Thrasos Therapeutics, a biotherapeutics company focused on delivering new solutions for kidney disease, today announced that it has completed a $21M Series D financing led by BDC Capital and SR One with participation by all current investors. Thrasos’ Board of Directors will be expanded with the addition of Ela Borenstein, Managing Partner at BDC Capital Healthcare Venture Fund.
Cerner Corporation and Epic Systems have joined iPatientCare as CMS Designated Test EHR Program participants. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced the two rival companies’ participation April 6. The CMS program, designed to test electronic data exchange capabilities, is voluntary. Since the Test EHR Program was launched just over a year ago, more than 4,000 providers have registered to conduct tests, and more than 5,000 have successfully attested to the transition of care meaningful use core objective, ONC notes. In the past the program also included MEDITECH and McKesson.
Another startup-focused program from TEDCO is on the way. The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) an innovation grant this week. TEDCO will use the $500,000 i6 Challenge award to launch a program for commercialization of medical devices. The program, called Maryland Structure Efficient Professional Product Development (mdSTEPP), is aiming to create 5-7 new medical device companies a year. It’s another example of the state working to turn the research that emerges from Maryland’s hospitals, labs and other centers into profitable businesses. The announcement also comes as University of Maryland officials are looking to expand the institution’s BioPark in Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins University is finally making the investment in commercialization that many have long wanted.
Foundation Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ:FMI) today announced the closing of its strategic transaction with Roche. This transaction included the purchase by Roche of approximately 15.6 million shares of common stock by means of a tender offer from Foundation Medicine stockholders at a price of $50 per share. Concurrently Roche also purchased an additional 5 million newly issued shares directly from the company at the same price per share for gross proceeds to Foundation Medicine of $250 million. As a result of these two related transactions Roche is a majority shareholder in Foundation Medicine. Foundation Medicine will maintain its operational independence with Roche having minority representation on Foundation Medicine’s Board of Directors.
When serial entrepreneurs Greg Cangialosi and Dave Troy launched the Baltimore Angels in 2009, the small group of investors heard pitches from hopeful entrepreneurs in a cramped Baltimore conference room, with maybe a pizza and bottle of water to share. Six years later, the Baltimore Angels are a crew of 40 investors, making deals upwards of $100,000. As Baltimore’s startup scene grows, Cangialosi is tightening the screws on the Baltimore Angels to attract new members, raise more money, ink more deals and be a driving force in the city’s entrepreneurship community.
STONY BROOK, N.Y., April 8, 2015 – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has granted Stony Brook University’s Center for Biotechnology a three-year $3 million award through the SUNY Research Foundation to establish the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH). The award is part of the NIH’s Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) program and one of only three granted nationwide. The LIBH will be a collaboration between Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory, and is designed to help accelerate the translation of biomedical discoveries into new drugs, devices, and diagnostics to improve patient care and enhance health.
CLARKSVILLE, MD–(Marketwired – Apr 6, 2015) – Neuronascent, a biopharmaceutical company developing non-invasive, neuron regenerative therapeutics aimed at reversing cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease, today announced the closing of a round of financing for up to $1.2 million. Neuronascent’s human neuronal progenitor-based discovery platform identified a number of novel orally-available therapeutics that promote new neuron generation at the same time inhibiting loss of neurons. Proceeds from this first institutional investment will allow the development of Neuronascent’s lead Alzheimer’s candidate, NNI-362, to the point of first-in-human clinical testing. The Company expects to complete all IND-enabling studies in 2015, with the considerable support of the National Institute of Aging’s (NIA) Alzheimer’s Disease Translational Research Program.
MDHIMSS annually awards scholarships of $2,500 each to two deserving students in the healthcare information system field:
I’ve reached the stage of my career where I’ve been invited to give “career retrospective talks” to grad students and post-docs at academic institutions. It’s been an interesting and enjoyable experience meeting a new generation of young scientists and hearing what’s on their minds. After delivering my seminar and sharing lots of stories and advice, the discussion quickly turns to jobs: what’s available out there, and how do you get one?
Gaithersburg-based MedImmune says it has received fast-track designation from the Food and Drug Administration for its MEDI8897, a drug being developed to prevent respiratory infections in infants and young children caused by respiratory syncytial virus. “We are working with a sense of urgency to develop a next-generation RSV [treatment] that we believe has the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands more infants, both in the U.S. and around the world,” said Steve Projan, senior vice president of research and development and infectious diseases and vaccines at MedImmune. “If successful, the fast-track designation will enable us to more quickly deliver a preventative solution.”
