425th Edition, September 29, 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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John Trizzino, Novavax Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer Joins BioTalk to Discuss the Company’s History, COVID-19 Vaccine Development, and Collaboration in the BioHealth Capital Region

Listen now on Apple https://apple.co/2EJ4ucS, Google https://bit.ly/36eBQLS, Spotify, https://spoti.fi/2HDE9hr, TuneIn https://bit.ly/3kS20Z1, and Youtube (audio) https://bit.ly/3kYlHyb.

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The BioHealth Capital Region Investor Forum is going Virtual on October 20th and 21st. To apply as an investor seeking biohealth opportunities, or as a biohealth company seeking to have your opportunity reviewed by investors, email BHI@BioHealthInnovation.org with Investment Conference in the subject line.

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First awarded in 2016, the International Biomedical Research Alliance’s Innovation Award recognizes novel solutions in biology or medicine and acknowledges discoveries of unusual importance, application, or magnitude that make use of new or unusual methods, paradigms, or approaches to solve important problems in biology or medicine. This year, the Innovation Award was graciously sponsored by BioHealth Innovation Inc. and presented to Michael Metrick. A graduate of James Madison University, Michael is working toward completion of his PhD in the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program. The Scholars Program is a novel, dual-mentored, and international collaboration between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, respectively, in the United Kingdom.  The Scholars Program’s elite students conduct their own biomedical research project in an average completion time of 4.2 years.  Michael is in the MD/PhD track and his MD is in progress at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Michael is mentored by Prof. Byron Caughey at the NIH’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana and Prof. Michele Vendruscolo at the University of Cambridge.

Image: Michael Metrick

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CoSolve is a new global, virtual, Open Innovation challenge at AstraZeneca, seeking to find new collaborators – those with the boldest innovations and solutions that will help us create the next wave of medicines to help transform patients’ lives.

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ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Emmes today announced that Dr. Christine Dingivan has joined the company as its new president and chief executive officer.  She is succeeding Dr. Anne Lindblad, who is retiring after 38 years at the company.  Dr. Dingivan will be Emmes’ fourth chief executive since the company was founded in 1977.

Image: https://www.biospace.com

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Her entrance comes just as Montgomery County leaders are examining what role USG can play in bringing in more business.

Image: Anne Khademian starts as the executive director of the Universities at Shady Grove in October. THE UNIVERSITIES AT SHADY GROVE

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ROCKVILLE, Md. — A broad range of 49 Montgomery County, Maryland companies made the list in this year’s annual Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately-owned companies in the United States. The recognized companies span industries that include software, IT system development, health, biotech, consumer products, advertising & marketing, construction, government services and financial services.

Among the Montgomery County companies, there is a prevalence in software, healthcare/bio and government services—a natural fit with access to one of the country’s most highly educated workforces and local proximity to world-class federal research institutions in science, health, medicine and cybersecurity such as NIST, NIH, FDA and NCCOE.

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GAITHERSBURG, Md., Sept. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced that it has initiated its first Phase 3 study to evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The trial is being conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), in partnership with the UK Government’s Vaccines Taskforce, and is expected to enroll and immunize up to 10,000 individuals between 18-84 (inclusive) years of age, with and without relevant comorbidities, over the next four to six weeks.

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A one day symposium bringing together investigators, researchers, and clinicians from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Children’s National Hospital as well as other interested participants from outside institutions, to discuss the creation, progress, and evolution of this first-of-its-kind collaboration between the NIAID at the National Institutes of Health and Children’s National, a pediatric academic medical center. This year, the event will highlight the current COVID-19 and MIS-C pandemic, with a specific focus on the pediatric population. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID, will provide an overview on the infectious disease, and leading experts from Children’s National, NIAID, and other institutions will share the novel research and science being done to address this worldwide issue.

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Today’s IPO for Graybug Vision Inc. (NASDAQ: GRAY) opened for trading at $19 after pricing 5,625,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $16.00 per share.

In addition, Graybug has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 843,750 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions

SVB Leerink and Piper Sandler are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Needham & Company and Wedbush PacGrow are acting as passive bookrunners for the offering.

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Unlike some other manufacturers, Samsung Biologics has enjoyed a revenue boost from the novel coronavirus pandemic, and it’s accelerating its expansion plans to match. With a $2 billion “super plant” in the offing, Samsung now has a new Big Pharma supply deal in place to keep driving growth.

AstraZeneca tapped Samsung Biologics for a $331 million supply pact to produce bulk drug substance and “drug product to support AstraZeneca’s biologics therapeutics” at the CMO’s Plant 3 facility in Incheon, South Korea, the partners said Tuesday.

Image: Samsung Biologics’ expansion plans include a $2 billion “super plant” at the CMO’s Incheon complex. (Samsung)

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The George Washington University (GW) Technology Commercialization Office is pleased to host the inaugural DC Startup Showcase.

DC Startup Showcase will present companies developing disruptive healthcare innovations.

Log on to our live YouTube channel to see pitches from entrepreneurs seeking funding to bring the fruits of high-impact research to market.

Then join our Zoom rooms to follow up with specific startups, ask questions of our legal sponsors, and/or mix and mingle with DC’s best entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders.

