News

RICHMOND, Va., May 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Activation Capital announces the launch of Frontier BioHealth, an educational and support program designed to provide highly specialized training, targeted mentorship, and relationship building to help scale pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and health-focused consumer products companies. The inaugural four-month program will be critical in bringing research-intense products and companies to market. It will broaden the continuum of regional early-stage support – additive to Virginia Commonwealth University’s proof of concept fund and newly launched pre-accelerator program – and continue to coalesce the emerging private investment ecosystem in Central Virginia.

Program performer teams to develop innovative ways for joints to heal themselves 

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced the Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis (NITRO) program’s five teams receiving awards to create and commercialize injectable and implantable regenerative therapies for osteoarthritis (OA). NITRO’s goal is to eradicate OA, a common and irreversible condition where bones and cartilage break down, and that often involves debilitating pain and loss of functional movement, and complex and costly reconstructive surgery.  

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Theriva™ Biologics (NYSE American: TOVX), a diversified clinical-stage company developing therapeutics designed to treat cancer and related diseases in areas of high unmet need, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation (FTD) to lead clinical candidate VCN-01 in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel to improve progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In VIRAGE, the ongoing multinational Phase 2b clinical study, intravenous VCN-01 is being evaluated in combination with standard-of-care (SoC) chemotherapy (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) as a first line therapy for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Previously, the FDA granted orphan drug designation to VCN-01 for treatment of PDAC.

Nona Biosciences, a global biotechnology company providing a total solution from “Idea to IND” (I to ITM), ranging from target validation and antibody discovery through preclinical research, announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) for preclinical monoclonal antibodies that will be used to create targeted therapies in oncology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nona Biosciences shall receive US$19 million upon completion of the transaction. Nona is eligible to receive an additional US$10 million in potential near-term milestone payments and up to US$575 million upon achieving specified development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalty payments on net sales. In addition, Nona is eligible to receive payments for the option programs should AstraZeneca exercise these options.

FREDERICK, Md., May 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Theradaptive, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing targeted therapeutics, announced today it has been awarded funding from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) to support human clinical trials for its lead product, OsteoAdapt SP.  OsteoAdapt SP is currently in Phase I/II clinical studies for transforaminal lumbar interbody spinal fusion (TLIF) to treat degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, and retrolisthesis.

Theradaptive was granted an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) in January 2024 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin its human clinical trial. This $1 million award from the MSCRF Clinical Program will enable Theradaptive to expand its OASIS human clinical study to sites in Maryland. More details can be found at ClinicalTrials.gov: identifier NCT06154005. Theradaptive also holds three Breakthrough Medical Device designations for various spine indications including TLIF, ALIF, and PLF.

Rockville, MD, May 22, 2024. PQE Group is proud to announce that, for the third consecutive year, its US subsidiary has been Certified™ by Great Place To Work®. This prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at PQE Group US. This year, 85% of employees in the US said it’s a great place to work, 28% higher than the average U.S. company.

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation. To obtain this recognition, PQE Group’s US employees completed a voluntary survey, responding to numerous questions regarding their satisfaction in a wide array of areas that encompass the framework of PQE Group’s company culture.

Legend Biotech obtains license to use MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ platform to support its non-viral engineered pipeline portfolio across a variety of cell types including T cells, Gamma-Delta T cells and NK Cells.

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MaxCyte, Inc., (Nasdaq: MXCT; LSE: MXCT), a leading, cell-engineering focused company providing enabling platform technologies to advance the discovery, development, and commercialization of next-generation cell-based therapeutics and innovative bioprocessing applications, today announced it has entered into a strategic platform license (SPL) agreement with Legend Biotech, a global leader in cell therapy.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNAC) (the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering mRNA cell therapy for autoimmune diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (“RMAT”) designation for Descartes-08 for the treatment of myasthenia gravis (“MG”).

Descartes-08, the Company’s lead product candidate, is an autologous mRNA CAR-T directed against the B cell maturation antigen (“BCMA”) initially being developed for the treatment of MG, a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes disabling muscle weakness and fatigue.

COLUMBIA, Md., May 21, 2024 — Welldoc^®, a leading digital health company specializing in AI-driven cardiometabolic health, announced today that it was Certified™ by Great Place to Work® for the third consecutive year. This prestigious award recognizes companies with exceptional workplace cultures based solely on employee feedback. An impressive 90 percent of employees said Welldoc is a great place to work, exceeding the U.S. average by 31 points.

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture, known for its expertise in employee experience and leadership practices that drive business success. The Great Place to Work Certification is based on results of the Trust Index™ survey administered by the Great Place to Work Institute, which assesses employee satisfaction in key areas, including credibility, respect, fairness and camaraderie.

Looking forward to the Autumn of 2024, the BioHealth Capital Region is gearing up for three major events, September 17th, 18th, and 19^th, 2024, that promise to bring together industry leaders, investors, and innovators from across the biopharma and healthcare sectors. Whether you’re a company seeking investment, an entrepreneur ready to showcase your innovations, or an industry professional looking to network and gain insights, these events are not to be missed. Mark your calendars and stay tuned as registration and application sites will be going live soon.

10th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Forum

Dates: September 17-18, 2024
Venue: US Pharmacopeia, Rockville, MD

Celebrate a decade of achievements and advancements at the 10th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Forum. This milestone event will reflect on ten years of progress within the BioHealth sector and set the stage for future innovations. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions, participate in networking sessions, and connect with hundreds of C-level executives from government, academia, and industry. If you’re looking to stay on the cutting edge of biopharma developments, this is the place to be.