Sparking innovation at a Big Pharma with a 150-year history can be difficult, so sometimes it takes some outside perspective to get the ball rolling. That’s where Leaps by Bayer comes in.
Bayer’s venture arm has invested more than $1.5 billion from the balance sheet in the past six years to make bets on disruptive technologies.
Image: Jürgen Eckhardt, M.D., is the head of Leaps by Bayer, the Big Pharma’s venture investing arm. (Bayer)
This week, HealthLeaders speaks with Ricardo Johnson, CEO of Healthworx—the innovation and venture capital (VC) arm of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Johnson details the plan’s approach to venture decisions and how the best investments are those that increase equity and affordability while benefiting the entire healthcare delivery system.
In a bid to keep and grow its flagship biohealth sector, Montgomery County is dramatically streamlining its regulatory review process for industry players who want to build or expand big lab facilities.
A new zoning text amendment, which the County Council unanimously approved Tuesday, will slash the lab entitlement process time from nearly two years to six months in an effort to “roll out the red carpet” for biotech industry leaders, said Councilman Andrew Friedson, D-District 1, who spearheaded the legislation.
Image: Montgomery County Councilman Andrew Friedson, D-District 1, speaks at a county event to unveil a new zoning process change. The Wednesday gathering was held outside of biotech United Therapeutics’ Silver Spring campus. DAN BRENDEL
WILMINGTON, Del.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Amalgam Rx, Inc., a leader in connecting healthcare providers, payers, and life sciences companies through a SaaS-enabled digital marketplace and product platform, and Privia Health Group, Inc., a national physician enablement company, announced a collaboration for multiple EHR-integrated services.
Leveraging Amalgam’s real-time, point-of-care decision support engine, the companies are working together to simplify and enhance the way providers practice value-based care, recruit for clinical trials, and ensure medication safety. Privia Health selected several offerings from Amalgam’s marketplace including:
Image: https://www.businesswire.com
The University of Maryland named Dr. Dean Chang as its new interim chief innovation officer and associate vice president for innovation and economic development of the research division, according to an email Monday from the interim and incoming vice presidents for research.
Chang served as founding associate vice president for innovation and entrepreneurship for this university’s Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship over the last nine years. In the position, he worked with more than 41,000 students in all 12 of the university’s colleges and schools in innovation, the email said.
Image: As the interim chief innovation officer, Dean Chang will oversee the Discovery District. (Jordyn Salow/The Diamondback)
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported the development of 99 drugs from 1996-2020 — a total that includes 16 percent of all such treatments that made a “significant” advance over available medicines. This finding is just one of the impacts that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) attributes to the program in a new report.
The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test is an over-the-counter, rapid self-test which detects SARS-CoV-2 antigen. The test is suitable for ages 2 years and above for over-the-counter home use in the U.S*. Clinically proven for use for people with and without symptoms, with accurate test results in 15 minutes.
Image: https://www.ellumehealth.com
While COVID has most certainly been top-of-mind for companies working to combat infectious disease, we must not forget the other microbes out there that are still cause for concern.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a prime example. Most have heard of this disease, but probably in the context of their history classes. You might be surprised to hear, then, that tuberculosis caused an estimated 1.5 million deaths in 2020, making it second only to COVID as the leading cause of death due to an infectious agent.
Image: https://biobuzz.io
BROOKLYN, NY—New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced a $50 million investment in life sciences at BioBAT to expand their lab space as part of the city’s LifeSci NYC initiative. NYCEDC and BioBAT officials toured the space that will receive funding to build new labs at BioBAT located at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
Image: Photo courtesy of NYCEDC/Tory Williams
Maryland’s life sciences ecosystem has become a key hub along the eastern shore of the United States due to its position in infectious disease research and vaccine development and manufacturing. While the state saw an infusion of billions of dollars in government financing in the development of vaccines, Maryland’s Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit, is a tool that has been used to attract venture capital funding in the state.
The tax credit was established in 2005 to incentivize venture capital investment into the state of Maryland. Since 2016, the most recent year for full data, the state has offered more than $70 million in tax credits to 114 different entities. That, in turn, has generated about $140 million in investments into the state’s life sciences ecosystem, the Baltimore Business Journal reported.
