If the children of Birmingham march, Americans will see that what they are asking for is a better education. They will see that even the very young know the difference between right and wrong.
I chose to march, and found myself among hundreds of children jailed for five terrifying days. Mind you, I was not a brave child. But even at 12 years old, I believed and hoped that my participation could make a difference.
A District advisory committee OK’d bids from Johns Hopkins Medicine and MedStar Health to build costly proton therapy centers on Thursday, leaving both just one step from final approval to proceed on the high-tech cancer treatment programs.
It wasn’t, however, a clean victory for either. The committee rejected a key part of Hopkins’ plan and asked for additional details about both nonprofit system’s outreach to under-served neighborhoods.
Having recently stressed that oncology is a core therapy area for its research, AstraZeneca is moving three of its cancer compounds into Phase III trials.
First up, MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s biologics R&D arm, has enrolled the first patient in a late-stage study of moxetumomab pasudotox. It is sponsored by the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), and will evaluate the CD22 immunotoxin as a potential treatment in adults with hairy cell leukaemia who have not responded to or relapsed after standard therapy.
Entrepreneur Magazine has named Maryland the No. 1 state to start a new business, with neighboring Virginia following close behind at No. 3.
The California-based magazine cited the state’s Maryland Entrepreneurs Resource List — which connects experts with startups — and the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s initiative to find and train female entrepreneurs in choosing the state for the top position.
Last week, the Baltimore BioPark played host to the Innovation Working Group, which consists of executives from the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission. The commission was founded as a joint venture between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The highly anticipated event is an opportunity for the United States and Russia to find new ways to collaborate on projects in the fields of biotech and science. Members of the group were given a tour of the University of Maryland, College Park and Baltimore BioPark. The event was led by Oleg Fomichev, the Russian Deputy Minister of Economy, and Lorraine Hariton, Special Representative for Business and Commerce of the U.S. Department of State. Among those that joined the three day tour were chief executives of biotech companies from both Maryland and Russia, as well as leaders from the Pushchino BioTech Cluster.
Telehealth holds enormous potential for transforming healthcare, but, to telemedicine pioneer Dr. Jay Sanders, the primary barrier is not financial. Instead, physician and patient attitudes about healthcare and health itself must change, said Sanders, who often has been called the father of telemedicine.
“The critical issue is really not telemedicine,” Sanders said in an interview with MobiHealthNews, noting that the term can include telehealth, mobile health, digital health and other forms of e-health. “What’s important is the needs of the healthcare delivery system.”
Would you like to highlight your city and your university research park by hosting AURP’s 2015 International Conference? As the host park, you’ll be recognized as a leader in the field and attract worldwide attention to the exciting progress and success of your region. Find out more about the requirements at AURP.net/hostrfp.
To be considered, submit your proposal, electronically, to VickiePalmer@AURP.net.
Chevy Chase-based New Enterprise Associates stands to reap a fortune from Tableau Software Inc.’s newly public stock, which is up about 60 percent in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.
NEA is the single biggest venture backer of the Seattle-based data analytics company (NYSE: DATA). The firm sold 1 million shares of Tableau stock in the offering, and is holding on to another 18.5 million shares, or about 37 percent of the company. With Friday’s pop, that stake is valued at more than $900 million.
“Transformation” is the best description of what is happening in health care right now. We are seeing historic changes in how health care is administered in the United States—with increased focus on quality of care versus just paying for a service. We are seeing changes in how people can enroll in health insurance—with the upcoming establishment of a new market place that will help more people get insured in this country than ever before. And, we are seeing changes in how people understand and make decisions about their own health—with an increasing number of tools and services becoming available to help individuals access health information and manage their own personal health data.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
Local businesses have seen needed venture capital and loans in greater abundance in recent months.
The amount of venture capital investment funneled to Montgomery County and Washington-area companies in 2013’s first quarter jumped by 30 percent from the same period a year ago, according to a recent report.
The $286.3 million invested in local companies in the first three months was the most in the quarter in five years, according to the report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data by Thomson Reuters.
It’s true that, geographically speaking, Maryland is a small state. But as the old saying goes, “Good things come in small packages,” and that is especially true when it comes to the resources, advice and technical expertise that Maryland offers inventors and technology entrepreneurs.
From university laboratories and research centers (such as The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Maryland’s Office of Technology Commercialization or University of Maryland – Baltimore City’s ACTiVATE) to state organizations (Maryland Biotechnology Center or the Department of Business and Economic Development), a wide variety of entities are working to help entrepreneurs develop and market their inventions.
Benlysta, a drug to treat lupus, has received approval from European regulators to be marketed in Europe, the drug’s co-makers, Human Genome Sciences Inc. of Rockville, and GlaxoSmithKline, its London-based parent, announced.
The European approval came two days after Benlysta, the first new treatment developed for lupus in 50 years, was approved for use in Canada.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine is launching a $500 million fundraising campaign, the largest in the school’s history.
The school plans to officially launch the capital campaign, “Transforming Medicine Beyond Imagination,” at its annual gala May 11. The event is considered a critical fundraiser for the school’s research and clinical programs.
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PLTR) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pluristem Ltd., has entered into an exclusive out-license agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq:UTHR) for the use of Pluristem’s PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells to develop and commercialize a cell-based product for the treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH).
Under the terms of the agreement, United Therapeutics will receive exclusive worldwide licensing rights for the development and commercialization of the future product for treating PH patients. Pluristem will retain all manufacturing rights; participate in the pre-clinical and clinical trial activities, as well as provide the commercial grade product.
