News Archive

The Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC) today released new data showing record growth in entrepreneurial activity at the state’s universities as part of its Illinois Innovation Index, which reports on the key metrics of the state’s innovation economy. The report found that during the past five academic years, students and faculty at Illinois universities created 804 startups through technology licensing, entrepreneurship programs, competitions and other university initiatives. A record number of these startups, nearly 500, are also staying in the state.

Wed, April 5, 2017 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM EDT

Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research 9600 Gudelsky DriveRockville, MD, Maryland 20850

From patient engagement to data analytics, the Health IT space is one of the hottest sectors in healthcare today. Join our next SoPE event and learn from developers, investors and entrepreneurs how to best get your innovative idea from inception to consumers while anticipating and avoiding the common pitfalls you are bound to encounter along the way.

Moderator: Jeffrey N. Hausfeld MD, MBA, Founder and Chairman – Society of Physician Entprepreneurs, Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Officer – BioFactura, Inc.

NextGen Venture Partners,  a young, Washington, D.C.-based venture firm that’s quarterbacked by a handful of investors but fueled financially by a network of hundreds of part-time investors who help with its portfolio, has raised $22 million for its debut fund. (This if you don’t count a $1 million pool of capital that it raised from its network in 2015.)

We had a quick chat with Jon Bassett, one of the firm’s five partners, late last week to talk about what NextGen is trying to create. That conversation has been edited for length.

The Next Step: VC Investment Update

Entrepreneurs, investors and others: Join the NVTC Small Business and Entrepreneur Committee for the second part of this practical series on raising investment capital. This expert panel will feature some of the most active VCs investing in Greater Washington region companies. The panelists represent active venture investors who have participated in venture rounds in the last year in Greater Washington and are looking to make more investments. The panel will discuss their recent experiences, their desired investee profiles and offer practical advice on raising venture stage capital.

Moderator:

Norm Snyder, CPA, Partner, Aronson LLC

Speakers:

J.S. Gamble, Co-Founder, Blu Ventures Todd Klein, Managing Director and CIO, SWaN & Legend Ventures Adam VeVerka, Director- Business Development, NewSpring Capital Kristin Gunther, Vice President, Revolution Growth

USDA ARS and the USDA SBIR program formed a partnership to encourage USDA SBIR applicants to develop research collaborations with ARS scientists and/or to license ARS technologies. The purpose is to increase the likelihood of success by providing both money and technologies to small U.S. businesses. The relevant language in the SBIR’s “Request for Application” states: “Additional factors that will be considered in the review process include whether an application involves a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with a USDA laboratory, or a license to a USDA technology, or is a resubmission.”

This webinar will include an overview of the USDA SBIR program and crafting a competitive SBIR proposal. Also an overview of ARS and how to develop a successful research collaboration (CRADA) with an ARS scientist and/or license an ARS technology will be discussed. The webinar will address coordinating the statement of works in an ARS CRADA and a USDA SBIR proposal.

When Subra Suresh was tapped to lead the National Science Foundation (NSF), in 2010, he saw that many of the pathbreaking discoveries developed through the agency’s grants weren’t finding their way to the marketplace, so he sought to foster better links between government and industry.

This, of course, was not an entirely new idea. Over the years, there have been numerous efforts, ranging from the Bayh-Dole Act, of 1980, to numerous initiatives to revamp technology transfer offices within government agencies, but nothing really seemed able to speed new discoveries out of the labs and into the marketplace.

Knowledge of an individual’s skin condition is important for pressure ulcer prevention. Detecting early changes in skin through perfusion, oxygen saturation values, and pressure on tissue and subsequent therapeutic intervention could increase patients’ quality of life drastically. However, most existing sensing options create additional risk of ulcer development due to further pressure on and chafing of the skin. Here, as a first component, we present a flexible, photonic textile-based sensor for the continuous monitoring of the heartbeat and blood flow. Polymer optical fibres (POFs) are melt-spun continuously and characterized optically and mechanically before being embroidered. The resulting sensor shows flexibility when embroidered into a moisture-wicking fabric, and withstands disinfection with hospital-type laundry cycles. Additionally, the new sensor textile shows a lower static coefficient of friction (COF) than conventionally used bedsheets in both dry and sweaty conditions versus a skin model. Finally, we demonstrate the functionality of our sensor by measuring the heartbeat at the forehead in reflection mode and comparing it with commercial finger photoplethysmography for several subjects. Our results will allow the development of flexible, individualized, and fully textile-integrated wearable sensors for sensitive skin conditions and general long-term monitoring of patients with risk for pressure ulcer.

The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) today announced the release of its 2016 annual data report, offering an in-depth look at trends and metrics for the cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineering and broader global regenerative medicine sector.

Using data provided by ARM’s data partner Informa and compiled and analyzed by ARM’s staff, the report details industry-specific statistics and trends from more than 730 leading cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineering and other regenerative medicine companies worldwide. Key features of the report include total financings for the sector, partnerships and other deals, clinical trial information, major clinical data events, current legislative and regulatory priorities and ARM’s strategic priorities for 2017.

REGENXBIO Inc. (RGNX), a leading biotechnology company focused on the development, commercialization and licensing of recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy based on its proprietary NAV® Technology Platform, today announced that Kenneth T. Mills, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Cowen and Company 37th Annual Health Care Conference on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 10:40 a.m. ET at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in Boston. In addition, REGENXBIO representatives will be holding one-on-one meetings at the conference.

A live webcast of the presentation can be accessed in the Investors section of REGENXBIO’s website at www.regenxbio.com. An archived replay of the webcast will be available on the same website for approximately 30 days following the presentation.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) 9700 Great Seneca Hwy Rockville, MD 20850

Recent, high-profile hotel hacks have brought increasing attention to the hospitality sector and its cybersecurity challenges. While hospitality organizations have long supported the internal flow of information and data (e.g. allowing a hotel guest to charge dinner from the hotel restaurant to his/her room), technological improvements and customer demands have pushed hotels to offer increasing amenities, such as free Wi-Fi or mobile check-in. Through collaboration with the hospitality industry, the NCCoE is developing an example solution to help organizations strengthen the security of their property management system to better protect the business against network intrusion, data breach, fraud loss, and damage to reputation, while continuing to allow customers and guests to utilize and appreciate a hotel’s technological amenities. Join us for a lively discussion on the unique trends and challenges to improving cybersecurity in the hospitality sector.