News Archive

American Gene Technologies (AGT), a leading gene and cell therapy company based in Rockville, MD, selected the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) as a new clinical site for its non-IND study, AGT-CS168, to collect clinical specimens from HIV positive individuals. AGT will use these materials to validate the patient-specific AGT103-T therapeutic manufacturing process. AGT expects AGT103-T will eliminate HIV from the body when infused back into the patient and will decrease or eliminate the need for lifelong antiretroviral treatment.

PHARMACEUTICAL giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) unveiled a new, fully automated continuous manufacturing facility and an expanded production building at its Jurong site on Friday, worth a total of S$130 million.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced its recent investments through the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII). With the latest round of funding, MII’s funding count for FY19 includes 26 technology assessment grants and seven start-up investments for a total of $4.22 million. True to its technology agnostic funding history, this year the startups ranged from Cleantech to AI and Biotech.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute, the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the Brady Urological Institute, and the Center for Computational Genomics at Johns Hopkins have received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study new treatment options for early-stage bladder cancer.

At the close of the 2019 BioHealth Capital Region Forum in April, Floreo Inc. was announced as the winner of the BioHealth Innovation’s 4th annual Crab Trap Competition and the $10,000 grand prize provided by WSGR. Floreo, Inc., which is “…using the power of virtual reality to deliver immersive, fun, and affordable lessons for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)…”, was selected by the judges from a group of five finalists.

Access to capital has been an ongoing challenge for biohealth companies in the BioHealth Capital Region (BCHR) and throughout the Mid Atlantic, though recent investment data suggests that capital market access is improving. “PwC/CB Insights ranks the region fourth with $944.07 million in 44 deals and Jones Lang Lasalle tallies $1.1 billion, good enough for third,” stated Rich Bendis, CEO of BioHealth Innovation (BHI), in his keynote speech at the recent The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Technology Transfer Showcase. 

Just one week into 2019, the new year got off to the proverbial roaring start for biopharma mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with the announcement of two multi-billion-dollar deals valued at a total $82 billion—one of them among the top 10 of all time.

Arlington Capital Partners (“Arlington” or the “Firm”), a Washington, D.C. area based private equity investment firm focused on government-regulated sectors, today announced that it has successfully raised its latest fund, Arlington Capital Partners V, L.P. (“Fund V” or the “Fund”) with total capital commitments of approximately $1.7 billion – hitting the Fund’s hard cap. The fundraise, which was significantly oversubscribed, successfully reached its final closing in three months from its launch. The Fund sourced capital commitments from a hand-selected, globally diverse group of marquis investors, including public pension funds, corporate pension funds, insurance companies, fund of funds, and foundations.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore plans an ambitious expansion of its BioPark, with a $200 million building that will nearly double the size of the life science hub to the west of the main medical campus downtown.

Sometimes a Eureka moment sparks a breakthrough in innovation; other times it’s a rush to solve a crisis plaguing society — and the ones you love. That was the case for Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics, a Maryland-based company she founded in 1996, and former CEO of GeoStar and creator of SiriusXM Radio.