Genome pioneer J. Craig Venter is teaming up with a unit of United Therapeutics to develop pig lungs that have been genetically altered to be compatible with humans, a feat that, if successful, could address the urgent need for transplant organs for people with end-stage lung disease.
Venter’s privately held company Synthetic Genomics said it has entered a multiyear deal with United Therapeutics’ Lung Biotechnology to develop the so-called humanised pig organs.
The Maryland Science Center’s newly expanded and re-imagined space, SciLab , is now open, providing a unique, popular and hands-on laboratory science simulation for visitors. The 2,000-square-foot expansion was partially funded by a $100,000 contribution from BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) BDX +1.01% , a leading global medical technology company. SciLab’s expansion includes a classroom space, new investigation stations and additional laboratory gear that enhance educational opportunities for visitors and local school groups.
Visitors to SciLab will don lab coats, wear safety glasses and experiment with dozens of lab tools at large investigation stations to explore scientific wonders including chemical composition analysis, DNA extraction, optical illusions and the inner workings of the human body. “SciLab Scientists” will use test tubes, pipettes, beakers and microscopes while measuring, mixing, stirring and observing their way to testing a hypothesis.
Nearly 30 business incubators throughout Maryland are fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs, breaking down barriers to entry and introducing new talent to investors.
For the past 14 years, organizers of the Maryland Incubator Company of the Year Awards have honored the most promising startups emerging from the State’s incubators. From among 22 finalists, this year’s category winners will be announced at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore on June 10, the competition announced Wednesday.
The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters , the world’s leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, honored Amplimmune, Inc. and Medimmune for their work in pharmaceutical Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), and Isis Pharmaceuticals and Biogen Idec for biopharmaceutical licensing with the Allicense 2014 Breakthrough Award for Deal of the Year .
The winners were announced Tuesday, April 29, after a public vote at 2014 Allicense , a prominent event connecting business development, licensing, and merger and acquisition (M&A) professionals throughout pharma, biotech and finance to discuss industry-wide challenges and collaborate on creating a roadmap for the future of pharmaceutical development. The annual award honors the top global deals in two categories: M&A and Biopharmaceutical Licensing. Five contenders in each category were nominated by Thomson Reuters deals analysts after a thorough analysis of information in Thomson Reuters Recap —the premier analysis tool for biopharmaceutical business deal making—and other criteria that examined hundreds of deals negotiated throughout 2013.
Top Story: QMBC Determinations for the Maryland Biotech Investment — Incentive Tax Credits (BIITC) Begin May 19th; Line-up July 1st
The electronic line-up for the next round of Maryland Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credits (BIITC) will take place July 1, 2014. To participate in this queue, companies must register by submitting their completed application (Form A and Form B) to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) Tax Incentives Group between June 2nd and June 27th.
Companies seeking to confirm their QMBC (Qualified Maryland Biotechnology Company) status prior to June 2nd may do so by submitting their company’s information (Form B) to DBED’s Tax Incentives Group between May 19th and May 30th.
Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, College Park are among the nation’s best engineering schools.
Johns Hopkins ranks 17th and the University of Maryland 24th, according to Business Insider.
The report is the third in an annual series briefing Congress on the results of legislative language in the America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2010 that encourages the use of prize competitions by federal agencies to spur innovation.
In the private sector, such competitions have occasionally become major spectacles, such as the 1927 Orteig Prize that led to Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight and the $10-million prize a decade ago for the successful launch of a commercial spacecraft. But in the arena of federally sponsored science, and especially as it concerns the basic research done at universities, the uses appear more limited, such as tackling logistical roadblocks or developing web applications.
When Ron Daniels took the stage in a fourth floor auditorium inside the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in East Baltimore, he was staring down a veritable Who’s Who of Baltimore city’s tech community: startup founders, the presidents and operators of incubators, people at the helm of deep-pocketed foundations and tech company investors.
It was April 30, Demo Day for DreamIt Health Baltimore, when nine health IT startups would graduate from a four-month accelerator program backed, in part, by the Johns Hopkins University. And Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins, had one message for the startups’ founders anxiously awaiting their turn to present their companies to the crowd of at least 100.
Foluke Tuakli hopped on a bicycle and weaved around her classroom at the University of Maryland, College Park, acting out the problems that cyclists encounter on the road. “I’m turning, I’m turning,” she shrieked as the bike wobbled.
The demonstration was part of a student pitch for a bicycle GPS app in a freshman entrepreneurship class in the honors college. Other student groups had their own pitches: a new type of sustainable drinking fountain where water is squirted directly into the mouth, a Third World slum development project, and a day care center that emphasizes healthful eating habits.
The University of Maryland and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) will host the first national symposium to discuss biosimilar therapeutics on June 13, 2014, at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research in Rockville, Md., university officials announce today.
The event, ” Emerging Strategies for the Production and Characterization of Biosimilars ,” kicks off the first annual UMD/NIST Biomanufacturing Technology Summit, which pulls together company, government and academic thought leaders from around the world each year to discuss strategies, trends and issues in biotechnology products and manufacturing.
