476th Edition, October 5, 2021

Winning company is developing an implantable device based on 3D printing and a synthetic material, which supports and regenerates surface cartilage damage in the knee.

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, October 1, 2021 – Nanochon, a Washington, D.C. based company in the BioHealth Capital Region, applying novel materials to replicate bone and cartilage, and high-end 3-D printing to create an implant which can permanently repair debilitating joint injuries, was selected from five finalists as the company with the most commercial potential at the 6^th Annual Crab Trap Competition. This year's judges included industry leaders Sally Allain, Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Washington, DC, Andrea Alms, Co-Fund Manager, BioHealth Capital Fund, Lora Green, Of Counsel, Wilson Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, Troy LeMaile-Stovall, Chief Executive Officer, TEDCO, Conley Jones, Senior Associate, Alexandria Venture Investments, John Newby, Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Biotechnology Association, and was moderated by Rich Bendis, President & CEO, BioHealth Innovation, Inc.

The Crab Trap, presented virtually for the second year in the row due to the pandemic, was held on September 29^th in association with the 7^th Annual BioHealth Capital Region and 4^th Annual BioHealth Capital Region Investment Conference. Nanochon CEO, Benjamin Holmes, presented on his company's implant, which acts as both cartilage replacement and tissue growth scaffold, and is designed to be custom 3-D printed for each patient. Nanochon joins previous Crab Trap winners, BrainScope (2020), Floreo (2019), Galen Robotics (2018), LifeSprout (2017) and Sonavex (2016).

Read More

Alex Philippidis, Senior Business Editor of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, returned to the Forum to give his annual update on the GEN rankings of the Top 10 Bio Clusters in the United States. The BioHealth Capital Region is currently ranked #4 with a goal to be Top 3 by 2023 , and Alex briefly discusses each of the 10 top clusters and discuss how they have performed during the Pandemic. He also mentions the Up and Coming Regions of the Country.

Pete Briskman, Executive Managing Director and Co-Lead for the Mid-Atlantic Life Sciences Practice, follows Alex and does a deep dive into specifically the BioHealth Capital Region’s outstanding performance over the last year.

Watch now by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV6YjIGdIhg

Read More

GAITHERSBURG, MD, September 30, 2021 – Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. (APT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to providing therapies to treat infectious diseases, today announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded the company an additional $8 million for the continued development of bacteriophage therapies (PhageBankTM) for the treatment of infectious diseases. The new funding brings the total contract awarded to APT to $31.2 million. 

“We are thrilled to have the ongoing support of the DoD in the advanced development of our PhageBank™ platform to treat drug-resistant infections across multiple indications,” said Greg Merril, CEO and co-founder of Adaptive Phage Therapeutics.  “We are thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with the U.S. military to create potentially lifesaving therapies for our nation’s service members.” 

Read More

Are you a biohealth start-up in Maryland, DC or Virginia seeking feedback on your biohealth business idea, pitch deck, or commercialization plan? Schedule your feedback session with BHI EIRs on one of the following dates. Pre-registration is required; Sign up here tinyurl.com/EIRfeedback

For questions/more information, contact BHI.

Read More

Nearly 4% of the world’s population is affected by one of more than 80 different autoimmune diseases, according to the National Stem Cell Foundation, and incidence is rising.

However, of the 30 million patients diagnosed with moderate-to-severe forms of chronic immune diseases, only 5 million receive advanced therapies and only 2 million experience adequate responses.[1] A key barrier to the development of novel therapies and treatment paradigms has been the complexity and heterogeneity of these diseases, which consist of different disease states with distinct unmet medical need and biology.

Read More

September 28, 2021 RESTON, Virginia—During a year of unprecedented reliance on intellectual property rights to solve massive global challenges through business collaborations, namely the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 and its profound disruptions of personal and business lives, today the Licensing Executive Society (USA & Canada) announced  that it is making a President’s Award and three Deals of Distinction™  Awards, along with the Frank Barnes Award. The Deals of Distinction Awards are given each year, to recognize major business transactions involving licensing, that exemplify best practices and creativity to achieve strategic business objectives, with a significant impact on advancing innovation in the industry Sectors that comprise LES.  Similarly, the Frank Barnes Award is given each year to celebrate an exceptional individual who embodies the highest cultural values of LES by selflessly investing their time and expertise in developing the careers of others – an outstanding mentor. 

Read More

Blast off at AURP’s inaugural SPACE DAY with a galaxy worth of discovery. Converging state, regional and national leaders, unearth the policy and tactics to cultivate innovation clusters on the ground as a observe and investigate the skies above.

