420th Edition – August 25, 2020

This invitation-only event is free for executive level biotech leaders and is presented by the Association of University Research Parks, AstraZeneca, BioHealth Innovation, Children’s National Health System, Emergent BioSolutions, George Mason University, J.P. Morgan, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Department of Commerce, Virginia Bio, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.

Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC set 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.

We are excited to bring you an exceptional line up of speakers to this virtual event!

*Please note that attendees’ name might be recorded if participating in the chat function during the event.

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Don’t miss your change to be named the BioHealth Startup with the Most Commectial Potential at the BHCR Forum, win $10,000 and more!

Applications due: 9/15

Finalists notified by: 10/2

Mandatory presenter coaching for finalists: 10/7

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Are you seeking an opportunity to engage your firm in a fun community-building activity?  Register one or more teams for the FRAXA Biotech Games.  The BioHealth Capital Region has been challenged by other clusters to demonstrate the greatest knowledge of biotech trivia. Proceeds benefit FRAXA Research Foundation, supporting Fragile X research projects at institutions around the world, including MIT, Harvard, Stanford and UCSD. Fragile X is the most common inherited cause of autism and intellectual disabilities.  BioHealth Innovation (BHI) is hosting the BioHealth Capital Region (Maryland, DC, and Virginia)’s participation in this exciting new event.   

Register one team or multiple teams this month to compete for the Cup in September!

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3rd Annual BioHealth Capital Region Investor Forum

Ocr 20 – 21st, 2020

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ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today commended the nearly 40 Maryland life sciences companies that are working on developing and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, improving diagnostic tests, and providing clinical research and technological support to ensure safe and effective health care delivery.

The University System of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University have also dedicated millions of dollars toward research, testing, and clinical trials. The University of Maryland School of Medicine recently began phase 3 trials of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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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 5 Questions with Judy Costello who is Managing Director of Economic Development for BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI).

Judy Costello is Managing Director of Economic Development for BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI). Prior to joining BHI, she served as Director of the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of BioHealth and Life Sciences and as Deputy Director of the department’s BioMaryland Center. In these positions, she has worked to grow the region’s biohealth cluster by supporting industry recruitment and retention, commercialization, workforce, non-dilutive and dilutive fundraising, international soft landing, partnership, and promotion activities. She previously served as Executive Director of the Business Alliance for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

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The biotechnology company Novavax will soon begin the second phase of human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine.

The so-called phase 2b clinical trial will include a group of 2,665 healthy adults in South Africa, as well as a group of 240 adults with HIV who are considered medically stable but whose immune responses may differ from individuals without HIV, according to a statement released by Novavax on Aug. 17. HIV advocacy groups have pushed for people with HIV to be included in clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines, as companies like Moderna and Pfizer initially said they would exclude volunteers with the infection, Science Magazine reported.

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GAITHERSBURG, MD, AUGUST 18, 2020 — MaxCyte, Inc., a global cell-based therapies and life sciences company, today announces the expansion of subsidiary CARMA Cell Therapies’ ongoing Phase I intraperitoneal delivery and dose-escalation trial of MCY-M11, its lead anti-mesothelin CAR-PBMC cell therapy candidate. The expansion will involve a new parallel cohort of patients and the initiation of two additional clinical sites.

The new parallel Phase I cohort will evaluate intraperitoneal delivery of MCY-M11 at escalating doses in additional patients with relapsed/refractory ovarian cancer and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, with the addition of a preconditioning regimen of cyclophosphamide prior to MCY-M11 infusion. This parallel Phase I cohort with preconditioning will progress independently from the ongoing evaluation of MCY-M11 in the existing no-preconditioning Phase I cohort. The MCY-M11 Phase I trial will also allow for multiple treatment cycles where indicated for both future preconditioning and no-preconditioning patients.

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The OrganoPlate® Graft is the first in vitro cell culture platform that allows vascularization of 3D tissues like spheroids, organoids, and tumors in vitro.

In this webinar, you will learn:

Limitations of current models How to build 3D vascularized tissues How to form vascular beds in vitro How to add 3D microtissues in the OrganoPlate Graft How to set up available assays How to get started in your lab

Image: https://go.mimetas.com

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GAITHERSBURG, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded to provide an effective therapeutic response to the global rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria, today announced Mayo Clinic has committed $1.75M as a lead investor in a $7 million convertible note financing round.

