News Archive

GlaxoSmithKline is stumping up $85 million upfront and up to an extra $730 million in biobucks for Surface Oncology’s early-stage antibody asset.

The drug the U.K. pharma is betting on, known as SRF813, is a fully human, IgG1 antibody targeting PVRIG (also known as CD112R), an inhibitory protein expressed on natural killer cells and T cells.

In preclinical tests, Surface Oncology says, SRF813 has shown the “potential to elicit a strong anti-tumor response and promote immunological memory.” It’s still only in IND-enabling studies, but the company has an IND planned for next year.

Image: (GlaxoSmithKline)

Work on the $5.5 billion project has been at a standstill since April due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Image: Work on the $5.5 billion redevelopment at Port Covington was shut down in April amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Developer Marc Weller previously said it would not resume until the TIF bonds were sold. MELODY SIMMONS

“5 Questions With…” is a weekly BioBuzz series where we reach out to interesting people in the BioHealth Capital Region to share a little about themselves, their work, and maybe something completely unrelated. This edition features 5 Questions with Brian Darmody, CEO, Association of University Research Parks (AURP).

Brian Darmody is CEO of AURP, a global nonprofit representing research parks and innovation districts sponsored by universities, federal labs, communities, hospitals, and other institutions in the US and 12 other countries.

Philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott is donating tens of millions of dollars to historically black universities in Maryland.

The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday that the schools are Morgan State, Bowie State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Image: As shipments of Moderna’s vaccine begin, health officials warn the public not to get complacent. News4’s Darcy Spencer has the warning from a local doctor about Christmas travel and gatherings. – https://www.nbcwashington.com

Companies or Universities/Research Institutes that wish to conduct human stem cell-based clinical trials in the State of Maryland. 1:1 match of non-state money is required. IND required

ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Creatv MicroTech, a privately-held biotechnology company has pioneered a blood test to predict treatment response in patients with newly diagnosed Stage I-III esophageal cancer (EC) treated with chemoradiation therapy (CRT). The results were published in the Journal of Translational Medicine. Creatv’s collaborator MD Anderson Cancer Center recruited patients for the study under standard of care CRT and IRB approved protocol. “We are delighted to present a method to stratify patients with EC who are responding to CRT using a single tube of blood,” said Dr. Cha-Mei Tang, CEO of Creatv. “Now, patients who are not responding to CRT can be identified quickly for alternative therapy.” Currently, no other blood test predicts treatment response for Stage I-III esophageal cancer therapies.

COVID-19 STRATEGIC RENEWAL TASK FORCE REPORT

ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — REGENXBIO Inc. (Nasdaq: RGNX), a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapy based on its proprietary NAV® Technology Platform, today announced interim data from Cohorts 1 and 2 of the ongoing Phase I/II trial of RGX-121 for the treatment of patients up to 5 years old diagnosed with Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (MPS II). In addition, REGENXBIO announced plans to evaluate a higher dose of RGX-121 in a third cohort of patients at an increased dose of 2.0×1011 GC/g brain mass. REGENXBIO expects to begin enrolling patients in Cohort 3 in the first quarter of 2021.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Dec. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of Margaret G. McGlynn, R. Ph. to its board as an independent director. Ms. McGlynn brings extensive pharmaceutical industry, vaccine and non-profit experience to her role on the Novavax Board of Directors.

“Margie’s deep experience in vaccine commercialization and understanding of global public health will be invaluable as we move closer to collecting Phase 3 clinical data and submitting NVX-CoV2373, our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, for regulatory authorization and approval,” said Stanley C. Erck, Novavax President and Chief Executive Officer.

This week, interim Phase III data was released for the Oxford / AstraZeneca Vaccine, co-invented by our portfolio company Vaccitech. From late December, assuming the full dataset has been analysed and confirmed to meet formal regulatory requirements, AstraZeneca has announced that they believe they will be in a position to provide a vaccine for a quarter of the world’s population. The vaccine will not just benefit the UK, EU and US who have ordered millions of doses, but the developing world, too. The Serum Institute of India has already begun producing 1 billion doses for the global south.