Children’s National today announced a $30 million gift from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking a major milestone in the creation of its new Research & Innovation Campus. The gift will help drive pediatric discoveries that save and improve the lives of children in the Washington, D.C. region and around the world.
Scientists at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have printed the world’s first 3D vascularized engineered heart using a patient’s own cells and biological materials. Their findings appear (“Printing of Personalized Thick and Perfusable Cardiac Patches and Hearts”) in Advanced Science.
In honor of the new JLABS @ Washington, DC – a 32,000 square foot facility located on the new Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus from Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC in partnership with Children’s National Health System[1] (“Children’s National”) – Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS announces the JLABS @ Washington, DC Children’s QuickFire Challenge.
Visionaries within the fields of pediatric oncology, pediatric surgery and influenza are invited to submit innovative ideas for a total of up to $150,000 in grant funding*; one year of residency at JLABS @ Washington, DC with the use of a bench, workstation, and access to the JLABS @ Washington, DC community; and mentorship from experts at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced results from the interim analysis of its Phase 2 clinical study evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of the company’s chikungunya virus virus-like particle (CHIKV-VLP) vaccine candidate across a series of dosing regimens. The interim analysis has shown that with a single dose administered, up to 98% of study participants produced a neutralizing antibody response against the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) by Day 7. Further, the immune response was shown to be persistent through the six-month visit, including in the one-dose regimen.
Paragon Bioservices, the leading private equity-backed biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with proven expertise in gene therapy and next-generation vaccines, celebrated this morning the grand opening of its new, world-class and state-of-the-art 200,000 square-foot GMP gene therapy biomanufacturing facility in Maryland’s Anne Arundel County. The event brought together state and regional political and biopharmaceutical industry leaders. Distinguished guests and speakers at the event included:
Is it possible to be successful in business and not fulfilled? The answer is a resounding yes today, and I’m convinced that it will be even more true tomorrow, as young idealistic entrepreneurs try to adapt to the long-standing business culture if success is only measured in the money you make for yourself and your business.
Catalent, Inc. (NYSE: CTLT), the leading global diversified provider of advanced delivery technologies and development solutions for drugs, biologics and consumer health products, and Paragon Bioservices, Inc., a leading viral vector development and manufacturing partner for gene therapies, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Catalent will acquire Paragon for $1.2 billion.
In mid-November 2018, Amazon grabbed headlines when it announced it will build part of its new headquarters in Northern Virginia.1 The site for HQ2 had been long-awaited after a national “beauty contest.” Amazon decided to place major new office complexes in the Crystal City section of Arlington, which is being renamed National Landing. This will rejuvenate an area filled with office buildings that were developed in the 1970s, and once housed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and various patent law firms that have now relocated to Alexandria.
QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE:QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard:QIA) today announced the U.S. launch of its novel therascreen® FGFR RGQ RT-PCR Kit (therascreen FGFR Kit) as a companion diagnostic to help guide the use of the newly approved FGFR kinase inhibitor, BALVERSA™ (erdafitinib), developed by Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen). The test will aid in identifying patients with urothelial cancer whose tumors have certain alterations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration co-approved the new test with BALVERSA™, as announced today by Janssen.
For a second year in a row, D.C. metro area venture capital funding in the first quarter dropped when compared to the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2019, venture capital activity in the D.C. metro area totaled $323 million invested in 47 deals, according to data from a recent PwC/CB Insights MoneyTree report.
