News Archive

The National Institutes of Health on Thursday awarded almost $32-million in grants to more than two dozen institutions to devise innovative ways of helping researchers handle huge sets of data seen as increasingly central to future medical discoveries.

The grants are the first outlay in a project, announced last year and known as Big Data to Knowledge, that’s expected to involve more than $600-million in spending by 2020. Its goals include developing and distributing methods, software, and tools for sharing, analyzing, managing, and integrating data into medical research.

Join the BioBuzz networking group at our next free event. Along with 100’s of the region’s bioscience workers, you too could be making new connections, getting jobs and helping to build a stronger, more connected industry through the BioBuzz community!

The event is always free and we offer free drinks to the first 50 to 100 who arrive depending on how much we’ve been sponsored on a given month. People from all around the the region are coming out each month for this unique and welcoming monthly happy hour. It’s a great place to meet up with coworkers past and present, make new connections or just catch up on the latest industry gossip If you’re new and haven’t yet made it out to an event, then we hope that you’ll join us this month and see what all the Buzz is all about.

In 2014, startups took home nearly $1M in cash and prizes from the InvestMaryland Challenge. For 2015 we have new categories and are racking up partner prizes like cash grants, incubator space, legal advice and consulting services.

Start your application today! Applications are due December 12th.

$100,000 Grand Prize Categories

• IT HARDWARE/SOFTWARE
  Enterprise Software, Data Analytics, Social Media & Apps, E-Commerce and Marketing/ADTECH.
• DEFENSE & SECURITY
  Cybersecurity, Unmanned Systems, Defense, Communications Infrastructure, Public Infrastructure and Grid Security.
• LIFE SCIENCES
  Biopharmaceuticals, Medical Devices & Diagnostics, Nutraceuticals, Agriculture Bio & Aquaculture and Healthcare IT.
• SUSTAINABILTY & EXPLORATION
  EdTech, Energy, Solar Power, Space & Satellite Technologies, Climate Change/Weather, Water Management and Materials Science.

To attend a NICE/UKTI Scientific Advice Seminar for developers of devices and diagnostics.

Learn how to prepare for an evaluation by NICE, the UK’s health technology assessment body.

The seminar will cover:

• “Value” from the perspective of NICE
• How value propositions link to the need for specific evidence
• The types of evidence considered by NICE
• The general principles of health technology assessment (HTA)
• Advantages of doing business in the UK

Who should attend?

• Developers of medical technologies, in particular SMEs
• Investors in the field of medical technologies
• Anyone new to the world of health technology assessment
• Academics, scientists, or clinicians who want to know more about how NICE assesses the value of innovative products

The seminar program is funded by UKTI to allow you free event registration (standard event rate – $550)

It has been said that there is no money for start-ups here. NOT TRUE! Montgomery County is proud to shine the spotlight on local success stories from our business community.

During 2013 and through this year, Montgomery County businesses from targeted growth sectors have received local and state investments to support their ongoing growth and success. From grants, loans and tax credit incentives, to targeted funding programs and competitive investment awards, local companies are proving they have what it takes and continue to contribute to the growth of the innovative economy in Montgomery County.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and University of Maryland, College Park will work with MITRE Corp. on a new cyber security research and development center in Montgomery County.

McLean, Va.-based MITRE was selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a $29 million award to operate a new federally funded research and development center dedicated to cyber security. The center will be housed at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Montgomery County.

The University of Maryland is building a new computing network intended to provide local scientists with high-speed access to data centers, the university announced last week.

Mid-Atlantic Crossroads, a network operated by the state’s flagship university, plans to partner with Bytegrid, a McLean-based data center company.

The University Economic Development Association (UEDA) announced its 2014 Awards of Excellence winners during its Annual Summit held this week in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Awards of Excellence Program recognizes UEDA members who are transforming their campuses into engines of economic prosperity through leading edge initiatives in five categories:

1. Community Connected Campus: initiatives that promote the physical development of quality connected campuses and their surrounding communities;
2. Research and Analysis: initiatives that enhance the capacity of colleges and universities to provide new forms of research and tools for community, economic and workforce development practitioners;
3. Leadership and Collaboration: initiatives that support the development of collaborative economic development strategies and the leaders required to implement them;
4. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: initiatives designed to support startups, high-growth companies and clusters within a region; and
5. Talent Development: initiatives that promote the development of 21st-century skills.

Rich Overmoyer, UEDA’s Executive Director and President & CEO of Fourth Economy Consulting stated, “As we benchmark cities of regional transformation across North America, there is a noticeable trend in the impact that quality institutions of higher education have on regions of growth.” Overmoyer continued, “these Awards of Excellence category winners and finalists represent regions where universities are playing a role to create sustainable economic growth.”

Biotech companies are looking for ways to speed up drug discovery and pharmaceutical companies need an easier way to find accurate drug pricing information to make their businesses more competitive. So two big data analytics companies graduating from Blueprint Health’s accelerator have taken a cue from Maverick and Goose. One offers a way to shrink the amount of time genome analysis takes and another developed a way to make it easier for drug companies to find global drug price data in real time.

Medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson & Co (BDX.N) has agreed to buy CareFusion Corp (CFN.N), a maker of infusion pumps and other medical devices, for $12.2 billion in cash and stock, marking the latest multibillion-dollar healthcare sector deal.

Becton said on Sunday it would pay a total of $58.00 a share – $49.00 in cash and 0.0777 of a share of Becton Dickinson – for each share of CareFusion, representing a premium of 26 percent to the closing price on Oct. 3.