Germantown-based Intrexon Corp. a synthetic biology company, plans to raise up to $150 million though a secondary offering of common stock, the company said late Tuesday.
Intrexon (NYSE: XON) was trading at around $29 a share Wednesday.
Washington, D.C.-based REGENXBIO Inc., announced today that it had completed a $30 million Series C financing. The round was led by Enrick and Brookside Capital. Also participating were Deerfield Management and an unnamed new investor.
Following AstraZeneca’s December announcement that it is taking steps to reintroduce the EGFR-targeted non-small cell lung cancer drug Iressa (gefitinib) in the US, Qiagen said last week that it would develop a tissue-based molecular diagnostic test to accompany the drug’s launch.
Venture capital investment soared in 2014, hitting a high that hasn’t been seen since 2000. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, $52.12 billion was invested in private companies last year by venture and private equity firms, as well as corporations, hedge funds and mutual funds, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has 3 targeted funding opportunities with deadlines in February. It’s also not too early to start preparing for the April 5 Omnibus solicitation deadline. Check your registrations (SAM must be renewed annually!) and reach out to discuss your project.
For questions about the NHLBI SBIR/STTR programs, contact Small Business Coordinator Jennifer Shieh, PhD at NHLBI_SBIR@mail.nih.gov
Human Cellular Models for Predicting Individual Responses to CFTR-Directed Therapeutics— Due February 9
For the development and validation of novel in vitro human cell-based tools for predicting the responses of individual patients to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)-directed therapeutics for cystic fibrosis lung disease.
SBIR: RFA-HL-15-027 STTR: RFA-HL-15-026
For questions about these funding opportunities, contact:
Robert Smith, PhD, robert.smith4@nih.gov
Program Director, Division of Lung Diseases
Development of a Microfluidic Platform for Blood Testing in Neonatal & Pediatric Patients— Due February 10 (Phase II only)
For the development of microfluidic devices to analyze blood for factors related to the thrombotic, transfusion, and/or hemostatic status of pediatric/neonatal patients.
SBIR—Phase II only: RFA-HL-14-026
This application must be based on an awarded SBIR or STTR-funded Phase I project.
For questions about this funding opportunity, contact:
Ronald Warren, PhD, rwarren@nhlbi.nih.gov
Program Director, Division of Blood Diseases and Resources
Stem Cell-Derived Blood Products for Therapeutic Use: Technology Improvement— Due February 20
For tools and technologies that enable further advances in the manufacturing process to produce safe and functional blood and platelet products at reduced costs.
SBIR: RFA-HL-15-030 STTR: RFA-HL-15-029
Slides from the January 8 webinar are available—please send a request to NHLBI_SBIR@mail.nih.gov.
For questions about these funding opportunities, contact:
Shimian Zou, PhD, shimian.zou@nih.gov
Program Director, Division of Blood Diseases and Resources
John Thomas, PhD, thomasj@nhlbi.nih.gov
Program Director, Division of Blood Diseases and Resources
Startup Maryland (www.startupmd.org) today announced appointment of serial entrepreneur Shahab Kaviani as Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR).
A recognized leader of startup communities globally, Kaviani brings over a decade of first-hand entrepreneurial expertise and leadership experience most-recently as co-founder and CEO of Rockville, MD based CoFoundersLab (now Onevest). Previously, Kaviani served on the executive management team growing another Maryland company, HyperOffice, into a cloud-collaboration software leader.
PharmAthene Inc. now knows how much money it stands to get in its long-running lawsuit with Siga Technologies Inc.: A judge Thursday said Siga must pay PharmAthene $195 million and $30,663 per day in interest if Siga loses its appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The case dates to 2006, when Annapolis-based PharmAthene sued New York-based Siga after the companies’ planned merger fell apart. PharmAthene claimed it was entitled to some of the profits from Tecovirimat, Siga’s smallpox antiviral.
Nick Culbertson was a Green Beret. Robert Lord worked at a hedge fund in Connecticut. Then after a career change, both found themselves in medical school at Johns Hopkins University. But while there, the pair met and discovered a much greater need.
The most significant announcement that Apple made in 2014 wasn’t a larger-sized iPhone. It was that Apple is entering the health-care industry. With HealthKit, it is building an iTunes-like platform for health; Apple Watch is its first medical device. Apple is, however, two steps behind Google, IBM, and hundreds of startups. They realized much earlier that medicine is becoming an information technology and that the trillion-dollar health-care market is ripe for disruption.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the largest owner and developer of real estate for the life-sciences industry in the nation wants to raise up to $20 million to build digital health startups in San Francisco, SFGate reports. Last year, the real estate developer announced that it would start three new accelerators nationwide to focused on agriculture, biotech and digital health. The biotech space is already up and running in New York City and has attracted giant pharma companies such as Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lily & Co with $51 million in funding. The agriculture space is scheduled to open later this year in North Carolina.