News Archive

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) and Nature Technology Corporation (NTC) announce today that they have entered into a new license agreement. The licensing of NTC’s RNA-OUT™ and HyperGro™ technology is part of ITI’s expansion into developing nucleic acid immunotherapies for cancer.

ITI believes that LAMP-Vax immunotherapy platform has the potential to transform nucleic acid vaccine therapy. Although additional studies are needed to confirm clinical benefit, LAMP-Vax has the potential to specifically direct the cancer antigen into a processing part of the cell for more efficient presentation to the immune system. Last year, this approach gained important commercial validation when Immunomic Therapeutics entered into significant licensing agreements with Astellas Pharma Inc., totaling over $315 million in upfront payments, as well as potential future milestones and royalty payments.

BioBuzz and Elite Sponsor the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) are excited to announce a special event that lands right in the middle of the Oktoberfest season. Flying Dog Brewery will be our guest as we bring together the worlds of biotech and beer to show how closely related they really are. We are proud to have BioBuzz Double Helix Sponsors CRB and BREP along with Azzur IT as Co-Sponsors for this event.

Before the general networking begins, Flying Dog CEO, Jim Caruso, and COO/Head Brew Master, Matt Brophy will be on the IBBR Auditorium stage from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. to speak about the company and everything that goes into the process of brewing their beer.

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded Emergent BioSolutions a five-year, $198.7 million contract to further mature the development of an anthrax vaccine in preparation for a Food and Drug Administration license.

The HHS office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and Emergent BioSolutions will work to validate the effect of the vaccine candidate NuThrax and verify its safety as part of the contract, HHS said Friday.

Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, the pediatrician Priscilla Chan, announced plans last month to spend $3 billion over the next decade fighting diseases. Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan said they hoped their project — including a $600-million investment in the Biohub, a new physical lab space for universities in the Bay Area — would help scientists and engineers cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of the century.

AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development arm MedImmune has entered into a licensing agreement with Allergan for the global rights to MEDI2070, which is currently in a Phase IIb clinical trial for moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease and ready for Phase II for ulcerative colitis. Under the terms of the deal, Allergan will make an upfront payment to AstraZeneca of $250m for the exclusive, worldwide licence to develop and commercialise the drug.

The 2017 FLC Awards is now open for nominations.  One of the most coveted honors in the technology transfer field, the FLC Awards have been presented to over 200 federal laboratories since their inception in 1984. Many of our winning technology transfer efforts have gone on to become products and devices that are indispensable in our daily lives, including:

• Digital mammography to detect breast cancer (2002)
• Rechargeable lithium batteries (2004)
• Plug-and-play Ethernet adapter for high-speed downloads of files, music and videos (2005)
• Gardasil™ vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus (2007)
• Proton therapy system used to treat prostate cancer (2008)
• Robotics used to improve vehicle manufacturing and safety (2011)
• Apple trees developed to resist diseases and insect damage (2015)
• Truck side guards that help prevent collisions with pedestrians and cyclists (2016)

Maryland lawmakers voted in March to unite the University of Maryland and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This legislation, which aims to increase the prestige of the university system, goes into effect today. The MPowering the State partnership between the two schools paves the way for new initiatives to bring more funding to the campuses and attract more businesses and services to each respective community.

A mobile health company with Johns Hopkins roots earned the $50,000 top prize Thursday at Beta City’s daylong startup showcase and pitch competition in Baltimore.

Tissue Analytics, founded by JHU biomedical engineering graduates Kevin Keenahan and Josh Budman, presented its mobile application designed to help doctors and nurses track wound healing. It was one of eight startups to present business plans, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Johns Hopkins University will relocate its original FastForward business incubator in April from the Stieff Silver building near the university’s Homewood campus on Wyman Park Drive to nearby R. House at 301 W. 29th St. in Remington.

FastForward R. House will be smaller — about 9,000 square feet of office, meeting and lab space, compared to its 13,000-square-foot space at Stieff Silver — but gives Hopkins an opportunity to move its startups into a space designed with startups in mind.

Last week researchers released the first results from the UK Biobank Imaging Study, a massive effort that ultimately aims to scan the brains of 100,000 people and use the data in conjunction with detailed health information to investigate disease progression during aging. The findings from their first 5,000 subjects offer an early peek at an enormous data set that includes a treasure trove of health information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and other measures. The study is one of several projects worldwide taking a population-level approach to better understand diseases, and is part of an ongoing movement in neuroscience toward global, collaborative brain research.