News Archive

Ianne Salvosa June 18, 2024 – Efforts are afoot to make Richmond more of a player in the biohealth industry.

Downtown-based Activation Capital is launching the Frontier BioHealth program to provide training and mentorship for up to 10 startups from August to November to groom life sciences companies in the area for the long term.

Activation Capital Vice President of Entrepreneurship Jim Pannucci said the program is a nod to the group’s original mission to help the region and the VA Bio+Tech Park be a hub of biotechnology. Activation Capital operates the park, while supporting entrepreneurship and startups in the region through various programs.

The Bio+Tech Park was established about three decades ago to turn Richmond into a center of biotechnology and now about 70 companies and research facilities operate in the area, with interests ranging from smoke-free tobacco alternatives to organ donation.

College Park, Md.—The University of Maryland was spotlighted for its innovative curriculum and robust student engagement in entrepreneurship at the annual Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education held June 12-14 in College Park.

UMD was presented with the Entrepreneurial University Award, an annual honor given to an institution that exemplifies excellence in fostering an entrepreneurial culture across its campus.

“Students, faculty, staff and alums of the University of Maryland have a long and inspiring tradition of innovation that spans the arts, humanities and sciences – from Google and Beyond Meat to The Muppets and Under Armour,” said University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. “This award from the Deshpande Symposium will undoubtedly help our university build upon a distinguished past and present in innovation and entrepreneurship.”

By Tammi Thomas – Chief Development and Marketing Officer, TEDCO – Jun 17, 2024

Montgomery County, Maryland, is home to a thriving ecosystem of innovators and researchers who continuously work to enhance our daily experiences. TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, empowers these entrepreneurs by providing crucial funding and resources. Here’s how four Montgomery County companies within TEDCO’s portfolio are contributing to Maryland’s quality of life and supporting a robust entrepreneurial landscape.

BETHESDA, Md., June 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: NWBO) (“NW Bio”), a biotechnology company developing DCVax^® personalized immune therapies for solid tumor cancers, announced today that on June 12, 2024 it entered into an exclusive license from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center for a portfolio of dendritic cell technologies and intellectual property (IP).  The technologies are already in Phase 2 clinical trials, and the Company plans to collaborate with the lead scientist-clinician, Dr. Pawel Kalinski, on the further development of the technologies.  The license is the culmination of more than 2 years of discussions and negotiations.

The license includes 5 new patent families that were just filed in 2023 and hence have their full potential patent life ahead of them.  The technologies include enhanced versions of dendritic cells (DCs) and DC based therapies, as well as conditioning regimens designed to enhance patient responses and approaches to reprogram the tumor microenvironment to boost immune therapies and help overcome resistance to checkpoint inhibitors.

ROCKVILLE, Md. and SUZHOU, China, June 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ascentage Pharma (6855 HK), a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing novel therapies for cancer, chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and age-related diseases, announced today the signing of an option agreement with Takeda to enter into an exclusive license agreement for olverembatinib, an oral, potentially best-in-class third-generation BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), which is currently in development for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and other hematological cancers. If exercised, the option would allow Takeda to license exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize olverembatinib in all territories outside of among others, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, China.

Despite the impact TKIs have had in the treatment of patients with CML, there remains a significant unmet need for patients whose disease is resistant to these therapies or who develop hard-to-treat mutations following these treatments.

GERMANTOWN, MD / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2024 / Seraxis, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing pancreatic islet replacement therapies to transform the lives of patients with Type 1 and insulin-requiring Type 2 diabetes, has been notified that the company is the awardee of a $400,000 Commercialization Program grant from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) that aims to foster Maryland research to enhance and propel stem cell treatments. Seraxis will use the MSCRF grant to accelerate the validation and manufacturing of Seraxis’ genetically modified pancreatic cell line (SR-03) that is designed to be a universal allogenic transplant that will not require lifelong anti-rejection immune suppression.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 14, 2024/PRNewswire/ — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a global company advancing protein-based vaccines with its Matrix-M™ adjuvant, today announced that it has submitted an amendment to its Emergency Use Authorization to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its updated JN.1 COVID-19 vaccine (NVX-CoV2705) for individuals aged 12 and older. The submission is in line with guidance from the U.S. FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to target the JN.1 lineage this fall.^1-3 

Novavax’s JN.1 vaccine has demonstrated broad cross-neutralizing antibodies against multiple variant strains, including KP.2 and KP.3, indicating the potential to protect against forward drift variants. As discussed at the recent FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting, there is a public health benefit to target JN.1, the parent strain of the most common currently circulating variants.

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Vanda” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: VNDA) today confirmed that it has received a revised unsolicited proposal from Future Pak, LLC (“FP”) to acquire Vanda for $8.50–$9.00 per share in cash plus certain Contingent Value Rights.

Consistent with its fiduciary duties, and in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, Vanda’s Board will carefully review and evaluate the revised, non-binding proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.

COLUMBIA, Md., (June 13, 2024) — The Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) Board of Directors announces the appointment of Abishek Kulshreshtha as the executive director of TEDCO’s MII program. In this position, Kulshreshtha will oversee all MII activities starting July 1, 2024.

As an independent unit within TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, MII was created to promote the commercialization of research conducted in five of Maryland’s academic research institutions (Johns Hopkins University; Morgan State University; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and University of Maryland, College Park) while leveraging each institution’s strengths. This collaborative program has supported more than 170 startup companies, created 370 jobs and procured more than $737 million in follow-on funding since its inception nearly 12 years ago.