A Johns Hopkins University faculty member will be helping advise the National Institutes of Health about research topics with the most promise for addressing public health challenges.
Janice E. Clements, vice dean for faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been selected to serve on the Council of Councils for NIH. Clements was among 10 individuals newly selected to serve on the 27-member council. Her term ends in October 2015.
UK pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline has unveiled an “open innovation” platform through which it will publish data from its clinical trials online so it can be analysed by external researchers.
The online system allows scientists to submit a to request access anonymised drug trial data. Each request will be judged a panel of external experts appointed by GSK, and applicants must agree to publish their own findings.
Join NFTE Baltimore as an honored guest at out Regional City Wide Business Plan Competition. The top size finalists will present and defend their business plans before a prestigious panel of judges and an audience of top buiness and school leaders. The networking reception will include a Student Showcase and we will also honor NFTE’s biggest supporters of youth entrepreneurship.
University of Baltimore William T. Thumel Sr. Business Center 11 West Mount Royal Avenue
May 15, 2013 8:00am – 10:00am Tower Club, Tysons Corner
Attracting and retaining key employees is a challenge every business faces, and government contractors know that a valuable contract can hinge on making the right staffing choices. Savvy government contractors also recognize the necessity to maximize human capital within the constraints of sequestration, continuing resolution and lowest price technically acceptable contracts.
You’re invited to this breakfast workshop to learn about powerful employee incentive compensation strategies that can provide significant competitive advantages for your business. These often underutilized plans can attract top quality employees through cash, equity and other equity-linked compensation methods. In addition to creating great work environments, innovative incentive plans allow government contractors to be successful amidst the current era of regulatory challenges.
Venture capital firm Grotech Ventures has raised $225 million that it plans to invest in early-stage technology companies.
The $225 million round, called Grotech Ventures II, is the firm’s eight fund. The firm had originally planned to raise $220 million but expanded to include new investors, said Grotech Managing General Partner and Founder Frank Adams.
Governor Martin O’Malley today officially launched data.maryland.gov – Maryland’s first statewide open data portal that will provide researchers, entrepreneurs, public servants and citizens with a wide variety of data to support transparency and innovation in government. Data such as vendor payments, vehicle accidents, licensed veterinary clinics, GIS mapping data, and per capita electricity consumption will all be made available and housed in a central place for the public.
The Governor made this announcement at a panel discussion hosted in conjunction with the Future of Information Alliance (FIA) – a transdisciplinary partnership between the University of Maryland, College Park and 10 founding partners. The panel featured “futurists” and over 120 students, entrepreneurs and public servants who spoke about the importance of big data to better serve and inform the public.
As the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and HITECH Act are rolled out, providers and payers are looking for ways to address pain points varying from improving patient engagement and remote monitoring to helping consumers better understand their insurance options to making better use of patient information in the context of big data.
Some accelerators are helping members of the healthcare ecosystem and entrepreneurs find each other. These four healthcare accelerators are currently looking for applicants.
Version 2.0 of a plan to create an Office of mHealth in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should be out soon. The office of U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, Silicon Valley’s Democratic Congressman who authored the legislation, said the next draft will at the least fine-tune the way the office would work with other federal agencies.
But is the big-ticket item – a new office dedicated to adding more context and understanding of mHealth within the federal agency – the most interesting thing about the bill? I don’t think so. Read through the details and see if you agree.
The University City Science Center is collaborating with the Canadian Consulate General to pilot a business accelerator for health information and communication technology companies from Canada.
Opening on May 13, 2013, the Canadian Technology Accelerator at the Science Center will provide a 3-6 month “market immersion” experience for Canadian health IT companies, leveraging the Science Center’s resources and networks through its Port business incubator.
If you’re a startup working on a product for the healthcare industry, Boston is the place to be. During a trip to Bean Town, I was curious to hear what startup founders found most challenging in a city so rich with resources. The usual gripes I usually hear elsewhere, like troubles with seed funding or FDA regulation, didn’t come up as much. Instead, these founders seemed to find the more personal elements of entrepreneurship most challenging. Many times, I found myself talking to people who had made a shift from working in tech or research to becoming a business owner.
The community realizes that, though. In addition to numerous startup accelerators and incubators, Boston is home to lots of collaborative startup space.
Venture capitalists are pushing to allow more highly educated immigrants into the U.S., saying this is essential to ensuring that the country remains an innovation leader.
One argument they use is that immigrants create jobs by starting companies. Scott Sandell, general partner at New Enterprise Associates who leads the venture firm’s technology investing, wants to support this assertion with better data.
I had the privilege to meet with and speak to the local Healthcare meet-up recently (thanks to Pete Kanee at www.healthcare.mn) and as part of my discussion, I shared a list of things that I’d encourage the local (healthcare) startups to continue to keep in mind as they grow their companies.
These are relevant to not only healthcare-focused startups but all startups for that matter. They’re pretty common, but in my recent conversations with healthcare entrepreneurs, I found many of these needing to be brought up as part of the dialogue.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is asking companies for financial donations to help implement President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, months before it is due to take effect.
In telephone calls that began around March 23, officials say, Obama’s top healthcare adviser has been seeking assistance from companies in the healthcare field and other industries as well as from healthcare providers, patient advocacy groups, churches and other charitable organizations.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
Ingenuity Systems, a 15-year veteran of the biological software business, showed today that you can make money not just by generating DNA data, but by helping scientists figure out what it means.
Redwood City, CA-based Ingenuity said today it has agreed to be acquired by Netherlands-based Qiagen for $105 million in cash. Ingenuity, a private company, was able to fetch that price after it closed last year with about $20 million in net sales, the companies said in a statement. The deal is expected to start adding to Qiagen’s profits in 2015, the companies said.
