News Archive

Since the enactment of the CARES Act, the Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of the Treasury have continually updated the rules governing the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through formal rulemaking and less formal guidance. Join a team of Venable Financial Services and Corporate partners for a discussion around guidance for preparing for an audit (and potential investigation). Our discussion will include best practices for documenting decision making, what we can expect from the SBA going forward, and how best to manage an audit and address any potential investigation.

He joins BioTalk host Rich Bendis to discuss their recent successes in funding, research, and their growth in the BioHealth Capital Region

Dr. William Hearl is the founder of Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. and is an experienced and successful life science businessman and entrepreneur. Dr. Hearl is adept at brokering mutually beneficial partnerships and identifying non-traditional collaborations and investment opportunities.

The advent of the commercial development of LAMP technology came from discussions between Dr. Hearl and Dr. Tom August at Johns Hopkins University. Based on their mutual vision of the value of LAMP, ITI emerged and began operations in 2006. Dr. Hearl’s extensive experience in intellectual property management and business development led to the reward of a sub-license of the LAMP technology to Geron Corporation within 30 days of initiating operations and subsequent license agreements, valued at over $300 million, in 2015 with Japan-based Astellas for next generation allergy vaccines based on the LAMP platform.

I know what you’re thinking…it’s hard enough to raise venture capital for life science/healthcare startups in normal times, but throw a global pandemic and economic meltdown into the mix and even the best-laid plans will certainly go astray! So here are the questions that entrepreneurs would like answers to: Is there an inevitable slowdown in venture financing? How can VC firms conduct due diligence efficiently and thoroughly during a lockdown? Is a videoconference enough to establish a trusting relationship with a CEO and a Board? Does every startup have to take a hit on valuation if they want to get funding? Has the Coronavirus fundamentally changed expectations, time horizons, governance, and risk tolerance? What’s it gonna take to get someone to write a check?

I know what you’re thinking…it’s hard enough to raise venture capital for life science/healthcare startups in normal times, but throw a global pandemic and economic meltdown into the mix and even the best-laid plans will certainly go astray! So here are the questions that entrepreneurs would like answers to: Is there an inevitable slowdown in venture financing? How can VC firms conduct due diligence efficiently and thoroughly during a lockdown? Is a videoconference enough to establish a trusting relationship with a CEO and a Board? Does every startup have to take a hit on valuation if they want to get funding? Has the Coronavirus fundamentally changed expectations, time horizons, governance, and risk tolerance? What’s it gonna take to get someone to write a check?

Breethe, the medical device company founded by renowned University of Maryland School of Medicine surgeon and professor Dr. Bartley Griffith, has been acquired by Danvers, Massachusetts-based Abiomed, the companies announced this week.

Breethe’s system, which is designed to behave like a human lung, will become part of the Abiomed’s product portfolio. The device is designed to be portable, which can eliminate the need to use bulky oxygen tanks during ECMO therapy, which circulates blood from a patient’s body through an artificial lung. The device will help “to more comprehensively serve the needs of patients whose lungs can no longer provide sufficient oxygenation,” a news release states.

Image: Breethe’s machine is desgined to behave like a human lung. (Courtesy photo)

As the world anxiously awaits a coronavirus vaccine, a Maryland biotechnology company already has signed deals to do initial production of three candidates. If one of them works, the firm has a factory in place to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses a year.

Emergent BioSolutions of Gaithersburg has long been preparing for a global disease outbreak. The firm got started making a vaccine against anthrax, and since then has produced candidates for the Ebola and Zika viruses.

Image: Luis M. Branco, PhD Managing Director and Co-Founder