415th Edition – July 21, 2020

This invitation-only event is free for executive level biotech leaders and is presented by BioHealth Innovation, Virginia Bio, Children’s National Health System, Johns Hopkins University, JPMorgan, Maryland Department of Commerce, George Mason University, University System of Maryland, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and AstraZeneca.

The BioHealth Capital Region—Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC—sets the bar high for biotech innovation. So please join us for our 6th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Forum that will highlight the accomplishments of today and chart our successes of tomorrow.

For more information about our speakers and event schedule, please visit www.biohealthcapital.com/forum-2020

#BHCRForum20

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Researchers from AstraZeneca, the University of Oxford, and its spinout company Vaccitech today published preliminary Phase I/II data showing their closely-watched COVID-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222 (formerly ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) to have an acceptable safety profile, and favorable immunogenicity against the virus.

“A single dose elicited both humoral and cellular responses against SARS-CoV-2, with a booster immunization augmenting neutralizing antibody titres. The preliminary results of this first-in-human clinical trial supported clinical development progression into ongoing phase 2 and 3 trials,” the researchers concluded in Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: a preliminary report of a phase 1/2, single-blind, randomised controlled trial, published today in The Lancet.

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NEW YORK – Liquid biopsy firm Creatv MicroTech is developing a diagnostic platform that measures the amount and size of specific circulating stromal cells called cancer-associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs) to identify traces of cancer in a patient’s bloodstream.

The Potomac, Maryland-based company initially plans to commercialize the method, called LifeTracDx, to predict immunotherapy response in stage II to III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cancer patients.

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Montgomery College announces several pop-up, remote classes which could be valuable for you and your teams: :

• Sustaining Resilience MGT632 (crn#16869), August 5, 2020,
• Leading Through Change, MGT633 (crn#16870), August 14, 2020
• Strengthening Effective Communication, MGT634 (crn#16871), August 19, 2020

All three classes are structured remote from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and cost only $129.

Course descriptions may be found on the Summer 2020 Popup Classes Flyer (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) .

Registration information may be found at WDCE Registration Options.

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Drugmakers around the world are scrambling to develop a COVID-19 shot, and Emergent BioSolutions has already signed on to help produce doses for some major players. Now, the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biopharma has scored a contract update to deploy future vaccine doses for a wholly different kind of health crisis.

Image: Emergent launched a phase 3 trial on NuThrax in March last year; that study is on track to finish by the year’s end. (FiercePharma) – https://www.fiercepharma.com

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Altimmune Inc. is making progress on its Covid-19 vaccine more than four months after jumping into that arena.

The Gaithersburg biopharma said Monday it has emerged from preclinical trials with positive results, positioning the clinical-stage company to start manufacturing the candidate, called AdCovid, in the third quarter of this year and start a phase 1 clinical trial in the fourth quarter.

Image: Dr. Vipin Garg is president and CEO of Altimmune. COURTESY ALTIMMUNE

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Sixteen finalists are announced in the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” special COVID-19 edition competition presented by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI). Representing innovations in COVID-19-related pediatric medical devices, the finalists will compete in a virtual pitch event held on July 20,2020. Winners will receive grant awards of up to $50,000.

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Facial temperature detection, campus heatmaps: They’re among the tools in a collection of apps created by teams from within the University System of Maryland over the last month to help limit the spread of COVID-19 — and navigate a society that has changed quickly in the pandemic.

In all, six apps were selected as winners of the USM COVID App Challenge, which was issued at the end of May to galvanize the creation of new tools to respond to the pandemic.

Image: AnTech, developed by Andrew Karam of University of Maryland College Park. (Screenshot via YouTube/AnTech)

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Emergent BioSolutions revealed this week plans to expand its viral vector and gene therapy capabilities.

The company announced it will invest $75 million in its Canton, Mass., facility, which is focused on the contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) of drug substances for live viral vaccines, including the company’s smallpox vaccine

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Innate Pharma SA (Euronext Paris: IPH – ISIN: FR0010331421; Nasdaq: IPHA) (“Innate” or the “Company”) today announced the appointment of Dr. Joyson Karakunnel as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Pierre Dodion, CMO since 2014, is retiring from this position.

Dr. Karakunnel comes to the Company with deep experience in immuno-oncology, and a proven track record in drug development. As CMO, he will be responsible for advancing Innate’s clinical pipeline and will lead a global team focused on clinical strategy, patient safety, regulatory and medical affairs.

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A lively discussion between our region’s top innovators and connectors to hear about their efforts to help grow the innovation ecosystem and the pipeline of successful startups across the BioHealth Capital Region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn51Ga8jLrI&feature=youtu.be

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“5 Questions With……” is a weekly BioBuzz series where we reach out to interesting people in the BioHealth Capital Region to share a little about themselves, their work, and maybe something completely unrelated. This edition features Sara Nayeem, M.D., a Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)

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The search for a cure for Covid-19 is lining the pockets of some landlords.

While the pandemic wreaks financial havoc on hotels and retailers, landlords who cater to biotech and pharmaceutical tenants are seeing increased demand as companies research treatments for the coronavirus, according to the Wall Street Journal. The work of those tenants, too, is more difficult to replicate in a work-from-home setup than the typical office employee.

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The finalists are sourced from nominations and editorial coverage, and selected by the DC Inno team.

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Healthcare stakeholders can no longer lag on digital transformation, and tapping into innovation can sate convenience-hungry consumers and tackle some massive challenges compressing their bottom lines.

Personalization and convenience have become table stakes in nearly every industry, and consumers are extending demands for these digital-powered experiences to healthcare — US consumers have expressed a willingness to jump ship to care services that can provide them with better digital experiences.

Image: Business Insider Intelligence

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The theme of the 25th CBA Annual (Virtual) Conference is “Innovations amid Crisis: A Productive Year of Biopharma Industry”. We will invite biopharmaceutical industry leaders, regulatory and scientific experts from US, China, and Canada to discuss recent research advances on COVID-19, and new trends in biopharma industry. The detailed conference program will be available at www.cba-usa.org shortly.

Time:

Day 1: 8 am – 11 am (EST), August 29th, 2020 (Saturday)

Day 2: 8 am – 11 am (EST), August 30th, 2020 (Sunday)

Registration link: https://bit.ly/2WfpRrR

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As we embark on our third fund at LionBird, we believe that proactively thinking deeply about what will drive the next decade of healthcare will help us both filter through the noise of digital health, and quickly identify the right investment opportunities. We believe that 2020 represents an unprecedented inflection point in digital health (due to both the COVID-19 global pandemic, as well as many other factors) and we aim to define the trends for the coming decade and their implications for our investment strategy.

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NEW YORK — The US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Monday approved a roughly $5.5 billion increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health in fiscal 2021, with budget increases for every institute and center.

The committee recommended a total of $46.96 billion in NIH funding for FY 2021, representing a nearly 13 percent increase over its current $41.68 billion budget. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump called for trimming the NIH’s FY 2021 budget to $38.37 billion.

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Scientists have responded to COVID-19 with unprecedented speed. Just months after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, clinical trials are already underway for nearly 200 vaccines and therapies.

But while the pace of COVID-19 innovation may be extraordinary, the research infrastructure allowing this remarkable work is hardly new. In fact, it was cemented into place nearly two generations ago when Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980.

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The raise is one of the biggest in the Triangle since last year.

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Fourteen businesses in New Jersey’s technology, life sciences, and clean energy sectors received a combined $12.3 million from 50 investments approved through the state’s Angel Investor Tax Credit Program during the first half of 2020, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) announced yesterday. Two of the approved companies benefited from legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy last year expanding the program.

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