Location: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Conference Center, 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004-2541
National Brain Tumor Society is bringing together brain tumor researchers and industry executives to discuss how to move research from bench to bedside.
Biophrama executives and VC investors will share their criteria for investment and licensing of academic research.
Panelists include:
Lauren Abrey Global Development Team Lead, Genetech/Roche
Neil Exter Partner, Third Rock
Brian Gallagher Partner, SROne
Michael Glutch Managing Director, Medimmune Ventures
Perry Nisen Senior VP of Science Transactions, Pfizer
Nation Brain Tumor Society-funded researchers will present brain tumor drug candidates ready for early stage investment and/or licensing.
The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) today announces the winners of the inaugural University of Maryland Business Model Challenge.
The two winning UMD entrepreneur teams were selected from among 44 initial entries and 11 finalist teams, six of whom were selected to present the results they achieved through the Challenge’s multi-week lean startup workshop to an expert panel of judges on April 26 at the University of Maryland.
Late last week, leaders from across the global vaccine industry gathered at the 6th Annual Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) awards ceremony during the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C, to honor the industry’s best and brightest. Immunovaccine is proud to announce that chief executive officer John Trizzino was awarded this year’s Best Biotech CEO prize during the ceremony.
In considering candidates for the Best Biotech CEO award, judges evaluated a number of important criteria including:
Degree of outstanding commitment to disease prevention and treatment
Level of exemplary leadership throughout the year
Contribution to company performance, communication and vision
Influence within the industry
Achievements made with regards to company positioning and status
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 finalists have a lot to celebrate. They’ve built their dream companies. Expanded. Innovated. And now Ernst & Young is recognizing them for their achievements. Help us congratulate these outstanding entrepreneurs. Join us at this years event and see who will take home top honors.
Johns Hopkins says it is working on its largest-ever fundraising campaign, which aims to raise $4.5 billion by the end of 2017.
The university and health system announced the effort Saturday. The idea is to create as many as 300 endowed professorships and generate nearly $700 million for undergraduate financial aid and graduate student fellowships.
Leveraging USDA-ARS Partnerships and Capabilities to Help Your Business
PRESENTERS:
Robert Griesbach, Ph.D. Deputy Assistant Administrator Office of Technology
James Poulos, III Technology Transfer Coordinator
Cathy Cohn Technology Transfer Liaison
Abstract:
Agricultural Research Services (ARS) is the research arm of the Department of Agriculture that develops and transfers solutions to agricultural problems affecting Americans every day, from field to table. To accelerate the development of new products and help move technologies into the marketplace, ARS often partners with companies and research institutions early on in the research process. Working collaboratively alongside ARS, partners are able access and implement ARS technologies, resources and expertise to further develop specific products and create new ones. ARS conducts research in 800 projects at 90 locations including six pilot plants and six human nutrition centers. With a long standing commitment to technology transfer, ARS works closely with the private sector to ensure research outcomes are adopted. Please join us to learn about the wide range of expertise and capabilities from ARS that can be used to grow your business
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced its participation in the Defence against Terrorism Programme of Work (DAT POW) workshop conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Emerging Security Challenges Division at the Counter Terror Expo in London. An initial session of the workshop was focused on the future capabilities and protection of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) community on areas such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), Biometrics and Forensics, Information Sharing Systems, Tactical Computer, Communications, Command and Control (C4), and Force Protection.
“Emergent strongly supports NATO’s initiatives to educate on protecting those who protect the population,” said Allen Shofe, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Emergent BioSolutions. “NATO DAT POW workshops are highly relevant and informative as they cover various activities undertaken and coordinated by NATO countries.”
The University of Maryland Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) invites you to participate in the 5th Biennial NMR Day symposium on Friday, May 17, 2013, at our facility in Rockville, Maryland.
IBBR (formerly CARB) hosts a biennial meeting, designed to promote discussion and collaboration among scientists active in the application of biomolecular NMR to modern problems in structural biology and biotechnology. The symposium speakers are internationally recognized in the application of NMR to biological systems
The National Capitol Area Local Chapter of SoPE in concert with JHU Carey Business School, MedChi, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Center for Biotechnology Education, Montgomery County Medical Society, and the Medical Society of Northern Virginia presents:
“Working with Industry in the Life Sciences – What does it Really Take?”
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013–6:00PM to 8:00PM
Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery County Campus, Building III – 9605 Medical Center Drive, Room 121
Join us as we bring together top leaders and innovators in the fields of Cybersecurity, Health IT, and Mobile Technology. Learn where the technology is leading these 3 sectors and the opportunities that exist for real estate brokers and developers who want to capitalize on these expanding industries.
Hear from leaders including Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, one of Time Magazine’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People”, as well as Dr. Mark Doms, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs with the United States Department of Commerce, who serves as a top economic advisor to the Obama Administration and to the Department of Commerce.
Startup Maryland today announced dates (September 9 – 27) and the rough route for the Pitch Across Maryland 2.0, the second annual state-wide tour and celebration of entrepreneurship and startup companies.
Referred to by CBS News affiliate WBOC-TV 16 as “Opportunity on Wheels,” the inaugural Pitch Across Maryland tour was an overwhelming success last year. The bus traversed the state all in the name of celebrating entrepreneurship. A sampling of details, key data and results from last year’s tour follow:
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has partnered with Barclays Bank to develop a youth entrepreneurship program with the Bloomberg School’s Center for American Indian Health. The new initiative is aimed at designing an evidence-based program to inspire American Indian youth to stay in school and create business and social entrepreneurship opportunities.
