News Archive

The University of Maryland will launch a new business development arm to nurture quantum-focused startups, President Darryll J. Pines announced last night at an event honoring the institution’s inventions, startup, mentor and student entrepreneurs of the year.

The Quantum Startup Foundry will support new businesses in the quantum technology field, which Pines said stands “poised to disrupt everything from cybersecurity and energy, to medical discoveries and the financial field.” It will be created through an initial $25 million investment from the university’s newly established Discovery Fund, with key funding from the state of Maryland.

HOLON, Israel, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq: CGEN), a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company and a leader in predictive target discovery, today announced that it has expanded its research collaboration with Johns Hopkins University to include studies investigating the biology of a novel myeloid target that was computationally-discovered by Compugen. Initial preclinical studies demonstrate the potential of this target to serve as a novel myeloid immunomodulator, with significant tumor growth inhibition observed upon genetic deletion in in-vivo studies.

The AIM-HI Accelerator Fund’s Women’s Venture Competition is a first-of-its-kind program that provides funding, coaching and networking opportunities to women-led oncology start-ups. Subject to due diligence and negotiation, the winning company of 2021 Women’s Venture Competition will receive a total of $1 million in investment from AIM-HI and co-investors. Click here to download the flyer!

COLUMBIA, Md. (May 10, 2021)—The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission has approved funding to its second-round of 2021 recipients for a total of $6,052,901. The Commission has also appointed Amritha Jaishankar, Ph.D., the current MSCRF Director – Programs & Strategic Alliances, to succeed Dan Gincel, Ph.D., as Executive Director of the MSCRF, effective May 14, 2021.

“We thank Dr. Gincel for his leadership and many contributions to the MSCRF over the course of his 14 years as Executive Director, during which he consistently challenged us to grow and evolve to meet the needs of the Maryland stem cell community, and we are delighted that Dr. Jaishankar will lead the MSCRF through its next chapter,” said Dr. Debra Mathews, Chair of the Commission. “Dr. Jaishankar’s leadership, dedication, and tremendous work with the MSCRF and our stem cell community over past few years make her the ideal person to take us forward.”

Now we are in the final phase of completing the last work in BioPartner 5. The second floor is ready to be used. Today, MIMETAS received the keys tot their brand new floor in BioPartner 5. We would like to give Mimetas a warm welcome!

The Maryland Department of Commerce has announced a slew of new senior staff appointments.

Two of the positions had been vacant for more than a year.

Closing the markets today with our friends from Vaccitech!

Based in Oxford, UK, Vaccitech develops vaccines and T cell immunotherapies to treat and prevent diseases of global importance.

Congratulations to CEO Bill Enright and #NasdaqListed $VACC on this week’s listing.

Image: https://www.linkedin.com

Boeing donated $50 million to help found Virginia Tech’s Innovation campus, a billion-dollar project area leaders hope will bring together power-players in the region — like Amazon — to boost economic growth and build a pipeline of STEM talent for businesses.

The university announced the multi-year gift in a celebratory press event on Tuesday, emphasizing how it will benefit underrepresented groups in tech fields, including women, people of color and low-income populations. The project draws attention for its location, two miles from Amazon’s HQ2 campus, near a future transit station and across the river from Washington D.C., but speakers focused on the promise the Innovation Campus has for students.

Image: Concept art for the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus’s academic building. (Virginia Tech)

Office real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been under pressure for the past year. The coronavirus pandemic has caused some investors to even question the concept of the office REIT. After all, if companies can work from home without much of a disruption, why will companies spend so much on expensive urban office space in the future?

The question has created headwinds for some office REIT operators. But while many office REITs saw big declines in income over the past 12 months, one office REIT appears to be bucking this trend.