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.
The days of Roche having an immunotherapy monopoly on the largest population of small-cell lung cancer patients appear numbered, following the release of data for a competing drug.
If biopharma firms want to get the most out of continuous manufacturing, they must rethink their viral safety strategies. Existing strategies work well for batch-mode production, as hard-won experience attests. These strategies, however, are still being adapted to continuous-mode production, where protocols and equipment preferences are in flux.
By Dr. Kurt Newman, CEO of Children’s National Health System
We have come a long way in pediatric medicine, but not far enough.
For nearly a decade, the chief executives of the nation’s children’s hospitals and health systems have discussed challenges we face in caring for America’s very sickest children, whose life-threatening diseases and congenital conditions put overwhelming burdens on their families.
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, and Catalent Biologics’ Paragon Gene Therapy unit, the leading viral vector development and manufacturing partner for gene therapies, today announced an arrangement under which Paragon Gene Therapy will assume the leases to two Novavax product development and manufacturing facilities, giving it immediate access to state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, people and space to accelerate the growth of its gene therapy development and manufacturing business.
The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy has launched the nation’s first Master of Science program in medical cannabis science and therapeutics.
The university says the degree will provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to support patients and the medical cannabis industry.
As the dominant economic geography of America, metropolitan statistical areas largely determine our success as a nation. These groups of counties with a large central core account for 88.6 percent of jobs, 89.1 percent of wages and 90.0 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Further, metropolitan statistical areas account for the bulk of innovation such as research and development and patenting activity. Understanding the mechanisms underpinning the growth of top-performing metropolitan areas, and sharing best practices, could assist other communities in boosting their economic fortunes. The Most Dynamic Metropolitan Index, ranking 379 metropolitan areas, seeks to provide an objective measure of the economic vibrancy of communities where the lion’s share of Americans work and live.