As part of the partnership, Barclays will provide a total of $1.2 million in program funding over the course of the next three years. Additionally, Barclays employees will lend their business expertise and serve as mentors to program participants. Program efforts will first concentrate on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona with the ultimate goal to implement youth entrepreneurship programs in poverty stricken communities throughout the world.
Earlier this month, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), a trade association representing the U.S. venture capital industry, released the results of its MoneyTree Report on venture funding for the first quarter of 2013. The report, which is prepared by NVCA and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP using data from Thomson Reuters, indicates that venture capitalists invested $5.9 billion in 863 deals in the first quarter, which constituted a 12% decrease in dollars and a 15% decrease in deals as compared with the fourth quarter of 2012, when $6.7 billion was invested in 1,013 deals (see chart below; data from MoneyTree Reports).
Somewhere between venture funding and bank loans is a kind of investment that seems to fly under the radar, but apparently over the last several years has become increasingly popular for biotech companies beyond the startup stage looking for growth capital.
Royalty financing is the vehicle that Capital Royalty L.P. will use to invest its new $805 million fund in healthcare products and technologies. But (sorry startups), it’s not looking for early-stage companies. Capital Royalty says it invests in companies with FDA-approved healthcare products that are generating revenue. These are companies looking to make acquisitions, expand into new markets or develop new products with investments of $20 million to $200 million.
Chandra Duggirala, maker of an experimental device for type two diabetes, is on the verge of giving up.
Duggirala’s company, Novobionics, raised a small amount of funding for a noninvasive technology that mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgery. The device tricks the gastro-intestinal tract into thinking it is full, which slows the rate of nutrient absorption, thereby easing suffering for diabetes patients.
President Barack Obama dropped in on the National Academy of Sciences today to help it celebrate its 150th birthday.
The president said he’s committed to increased public investment in scientific research, contending this is necessary in order for the U.S. to retain its technological edge. Under sequestration, however, federal spending on research is being cut, not increased.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, today announced its selection of Ken Malone, Ph.D., of Early Charm Ventures, as the first BHI Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) assigned to work directly with UM Ventures. Dr. Malone, a serial entrepreneur who has founded or been an officer of five biotechnology or advanced materials companies, will help advance the commercialization efforts of new start-up companies based upon innovative discoveries coming out of research programs at the University of Maryland (UMD) College Park and Baltimore.
“We’re thrilled to name Ken Malone as an EIR,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President & CEO. “Ken and I have a long history of working together, so I know first hand that he has the experience, drive and perspective to be a true asset to BHI and to the many start-ups he’ll serve from University of Maryland in support of the newly launched UM Ventures initiative.” Dr. Malone will assist any interested UM start-ups once they have been launched.
Location: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Conference Center, 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004-2541
National Brain Tumor Society is bringing together brain tumor researchers and industry executives to discuss how to move research from bench to bedside.
Biophrama executives and VC investors will share their criteria for investment and licensing of academic research.
Panelists include:
Lauren Abrey Global Development Team Lead, Genetech/Roche
Neil Exter Partner, Third Rock
Brian Gallagher Partner, SROne
Michael Glutch Managing Director, Medimmune Ventures
Perry Nisen Senior VP of Science Transactions, Pfizer
Nation Brain Tumor Society-funded researchers will present brain tumor drug candidates ready for early stage investment and/or licensing.
Time-reversal techniques for optimizing broadband communication networks and rapid prototyping of microfluidics devices were among the Clark School of Engineering inventions recognized as the most promising new technologies at the University of Maryland Invention of the Year Awards.
The University of Maryland’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) hosted the 26th Annual Invention of the Year Awards reception on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 from 4:30-6:00 pm at the University of Maryland Golf Course Club House.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is pleased to announce the election of Rachel King, President and CEO, GlycoMimetics, Inc, as the new Chair of its Board of Directors for the 2013-2014 term, and the election of David Pyott, Chairman, President, & CEO, Allergan, Inc., as its new Board Secretary. BIO also is pleased to announce the re-election of Mark Skaletsky, Chairman & CEO, Fenway Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as Board Treasurer, and the election of 19 Directors to serve on BIO’s Board Executive Committee for the new term. In addition, BIO welcomes the election of eight new members to its Board of Directors, voted upon at this year’s 2013 BIO International Convention.
“Rachel King brings a depth of industry experience and passion for advocacy that will serve BIO and its members well,” said Jim Greenwood, BIO President & CEO. “I look forward to working closely with Rachel and our newly-constituted Board of Directors in the years to come.”
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) announced today that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the Healthcare Protective Products Division (HPPD) of Bracco Diagnostics Inc. in an all-cash transaction that includes payment of $26.0 million upon closing. The acquisition will diversify and expand Emergent’s biodefense franchise by adding product sales from HPPD’s marketed chemical countermeasure, RSDL (Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion). The acquisition offers Emergent an opportunity to leverage its core capabilities in manufacturing, government contracting, government sales, and product distribution as it looks to substantially expand sales of RSDL in the attractive and growing chemical countermeasure market.
“This acquisition directly supports our ongoing growth plan, which includes acquiring revenue generating, profitable products and businesses that address the needs of U.S. and allied foreign governments across the CBRN spectrum,” stated Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, president and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions. “Our relationships, combined with those of HPPD, with the U.S. Government and foreign ministries of defense, as well as worldwide distributor relationships addressing first responder markets, should enable us to grow revenues from RSDL and to expand and enhance Emergent’s leadership position as a premier supplier of CBRN countermeasures.”
