News Archive

Who has the hot hand in venture capital?

To identify today’s top venture investors, CB Insights, a research firm that tracks the venture capital industry, created a data-driven list. The firm based its report on factors like connectedness, since people with access to the best information hear about hot companies first, and exits, meaning the returns generated when a start-up is sold or goes public. For exits, the firm considered the valuation and when the investor first put money into the company.

Health Wildcatters got recognized for the first time in an annual report ranking seed accelerators. It scored a Silver ranking while Healthbox attained a Gold in the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project.

Hubert Zajicek is the head of the Dallas-based Wildcatters accelerator, which has been around since 2012. It has 32 portfolio companies and is currently looking for applicants for its Fall class later this year.

Maryland-based biotechnology firm MaxCyte Inc Thursday said it plans to list on London’s AIM market later this month.

The company expects to be admitted to AIM March 29, and plans to raise GBP10 million on admission. It expects to have a GBP30.4 million market capitalisation.

South Korean venture capital companies turn their eyes to promising biotech firms overseas, looking for a vehicle to accelerate their investment goals.

KTB Network recently joined hands with three Chinese venture capital companies to invest a total of 36 billion won ($30.1 million) in the country’s biopharma company CARsgen Therapeutics. The biotech company is highly praised for its immune cell therapy platform. It is working on a new method to treat patients with glioblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma with a goal to conduct a clinical trial next year.

Becton Dickinson’s (NYSE:BDX) decision to spin off its respiratory devices into a joint venture with Apax Partners will allow it to offload an underperforming segment and concentrate on its core business of diagnostics. And the agreement also highlights the growing involvement of private equity in the medtech industry.

J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his numerous contributions to genomic research. In addition to his past key positions, he is founder, current chairman, and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit, research organization dedicated to human, microbial, plant, synthetic, and environmental genomic research, and the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics.

Pittsburgh-area entrepreneurs will soon have another funding option for growing early phase startup companies.

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has thrown its support behind the creation of a $100 million venture capital fund, which will help meet a need for early stage business startup capital in the Pittsburgh area. Philadelphia-based SG3 Ventures anticipates awarding its first round of funding in about a year, according to Brian McVeigh, vice president of worldwide business development transactions and investment management at GSK.

MedImmune has secured orphan drug designation from the the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its MEDI-551 neuromyelitis optica drug.

MEDI-551 is an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody indicated to treat neuromyelitis optica and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.

Inner Harbor is the latest site of a new Baltimore incubator.

With Harbor Launch, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) has designated areas of office and lab space specifically for biotech and environmental startups at Columbus Center (the big building with the sails on it near Pier Five).

Congratulations to Montgomery County Innovation Network Director John Korpela for receiving a service award from the Maryland Business Incubator Association on March 4 at the Germantown Innovation Center during its annual meeting. The award was presented by MBIA President Robert Snyder and recognizes John for his 12 years of service, leadership, and mentorship.