News Archive

Synexa Life Sciences (Synexa), a global leader in clinical biomarker and bioanalytics research services, recently secured 5,000 square feet of lab space in Rockville, Maryland. The new lab will be located within Inotiv, Inc.’s (Inotiv) Rockville site and is part of a new partnership between Synexa and Inotiv, a leading contract research organization.

For more than 20 years, Synexa has been delivering expert clinical development insights to life sciences organizations via biomarker and bioanalytics solutions, novel modality analytics, innovative technology platforms and custom assay development and validation. The new Rockville lab adds to the company’s global footprint that, up until very recently, included locations in Leiden, The Netherlands, Dublin, Ireland, Berlin, Germany, London, England and Cape Town, South Africa.

Image: https://biobuzz.io/

What a roller coaster. After stomach-clenching drops in 2020, the Washington, D.C., area market clambered up to new heights in 2021. Multifamily rents rebounded in and outside the District, development flourished in suburban downtowns and along the D.C. waterfront, and a stream of new life sciences tenants populated the I-270 corridor.

Still, while renters and tourists have largely returned, the office population has not, as wave after wave of COVID infections delayed a fuller return to office, leading to what now appears to be a permanent shift. In addition, 2022 brought with it new concerns about inflation, rising costs of capital, and an economic pullback in some areas.

Image: https://commercialobserver.com

SAN DIEGO — (June 14, 2022) — The licensing of university and nonprofit research has made a significant contribution to US gross domestic product (GDP), industrial gross output, and jobs over the last 25 years and underscores the importance of basic and applied research to the US economy, as well as the demand for public-private partnerships. The findings are based on an independent study released today and commissioned by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and AUTM, a global nonprofit that works to advance ideas from research institutions into the marketplace.

Emergent BioSolutions, already flush with products against public health threats like anthrax attacks and opioid overdoses, is expanding its arsenal of medical countermeasures by scooping up global rights to smallpox newcomer Tembexa.

Emergent will furnish developer Chimerix with $225 million in upfront cash plus upward of $100 million in milestone payments for worldwide rights to the med, also known as brincidofovir. The drug last summer snagged FDA approval as the first antiviral cleared to treat smallpox regardless of a patient’s age.

Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., was ranked #5 nationally in the U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) Best Children’s Hospitals annual rankings. It’s the sixth straight year has been in the top 10. Also for the 6th straight year, Children’s National’s neonatology program was ranked No. 1 among all children’s hospitals in the nation. Children’s National’s neurology and neurosurgery program is ranked the best in the Mid-Atlantic for a second year in a row.

Image: https://www.washingtonian.com

The biopharma bear market has ended the financing boom of recent years and led the valuations of companies to plunge after years of soaring—conditions that may compel smaller biotechs to pursue merger-and-acquisition (M&A) deals with pharma giants, according to a recently released report.

The challenges to valuations and access to capital come as the industry and the rest of the world move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, EY, the professional services firm formerly known as Ernst & Young, observed in the 32nd annual edition of its “Beyond Borders” report.

Avidea Technologies, a Baltimore-born developer of immunotherapies, had been acquired in December in a splashy $40 million deal by high-profile UK biopharma firm Vaccitech. The 14-employee startup, since folded in as Vaccitech’s North American subsidiary, would be doubling in size and needed a true home base after the five years it spent growing in Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures’s (JHTV) FastForward 1812 incubator in East Baltimore.

Image: A rendering of a planned building with wet lab space and other facliities for the University of Maryland BioPark in West Baltimore.

(Image via Wexford Science + Technology, ZGF and the City of Baltimore’s Urban Design & Architecture Advisory Panel)

A delegation of Maryland companies and organizations is heading to San Diego June 13-16 for the BIO International Convention. At BIO, the life sciences industry’s leading trade show, Maryland will showcase the unparalleled life science assets within the state.

The Maryland Department of Commerce, in collaboration with the Maryland Tech Council, will exhibit at Booth #5013. The Maryland Department of Commerce, Maryland Tech Council and various sponsors are supporting a delegation of 15 Maryland life sciences companies’ attendance at the show. Companies in the Maryland delegation receive premium access to BIO, including its exhibit hall, educational program, and one-on-one partnering to meet with potential partners and investors. Companies in the Maryland delegation include:

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, June xx, 2022 – BioHealth Innovation Inc. (BHI) announces the additions of Anna Zornosa, MA, as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) with the NIH Office of Extramural Research, and Aliye Hashemi, B.Sc., a BHI Analyst. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program at BHI ensures that disruptive technologies receive all the resources required to transform the technology from a discovery into a commercially relevant product and eventually have a measurable impact on human health. The program was created to support scientists, early-stage startups, and licensed technologies to provide them with access to these resources.

“BHI is proud to welcome Anna and Aliye to the team,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President and CEO. “Anna brings a wealth of experience, and Aliye is ready to continue her impressive development with us.”