Mayo Clinic is collaborating with APT to conduct a clinical trial using PhageBankTM investigational therapy to address the significant unmet need for alternative treatments for chronic infections following joint replacement (referred to as “periprosthetic joint infections,” or “PJIs”). Proceeds from the convertible note are designated to initiate the trial.

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The University System of Maryland has partnered with Labster to provide its virtual laboratory simulations across all USM institutions. The university is working to integrate virtual science labs into its course offerings as the COVID-19 pandemic has limited students’ and instructors’ access to classrooms.

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Maryland’s 8th Congressional District has the highest proportion of science and engineering jobs in its workforce out of any district in the United States, according to a new report from the Information Technology Industry Council.

About 4.6% of the jobs in the district — which encompasses parts of Montgomery, Frederick and Carroll County — are in science and engineering, but the report found that the median U.S. district has less than 1% of such jobs.

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Maryland’s Department of Health announced Thursday it will partner with 13 hospitals around the state to launch an antibody study on unused blood samples. It’s part of a new program to incorporate antibody testing into the state’s continued strategy to fight COVID-19.

The News4 I-Team first asked about that strategy in May, when Virginia began posting its antibody testing details online, with positive and negative results listed by local health district. In mid-July, Maryland provided the I-Team with data showing more than 81,000 Marylanders had been antibody tested through private vendors.

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The coronavirus pandemic has impacted cities across the country with varying force. New York City has been hardest hit, and it’s no secret that the Big Apple is going to be one of the places that will have the most challenging time bouncing back from the coronavirus pandemic, no matter when things subside. But which cities will have the best coronavirus recovery? And which other cities will struggle? Moody’s Analytics has issued a report that examines the potential to recover from coronavirus among the top 100 metro areas in the US—and while some of the results are to be expected, some are more surprising.

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(Rockville, MD – August 20, 2020) – Scheer Partners is proud to announce that 704 Quince Orchard Road, Gaithersburg, Maryland is 100% leased.

In 2018 Scheer Partners’ affiliate, South Duvall, part of a joint venture with a publicly traded REIT, acquired 704 Quince Orchard Road. 704 Quince Orchard Road presented an opportunity to convert an underperforming office building in the Gaithersburg Life Sciences Cluster. Scheer Partners, Inc. provided brokerage, construction management, and property management services for the 80,000 square foot project and made the entire building “lab-ready.” Scheer Partners’ Adnan Sheikh spearheaded construction management of the project in partnership with their Property Management Division, led by Ayesha Murray, which continues to ensure the building operates at peak performance.

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The cells that allow people to smell are a key entryway for the coronavirus, making nose coverings crucial, suggests new research from the Johns Hopkins University.

The nose already had been emerging as a main door for the virus and related respiratory disease. But this research specifically points to the olfactory cells because they have a very large number of receptors on their surface called ACE2 that have been shown to be vulnerable to coronaviruses.

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The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently reissued the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the New Innovators Award (PAR-20-259). The first application due date is November 2, 2020.

The NIAID New Innovator Award supports a postdoctoral or newly independent Early Stage Investigator of exceptional creativity who proposes novel, original and insightful research concepts with the potential to produce a major impact, test scientific paradigms, or advance key concepts on broad, important problems in biomedical research of priority to NIAID. Applications proposing unexpected convergence of disciplines, new scientific directions, or the use of novel methodologies are encouraged.

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Sweden expects to have as many as 18m doses of coronavirus vaccine by next year, enough to inoculate the entire Swedish population, according to the country’s vaccine coordinator. “If these vaccines work and are safe, it’s possible that we will have vaccinated everyone who wants it next year, or at the start of 2022,” Richard Bergström told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

Image: Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT

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GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced that the first volunteers have been enrolled in the Phase 2 portion of its ongoing clinical trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The Phase 2 clinical trial expands on the age range of the Phase 1 portion by including older adults 60-84 years of age as approximately 50 percent of the trial’s population. NVX‑CoV2373 is a stable, prefusion protein made using Novavax’ nanoparticle technology and includes Novavax’ proprietary Matrix‑M™ adjuvant.

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Women Building Bio is where the vision is transformed into reality. Women advancing the industry with all stakeholders, men and women, front and center joining forces.

Come join us for this half day interactive virtual conference on September 16, 2020.

Click here to register.

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