This special session will be held on Thursday, October 21, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm. immediately following the AURP International Conference (Oct 18-21). Register for the day or plan to attend the full conference. We want YOU at AURP SPACE DAY in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Download the PDF for more information.

Read More

Philophos, Inc. is an innovative Med Tech device company headquartered near Seoul in South Korea.  We develop and manufacture quality, portable and value priced optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices for retina imaging.  We have a functional prototype that is in pilot testing, and we are in the process of securing medical device approval in both Korea and the U.S.  We seek a key management hire who can focus on accelerating sales, marketing and relationship development efforts for the U.S. market.

We are seeking a full-time, Business Development & Relationship Manager to represent Philophos, Inc. in the U.S..  Duties will include identifying, developing, and maintaining vital relationships as the primary role.  Duties will also include supporting a variety of activities associated with launching our operations in the U.S. Our culture is a fast-paced environment that requires the ability to independently support multiple activities and manage deadlines with great coordination and communication skills with our headquarters team. Preferred traits are someone who is organized, adaptable, high-energy, a self-starter and good critical thinker who can overcome challenges.  The candidate must possess excellent presentation skills including both oral and written communication abilities.  

Read More

US healthcare venture fundraising soared in 2020, totaling $17B, a 57% increase over 2019’s record.

• Strong exits propelled a fourth straight record year in venture fundraising 2020 venture fundraising soared, exceeding 2019’s record with $17B in new venture funds in healthcare.
• Q3 2020 surge in venture investment led healthcare to a record $52B Every sector experienced record investment this year, with 2020’s funding rising 50% from 2019.
• IPOs led exit activity, and large private M&A deals resurfaced Venture-backed healthcare IPOs yielded record valuations and post-IPO performance of +100%.

Read More

Today, EDA announced that 50 organizations — including nonprofits, institutions of higher education, state government agencies, and other entrepreneurship-focused organizations — from 26 states will receive grants totaling $36.5 million to support programs that fuel innovation and tech-based economic development. (Read full press release)

The grants are part of the “Build to Scale” program, which is administered annually by EDA. The program aims to accelerate technology entrepreneurship by increasing inclusive access to business support and startup capital.

Read More

Some of America's largest university endowments unveiled eye-popping annual gains in the past week. Duke University reported a 56% return for the fiscal year ended June 30. Washington University in St. Louis generated a 65% gain.

These top-performing endowments can thank alternative assets—in particular, venture capital—for the banner year, which is said to be the best since 1986. But that short-term success could prove to be a double-edged sword.

Read More

TOPLINE Most vaccine hesitant people changed their minds about getting a Covid-19 shot over time, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open Friday, offering hope as officials struggle to boost flagging immunization rates amid soaring cases, hospitalizations and deaths. 

Read More

Montréal-based healthtech and artificial intelligence (AI) startup Aifred Health today won second place at the final round of the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE competition and will take home a $1 million USD prize for its digital health software.

Aifred Health offers clinical solutions for mental health treatments using AI. The startup’s second-place win comes five years after it entered the XPRIZE competition along with 150 other applicants. Aifred Health was the only Canadian startup to make it to the finals of this global competition.

Image: https://betakit.com

Read More

While there are commonalities among their criteria, startup investors don’t take a cookie cutter approach. The key to unlocking investment is understanding the stage of your startup. “In the race of life, always back self-interest; at least you know it’s trying,” the late former premier of NSW, Jack Lang, once said.

Self-interest is defined as “regard for one’s own interest or advantage, especially with disregard for others… personal interest or advantage”. 

Meanwhile, to invest is to “put (money) into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit”.

Read More

Barbara Schilberg retiring as Managing Director and CEO;
Shahram Hejazi, Ph.D., appointed as Managing Director and CEO

Philadelphia, PA, September 29, 2021 – BioAdvance, a $70 million early-stage life sciences fund with a focus in the mid-Atlantic region, announced today that it has added six new companies to its portfolio in the last 18 months and has made follow-on investments in eight of its existing companies. Combined, these investments represent a commitment of $6.875 million to the success and growth of life science companies in the region. BioAdvance also announced a transition in leadership with long-time Managing Director and CEO Barbara Schilberg retiring and Shahram Hejazi, Ph.D., appointed as incoming Managing Director and CEO effective October 1, 2021.

“Like many investors, when the COVID pandemic began, we focused on helping our existing companies survive the various disruptions to product development and product sales,” said Schilberg, outgoing CEO of BioAdvance. “Within six months, we were able to resume investing in new companies and also have a robust pipeline of opportunities in active diligence.”

Read More