OAKLAND, Calif. – President Biden revived his call for a nationwide cancer moonshot effort on Monday, as he marked the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s famous pledge to get a man on the moon.
“The goal is to cut cancer death rates by at least 50%, at least 50% in the next 25 years,” said President Biden, “To turn more cancers from death sentences into chronic diseases people can live with.”
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Startup companies have traditionally looked for the most experienced venture capitalists they could find to get their businesses off the ground and support their growth. That’s not always the case anymore, according to a study by University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School Associate Professor Rich Mathews and his co-author Naveen Khanna of Michigan State University. They argue that startups straight out of the gate are often deciding to work with new venture capitalists rather than established ones.
One of Maryland’s premiere medical networks just announced an eight-figure investment into the economic development of local and marginalized communities by way of notable funding entities.
The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) said in a Thursday statement that it will commit $14 million to 11 community development financial institutions and privity equity firms throughout the state. The investment is intended to address racial, economic and environmental disparities in the communities the system serves.
Image: The University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
(Photo by Flickr user Baltimore Heritage, used via a Creative Commons license)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — AMPEL BioSolutions today announced a breakthrough in precision and personalized medicine that can detect and predict the severity of COVID-19 in patients while also determining the best treatment options for each specific case. The company’s new approach, through a simple blood test, will ultimately accelerate the means of providing effective treatments to the right people at the right time and potentially stem the serious illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection that can lead to lung damage or death.
AMPEL’s new genomic test, known as CovGENE®, has been validated by a longitudinal study in partnership with physicians in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine of the University of Virginia Medical Center. With careful analysis of patients admitted to the UVA Intensive Care Unit, CovGENE® demonstrated remarkable precision with a greater than 90-percent rate of accuracy. CovGENE®, can be administered by drawing a patient’s blood to quickly ascertain whether a Covid-19 patient will have a mild, moderate, or severe outcome. The findings are detailed in a paper published today by Frontiers in Immunology.
Waltham, Mass. and Dublin – August 15, 2022 — Q32 Bio, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing biologic therapeutics to restore immune homeostasis, and Horizon Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: HZNP), today announced that they have entered into a collaboration and option agreement to develop ADX-914 for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
ADX-914 is a fully human anti-IL-7Rα antibody that re-regulates adaptive immune function by blocking signaling mediated by both IL-7 and TSLP. Q32 has recently completed a biomarker-enabled Phase 1 study characterizing pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety of ADX-914 that demonstrated pharmacological effect on T cells in healthy volunteers. Q32 expects to initiate a Phase 2 trial in atopic dermatitis later this year and is planning to initiate a Phase 2 trial in a second autoimmune disease next year.
La Vista, Nebraska — September 14, 2022 – Streck announced today a Series B investment in Ceres Nanosciences (Ceres). The funds from this investment will be used to accelerate the development and commercialization of both diagnostic and research use products utilizing Ceres’ Nanotrap® technology platform.
“Streck has a deep presence in and knowledge of the diagnostics industry and shares our commitment to building long-term relationships with partners and customers,” said Ceres CEO Ross Dunlap. “We are thrilled to have Streck’s support and guidance in this next, exciting phase of our growth.”
Swimming with Sharks pairs aspiring healthcare entrepreneurs with successful innovators and investors. The startups selected will pitch at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting, ANESTHESIOLOGY®, in October 2022.
There will be two Swimming with Sharks sessions at the event: one for very early-stage startups (back of the napkin ideas/conceptual/pre-seed stage) and one for startups that are seed stage and beyond (ie series A).
September 13, 2022—The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced it will grant $4,165,325 in award funding to innovative research that will strengthen and advance stem cell treatments and technologies in Maryland. Awardees submitted proposals to the Commission in response to its Request for Applications (RFAs) for its first round of funding cycle in fiscal year 2023.
Recipients include 12 scientists accelerating research at Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Their research addresses an array of medical conditions, such as cancer, eye, heart, bone, blood, digestive, and immune system diseases.
– The Company plans to work with the FDA to design a Phase 3 program in moderate-to-high systemic disease activity patients to begin in 2023, ahead of expectations –
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 12, 2022– Horizon Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: HZNP) today announced that its Phase 2 trial evaluating dazodalibep for the treatment of Sjögren’s syndrome met the primary endpoint in patients with moderate-to-high systemic disease activity as defined by the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) score of ≥ 5. At Week 24, patients treated with dazodalibep achieved a 6.3-point reduction in their ESSDAI score and patients treated with placebo achieved a 4.1-point reduction, resulting in a statistically significant least squares mean difference of 2.2 points (p=0.017).
The Biden administration announced the launch of a new national program dedicated to fortifying America’s biotechnology manufacturing industry in the latest executive effort to keep U.S. supply chains competitive.
Introduced Sunday via executive order, the Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative focuses on a specific biomanufacturing process that uses microorganisms to create chemicals and compounds that contribute to make medicines, fuels and other input materials.