Last year AstraZeneca’s ($AZN) MedImmune did about 20 biologics deals, not counting the academic pacts it assembled. This year, MedImmune R&D chief Bahija Jallal tells me, there will be no letup in talent scouting. “If we do as little or more than last year,” says Jallal, “I would be happy.”
Echoing late-stage R&D chief Briggs Morrison–who spoke with me at BIO last week–Jallal singled out cardiovascular/metabolics, respiratory and cancer as key fields for new deals. She noted particular interest in brown fat, a focus for weight-loss fans, and immunotherapeutics, which has emerged as one of the hottest sectors in oncology R&D.
ETC, Baltimore City’s technology innovation center, announced today that it has chosen a new Baltimore City location to house it’s award winning technology incubator when its current Canton lease expires in October 2013. The ETC will move to 101 N. Haven Street, an adaptive reuse of an historic industrial building that was once home to the King Cork and Seal Company. The recently renovated building is located near Highlandtown with easy access to I-95 and is within the Enterprise Zone and a HUBZone. The ETC will maintain space in its other location at Johns Hopkins University – Eastern Campus on 33rd Street.
“The Emerging Technology Center has championed small business development and job creation in Baltimore for years, and we are proud to have supported their efforts,” said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “We wish them the best of luck and success in their new location. I’m confident that the ETC will continue to be an important driver of innovation and entrepreneurship in the city. ”
Maryland often has been at the forefront of innovation with a longstanding reputation for investing in science and technology to capture new opportunities for economic growth. This year’s legislative session was no different. Lawmakers backed Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposals to support the state’s bioscience sector, expand the R&D tax credit, enhance workforce training, and promote measures to establish the state as a leader in cybersecurity.
I wanted to share some data with you that illustrates the strength of Montgomery County’s business community: total employment in the County grew by nearly 25,000 jobs – from 631,000 jobs in 2010 to 655,800 jobs in 2012! This is impressive given the economic climate and shows the resiliency and fortitude of our local businesses – large and small.
The top job gaining sector was professional, scientific and technical services, which added almost 5,300 jobs beteen 2010 and 2012. The other top growing sectors were government, retail trade and health care and social assistance, each adding over 3,000 jobs during the three year period.
MedImmune has acquired Ann Arbor-based AlphaCore Pharma, creating another exit for a local up-and-coming start-up.
MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, has not disclosed the acquisition price nor its intentions on whether to keep the start-up in Tree Town. Tracy Rossin, director of corporate public relations for MedImmune, did write in an email that the company does “not have plans to expand its operations/workforce in Ann Arbor.” She does add that her firm is “planning to incorporate AlphaCore Pharma into the larger AstraZeneca organization.”
What if you could create a biotech startup focused on treating a rare disease, with a drug candidate already in hand, and high odds of success in clinical trials?
That’s the concept that crystallized in former MedImmune executive David Mott’s mind through decades of experience in the life sciences sector. The idea ultimately led him to start a Cambridge, MA-based biotech incubator called Cydan. This new organization, formally announced this month, has been staffed with a hand-picked squad of specialists tasked with churning out a lineup of small companies that make drugs for orphan diseases.
The purpose of the NHLBI SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Award is to facilitate and accelerate the capital-intensive steps that are required to transition SBIR Phase II projects to the commercialization stage by promoting partnerships between SBIR Phase II awardees and third-party investors and/or strategic partners. The Bridge Award encourages business relationships between applicant small business concerns and third-party investors/strategic partners who can provide substantial financing to help accelerate the commercialization of promising new products and technologies that were initiated with SBIR funding. In particular, applicants are expected to leverage their previous SBIR support, as well as the opportunity to compete for additional funding through the NHLBI Bridge Award program, to attract and negotiate third-party financing needed to advance a product or technology toward commercialization. The applicant’s ability to secure independent third-party investor funds that equal or exceed the total amount of the NHLBI funds being requested over the entire Bridge Award project period will help to validate the commercial potential that is essential for the SBIR projects solicited under the Bridge Award program. It is anticipated that many of the partnerships between small businesses and third-party investors will involve a considerable level of project due diligence by the private sector, thereby increasing the likelihood of commercial success for the funded projects. In light of these goals, the NHLBI strongly encourages applicants to establish business relationships with investors, strategic partners or both that have appropriate prior experience in commercializing emerging biomedical technologies.
Holding the keys to the future of health care and medicine is not something many children dream of doing.
But Bahija Jallal, executive vice president of AstraZeneca’s (AZN) biologics arm, MedImmune, knew from a very young age that was the career she was destined for.
The University of Maryland has signed an agreement for a student-exchange program with the University of Jordan that will boost research and the flow of students between College Park and the Middle East country’s largest and oldest university.
The announcement of the pact by University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh comes as a delegation led by Gov. Martin O’Malley visits Jordan on the first leg of an eight-day trip to Jordan and Israel.
A doctor might ask for a patient’s family disease history, or exercise or smoking habits, but whether they have trouble getting food onto the table or paying energy bills is unlikely to appear on any clinic questionnaire.
Those sorts of factors could have just as much, if not more, of an impact on a person’s everyday health, argue the founders of a startup out of the Johns Hopkins University. Their company, Healthify, is giving clinics that serve largely low-income populations the means to gather and use that information.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today issued the annual Scientific American Worldview Report and Bio-Innovation Scorecard. On Wednesday, April 24, the Scientific American Worldview Super Session will take place during the 2013 BIO International Convention, the global biotechnology event, in Chicago, Ill. at McCormick Place.
