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– BHI offers program that guides biohealth startups in securing federal funding –  

ROCKVILLE AND BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, June 10, 2014 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that two local biohealth companies to which it has provided strategic assistance, N5 Sensors, Inc. and BioDatomics, have secured Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards. N5 Sensors, a BHI client, received two awards: one from the Enivronmental Protection Agency (EPA) and one from the National Science Foundation (NSF). BioDatomics, which participated in a federal funding assistance program offered by BHI, secured an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)¹.  The U.S. federal government’s SBIR program encourages domestic small businesses to engage in federal research and development that has the potential for commercialization. The SBIR program empowers these companies to develop their trade and provides a path to profitability.  

“BHI is dedicated to supporting start-up biohealth companies in Central Maryland in their submission of competitive SBIR applications,” said Ethan Byler, Director, Innovation Programs, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. “We congratulate N5 Sensors and BioDatomics on receiving SBIR grants from the EPA, NSF and the NIH, respectively.”

N5 Sensors of Rockville, which is developing a new generation of chemical sensors that can detect harmful chemicals mixed in air in very small quantities, recently announced that the EPA has issued a SBIR Phase I grant to the company for its low-power, small form-factor benzene sensors for exposure monitoring using mobile devices. The $100,000 grant will support N5’s work developing sensors that can detect small amounts of benzene in the air. A University of Maryland, College Park spin-off, N5 Sensors, Inc. has engaged BHI to support its commercial strategy. N5 has also recently been awarded a Phase I SBIR from the NSF to develop chip-scale carbon monoxide and ammonia sensors.

The NCIIA 19th annual conference–Open 2015–will be held March 20-21 in Washington, D.C. The conference will cover all aspects of tech entrepreneurship in higher education. Specific topics include program models, student perspectives, and entrepreneurship in low-resource settings. Call for Proposals now open: deadline 9/10.

About the Conference:

March 20-21, Washington, D.C.

NCIIA is dedicated to fostering an emerging generation of young inventors and entrepreneurs driven to improve life for people and the planet. Our Open conferences gather together engaged faculty and university students from across multiple disciplines to share stories, start new collaborations and learn best practices in technology entrepreneurship education.

FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 8:00 am

Emerging Strategies for the Production and Characterization of Biosimilars

The biomanufacturing industry faces an unprecedented challenge with the emergence of biosimilars.  The pathway to approval for biosimilars is a fluid process and several key aspects are still not determined.  The University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will deliver a one-day symposium on the current trends of characterization and production of biosimilars.  On Friday, June 13, 2014 at 8:30 am join the thought-leaders, policy-makers, and creators of biosimilars as we present current trends, ideas, and predictions.

Guest Speaker:  Rich Bendis, Founder, President & CEO, BioHealth Innovation, Inc.

The chair-elect of the Economic Development Committee, Leslie Weber, welcomed MCCC members and introduced the guest speaker, Rich Bendis, Founder, President & CEO, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI). BHI is an innovation intermediary that connects market relevant research assets to appropriate funding, management, and global markets to facilitate the development of commercially viable biohealth products and companies.

The organization co-founds early stage biohealth companies and works directly with existing regional commercially relevant biohealth firms on their early business development milestones to accelerate commercialization.  Ninety percent of the companies BHI is working with are in Montgomery County Maryland.

Wondering what the future of health IT in Marylands holds? Judging by the startups that presented their successes during Maryland’s first health IT accelerator demo day we are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the exciting new technologies that will be making their appearance over the next few years. BHI is proud to have been a founding sponsor of this initiative. With the added support of major players from Maryland’s biohealth community, DreamIt Health Baltimore has proven to be a success – one that shows that for Maryland to truly become the next big biohealth hub, all key players need to work together in making that a reality.

DreamIt Ventures, the Johns Hopkins University and John Hopkins Medicine, Northrop Grumman Corporation, BioHealth Innovation and Kaiser Permanente, are hosting Demo Day for the cohort of healthtech startups that spent the last 16 weeks in the DreamIt Health Baltimore accelerator program. The event will be held tomorrow, April 30, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sheikh Zayed Auditorium (2119A) at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1800 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD.  The presenting companies will have the opportunity to briefly share their progress and future plans before an audience of several hundred investors, industry leaders, potential customers, members of the press and other colleagues. A webcast of the event will be broadcast through the Johns Hopkins UStream channel here.

“Demo Day is our capstone event, literally giving our portfolio companies a platform from which to share their stories, accomplishments to date and their roadmap for the future before a select audience of potential investors, partners and customers,” said Elliot Menschik, Managing Partner of DreamIt Health.