News Archive

Scientists and policy-makers have long argued that public investments in science have practical applications. Using data on patents linked to U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants over a 27-year period, we provide a large-scale accounting of linkages between public research investments and subsequent patenting. We find that about 10% of NIH grants generate a patent directly but 30% generate articles that are subsequently cited by patents. Although policy-makers often focus on direct patenting by academic scientists, the bulk of the effect of NIH research on patenting appears to be indirect. We also find no systematic relationship between the “basic” versus “applied” research focus of a grant and its propensity to be cited by a patent.

WalletHub recently analyzed innovation nationwide to compile a list of the Most Innovative States. Maryland ranks second among the 50 states and Washington D.C. in WalletHub’s report, reinforcing what many in Maryland already know: Innovation thrives here. Here are five reasons why innovation flourishes in Maryland.

You’re invited to LM’s greatest event of the year! Join us on Tuesday, June 6 as we present the 2017 graduating Core, Senior and Emerging Leaders classes. Meet the newest community members, interact with our honored Award Recipients and network with key influencers in the region. A delicious dinner and an open bar are included.

Four years into its existence, Cydan Development, New Enterprise Associates’ orphan drug startup accelerator, has notched its first big win. Vtesse, the first company to emerge from Cydan, has been sold in a deal valued at $200 million.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SCMP), a Rockville, MD-based maker of a drug to treat various bowel conditions, will acquire Vtesse for $170 million in cash and 2,782,678 shares of Sucampo, which closed at $11 apiece on Friday. Vtesse’s shareholders—New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Bay City Capital, Pfizer Venture Investments, and Lundbeckfond Ventures—could also get royalties on sales if Vtesse’s experimental drug, VTS-270, ever reaches the market. The drug candidate is designed to be a potential treatment for the rare genetic condition Niemann-Pick Type C1 disease, which mostly affects children.

Almost four years after the launch of the Ten by Twenty vision plan, Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels today invited the university community to explore a second update on the institution’s progress and share feedback.

No two stem cells are identical, even if they are genetic clones. This stunning diversity is revealed today in an enormous publicly available online catalogue of 3D stem cell images. The visuals were produced using deep learning analyses and cell lines altered with the gene-editing tool CRISPR. And soon the portal will allow researchers to predict variations in cell layouts that may foreshadow cancer and other diseases.

Big funding deals across a number of industries propelled the D.C. area to one of its best first quarters in recent venture capital memory, setting the stage for a strong 2017.

April 27-28, 2017 – Washington, DC

Secure your spot today at the 8th Annual Health Datapalooza, the gathering place for people and organizations creating knowledge from data and pioneering innovations that drive health policy and practice. The Datapalooza takes place April 27-28, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Join us at this exciting event and gain new knowledge on the use of health data to improve health outcomes, learn about the newest, most innovative and effective uses of health data, and network with peers offering diverse voices and perspectives in the field.

New techniques for improving plants and animals promise to reshape virtually every aspect of the relationship between humans and our environment for the better. Safer and more sustainable crops have already made enormous contributions to the economy and the environment, and genetically improved livestock and companion animals are close behind. Discovery of more precise, predictable, and easily used techniques derived directly from nature is dramatically accelerating this progress. But fears of the new have led to calls in many nations for “precautionary” regulation, which risks stifling agricultural innovation without any showing of need or benefit. There is a better way.

The National Cancer Institute has picked the Johns Hopkins Montgomery County Campus as the site for a new laboratory building for its epidemiology and genetics researchers.

The planned 70,000-square-foot building will bring together about 134 scientists and employees now working in separate facilities in Gaithersburg and Frederick, about 25 miles apart.