News Archive

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — TIME Magazine has named the Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard a top invention of 2020.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center was called “2020’s Go-To Data Source” by the magazine. The dashboard, which reported Wednesday the U.S. recorded 250,000 coronavirus deaths, has tracked the spread of coronavirus around the world.

The annual list, which was announced Thursday, recognized 100 groundbreaking inventions that “are making the world better, smarter and even a bit more fun.”

Image: TIME

Pantheon 2020 on Thursday, December 3, will feature breakout sessions, including “Diversity & Disruption: How 2020 Will Make Life Sciences Stronger”.

Join us as we discuss how everyone in life sciences can approach diversity and inclusion from end-to-end to create a sustainable path forward for all of us and a new blueprint for life sciences success.

I am pleased to announce today the selection of Gary Disbrow, PhD, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). BARDA, a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures – vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products – needed to combat 21st century health security threats. 

The Achieving Women Enterprise Foundation is offering a local program cosponsored by TEDCO, the Sage Policy Group, and others which includes a 4 day bootcamp and 6 months mentoring for minority women entrepreneurs.  The deadline to apply is November 23^rd.  For more information, check online:  https://www.awefoundation.org/the-awe-project

Image: https://www.awefoundation.org/the-awe-project

(Rockville, MD, November 10, 2020) – Fina Biosolutions LLC (“FinaBio”) is pleased to announce that it has received a Certificate of Patent entitled “Expression and Purification of CRM Proteins and Related Proteins, and Protein Domains” from the European Patent Office(EPO). EP Patent No. 3099800 is directed to the expression and purification of the conjugate vaccine protein CRM₁₉₇ in E.coli.   

“Our goal is to lower the vaccine cost barrier and grant people in need access to life-saving vaccines,” said Dr. Andrew Lees, Founder, and CEO of FinaBio. “We are pleased to announce that we succeeded in creating a needed vaccine protein, CRM_197, efficiently, and cost-effectively. FinaBio’s proprietary production method will facilitate the availability of vaccines to protect adults and children in developing countries from pneumonia, meningitis, and more.”

Oncology company Genetron Health Inc. said Monday it is relocating its U.S. headquarters from North Carolina to Montgomery County.

The Beijing company, which specializes in the molecular profiling of cancer cells, has settled on a 6,000-square-foot hybrid lab space at 401 Professional Drive in Gaithersburg. Montgomery County has approved a $47,000 grant to assist Genetron’s move from the Raleigh-Durham area. The Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. facilitated the move for Genetron.

BARDA today announced a new type of public-private partnership, BARDA Ventures , that will realize authorities granted in the 21st Century Cures Act to utilize venture capital (VC) methods and practices. This will be the first time HHS has utilized VC practices to make investments. As part of the new program, BARDA is soliciting proposals for an existing nonprofit partner to manage an investment fund that will support breakthrough technologies and create entirely new approaches to enhance U.S. preparedness and response to 21st century health security threats, including COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Over the past nine months, more than $7 billion in federal funding has poured into the BioHealth Capital Region aimed at the battle against COVID-19 and has shown a spotlight on the broad impact biopharma life science companies and academic institutions are making in the fight against the pandemic.

“The moons are aligned over the BioHealth Capital Region right now and people are beginning to see how important the region is in helping to address the research development and manufacturing needs to address this dreaded disease,” said Richard Bendis, president and chief executive officer of BioHealth Innovation.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Korro Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing single-base RNA editing therapies, today announced the appointment of Ram Aiyar, Ph.D., MBA, as its chief executive officer. Dr. Aiyar brings nearly 20 years of diverse experience across company-building, biotech and pharma to advance Korro’s innovative RNA editing platform to treat previously intractable diseases. He will also serve on the company’s board of directors.

“Ram is a proven leader with a track record of driving growth and advancing programs,” said Nessan Bermingham, Ph.D., co-founder and executive chair of Korro. “His broad business experience across the life sciences complements our existing leadership team. We look forward to working closely with him to pioneer the future of RNA editing for medicines.”