Moderated by Fareed Zakaria, author, journalist and host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, the Convention Super Session is the marquee discussion forum among industry leaders on the state of biotech hubs and innovation around the globe. Panelists include Trevor Mundel, President, Global Health Program for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Robert Hariri, Chief Executive Officer, Celgene Cellular Therapeutics; Tomas Philipson, Daniel Levin Professor of Public Policy, The University of Chicago; and Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Innovation Council, Government of India. The session will be held from 3:45pm to 5:15pm.
NCI Shady Grove, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850
This workshop will include opportunities for one-on-one meetings with representatives of many of the presenting federal organizations. Please indicate your interest and top three choices below for one-on-one meetings. NCI SBIR Program Directors will also be available to meet on the afternoon of May 6. If you are interested in setting up a meeting on May 6, please mark the appropriate selection on the registration form below.
On May 6 at 6pm (EDT), NCI SBIR will host an informal, optional meet and greet at the Cafe Deluxe in the Rio Entertainment Center (9811 Washingtonian Boulevard Gaithersburg, MD 20878 – Terrace Room). Due to government restrictions, the meet and greet will be self-pay. Please RSVP below, as space for the meet and greet is limited.
Due to space limitations, priority will be given to current or recent NCI SBIR or STTR awardees, with a maximum of two (2) representatives allowed per company. This workshop is provided free of charge to attendees (excluding food and transportation expenses).
A Columbia University administrator is taking over a top post at Johns Hopkins University.
Robert C. Lieberman will take on the role of provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Hopkins July 1. Lieberman is currently the interim dean of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Once again we’re stepping into spring with more exciting programming in health entrepreneurship. Our Rock Health Skillshare series is open to the public and provides a unique opportunity to get an in-depth look at critical issues in health innovation, as well as a peek at Rock Health HQ in Chinatown (Dim sum anyone?). Classes generally range from $25-$30 and we provide snacks, refreshments, and ample opportunity for networking afterward. Our teachers have extensive real-world domain expertise that they are enthusiastic about sharing with others.
The Association of University Research Parks is proud to present the 18th Annual Awards of Excellence in research and science park development and practice. AURP will honor industry leaders at the 2013 International Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
These awards bring valuable recognition to the recipients and to the industry as a whole. To nominate a park, company or an individual who has demonstrated excellence in the field, please use the below links. Each link also provides criteria and details about the award. Nominations are due by May 20, 2013.
Today, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the Medical Innovation and Competitiveness Coalition (MedIC) released Patient Capital 3.0: Confronting the Crisis and Achieving the Promise of Venture-Backed Medical Innovation. The report, which is in its third release, highlights the contribution of venture capital to medical innovation and provides perspective on the current investment environment in the U.S. for life sciences.
“Venture-backed medical innovations still provide the critical new drugs, medical devices and diagnostics that improve and save the lives of millions of Americans, but the environment for investing in these breakthroughs has become increasingly challenging,” said Jonathan Leff, Partner at Deerfield Management and Chairman of MedIC. “While the promise of science to help solve our most pressing medical problems is extraordinary, the time, cost and uncertainty involved in building start-up companies that advance fundamental medical innovations have all risen, driving some investors away from the life sciences arena in recent years. We continue to express to policymakers the importance of promoting an environment that encourages investment in medical innovation.”
Google Ventures has been backing startups through its venture capital fund since 2009 and offers a pretty diverse range of services to entrepreneurs. Here’s a look at the eight healthcare and life science businesses among its portfolio companies spanning DNA analysis, accelerated drug development, and oncology analytics.
23andMe The startup has helped make personal genetics and DNA analysis much more accessible to consumers. The company, co-founded by Anne Wojsicki, offers DNA test kits that for $99 and a little saliva help people better understand what conditions they are at risk for developing, whether they are carriers for any diseases that they could unwittingly give to their children. It can also provide information on whether people’s genetic makeup makes them particularly sensitive to certain drugs. It also uses results from user queries, with their consent, to conduct in-house research.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
The information contained in this website and newsletters is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BioHealth Innovation via its newsletters, but not written or endorsed in any way by BioHealth Innovation unless otherwise noted. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
The Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and our partner, BioHealth Innovation, Inc., invite you to visit us at Booth 1423, the Maryland Pavilion, during the BIO International Convention in Chicago, April 22 – 25.
Nearly 50 Montgomery County biotech companies, organizations, or public sector entities will attend. Twenty-six Maryland organizations, companies or public-sector entities will be represented in the Maryland Pavilion, Booth 1423, including the following from Montgomery County:
As part of the University of Maryland’s 26th Annual Invention of the Year Awards ceremony held at the University of Maryland Golf Course on April 16, BioHealth Innovation sweetened the pot for this year’s three award winners. BHI offered each award winner strategic consulting services on federal grants or SBIR awards – valued at $2,500 per company. The BHI Commercial Relevance Program is designed to support small businesses in commercializing their technological research efforts.
The three winning inventions were: INFORMATION SCIENCE CATEGORY: Winner: Time-Reversal Division Multiple Access for Wireless Broadband Communications Feng Han, Yu-Han Yang, Beibei Wang, Yongle Wu and K. J. Ray Liu
LIFE SCIENCE CATEGORY: Winner: A Method for Early Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Eva Chin and Dapeng Chen
PHYSICAL SCIENCE CATEGORY: Winner: A Method for Rapid, Inexpensive Prototyping of Microfluidic Devices Omid Rahmanian, Donald DeVoe
Time-reversal techniques for optimizing broadband communication networks and rapid prototyping of microfluidics devices were among the Clark School of Engineering inventions recognized as the most promising new technologies at the University of Maryland Invention of the Year Awards.
