News Archive

A new book by Andrea LaFountain, CEO of Mind Field Solutions, looks at the science of patient behavior to answer the questions that big data cannot. LaFountain stopped by the Knowledge@Wharton Show on Sirius XM channel 111 to talk about the book, How Patients Think: A Science-Based Strategy for Patient Engagement and Population Health.

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.

Knowledge@Wharton: In this age of technology and big data, why is there still that disconnect between healthcare providers and patients?

Former University System of Maryland chancellor William “Brit” Kirwan will lead a new commission to make recommendations about funding formulas and innovative strategies used in public education in Maryland.

The Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education will revisit the equity of the state’s K-12 education funding formula, examining the alignment between K-12 education requirements and higher education expectations, Kirwan said. It will also review successful innovations in education nationally and globally. Gov. Larry Hogan and leaders of the General Assembly announced Kirwan’s appointment to chair the commission Aug. 9.

In case you haven’t heard, BioBuzz just announced the launch of the BioHive – an Online Community and Collaboration Platform that is now open to general public. The BioHive will help enable all the components in our regional biotech ecosystem to work more efficiently to accelerate innovation, collaboration, workforce and growth opportunities.

Categorized into industry specific networks, the BioHive was built to bring together this region digitally and cultivate relationships that otherwise would not have been created due to company, role, geography, etc.

Please help us by pointing your coworkers and peers to the BioHive tab at http://www.biobuzz.net/ or directly at https://biohive.breezio.com to learn more and register for free today for their own BioHive account.

Working to build a stronger Biotech community has been BioBuzz’s mission for more than six years, so they are very excited to bring to you this great resource – so come join me on the BioHive!

Symbiomix today announced it is accelerating plans for the commercial launch of Solosec™ (secnidazole) oral granules following the presentation of clinical results from the second pivotal trial for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) with the hiring of Taunia Markvicka, PharmD, MBA, as Chief Commercial Officer. Symbiomix had a significant presence at the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (IDSOG) Annual Meeting in Annapolis, Maryland this past weekend with both the oral data presentation and sponsorship of a panel discussion on emerging diagnosis and treatment recommendations for BV. In addition, the company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued conditional acceptance of the proprietary name Solosec™. Solosec™ was previously known as SYM-1219.

The Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board (LSAB) is developing recommendations to support the continued growth of the BioHealth industry in Maryland. The LSAB Working Group focused on Workforce and Access to Talent is seeking your input for their recommendations.

If you are involved with hiring/training employees, please take five minutes to complete this online survey by next Monday, August 22nd to have your feedback considered by the LSAB Workforce Working Group. (Please forward this survey to your HR manager/others if appropriate.)

Your input is valued. All responses will be kept confidential unless you ask for a member of the LSAB to contact you. If you have any questions or feedback for the other groups (Access to Capital, Technology Transfer, Foundational Support, Convergence of Bio and IT), please email the Maryland Department of Commerce at biohealth.info@maryland.gov.

Thank you for sharing your time and feedback.  

Defense IT firm Leidos today announced it has successfully closed on the acquisition of Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions business, formalizing a deal announced in January.

With Lockheed Martin’s $5 billion IT business, Leidos becomes the government’s largest IT provider—nearly doubling its annual revenue to $10 billion—and further cements its place as a force in the growing federal health IT market.

Companion diagnostics is gaining currency as novel drugs are being paired up with tests that determine which patients will have a higher chance of  responding to that drug.

But 15 years after the human genome project has been completed, the progress of precision medicine appears to be woefully slow, at least according to Nicholas Dracopoli, vice president and head of Oncology Biomarkers at Janssen Research & Development, part of Johnson & Johnson. Others believe precision medicine and companion diagnostics have a chicken and egg problem.

Tioma Therapeutics, Inc., a venture-stage biopharmaceutical company developing anti-CD47 antibodies for the treatment of solid and hematologic cancers, today announced it has raised $86 million in Series A venture financing. Proceeds from this financing will be used to further develop Tioma’s antibody portfolio, including its lead drug candidate — an anti-CD47 immune checkpoint inhibitor — through advanced proof-of-concept in human clinical trials.

Attention, startups creating the next smartwatch or heart-rate sensing fabric: The Homeland Security Department wants your products. 

DHS on Monday opened applications for the second round of its federally focused tech “accelerator,” in search of wearable devices that can be customized for first responders.

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced plans to return approximately $250 million to shareholders through a synthetic share repurchase proposal that combines a direct capital repayment with a reverse stock split.

These actions, which will lead to an adjustment in QIAGEN’s share capital, have been used previously by other large, multinational Dutch companies as an efficient way to provide returns to shareholders. The proposal, if adopted, is expected to be similar to QIAGEN repurchasing approximately $250 million of its own shares, but will enable the return of capital to all shareholders in a much faster and more efficient way than through a traditional open-market repurchase program.