News Archive

Development of Countermeasures for Viral Diseases

The best defense against viral infectious diseases are safe and effective medical countermeasures that function at level of prevention of infection (prophylaxis) and treatment of disease (therapeutic). These include microbicides and vaccines, direct acting antivirals, and immunotherapies. This fireside chat will focus on features and characteristics of effective countermeasures, how they defend against viral infection and disease, and the preclinical development pathways to advance them from bench to bedside.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TCR2 Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: TCRR), a clinical-stage cell therapy company with a pipeline of novel T cell therapies for patients suffering from cancer, today announced that it has signed a long-term, full-building lease with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) for an existing 85,000 square foot cell therapy manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland which is ready for Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) build-out. The site will support clinical and commercial production of gavo-cel with a capacity to treat several thousand cancer patients annually. The facility is expected to accelerate the Company’s commercial-scale manufacturing timelines with production anticipated in 2023.

BioFactura, Inc. today announced a contract option activation of over $13 million by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as part of BioFactura’s prime contract valued at up to $67.4 million for the advanced development of a smallpox biodefense therapeutic. 

What did we learn during the pandemic, and what should we watch moving forward?

Those are two of the key questions that many professional conversations center on these days. On Thursday, they were approached by a group of digital health experts who came together for a virtual forum organized by the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and Rockville-based BioHealth Innovation.

Image: Panelists at EAGB and BioHealth Innovation’s Digital Health Forum. (Courtesy image)

SPACE FEATURES

• Existing laboratory suite with closed and open o ices
• Grade-level loading doors
• 17′ ceiling heights • breakroom with kitchenette
• 180 free surface spaces (Parking Ratio 3.50/1,000 SF)
• Surrounded by numerous amenities
• Located 1.2 miles from the Gaithersburg MARC
• Easy access to I-270 and the new Watkins Mill Interchange

You may not know it, but one company has the capacity to manufacture bulk drug substance for more than a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines annually: Emergent BioSolutions, a global supplier for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and U.S. supplier for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Emergent Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Technical Operations Sean Kirk spoke with us recently to explain what goes into the heroic production of all these doses—in other words, what it takes to help defeat COVID-19.

Image: https://www.nam.org/

The University of Maryland hosted a free webinar, Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Human Health, on Friday, March 19, 2020. This event featured a fireside chat with Dr. Robert Scharpf (Delfi Diagnostics) and Dr. Christie Bergerson (Exponent), moderated by Rich Bendis (BioHealth Innovation/BioTalk podcast). 

Together, the group shared insights into how artificial intelligence is impacting biomedical engineering and the wider world of human health, and spoke candidly about future applications for these and other biotech platforms. 

Image: https://biocomp.umd.edu

Exciting things are happening at Innovation Park in Manassas. Researchers are working on global solutions, industry jobs are on the rise, and new facilities are being developed – and wait, there’s more!

“Companies are seeing really big wins across the state and the region and the life science industry is only going uphill from here,” said Amy Adams, Executive Director for the Institute for Biohealth Innovation at George Mason University (GMU).

Check out this weeks episode of Talent Talks on YouTube and Spotify! This week we sit with Richard Bendis President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. He talks about the importance of knowing your assets and the region around you with our hosts Robb Hoyle CEO GTS Scientific and Gregory Hoyle. Click below to watch and make sure to like and subscribe: https://hubs.li/H0JRgfF0