News Archive

May 31, 2022

Trial will assess safety and antibody responses of NVX-CoV2515 to the Omicron variant of COVID-19
Two-dose primary regimen of NVX-CoV2373 already demonstrated cross-reactive immune responses against Omicron and other variants

Novavax today announced the initiation of its Phase 3 strain change trial to determine if its Omicron variant specific vaccine, NVX-CoV2515 (Omicron BA.1 strain), induces superior antibody responses against the Omicron variant compared to its Wuhan prototype vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, in participants who have received either a primary (two doses) or booster (three doses) series of an mRNA vaccine. The trial will also seek to determine the antibody responses to a bivalent vaccine, containing both NVX-CoV2373 and NVX-CoV2515, administered in participants who have received a booster series of an mRNA vaccine.

The SEED Innovator Support Team helps NIH awardees build a business and explore their life science innovation’s potential. Learn about the aspects of product development beyond the science of the awards.

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Our business development, intellectual property, regulatory, and reimbursement experts meet with innovators focused on topics including:

Optimizing formulation or manufacturing operations
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Gathering evidence to support reimbursement value
Engaging with investors or strategic partners
Learn more in this video about innovator consultations

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to acquire Affinivax for up to $3.3 billion, the companies said today, in a deal designed to strengthen the buyer’s vaccine portfolio with jabs based on Affinivax’s technology.

GSK is counting on Affinivax to help it compete better with Pfizer’s blockbuster pneumococcal vaccine franchise, marketed as Prevnar®, and shore up its vaccine offerings as it prepares to spin off its consumer products joint venture with Pfizer.

Image: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to acquire Affinivax for up to $3.3 billion, in a deal designed to strengthen the buyer’s vaccine portfolio with jabs based on Affinivax’s technology. (GlaxoSmithKline)

In recent days, prominent venture capital funds have come out with survival tips for their portfolio companies. While asking startup founders to tighten their belt is sound advice, it’s worth wondering when venture capital titans might be urged by their investors to scale back their own pay, too.

Their compensation has been rising fast. Last year, median cash pay for a partner at a venture capital firm, including base salaries and bonuses, rose 10% to $928,000, reported The Information, citing a survey conducted by Holt Private Equity Consultants.

Richmond medical technology company Tympanogen is a finalist in a national pitch competition from the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation.

The company, which develops nonsurgical treatments for ear, nose and throat issues, earned its place in the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition for its gel-patch system for eardrum repair, called Perf-Fix.

Descartes-08, Cartesian Therapeutics’ investigational CAR T-cell therapy, appears generally safe and markedly lessened symptom severity in the first five patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) enrolled in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial.

“I am very encouraged by the interim analysis findings,” as the therapy “appears safe and well tolerated, and the extent of clinical improvement seen in our early participants is remarkable,” Volkan Granit, MD, the trial’s principal investigator at the University of Miami, said in a press release.

Image: https://myastheniagravisnews.com

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra today announced the formal establishment of the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as an independent entity within the National Institutes of Health and the appointment of Adam H. Russell, D.Phil., as acting deputy director. Currently, Dr. Russell is the Chief Scientist at University of Maryland’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS). He spent more than a decade as a Program Manager, first at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and then at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Dr. Russell will begin his new role in June.

COLUMBIA, Md. (May 25, 2022)—TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced today it will receive up to $50 million from Governor Hogan’s small business relief plan that was approved for funding from the United States Treasury Department’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). TEDCO will allocate the funds into four existing programs targeting technology-based Maryland businesses and entrepreneurs.

“We want to express our thanks to our colleagues at DHCD for their leadership on getting us to this point,” said TEDCO CEO Troy LeMaile-Stovall. “And this point is about investing in individuals and communities that are underrepresented in our innovation ecosystem, while also creating additional funds for TEDCO to invest in firms that will start and scale in Maryland – generating a more equitable future.”