News Archive

The recent February issue of Health Affairs, which features a series of articles on innovation, provides us with an opportunity to examine the state of America’s innovation ecosystem for medical technology. This ecosystem has produced a myriad of medical advances, ranging from advanced imaging to molecular diagnostics, minimally invasive surgical tools, and incredibly sophisticated implants. These technologies have shortened hospital stays, reduced the economic burden of disease, and saved and improved millions of lives.

Crowdfunding is a hot idea in small biopharma, but a lot of people don’t quite know what to make of it. I’ve written about some academic examples of it, and I think that’s a good use of the idea. People can donate in the expectation that they’re helping along a research project, not because they’re looking for a big return on their money.

The NFL, GE, and Under Armour officials announced that they have joined with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to launch Head Health Challenge III, an open innovation competition to advance materials that better absorb or dissipate energy. These new materials could improve the performance of protective equipment for athletes, military personnel and those in dangerous occupations.

There have always been a lot of good reasons to locate a business in Montgomery County. 

Now there are 8 more.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is pleased to announce the expansion of the county’s innovative MOVE program.  Effective February 1, 2015, companies that sign their first three-year commercial lease in the county will receive a grant of $8 per square foot (sf).  Geared towards startups and businesses that locate into Montgomery County for the first time, the grant applies to companies that lease up to 10,000 sf. 

In a recent visit with The Chronicle, t he director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis S. Collins, spoke of brighter days ahead for his agency and medical researchers after a decade of tough budgetary constraints.

Inova Health System has leased Exxon Mobil’s Merrifield campus and plans to develop a multimillion-dollar Inova Center for Personalized Health, a major step toward becoming one of the world’s foremost institutions in the fledgling field.

The Fairfax health system wrapped up negotiations Friday morning to lease the 117-acre campus across from its flagship hospital for the next 99 years with the right of first refusal to acquire the property. The deal comes roughly two years after Exxon Mobil retained real estate brokerage Cassidy Turley, now DTZ, to position the four-building, 1.2 million-square-foot property for a potential sale or redevelopment.

The NFL, GE, and Under Armour officials announced that they have joined with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to launch Head Health Challenge III, an open innovation competition to advance materials that better absorb or dissipate energy. These new materials could improve the performance of protective equipment for athletes, military personnel and those in dangerous occupations.

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, and  Jeffrey A. Rivest, MS, President and Chief Executive Officer of University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), today announced the official launch of a new “Program in Lung Healing,” that will further the School’s position as a national leader in research, education and clinical innovation for acute ailments of the lung and respiratory system.