Among the front-runners racing to deliver a Covid-19 shot, AstraZeneca PLC has the least vaccine experience. But it has promised the world the most doses—more than three billion.
The company has assembled an unprecedented network of manufacturing and distribution partners spanning the globe, complementing a series of deals with governments that have sought to lock in vaccine supplies for their countries.
Seven start-up companies and university research projects across a range of therapeutic areas and geographical locations form latest intake for life science incubator BioInnovation Institute
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 2nd December – BioInnovation Institute (BII), a Novo Nordisk Foundation initiative incubating and accelerating world-class life science research, today identifies its latest cohort of program participants. Comprising a pan-European spread of start-up companies and university research projects in countries including Denmark, Sweden and the UK, the seven ventures are developing revolutionary science across BII’s three sector specialised areas – therapeutics, bioindustrial and health tech.
Chevy Chase, MD – May 22, 2019 – New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), a leading global venture capital firm, today announced the appointment of Scott Gottlieb, M.D., as a Special Partner on the firm’s healthcare investment team. Dr. Gottlieb was a Venture Partner at NEA from 2007 to 2017 before being appointed the 23rd Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he served from 2017 to 2019.
Under Dr. Gottlieb’s leadership, the FDA advanced new policies for the safe and effective oversight of gene therapies, cell-based regenerative medicines, targeted drugs, and digital health devices; implemented new reforms to standardize drug and medical device reviews; and promoted policies to reduce death and disease from tobacco, improve food innovation and safety, promote better nutrition, and aggressively confront addiction crises.
Scott Gazelle, MD, PhD, MPH, FACR Appointed to Board of Directors and Damon Kuehl, MD, FACEP Joins Scientific Advisory Board
RICHMOND, Va. (December 8, 2020) ‐ BRAINBox Solutions today announced the initial closing on a $23 million Series A financing to support the clinical development of the company’s BRAINBox TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) Test to aid both in the diagnosis and prognosis of mild TBI (concussion). BioVentures Investors led the financing round and was joined by the Tauber Foundation, the Virginia Tech Carilion Innovation and Seed Funds, Genoa VC, Pharmakon Holdings LLC, Astia Angels and additional qualified investors, including Kevin Love, professional basketball player and mental health advocate.
“The BRAINBox TBI test has enormous potential to significantly improve patient care as an aid to objectively diagnosing and managing the treatment of concussion patients,” said Marc Goldberg, BioVentures Investors Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “The company has made great progress, particularly in this challenging COVID-19 environment, in advancing the development of the BRAINBox TBI testing system, including laying the groundwork for the pivotal, HeadSMART II clinical trial and securing ‘Breakthrough Designation’ from the FDA.” He noted there are more than five million patients evaluated in emergency rooms annually for mild TBI as well as additional patients in urgent care settings.
TEDCO’s 2019 Entrepreneur Expo took place on October 29, 2019, at The Hotel At The University of Maryland! See what Maryland has to offer entrepreneurs.
Image: https://www.tedcomd.com
Hilden, Germany and Germantown, Maryland, December 7, 2020 – QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) announced today the launch of its QuantiFERON SARS-CoV-2 RUO solution that can detect T-cell responses of the human immune system to the pathogen that causes COVID-19, which could help researchers find out more about immunity levels and disease progression.
Studies suggest that T-cell response to SARS-CoV-2 declines much more slowly than antibody response, which presents several benefits to researchers who want to push beyond the existing detection of active infections to screen for potential courses of the illness and long-term immune responses to it. QIAGEN’s QuantiFERON SARS-CoV-2 Research Use Only (RUO) solution could be a valuable tool in this research.
The agency’s decision is expected to drop Dec. 18.
Image: MacroGenics is led by CEO and co-founder Scott Koenig. JOANNE S. LAWTON
Jennifer Doudna PhD, the UC Berkeley biochemist who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier PhD, was the recent guest of honor for the final episode in the “Women in Science” web series, co-organized by GEN and the Rosalind Franklin Society.
In 2012, the Doudna and Charpentier labs teamed up to publish a landmark paper in which they adapted the CRISPR microbial anti-viral defense system to create a programmable method for genome targeting. The work laid the foundation for CRISPR genome editing, which has become not only a ubiquitous research tool but also applied in clinical gene therapy, diagnostics, agriculture, and many other applications.
Image: https://www.genengnews.com
Join Rich Bendis, Pete Briskman and Ann Rutledge as they Discuss Securitization, Covid-19 and Political Analysis related to the BioHealth industry.
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today provided an update on its COVID-19 vaccine program. NVX‑CoV2373 is a stable, prefusion protein antigen derived from the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike (S) protein and adjuvanted with Novavax’ proprietary Matrix‑M™.
“Novavax is in a leading position to significantly contribute to the need for safe and efficacious vaccines that will ultimately end the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic,” said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. “We continue to make meaningful progress as we work to test, manufacture and ultimately deliver NVX-CoV2373 with unprecedented speed, as well as put partnerships in place that would ensure widespread and equitable access worldwide.”
