271st Edition – September 19, 2017

ConverGene has entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with University of Maryland, Baltimore. Under this agreement University of Maryland School of Medicine Professor Curt I. Civin, M.D., who is associate dean for research and director of the Center For Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, will investigate the in vivo anti-leukemic effects of ConverGene’s lead drug candidates, CG223 and CG250. Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) is a likely first disease target for these compounds.

The company just received a Series A investment from VSP Global, one of the country’s largest networks of vision doctors.

Threats come in all sizes, some so small you can’t see. The damage, however can be catastrophic.

Emergent BioSolutions creates remedies for diseases like cancer and ebola, chemical attacks like anthrax, as well as those against our troops, like mustard gas.

UK-based liquid biopsy firm Angle said today that it has inked a comarketing agreement with Qiagen for circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology.

Shuttle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (USA) and POLA Pharma Inc. (Japan), today announced agreement to license the U.S. rights for doranidazole, a hypoxic cell radiation sensitizer, for clinical development in treating cancers in combination with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). SBRT is used to deliver large doses of radiation in a few treatments with precise targeting of cancers. Current radiation dose limitations, due to sensitive normal tissues that may surround a tumor, support a role for radiation sensitizers to enhance the effectiveness of radiation. Clinical trials to determination safety and efficacy of the combination of doranidazole and SBRT are proposed for treating patients with pancreatic, lung and liver cancers.

After holding it in the District for years, the health system is packing up and taking its annual symposium across the country.

Fractal Technology, a startup founded at Johns Hopkins, was recently acquired by Annapolis Junction–based Sunayu, according to the cofounders.

The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, College Park were ranked among the top tier in the U.S. News and World Report annual rankings of colleges and universities released Tuesday.

What does it really cost to bring a drug to market?

The question is central to the debate over rising health care costs and appropriate drug pricing. President Trump campaigned on promises to lower the costs of drugs.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPP), a private biotech company developing novel therapeutics to prevent cancer and other diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted “Fast-Track” status for its lead drug CPP-1X/sul for adults with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), which is currently in a Phase 3 clinical trial. FAP is a rare genetic disease that if left untreated progresses to colorectal cancer in nearly 100% of patients. Currently there is no effective treatment for FAP.

The greatest economic development sweepstakes in the country is underway and Montgomery County officials are hoping the county can be a player.

Amazon is searching for a second headquarters site to house as many as 50,000 employees, at an expected cost of $5 billion to construct. The footprint for the new headquarters would be up to 8 million square feet by 2027 and an initial 500,000 square feet by 2019.

When Knox Singleton first took the helm at Inova Health System in 1984, Mobil Corp. was still building its campus — the first major corporate headquarters ever landed by Fairfax County — on the massive wooded lot just across the street from the health system’s Fairfax hospital.

Flagship Pioneering (fka Flagship Ventures), a Cambridge, MA-based life sciences venture capital firm, is seeking to raise $500m for its latest fund.

Congressional lawmakers from both parties have rejected the Trump administration’s proposals to cut spending for NIH, and have joined forces to increase spending on biomedical research.

Developers Taconic Investment Partners and Silverstein Properties are spending $20 million to renovate the 326,861-sf Movie Lab building in Midtown Manhattan for life science research usage.

In the conference room of a spacious loft office near 30th Street Station, Usman “Oz” Azam and Michael Christiano huddle for a meeting. They’re CEO and chief business officer, respectively, of Tmunity Therapeutics, a start-up launched to commercialize some breakthrough research out of the University of Pennsylvania — a method of reengineering a patient’s own immune system cells so they can destroy cancer tumors.

A trade and diplomatic mission to South Korea led by officials from the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Maryland Secretary of State’s office concluded the evening of Friday, September 8, 2017, with a reception at the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea’s residence in Seoul.

The Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science and Technology is located on the Montgomery College Germantown Campus. We’re also known as PIC MC. The College is ideally situated in Montgomery County, Maryland, within the Washington, DC metropolitan region.

The area is home to more than 350 bioscience companies and key federal institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research.

Surrounded by woodlands, the site provides immediate access to the I-270 technology corridor. The park is currently being developed to accommodate life sciences, cybersecurity, and other technology companies.