News Archive

As president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), Jay A. Perman, MD, has challenged the University to promote big ideas and be forward-looking. To celebrate his nearly 10-year tenure, however, a look backward was appropriate.

In that vein, nostalgia and sentiment filled the air Dec. 12 at the SMC Campus Center, where a crowd of about 400 packed the second-floor Elm Ballrooms to pay tribute to Perman, who will become the fifth chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM) on Jan. 6.

Image: Dr. Perman greeted a line of well-wishers before and after the celebration on Dec. 12 at the SMC Campus Center. – https://www.umaryland.edu

Oxford, UK – 18 December 2019: Vaccitech Ltd announced today that its strategic collaboration with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (Ludwig), Vaccitech Oncology Limited (VOLT), has entered into a clinical partnership with Cancer Research UK to develop VOLT’s VTP-600 immunotherapy as a treatment option for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Cancer Research UK and Vaccitech Oncology Limited (VOLT), today (Wednesday) announce a new partnership to bring a novel immunotherapeutic vaccine strategy to patients with lung cancer.

The vaccine treatment developed by VOLT, a strategic collaboration between Vaccitech Ltd and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, is designed to stimulate the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells. It will deliver cancer-associated antigens (MAGE A3 and NY-ESO-1) to antigen presenting cells called dendritic cells, causing the immune system to produce cytotoxic T cells, which target and kill cancerous cells expressing the antigens.

RoosterBio Inc., a leading supplier of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (hMSC) working cell banks and hMSC bioprocess systems, announces today an expansion of its facility in Frederick, Maryland for the second time in 2019. The addition of 5,000 square feet to its existing 15,500 footprint supports the company’s expansion efforts and provides infrastructure to meet a growing international demand for its standardized hMSC bioprocess tools. By strengthening its cell manufacturing solution portfolio and presence in the Asia Pacific and Europe, RoosterBio is giving more people around the world the ability to advance regenerative medicine cures.

Image: https://biobuzz.inloop.com

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This VC investment graph sums up the purpose of Healthcare Pizza. ?

As you can see, investors are increasingly focusing on larger, later stage rounds.

At least among CB’s 2019 Top 150 digital health startups.

There’s reasons, including the fact that more mature companies were more likely to be placed on the list.

Image: https://www.linkedin.com

Old age may have its downsides, but losing the ability to grow new brain cells isn’t one: healthy people in their seventies seem to produce just as many new neurons as teenagers.

The discovery overturns a decades-old theory about how our brains age and could provide clues as to how we can keep our minds sharper for longer.

In mammals, most brain cells are created at or soon after birth and are not renewed. Recently, it was discovered that the human hippocampus, associated with learning …

Image: We keep on growing neurons – even as we age – THOMAS DEERINCK, NCMIR/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

A planned new, 10-story cancer center at the University of Maryland Medical Center will transform the appearance of the front of the decades-old hospital building on the west side of downtown Baltimore.

The cubic glass and steel structure will rise above what is now the hospital’s driveway and main entrance off Greene Street, covering the existing building’s brick, institutional look.

Image: University of Maryland Medical Center officials presented three designs Thursday for the new cancer center addition to the hospital that will remake its face fronting Greene Street in downtown Baltimore. (Meredith Cohn / Baltimore Sun)

2019 saw a new record set for a list price of a prescription therapy—$2.1 million for the gene therapy Zolgensma® launched by AxeVis, a Novartis Company—and resulting renewed concerns over the price of treatments and whether politicos will ever be able to address the issue as the nation’s presidential election campaign season heats up.

The recycled rhetoric questioning the role of the biopharmaceutical industry in the discovery and development of innovative medicines continues to rear its ugly head in the ongoing discussion about the high cost of health care and what to do about it. But, for patients with unmet medical needs, this continued skepticism is merely a distraction. 

Most patients understand that their hope for future cures relies on the work that biopharma does to translate basic science into deliverable treatments and medicines. That understanding is backed by facts.