News Archive

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 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.

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).

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.