The University of Maryland’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) hosted the 26th Annual Invention of the Year Awards reception on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 from 4:30-6:00 pm at the University of Maryland Golf Course Club House.
On the evening of April 15 as part of the InvestMaryland Challenge Award ceremony held at MICA in Baltimore, BHI presented three awards to local companies. Boss Medical LLC of Baltimore, ConverGene LLC of Gaithersburg, and Vasoptic Medical LLC of Columbia were selected for the awards based upon their high quality products under development, which have good possibility for securing federal funding with support and assistance. Each award – valued at $2,500 – consists of consulting services from BHI on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or federal funding proposals. The SBIR program is designed to support small businesses in commercializing their technological research efforts.
The NIH is the premier biomedical research center for the world. Its 27 Institutes and Centers employ approximately 18,000 employees doing a vast array of jobs, all supporting efforts for a healthy nation. For information on the NIH mission, goals, and Institutes and Centers, visit NIH Overview.
The Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination (OTAC) in the Division of Extramural Research Activities (DERA), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is seeking outstanding candidates for the Health Scientist Administrator (Business Development Specialist) position. The OTAC is charged with accelerating the translation of basic discoveries and innovations into new diagnostics, devices, and therapeutics, and facilitating the development of new technologies via Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) initiatives. The Office facilitates identification of emerging areas of translational opportunities and provides functional integration by developing interdependent teams that leverage resources and intellect across the NHLBI, and with other NIH Institutes, agencies, and organizations. The OTAC enhances communication and coordination between existing programs, develops and coordinates strategic initiatives and Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), and identifies and capitalizes on synergies to meet and enhance program goals.
Remedium Technologies Inc., a medical device company developing innovative products to control severe hemorrhaging, was awarded a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation to test the company’s sprayable foam for rapidly halting traumatic bleeding, company officials announce today.
In collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Maryland, Remedium will complete pre-clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Hemogrip(TM) Foam in controlling non-compressible hemorrhaging, i.e., bleeding not accessible to direct pressure. Hemogrip(TM) is a high-pressure, sprayable foam that can expand into an injured body cavity, adhere to tissue and stop hemorrhaging within minutes during the expansion process. There are currently no hemostatic products available for treatment of non-compressible bleeds, which account for 85 percent of hemorrhage-related deaths.
Two Baltimore companies took top honors in the state’s first InvestMaryland Challenge.
GrayBug, which is developing drug delivery technology; and RedOwl Analytics, a software company, were the winners of the startup business competition’s life science and information technology categories. An LED lighting company in Cecil County, i-Lighting, won the contest’s category for general industry. Some 260 startups from 26 states, including Maryland, threw their hats in the ring.
Cleave Biosciences has added $10 million in Series A financing from new investor New Enterprise Associates, bringing its Series A total to $54 million. In the fall of 2011, Cleave raised $44 million from US Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures, Clarus Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, Astellas Venture Management and Osage University Partners. The company is focused on cancer drug discovery and development.
Cleave is discovering novel drugs that affect protein degradation pathways. Cancer cells frequently make an excess of proteins and hence become dependent on protein degradation for their survival. By attacking key targets in these pathways, cancer cells fail to balance this excess protein synthesis with protein degradation and can no longer survive.
The Washington region raised some $286 million in venture funding last quarter, assuming you stretch your idea of the region to include Stevensville, Md., and Blacksburg, Va. So what did we learn from three months of venture data? Here are five takeaways.
1. Deals down, dollars up: The number of deals in Q1 2013 (30 deals) was down compared with the prior quarter (36 deals), as well as Q1 2012 (45 deals), while the dollar amount was up. When 2012 went out with the crappiest quarter since 2009, the drop was attributed to the lack of big deals.
Twelve Maryland companies, including five from the Baltimore area, received a total of $83.8 million in venture capital funding in the first quarter.
That was up 20 percent from the $69.7 million that 15 Maryland firms received in first quarter 2012, according to a MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The report uses data from Thomson Reuters.
The Washington region raised a collective $286 million in venture capital during the first three months of 2013, thanks in large part to a $110 million financing for D.C.-based LivingSocial Inc., according to the MoneyTree report released Friday by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association.
At first blush, the number looks like good news for the region, a marked improvement from the $95 million raised in fourth quarter of 2012. Assuming the upswing holds for three more quarters, we just might be on track to fulfill Steve Case’s prediction of a $1 billion year.
The purpose of the NHLBI SBIR Phase IIB Small Market Award is to provide support to Phase II SBIR awardees developing NHLBI mission-related technologies that address a rare disease or young pediatric populations. The goal of this FOA is to de-risk these technologies so that development can continue with private funding after NHLBI support ends; therefore, applicants must submit a Commercialization Plan, which should include details on any independent third-party funding that has already been secured or is anticipated during the project period. It is expected that the level of this independent third-party funding will be equal to or greater than one-third of the NHLBI funds being requested throughout the project period. Projects proposed in response to this FOA must require eventual Federal regulatory approval/clearance, and may address preclinical and/or clinical stages of technology development. Clinical trials may be proposed as appropriate, but are not required.
Leaders of 11 top high-tech companies — including Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. — signed a partnership agreement Monday with a fairly new Rockville-based center on cybersecurity, pledging to work together to further that growing industry.
The companies will help the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence — an agency formed a year ago by the federal National Institute of Standards and Technology, Montgomery County and the state of Maryland — develop leading-edge technology to combat hackers and other cyber-criminals, officials said.
New York City nonprofit Venture for America, which provides entrepreneurship training for recent college graduates, is adding Baltimore to its roster of cities this year.
