News

GAITHERSBURG, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GeneDx (Nasdaq: WGS), a leader in delivering improved health outcomes through genomic insights, announced today an indication expansion for its industry leading genetic testing to now include cerebral palsy (CP). In conjunction with Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, the company is expanding its strategy of focusing on pediatric rare disease patients to now include offering testing for pediatric patients with CP. This strategic indication expansion underscores the importance of improving access to exome and genome testing for patients with CP to shorten the diagnostic odyssey and accelerate the path to treatment.

Since I have been raising and deploying a venture fund focused on addressing health of women lately, I have had numerous occasions to be in rooms where the discussion ended up at “it’s really hard to raise venture capital for women’s health companies.”  The whole discussion of venture funding for women’s health (and by women’s health, I do NOT mean things that are limited only to conditions faced ONLY by women) is getting a lot of play lately as many organizations have, thankfully, risen to the occasion of developing funds to drive this market forward.  Granted, most of these funds remain on the small side and there are many entrepreneurs competing for these fresh new greenbacks, but hey, progress is progress.

By Annabel Baldy – In November’s What’s the Buzz?! LinkedIn Live session, Chris Frew, CEO of BioBuzz and Tammi Thomas, Chief Development & Marketing Officer, TEDCO explored TEDCO’s profound influence on Maryland’s entrepreneurial landscape. For over 26 years, TEDCO has played a pivotal role in fostering the growth of technology and life science startups, driving innovation, creating jobs, and strengthening the regional economy.

The TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo: Connecting Entrepreneurs to Resources
A key highlight of the discussion was the TEDCO Entrepreneur Expo, held in December in Baltimore. As a premier networking event, the Expo provides entrepreneurs with access to critical resources, direct connections with industry leaders, and insights into funding opportunities. Events like these are essential for cultivating an environment where startups can thrive. TEDCO’s funding programs not only inject capital into the economy but also fuel job creation and technological advancements.

By Kevin Davies, PhD – March 3, 2025 – After an illustrious career including 12 years as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and leading the international Human Genome Project (HGP) consortium, Francis Collins, MD, PhD, announced his sudden resignation from the NIH over the weekend.

He joined the NIH in 1993, a guitar-playing physician-scientist (and born-again Christian) who could not resist the challenge of helming the sequencing of the human genome. “How could I walk away from the chance to lead such an historic enterprise?” he wrote.

Collins served three presidents during his 12 years as NIH director, including the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as chief White House science advisor to President Biden, accepting the position following the sudden resignation of his HGP ally, Eric Lander, PhD. Throughout his tenure, Collins maintained his research lab at the NHGRI, publishing a paper in GEN’s sister peer-reviewed journal, The CRISPR Journal, led by Lori Bonnycastle, PhD, 12 months ago on the generation of induced pluripotent stem cell lines using prime editing.

By Alex Philippidis – February 26, 2025 – The FDA has granted Priority Review to Precigen’s Biologics License Application (BLA) for its lead candidate PRGN-2012, the company said—a step forward for a gene therapy that, if approved, would be the first treatment indicated for adults with the rare disease of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).

The FDA also set an August 27 target date for deciding on Precigen’s BLA under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). PRGN-2012—which Precigen has begun to call by its generic name of zopapogene imadenovec—is a gene therapy designed to elicit immune responses directed against cells infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) 6 or HPV 11.

BALTIMORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TNF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: TNFA) (“TNF” or the “Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing novel therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, today announced the initiation of a fully funded Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating oral TNF-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitor drug candidate isomyosamine as a treatment for chronic inflammation associated with muscle loss (frailty or sarcopenia) in patients who have undergone hip or femur fracture repair surgery.

Protenus, a leading healthcare compliance analytics platform that serves over 200 healthcare organizations, was acquired in January 2025 by Bluesight, a prominent provider of inventory management, procurement, and compliance solutions for health systems and hospital pharmacies. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in Protenus’ journey, which began nearly 12 years ago at Johns Hopkins University.

The story of Protenus began with the initiation of DreamIt Health Baltimore (BHI was also a DreamIt Partner), a former accelerator the university helped sponsor, which was organized by its parent company, DreamIt Ventures. The program received about 100 applications, and 10 teams were selected for the first cohort. Among them were medical students Nick Culbertson and Robert Lord. Initially, they set out to innovate in the digital health space without a specific product in mind however, their journey changed after they connected with Peter Greene, the Chief Medical Information Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

COLUMBIA, Md., (February 25, 2025) — TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced a recent $250,000 Venture Funds investment in Pathotrak. TEDCO’s evergreen Venture Funds are dedicated to funding and growing the next generation of early-stage technology and life sciences businesses in Maryland. Through this fund, companies are offered an experienced team that is focused on supporting the entrepreneurial journey.

“Ensuring food safety is a growing challenge, and current testing methods are often slow and costly for producers,” said Javier Atencia, CEO of Pathotrak. “With TEDCO’s continued support, we are advancing our technology in an effort to shorten the time required for pathogen detection, empowering manufacturers with what we hope are faster, more reliable solutions.”

By Benjamin Mueller -The Trump administration stormed into office, loudly firing workers and closing diversity programs. But behind the scenes, it has also brought biomedical research to the brink of crisis by holding up much of the $47 billion the United States spends on the field every year.

The world’s leading medical labs can be found in the United States, and they rely on grants from the National Institutes of Health. The agency has stopped vetting future studies on cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other ailments. Trump aides have said they just need time to review spending their predecessors had promised, but it’s unclear what they’re looking for at the N.I.H. or when scholars can expect to start receiving money again.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll walk you through what happened — and why it matters.

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Feb. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Alphyn, a clinical-stage dermatology company developing first-in-class Multi-Target Therapeutics^®, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for Zabalafin Hydrogel for the treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis. Zabalafin Hydrogel is unique in its ability to directly treat all the problems of AD, specifically directly treating the bacterial cause of AD, directly treating AD’s pruritus (itch), and directly treating the immuno-inflammatory cause of the disease.