News Archive

Each year the Tech Council of Maryland recognizes three outstanding individuals in the fields of technology, life science, and education. These individuals have made outstanding contributions to the success of the community. Please mark your calendar and join us on March 21, 2016 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center for a celebratory dinner. The 2016 honorees are:

STEVE CASE Chairman and CEO, Revolution LLC; Co-Founder, America Online and Chairman, The Case Foundation

ROBERT FISCHELL Inventor/Physicist; Professor of Practice, Fischell Department of Bioengineering

MARTINE ROTHBLATT Chairman and Co‐CEO of United Therapeutics Corporation (UTHR); President and CEO of its Lung Biotechnology public benefit company

Mast Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MSTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its molecular adhesion and sealant technology (MAST) platform to develop novel therapies for sickle cell disease, heart failure, and stroke, today announced that Peter Greenleaf has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Mr. Greenleaf brings to Mast Therapeutics’ Board of Directors over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including a track record of effective leadership through periods of significant growth and extensive global commercial operations, strategic planning, and product development expertise. 

An international drug giant and a La Jolla venture capital firm are expanding their partnership to create local biotech companies, a sign that the partnership — and the promise of new disease therapies — is progressing.

GSK will increase potential milestone payments to Avalon Ventures from $40 million to $50 million for each biotech formed. In return, the venture capital firm is assuming more risk by increasing its proportion of funding by an undisclosed amount.

Johns Hopkins University and Luminox-Health, an Israeli healthcare startup specializing in digital medicine, will collaborate with a new entity that will invest $30 million into Israeli digital medicine ventures, according to Globes. The cooperative agreement will be officially announced next Wednesday at the Peres Peace Center, at an event titled “Israel Launches its New Innovation Frontier.” Former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres, Chief Scientist Hasson, and representatives of Johns Hopkins and Luminox-Health are expected to take part in the event. This agreement comes after the university signed a multi-year agreement with Israeli health startup Luminox in September to establish an accelerator for Israeli digital health startups.

ZS Pharma, a biotech firm that was launched out of the Tech Fort Worth business incubator, has agreed to be acquired by AstraZeneca Plc for $2.7 billion in cash.

ZS Pharma investors will get $90 per share, London-based AstraZeneca said in a statement. That’s a 42 percent premium to Thursday’s close. The board of San Mateo, California-based ZS Pharma agreed to the transaction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rules for equity investing in crowdfunding sites are chock full o’ good and bad news for you.

In short, this could be a very good thing for investors—just know what you’re doing.

AstraZeneca entered into a definitive agreement Friday to buy ZS Pharma, a California biotechnology company, for $2.7 billion.

ZS Pharma (NASDAQ: ZSPH) of San Mateo, Calif., has an application seeking approval for ZS-9, its experimental treatment for hyperkalaemia, under review with the Food and Drug Administration. A European marketing application is expected before the end of the year.

The new venture is expected to make its first investments in the first quarter of 2016.

A new business entity will invest $30 million in Israeli digital medicine ventures, sources inform “Globes.” Collaborating with the venture will be US hospital Johns Hopkins, one of the world’s largest medical institutions,and Luminox-Health, an Israeli group dealing in digital medicine.

Johns Hopkins’s annual budget is more than $7 billion, and the new venture is expected to make its first investments already in the first quarter of 2016.

QIAGEN N.V. has announced the start of commercialization activities for its GeneReader NGS System, the first complete Sample to Insight next-generation sequencing (NGS) solution designed for any laboratory to deliver actionable results.

With the introduction of the GeneReader NGS System, QIAGEN is offering the world’s first truly end-to-end NGS workflow from primary sample to a final report that provides a simpler, more cost-effective way for clinical testing to take advantage of NGS technology and improve outcomes.

Greenspring Associates has closed its seventh venture capital fund-of-funds at $430 million, the firm announced today.

Greenspring Global Partners VII, L.P will focus on established and emerging VC managers, expansion stage companies and secondary stakes in funds and companies.