Shares of United Therapeutics surged Monday after regulators approved the company’s newest treatment for high blood pressure, Orenitram.
A Cowen and Co. analyst called the FDA’s move a “surprise” because the FDA had refused to approve the drug twice before and United Therapeutics hasn’t reported any additional data from clinical studies.
Listen up, tech entrepreneurs, Accelerate Baltimore is looking for you.
Accelerate Baltimore is running a contest offering $25,000 in seed money and three months of advice and free rent at the Emerging Technology Centers to six startups capable of bringing their product to market with the program’s three months. The winners also get access to potential investors.
If you are interested, you’d better hurry, though, since the contest deadline is Dec. 31. Applications can be found on Accelerate Baltimore’s website www.acceleratebaltimore.com.
San Francisco, we’re coming. Of course, you are ready for the biotech onslaught. The cab drivers, hotel people, cops, security dudes, restaurant and bar staff—you all know the drill come January.
So what about all the healthcare industry capitalists? Are you ready to make the most of this week when all the decision makers and big investors are together in about a five-block radius?
Baltimore health care WellDoc plans to ring up $20 million in new funding.
WellDoc, which develops tools to help patients manage their diabetes, expects to close on the round shortly, co-founder Ryan Sysko said Friday. The latest round will put their total funding at around the $50 million mark.
While the fights and fumbles over the Affordable Care Act dominated headlines in 2013, the year was also heady with advances in biomedicine. In April, President Obama announced an ambitious federal initiative to map the activity of all the neurons in a brain circuit or, ideally, a whole brain. The $100 million Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) project will support neuroscientists, nanotechnologists, and others who propose to develop new technologies that can monitor thousands of neurons simultaneously.
The hope is that such new innovations could help neuroscientists understand the biological origin of cognition and perception and speed the development of treatments for disorders such as autism or post-traumatic stress disorder. There was remarkable progress in the field of neuroscience this year, but researchers still struggle to understand and treat the brain.
HIMSS is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through HHS’ Innovator in Residence program, to develop a strategy for nationwide patient data matching.
HIMSS is currently recruiting an innovator in residence to work toward an implementation plan for the near-term deployment of consistent patient data matching, building on the work of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and other healthcare partners.
Former Microsoft executive Kurt DelBene will take over day-to-day responsibility for the smooth running of HealthCare.gov. The government’s insurance marketplace is just recovering from the pain of a bungled launch. Jeff Zients, who is credited for bringing it back on track, is about to start his new job as a director of the National Economic Council.
DelBene has agreed to stay at HealthCare.gov for at least through the first six months of the year. His stint begins Dec. 18.
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a pill called Orenitram, to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is an oral version of an injected drug called Remodulin, which treats the same disease. According to Mark Schoenebaum at ISI Group, the approval is “an enormous surprise — arguably, one of the top 10 biggest upside surprises in the history of the biotech sector.”
Why? Well, for one thing, Orenitram’s benefit isn’t that compelling. The FDA-approved labeling for the product characterizes the treatment effect as “small.” And the FDA had already rejected it twice, in March and October 2012. It seemed nearly impossible that the medicine would be approved without additional data. Yet that’s exactly what has happened.
We have the sharks for an all healthcare Shark Tank, now we need the startups. Although someone pointed out on Twitter that Vinod Khosla should be in this group, and it’s true, he should be. So with that addition, what entrepreneurs should be pitching to this group on Friday night?
Deanna, Stephanie, Amanda and I each nominated companies. Here are the criteria:
Montgomery County’s own Sanaria, a emerging biotech company dedicated to the creation of a Malaria vaccine, was named the Verl Zanders Emerging Business of the Year by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.
The award was accepted by CEO Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman during an awards dinner on November 21.
