Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a unique, noninvasive blood test that detects proteins and gene mutations from eight common cancers. The test, called CancerSEEK, screens for cancers that account for more than 60 percent of U.S. cancer deaths.
In late 2017, Baltimore-based healthcare startup Protenus was reverberating from a year of growth.
Dr. Darryl Sampey has been through the grind as CEO of Frederick’s BioFactura, a thriving biotech company that’s a key part of the BioHealth Capital Region’s second largest biotech hub. On a rainy, cold February night at FITCI, Sampey shared BioFactura’s compelling story during a “fireside chat” hosted by StartUp Grind’s Frederick chapter.
The company has already raised about $40 million to date.
I was dubious when Crystal Icenhour approached me to write about her medical testing company.
The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) is now accepting applications for its “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition. The competition is focused on pediatric devices developed for use in the orthopedic and spine sector, an area of critical need which lacks innovation. Winning companies receive awards up to $50,000 and are invited to participate in the newly created NCC-PDI “Pediatric Device Innovator Accelerator Program” led by MedTech Innovator.
In November 2015, infectious disease epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, evolutionary psychologist Tom Patterson, were spending the week of Thanksgiving exploring pyramids and pharaoh’s tombs in Egypt when Patterson came down with what seemed like a nasty bout of food poisoning aboard their cruise ship. But as his condition rapidly deteriorated and he had to be emergency medevac’d, first to Germany and then to the medical center at UC San Diego, where both scientists were on staff, blood and imaging tests revealed why Patterson’s body was failing. A soccer-ball-sized cyst in his abdomen was infected—teeming with one of the most dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the world.
The National Cancer Institute’s investment in small business research grants has supported strong economic growth, including $9 billion in sales of new technologies.
Justin Klein, as a former investor with NEA, helped lead PGDx’s $21.4 million Series A in 2015 and its $75 million Series B last year.
The biotech sector has been a strong performer in 2019 after becoming quite oversold during the plunge in the high-beta parts of the market in the fourth quarter of 2018. Helping the sector recover and get off to a raucous start to the New Year were large buyouts of Celgene Corp(CELG) and Loxo Oncology Inc(LOXO) to start 2019, both with significan…
