News Archive

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.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its treatment for inhaled anthrax, triggering a $7 million milestone payment from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The company developed the treatment, Anthrasil, as part of a $160 million contract it signed in 2005 with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a part of the HHS.

Health for America is pleased to announce that Medstar will host the 2015-16 Health for America Fellowship in Washington D.C., in partnership with the global startup incubator, 1776.

The Fellowship will give a small group of exceptional young healthcare leaders the opportunity to put aside their day-to-day work and focus instead on finding high-impact, low-cost solutions for patients suffering from chronic diseases. Led by the MedStar Institute for Innovation (MI2), the 2015 Fellowship will give fellows broad access to providers, entrepreneurs, and other experts throughout MedStar, a regional not-for-profit health system advancing the practice of medicine through education, innovation and research.

BHI President and CEO Rich Bendis to Present

With 800+ life sciences companies, Over 70 federal labs and world class academic and research institutions, the biotechnology cluster in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC sets the bar for biotechnology innovation. Join us for an event that will spotlight a world class technology community that has accounted for 1/3 of all job growth in Maryland and has been a significant economic driver for the region over the past decade.

World renowned speakers, industry luminaries and commercial giants will convene for this unique Maryland Regional Biotech Forum to highlight the accomplishments of today and chart our successes of tomorrow.

Frederick City and the County have agreed to partner with the state to help Medimmune expand. 

Last week, the County Council agreed to participate with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development’s Maryland Economic Development Assistance and Authority Fund (MEDAAF) to  provide a $1.5-million loan to Medimmune.

New Enterprise Associates expects to hold a final close next month.

Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates has secured approximately $2.57 billion in capital commitments for its fifteenth fund, Fortune has learned.

Johns Hopkins brings to mind the renowned research university and hospital in Baltimore.

The latter has been the working home to such medical lights as neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who led a pioneering separation of twins born fused together at the cranium.

That these institutions are known primarily for the work they do, not for the person whose money gave them life, would sit just fine with their founding donor.