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — TIME recently named a Johns Hopkins University professor to its 2020 list of the 100 most influential people in the world for developing a free and open website for the public to track the COVID-19 pandemic in near-real-time.

Lauren Gardner, a civil and systems engineering professor in the Whiting School of Engineering, led the team that built the COVID-19 Dashboard in late January.

Image: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

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GREENVILLE, S.C. – Allen Burgenson had a job, his father explained as they stood on the sand.

This was Allen’s first fishing trip, but he wasn’t going to take anything from the bay. He was to return the water’s gifts to the deep, where they’d belonged for hundreds of millions of years.

If he spotted a horseshoe crab on its back, his father said as he held Allen’s hand, that meant it was in trouble and needed Allen’s help to get home. Allen just had to flip it over. Its 10 legs could make it the rest of the way back to the crashing waves.

Image: https://www.usatoday.com

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A new federal fiscal year (FY) begins October 1, but lawmakers at deadline haven’t even agreed on stopgap funding needed to keep Washington fully functioning next month, let alone come to terms on a new budget for FY 2021.

As a result, nobody yet knows how much funding the NIH will have net fiscal year. President Donald Trump began the budget process in February, weeks before COVID-19 led to shutdowns nationwide, by proposing a record $4.9 trillion spending plan that would have cut the NIH’s budget by 7%, from $41.7 billion to $38.4 billion.

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Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020

Earlier this year, the federal Department of Health and Human Services announced a four-year contract worth $354 million for Richmond-based Phlow Corp. to manufacture medication components and drugs in the United States that could treat COVID-19 and other diseases.

If extended to the maximum 10 years, the contract could be worth $812 million. Phlow is a new company, co-founded and formally launched this year by Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering professor and alumnus B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., and three-time VCU alumnus Eric S. Edwards. Edwards earned his B.S. in biology from the College of Humanities andSciences in 2002, his Ph.D. from the School of Pharmacy in 2011 and his M.D. from the School of Medicine in 2013.

Image: Phlow co-founder Eric Edwards, an alumnus of VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences, School of Pharmacy and School of Medicine, speaks at a School of Pharmacy Graduate Advisory Board meeting in 2019. (Danny Tiet, School of Pharmacy)

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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Why We Vaccinate, Inc., a 501(3)(c) educational organization dedicated to provide a credible and trusted source for honest and factual information on vaccines, their efficacy, safety and importance to public health, announced today the appointment of eight new board members. These additions to the organization’s leadership further its efforts to develop educational programs and facts-based messages. Our goals are to put forward information on the science and safety of vaccines, educating the population on the value of all vaccines and immunization programs.

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GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Governor Larry Hogan on Thursday visited a Gaithersburg laboratory, that’s in the process of developing a possible COVID-19 vaccine.

Novavax Inc., was awarded $1.6 billion through the Federal Government’s Operation Warp Speed to produce large-scale manufacturing, and delivery of 100 million vaccine doses as early as late 2020.

The company is just one of several in Montgomery County and Baltimore, helping to find a vaccine.

Image: Photo by: Gov. Hogan’s Office Gov. Hogan visits Novavax Inc.

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In an effort to improve communication among children, hard-of-hearing, and Deaf individuals, ClearMask is working to provide accessibility to everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ClearMask teamed up with Montgomery County-based business Xometry, the largest on-demand manufacturing platform, to produce the PPE design for its fully transparent surgical mask. Xometry has one of the largest 3D printing plants in the Mid Atlantic region.

Image: https://open.maryland.gov

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I am writing to share the exciting news that the Foundation for the NIH has just launched a dynamic new website to salute the incredible accomplishments of the recipients of 2020 FNIH honors:

• Dr. Aviv Regev, winner of the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, winner of the Charles A. Sanders, M.D., Partnership Award

• Dr. Michael Wilson, winner of Trailblazer Prize for Clinician-Scientists

The new site features in-depth interviews, engaging interactive content, and more in a celebration of scientific achievement. To check out the site, visit awards.fnih.org.

We think your community will be interested in learning more about the FNIH prizes and these esteemed recipients! We are hoping that you might be willing to share the site.

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ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Cellphire, the global leader in long-term stabilization and storage of platelets, is proud to announce that the Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) has awarded Cellphire President G. Michael Fitzpatrick, PhD, with the 2020 ASBP Lifetime Achievement Award for his service and significant contributions to ASBP and the warfighter.

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CRCHD seeks motivated scientists to serve as Program Directors in its Diversity Training Branch (DTB) and Integrated Networks Branch (INB). These Program Directors will manage and develop a portfolio of innovative grant-supported diversity training (DTB) and network-based initiatives (INB), and identify scientific opportunities to generate new knowledge supporting the NCI mission. The successful candidates will hold a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent degree.

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HOUSTON, Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Kraton Corporation (NYSE: KRA), a leading global producer of specialty polymers and high-value biobased products derived from pine wood pulping co-products, is seeking regulatory approval for BIAXAM, a novel sulfonated polymer technology with long-lasting self-disinfecting properties that has been demonstrated in studies to quickly inactivate up to 99.99% of SARS-CoV-2 (virus that causes COVID-19) and other microbes.

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