Biopharmaceutical venture capital investment climbed from $4.52 billion in 2013 to $5.29 billion in 2014, a 17% increase, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
Joel Marcus, chief executive of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., has been in biotech since its early days. From 1984 to 1994, he had a law career with expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry that included time as general counsel and secretary of Kirin-Amgen Inc., a joint venture between Kirin Brewery Co. and Amgen Inc.
Maryland is no stranger to USGBC’s Top 10 States for LEED list, and every year it has a strong list of impressive LEED projects certifying across the state. Maryland was the third state in the nation for LEED in 2014 (2.7 square-feet of LEED certified space per resident) based on the strength of its 132 newly certified projects.
One project that stands out this year is Qiagen’s new North America headquarters building, which is important not only because of its impressive architecture, but also because of the building’s purpose and what projects like this one symbolize about the growing impact of the green building movement across the country. Qiagen uses its 66,735 square foot headquarters for new research in the field biotechnology as well as its North American manufacturing operations. Skanska USA, a Platinum level member of USGBC, served as the contractor on the Qiagen project, ushering the building toward LEED certification.
Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: PIRS)and The University of Melbourne today announced the receipt by the University of a research grant to further develop Pieris’ novel protein Anticalin®-brand therapeutic, PRS-060, in immunological diseases. The grant — which will support Pieris’ Australian subsidiary, Pieris Australia, and is disbursed by Australia’s peak medical research funding body, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) — totals more than $AUS 500,000 and covers activities to advance PRS-060 for inhaled delivery to treat asthmatics.
WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (WX: Quote) announced that an Investigational New Drug or IND application for WuXi MedImmune’s novel anti-IL6 monoclonal antibody for rheumatoid arthritis has been accepted for review by the China Food and Drug Administration or CFDA.
In September 2012, MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and WuXi AppTec formed the joint venture WuXi MedImmune Biopharmaceutical Co. Limited to develop and commercialize MEDI5117, a novel, investigational, long-acting monoclonal antibody for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, the first such collaboration in China between a global company and a Chinese company to develop novel biologics.
Swimtag and Brain Sentry were the winners at the 2015 Sports Technology Awards, at an event where wearable tech companies dominated the nominations.
The event, which is in its second year, is set up to recognise the technology that’s playing an increased role across sport – be it tracking, broadcasting or participation.
The Maryland General Assembly recently honored University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan with a special tribute. In both chambers of the General Assembly, delegates and senators on March 20 recognized Chancellor Kirwan for his 50 years of service to Maryland higher education.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller offered separate tributes to Kirwan, who has served as USM chancellor since 2002 and announced in May 2014 that he will step down from his leadership position. Kirwan will remain as chancellor through June 30, 2015. University of Massachusetts System President Robert L. Caret will succeed him.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Anthrasil Tuesday for treating inhalational anthrax alongside antibacterial drugs, triggering a $7 million payment to Emergent BioSolutions under a Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority contract.
A rare disease, inhalational anthrax occurs after an individual is exposed to an infected animal or animal products that have been contaminated. Infection is also possible when anthrax spores are intentionally released, leading to the inhalation of Bacillus anthracis. After the bacterium enters the body, it replicates and produces toxins, causing massive, irreversible injury to tissues. Damage can also be so severe that an infection can be fatal.
AKT IP Ventures today announced the launch of a targeted $20 million incubation investment fund that will finance the creation and operation of IP-based businesses in the mobile, multi-touch, wearables, IoT, big data and medical technology sectors. As an incubator and operator of emerging IP-based businesses, AKT IP Ventures offers a unique, constructive and creative alternative to the litigation model of patent monetization. Employing a disciplined approach to bringing IP-based technologies to market, AKT IP Ventures turns patents into viable enterprises that create jobs, generate value and bring exciting new technologies and innovations into the marketplace.
Last night in Cambridge, LSN joined Women In Bio for a Shark Tank-style pitch event. The audience heard pitches from five life science entrepreneurs. Across the table from them were four experienced early stage life science investors playing the role of “sharks”.
So what did we learn from these life science innovators and from the sharks’ cutting responses to their pitches?
David Johnson was just one minute into making his pitch when the interruptions started.
“Why do I care?” barked a bespectacled man at the back of the seminar hall. Johnson, chief executive of the California biotechnology start-up GigaGen, blinked. He had condensed his company’s story into a neat ten-minute presentation for I-Corps, a nine-week course designed to teach business skills to entrepreneurial scientists like him. Now his talk was derailed.
