News Archive

Venture capital (VC) funding for the Life Sciences sector, which includes Biotechnology and Medical Devices, reached $2.5 billion in 195 deals for the second quarter of 2014, according to a new report, “Biotech soars to record high,” which includes data from the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data provided by Thomson Reuters. While this quarter was the highest Life Sciences investment since the second quarter 2007, it was also the strongest second quarter since 1995, which is the earliest data recorded by the MoneyTree.

Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur, author and professor at Stanford University, developed the curriculum for the National Science foundation’s business boot camp for scientists before the NIH adopted it for scientists in the SBIR grant program. At a fireside chat at New York University Langone Medical Center hosted by NYC Bio this week, Blank talked about a new investment group called M34 Capital that will invest in technologies seeded by federally funded research, particularly graduates of I-Corps boot camps.

Led by CEO Errol Arkilic, founding and lead program director for the NSF I-Corps program, the Berkeley-based company was co-founded by Arkilic, Blank, Jim Hornthal, and Tom Baruch, according to its website. Its seed investment spans from $50,000 to $250,000. “We want to be the first external capital invested, and work closely with the founding team to help refine their business model and create the framework to systematically demonstrate its full potential,” according to the website. “We believe that the best entrepreneurs have the ability to blend technical insight with market-based feedback, allowing their innovations to mature into a successful company.”

Bayer HealthCare appears to be the first pharmaceutical company that started its own accelerator. The company that made €18.924 million in turnover in 2013 “understands that innovation and healthcare cannot only be driven by the industry but also needs creativity.” This was announced by Christian Ullrich, Head of Marketing & Sales IT at Bayer HealthCare yesterday.

Bayer has partnered with universities and smaller companies before and started Grants4Apps, a crowdsourcing initiative last year. This year, it was turned into an accelerator.

The National Institutes of Health is challenging science innovators to compete for prizes totaling up to $500,000, by developing new ways to track the health status of a single cell in complex tissue over time. The NIH Follow that Cell Challenge seeks tools that would, for example, monitor a cell in the process of becoming cancerous, detect changes due to a disease-causing virus, or track how a cell responds to treatment.

Tue, Sep 9, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Hosted by NHLBI

In this Hangout, we will discuss the basic concepts of medical device regulation in the U.S., what is considered significant risk versus non-significant risk, and how the level of risk factors into the regulation of new product development.

Howard University Hospital will receive $11 million in federal grants toward developing new therapeutics for the Ebola virus, Howard officials said.

At least $2 million from the National Institutes of Health will go toward developing a new drug to target a particular protein of the Ebola virus. As well, $2 million will go toward work at the hospital researching HIV resistance in people with sickle cell disease, officials said.

With a massive influx of new funding, Frederick pharmaceutical company Vaccinogen Inc. is preparing to make big moves that leaders hope will put it on the map.

Vaccinogen announced Aug. 25 it had secured $80 million in funding from Stockholm investors and closed the first $10 million tranche of the funding. The funding will support late-stage clinical studies needed to make Vaccinogen’s OncoVAX commercially available. The drug is designed to reduce recurrence of colon cancer.

BHC Center of Financial & Investment Business (“BHC”), an Atlanta based affiliate of Bao Hao Investment Management Co., Ltd. of Shanghai, has announced the first of what it expects to be several equity investments in 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. (“20/20”). In making the investment BHC is seeking to help advance the introduction in China of 20/20’s blood test for the early detection of lung cancer (see www.BloodTestforLungCancer.com).

20/20 currently produces and markets this innovative blood test for the early detection of lung cancer in the United States. Primary care physicians employ the blood test to help detect lung cancer in patients who are smokers and former smokers. It is known as “PAULAs test.”

Date: September 18 – 19, 2014

Location: Baltimore, MD

This highly interactive course lets participants work in small teams to help understand the complexity of strategic planning and its challenges. Economic developers must build consensus among board members, stakeholders and the community as a whole, creating a unified vision for the future. Learn techniques to build consensus among stakeholders who represent different values and interests. Also, participants will learn the quantitative techniques used to better understand their community including: location quotients, shift share, input-output and cluster analyses. Explore project assessment methods for setting priorities and measuring your plan’s impact.

Get on the Bus!

Are you an entrepreneur ready to pitch your company? Register for your chance to film a 3-minute video pitch that will be seen online by VC, angel investors and voted on by fans around Maryland!

The Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce are hosting two Pitch Across Maryland stops in Montgomery County on Wednesday, October 1. Learn More Want to get on the bus and film your pitch? Apply Here.

The Montgomery County application deadline is Monday, September 15.