News Archive

German pharma giant Bayer is uniting with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to ferret out new treatments for retinal diseases, signing a 5-year deal targeting early-stage R&D.

Under the agreement, Bayer will work alongside the school’s Wilmer Eye Institute to spot new therapeutic targets, shed light on disease mechanisms and develop new drug delivery methods for back-of-the-eye ailments. Bayer will have exclusive rights to option any and all drug candidates that emerge from the collaboration, and the companies are keeping quiet on financial details.

Bayer HealthCare and Johns Hopkins University entered into a five-year collaboration to develop ophthalmic therapies that target retinal diseases. They will work together on discovery and development of drugs for treatment of eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema, among others.

72% percent of health IT leaders think consumer and patient considerations are the most important business issue affecting care delivery.

Registrants can now save $300 on MedCity ENGAGE on July 14-15 in Bethesda, MD. Sign up now to take advantage of advanced general registration.

MedCity ENGAGE is an executive-level event featuring the most innovative thinking from payers, providers, policymakers, health IT and beyond to highlight best-in-class approaches to one of the biggest challenges in healthcare: patient engagement. It will feature speakers discussing the current attempts to innovate in care delivery and reimbursement, along with the innovations that will form the backbone of technological infrastructure.

BioBuzz is an ongoing monthly networking group of professionals from all sectors of the Biotech/Pharma/Life-sciences industries. Each month we host a FREE event for like-minded people to come together and network, reconnect with past coworkers, build stronger relationships and share stimulating conversations in a welcoming atmosphere.

This month’s event is made possible by our sponsor, Breezio (@brzio), who is helping to advance the pace of research and discovery through their Research Collaboration Platform. Join us at the upcoming Bethesda event – June 25th at Barking Dog Bar – to meet them and learn about Team Science.

Lake Whillans, in an effort to help level the playing field for entrepreneurs in the new world of healthcare investing, has partnered with MedCity News to deliver independent research on corporate venture capital in the life sciences. MedCityNews.com reached out to its 400,000 monthly readers, and more than 450 healthcare innovators familiar with corporate firms shared their insights.

Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline could reportedly become the latest takeover target in the industry.

According to the Daily Mail, market participants are speculating that the company may face an approach from Switzerland’s Roche or US company Johnson & Johnson at about 1900p per share.

Scientific American has released its list of the 100 most influential people in biotechnology.

I am honored to be included in this exclusive list and recognized for my thought leadership on the business of biotechnology.

There is always talk, sometimes tongue-in-cheek but mostly sort of serious, that a lot of jobs will be replaced by robots or computers. Maybe that new iPhone I just bought will replace me by year end. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla thinks that the most doctors’ current functions will be replaced by algorithms; many believe that lots of white collar jobs, such as lawyers, accountants, and bankers will be replaced by machines with warmer personalities. Venture capitalists have already been “supplemented” with algorithms and, no doubt, there are plenty of people who would like to see us replaced by nearly anything metal—spatula, can opener–if they had their way. In Iron Man we see a world of robot-based soldiers going to war and in real life the echo of that is not so far off.

Only a year after its founding, Bethesda-based health tech company Aledade Inc. raised $30 million in a Series B fundraising, it announced Monday.

ARCH Venture Partners led the funding round with an investment from Series A investor Venrock, which first invested $4.5 million in Aledade to start the company last June.

Two years ago, a television cartoon in Pakistan made waves for its star, a superheroine named “Burka Avenger,” who promotes positive social change while clad in the titular billowing black silk outfit. With the tagline “don’t mess with the lady in black,” the show presents plotlines promoting gender equality, environmentalism and health.