Venture was founded in 2011 to encourage entrepreneurship through practical experience. It officially launched last year in five cities: Detroit, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Providence, Rhode Island. This year, Baltimore and Cleveland are on board.
These infographics from DrugPatentWatch.com and BiologicPatentWatch.com track innovation and patent activity in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries:
President Obama has challenged us all to help win the future by out-educating, out-innovating, and out-building our competitors in the 21st century.
Know someone who is doing extraordinary things to make a difference in your community? Nominate them to be a Champion of Change. We’ll consider your nominations as we feature people who are bringing about change in their communities on the White House website to share their ideas on how to win the future.
Entrepreneurs in any industry need to start with a big idea – and a big tolerance for risk. But in health care, startups often need to take on a unique set of regulatory hurdles, complex systems and entrenched ways of getting things done to successfully build and scale.
At the TEDMED conference Thursday, a few of the industry’s most seasoned entrepreneurs and investors gave emerging startups a dose of advice. Here are a few of their tips:
U.S. Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills was in Baltimore on Thursday to highlight the agency’s education program for entrepreneurs.
Baltimore was one of the first cities to launch SBA’s Emerging Leaders program, formerly called E200 back in 2008. The program offers a seven-month course in which a select group of business owners learn the skills they need to grow their companies.
There’s been discussion recently about a lack of life science venture capital enthusiasm for emerging digital health companies. I happen to feel that this concern is misplaced. I engaged industry and opinion leaders on this subject plus have my own thoughts on the digital health funding environment.
In his latest article in Forbes, contributor David Shaywitz characterizes life science venture capitalists as just “kicking tires” on potential digital health investments, citing fears from prominent investor Nimesh Shah that innovations in digital health are “merely a bubble,” and that these firms lack a “real biz model.”
The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) and the Rockville Institute come together annually to offer this dynamic, interactive seminar series. The series stimulates an exchange of ideas among practitioners, researchers, policymakers, students, and the public at large about contemporary social issues. Seminars are free and open to the public.
The U.S. market for remote patient monitoring, valued at $104.5 million in 2012, is forecasted to reach $296.5 million by 2019, a compound annual growth rate of 16 percent, according to a new report from GBI Research.
Chronic diseases represent an overwhelming burden for healthcare systems in developed countries, due to increasingly elderly populations, and a clear need exists for remote patient monitoring to help lift the load off stretched healthcare resources, according to the report Remote Patient Monitoring Market to 2019 – Potential to Reduce Healthcare Cost Burden and Improve Quality of Care to Drive Future Growth.
With nearly half a billion dollars raised in venture capital funding for health information technology, the first three months of 2013 represented a “record quarter,” according to Mercom Capital Group.
Some $493 million was raised industry-wide, according to Mercom’s 2013 Healthcare IT Funding and M&A Report, in twice as many deals as the previous quarter (104, up from 51). There were nearly four times as many early stage deals – 42, up from 14 – compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Northrop Grumman Corp. last month expanded their Cync cybersecurity program with three new companies, including the program’s first international one. The three firms joined the five companies currently at bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park in Catonsville.
Eight years of work, thousands of researchers around the world, $1 billion spent — and finally it was done. On April 14, 2003, a decade ago this week, scientists announced that they had completed the Human Genome Project, compiling a list of the three billion letters of genetic code that make up what they considered to be a sort of everyperson’s DNA.
The need for innovation in healthcare has arguably never been greater. A range of factors, from aging world populations to rising standards of living in developing countries, are poised to drive long-run demand for innovative drugs, devices and medical technologies that can improve outcomes and reduce costs.
Ironically, however, funding for healthcare innovation remains in short supply. As industry participants are keenly aware, life science venture capital financing – which has played a critical role in helping translate research ideas into commercially useful medical technologies – is becoming increasingly scarce.
BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is a regionally-oriented, private-public partnership functioning as an innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Maryland.
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enomics, immunology, and diagnostics. Many promising new enterprises fail to produce marketable drugs, and even successful therapies may struggle to gain markets in an environment of health care cost cutting.
collaborative agreement with Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the company’s portfolio of clinical stage antibacterial assets for treating hospital and biothreat infections. 
Through new agreements with the Canadian BC Cancer Agency and Columbia University, the company now has access to biomarkers for lymphoma, glioblastoma, and several other cancers. These biomarkers will be developed into diagnostic assays that can assist physicians in choosing targeted treatments, Qiagen says.
Alexandra “Allie” Reitz, the programýs coordinator for the JACQUES Initiative (JI) of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
oday is Demo Day for Techstars Boston. I love Techstars Demo Days for many reasons, not the least of which is the amazing community that gathers to hear the brief, well-rehearsed pitches from the various start-ups who have spent months planning for this big event.
he Affordable Care Act, aka health care reform, aka Obamacare, is spurring a massive creation of new business opportunities.
ptimistic and confident in their abilities, a diverse and growing percentage of U.S. citizens engage in entrepreneurship, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
The award luncheon will provide countless opportunities to show your appreciation for the estimated 33,000 small businesses of Montgomery County—businesses that contribute directly to the strength of the area’s economy. Eight awards will be presented to eight distinct companies.
Please join us for an exclusive MedTech networking event hosted by QIAGEN. Learn more about AdvaMed 2013: The MedTech Conference and discover your local MedTech community.
I had the privilege to meet with and speak to the local Healthcare meet-up recently (thanks to Pete Kanee at www.healthcare.mn) and as part of my discussion, I shared a list of things that I’d encourage the local (healthcare) startups to continue to keep in mind as they grow their companies.
