Oak Investment Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Revolution should be familiar players now to those companies in Maryland looking to get venture capital funding.
All three were in the top 10 in terms of firms that invested in Maryland companies in 2013; this year, all three made the top five, along with two newcomers. The information comes from our List of Venture Capital Firms that invested in Maryland companies in 2014.
MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, today announced that it has entered into a new five year Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), an independent public foundation with the mission to foster research and the scientific and technological development of the State of São Paulo in Brazil. This collaboration, which is the result of a cross-functional effort among MedImmune, AstraZeneca Brazil, and the State of São Paulo, will focus on identifying and accessing the best science and scientists in the cardiovascular and metabolic disease areas at São Paulo’s public and private research institutions.
Nimbus Therapeutics will have $43 million to progress clinical trials of its non-alcoholic liver disease drug after the company successfully completed a financing round.
The Series B investment was led by Pfizer Venture Investments and Lightstone Ventures. Previous investors, including Atlas Venture, SR One, Lilly Ventures and Bill Gates, also participated.
Juan González sees one glaring difference between Spain and the U.S.
Just like America, Spain has plenty of ideas, entrepreneurs, investors and even accelerators to support startups.
MdBio Foundation is hosting ATLAS College + Career STEM Symposium. This event targets high school upperclassmen and college undergraduates from backgrounds typically underrepresented in STEM.
ATLAS needs STEM professionals and graduate students to participate in upcoming events. Please contact Erica Smith if you would like to volunteer or for additional details.
Limited sponsorship packages are still available to support this highly successful program and other MdBio Foundation initiatives. Contact Brian Gaines to learn more.
The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced today that three Maryland companies received funding from its Cybersecurity Investment Fund (CIF). Strajillion, Protenus, and Ridgeback are the first three companies, each receiving $100,000, through CIF. The Fund supports Maryland companies develop and commercialize new cybersecurity products or services by providing investments of up to $100,000.
“CIF is the first dedicated cybersecurity fund created in the State to help establish Maryland as the innovation hub of information security,” said Rob Rosenbaum, president and executive director of TEDCO. “We are extremely pleased to have funded these companies and believe they have created very unique products and with the financial support from CIF, are confident they can accelerate their development and commercial launch.”
A newly released independent study, commissioned by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), documents the significant impact academia-industry technology transfer makes to the U.S. economy.
The report, entitled, “The Economic Contribution of University/Nonprofit Inventions in the United States: 1996- 2013,” estimates that, during this 18-year time period, academia-industry patent licensing bolstered U.S. gross industry output by up to $1.18 trillion, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by up to $518 billion, and supported up to 3,824,000 U.S. jobs.
The world’s first venture capital fund dedicated to finding new ways to prevent and treat dementia has raised more than $100 million with the backing of the British government and several of the world’s leading drugmakers.
The global Dementia Discovery Fund is unique in focusing on a single difficult to treat disorder and in bringing together industry and government.
Qiagen acquired AdnaGen’s circulating tumor cell (CTC) enrichment technology to boost its capabilities in liquid biopsies. Separately, the company formed a partnership with Tokai Pharmaceuticals to combine its new CTC technology with a molecular assay to co-develop and commercialize a companion diagnostic for Tokai’s galeterone, which is in late-stage clinical trials for treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The noninvasive test will determine the expression of the AR-V7 biomarker, which in recent studies has demonstrated potential utility to guide therapy choice in CRPC patients, according to Qiagen officials.
GSK today announced it will be a key partner, with an investment of $25m (approx £17m), in a pioneering new global fund for dementia research. The Dementia Discovery Fund, which is being established by the UK government with initial commitments totalling $100m, brings together leading pharmaceutical companies, the UK government and Alzheimer’s Research UK to address the rising threat posed by dementia by supporting research into future treatments.
The fund aims to identify and nurture promising new avenues of research from around the world in the field of dementia and supports GSK’s commitment to explore novel, collaborative approaches in challenging areas of research. It is hoped that by providing critical financial support and expert advice during the early stages of research, the development of innovative new treatments for this disease could be accelerated.
