While medical device innovation is quite active—at the university level, within incubators, and even in the R&D labs of established firms—there is a substantial lack of products being developed for younger patients. Since pediatric devices have a limited patient base due to most children being relatively healthy (of course, a positive factor), it’s not a focus for a great number of companies as it does not offer the promise of a substantial financial return.
The amount of deals and dollars invested in healthcare is hitting near record highs for the first half of 2019 with $26.9 billion poured into healthcare companies over 2,258 deals around the world, according to CB Insights’ Global Healthcare Report.
That represents a slight uptick from the first half of 2018 where $26.5 billion was invested over 2,223 deals.
Everyone knows how important funding is for starting a venture, whether you are building a small business or high-growth tech startup. The capital needs of a venture change along with the venture’s stage — early-stage ventures might need help with product development costs, while established companies may need funding to expand to a new location or market segment.
RoosterBio, Inc., a Frederick, MD-based human mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (hMSC) biomanufacturing company, raised in excess of $15m in an initial Series B financing.
The round was led by Dynamk Capital, with participation from existing and new investors. The Series B final round is expected to close with additional investors by the end of August, totaling approximately $22m raised.
The growing number of private biopharma and diagnostic/therapeutic technology company financings completed in recent months masks an overall year-over-year decrease in the total value of those deals.
On Thursday, August 22nd from 4-6:00 pm there will be an open house for the fall courses in the “Advanced Studies in Technology Transfer” program at the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) Graduate School at NIH in the FAES Academic Center in NIH Building 10 in Bethesda, MD. For the semester beginning on Monday, September 9th there will be 9 courses available for the program given in either Rockville or Bethesda:
More details can be found in the new 2019-20 course catalog (www.faes.org) with online registration for classes available. The Advanced Studies in Technology Transfer is an open enrollment program with class credits transferable into various graduate degree programs at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Graduate School and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).
Technology Transfer Scholarships
FAES offers a limited number of partial tuition-remission scholarships for self-funding students. For deadlines and details on how to apply visit https://faes.org/tuition-and-funding .
Also as Department Chair, I’m happy to assist with any questions you might have about the program or individual courses.
Back when YC was getting started about 10 years ago, Paul Graham wrote some essays that predicted the way startup fundraising would change in the next decade – accurately, it turns out. Paul Graham predicted that there would be way more startups, that they’d be cheaper to start, that new kinds of investors would fund them, that founders would be more technical, and that founders would keep control of their companies. All of those seem to have come true.
Facility Logix, a leading life science consulting firm, has hired two new Associate Project Managers: Jocaro L. Dodd and Wayne Mitchell. The new Associate Project Managers will be instrumental in addressing the facility-related needs of the firm’s Owner’s Representation and Project Management clients.
Canton-based VitusVet, which built a health IT platform for vets, received investment from Nationwide Insurance as the company’s team continues to grow.
Joshna Seelam is closing in on her target.
The VCU graduate student is one of three members of Kilo Medical Solutions, a Richmond medical device startup that’s getting ever closer to launch.
