24th Edition – December 19, 2012

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Bolsters Board of Directors with New Members from Emergent BioSolutions and SR One

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland, announced today the appointment of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. President and CEO Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi and SR One President Jens Eckstein, Ph.D., to the BHI Board of Directors.

“It is an honor to welcome two additional life science industry leaders to the BHI Board of Directors,” said BioHealth Innovation’s President & CEO Richard Bendis. “Dan brings a unique perspective from his role at the helm of one of the leading specialty pharmaceutical companies while Jens will provide important insight as the head of the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). I’m also incredibly pleased that GSK, after having acquired Human Genome Sciences (one of the original investors in BHI), will continue to support BHI and has expressed an understanding of the importance of the mission of our organization.”

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BioHealth Innovation, Inc. Congratulates Ahead Research, Inc. on Winning Cigna Innovation Health Challenge

BHI and Ahead are collaborating to accelerate commercialization of Symcat, Ahead Research’s patient/healthcare provider matchmaking app

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that its newest client, Ahead Research, Inc. (Ahead), received the first Cigna Innovation Health Challenge award at the 2012 mHealth summit. BHI and Ahead recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly accelerate the commercialization of Symcat, Ahead’s web and mobile application whose module was the basis for the Cigna award.

“Ahead Research – with its Symcat app – is the type of entrepreneurial start-up company that BioHealth Innovation seeks to foster as part of its mission to drive the commercialization of market-relevant biohealth innovations,” said BioHealth Innovation’s President & CEO Richard Bendis.

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INNoVATE 2012 Graduates

CONGRATULATIONS to 20 INNoVATE 2012 graduates—celebrating completion of their unique commercialization training program–co-sponsored by UMBC, NSF & JHU– in Rockville last night. (See class below)

– Gaurav Basu (Skin-S)
– David Beylin (Brain Biosciences Inc.)
– Kostyantyn Bobyk (MyoTherapeutics, LLC)
– Eva Chin (MyoTherapeutics, LLC)
– Gina Devasahayam (GenetikSignal, Inc.)
– Ghadeer Hasan (Relocation Support Services)
– Lawrence Jones (TelaSense)
– Dun Liang (ViDDx)
– Saravana Murthy (Onc-Marcare)
– Oluwadamilola Ogunyankin (Jifad Fuels)
– Ping Qiu (NoInfection Pharmaceutical)
– Zelicia Read (Vital-Sight, Inc.)
– Anthony Saleh (Nitron Therapeutics)
– Colleen Sico (InnoSico, LLC)
– Andrew Stewart (Tolerogenix)
– Raimon Sunyer (TelaSense)
– Rajesh Thangapazham (Skin-S)
– Leonard Wayne (ExTenebris Optics, LLC)
– Christopher van de Wetering (Chesapeake Cellular)
– Mark Ziats (NeuroNetDx)

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New Enterprise Associates invests in Galera Therapeutics – Washington Business Journal

New Enterprise Associates has co-led an $11 million first round investment in Galera Therapeutics Inc., a biotech company focused on the development of breakthrough drugs targeting oxygen metabolic pathways in cancer, fibrosis and other human diseases, the company announced.

New Enterprise Associates and Novartis Venture Fund (NVF) co-led the round with Correlation Ventures also investing. Proceeds will be used to expand clinical development of Galera’s small molecule therapeutics.

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GSK Tops list of supporting access to medicine in developing countries; Yemen Country Manager Promising more GSK help – Yemen Post English Newspaper Online

In a press statement which Yemen Post received a copy of, GlaxoSmithKline GSK welcomed the publication of the third Access to Medicine (ATM) Index, which measures the performance of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies on their efforts to improve access to medicines and healthcare in developing countries. GSK was ranked a top of the Index in 2012 for the third time of publishing, scoring highest in four categories including general access to medicine management, research and development activity, capability advancement and drug donation and philanthropy.

“In Yemen and across the developing world, GSK is committed to finding new and innovative ways to ensure access to medicines,” said Mr Omar Mulhi, Country Manager, GSK Yemen. “We are collaborating with government, NGOs and other private-sector companies to improve people’s health and well-being no matter where they live, while continuing to expand our business and invest in research.”

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Plasmonix, Bambeco receive InvestMaryland funds – Baltimore Business Journal

Two Baltimore-area startups have received a total of $300,000 from InvestMaryland.

Plasmonix Inc., a life sciences company based at bwtech@UMBC Research & Technology Park, received $100,000 from the startup funding initiative. Bambeco, an eco-friendly home decor and furniture company in South Baltimore, received $200,000. Bambeco previously got $400,000 from InvestMaryland in November.

In total, the program has given out about $1.65 million.

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Startups scramble for InvestMaryland cash – Baltimore Business Journal

Startups are coming out of the woodwork to vie for InvestMaryland cash. Under a business plan competition, the state-run investment program is offering prizes of $100,000 to three early-stage companies.

Prizes will go to a company in the life sciences, one in the IT space and one in a general category.

Not surprisingly, a whopping 259 startups applied — a colorful bunch that includes entities such as BodyCount LLC, A.I.R. Lawn Care and Fraud Sniffr, as well as some more traditional tech and biotech companies, according to an official list. About 10 percent of the companies that applied are from out of state.

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University of Maryland, Baltimore raises record $650M – Baltimore Business Journal

University of Maryland, Baltimore said Monday it reached its $650 million fundraising goal, a record for the school.

The campaign, launched in fiscal 2005, has supported several campus projects, including construction of a new campus center, improvements at the law school, an endowed scholarship for nursing students and nearly twice as many endowed chairs and professorships at the School of Medicine.

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Little-hyped drugs from Human Genome Sciences, Sucampo win FDA nods – Washington Business Journal

Two little-hyped drugs developed by Human Genome Sciences Inc. and Sucampo Inc. (Nasdaq: SCMP) have won Food & Drug Administration nods.

The approval of HGS’ Raxibacumab as a treatment and prevention for inhaled anthrax and the supplemental approval of Sucampo’s Rescula, for glaucoma and ocular hypertension, both represents wins for Maryland biotech.

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Gene Green: Suburban Hospital taps Johns Hopkins physician as new president – Baltimore Business Journal

Dr. Gene Green, a senior executive within Johns Hopkins Medicine’s doctors group, has been appointed president of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

He replaces veteran hospital chief Brian Gragnolati, who will now turn his attention full-time to his corporate duties as senior vice president in charge of the system’s Community Division. The division includes Suburban, Howard County General Hospital and Sibley Memorial Hospital in D.C.

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MedImmune Announces Agreement with Progenics Pharmaceuticals to Develop Therapies Against Serious Bacterial Infections

MedImmune, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, announced that it has signed an in-licensing agreement with Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX) for Progenics’ Clostridium difficile late-stage preclinical program.  The agreement was led by MedImmune’s Infectious Diseases & Vaccines Innovative Medicines (iMed) Unit.

Clostridium difficile infections are the leading cause of hospital-acquired bacterial infections in the U.S. and are associated with more than 20,000 deaths and more than $1 billion in healthcare costs annually. The disease causes severe diarrhea in patients and significantly lengthens the time patients stay in the hospital, leading to poorer outcomes. MedImmune’s program for this property will assess the potential efficacy and safety of treatment of the infection with investigational monoclonal antibodies targeting toxins that mediate the disease.

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GSK, Fred Hutch to develop therapeutics against facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) today announced a partnership to develop therapeutics to treat an inherited form of muscular dystrophy.

The goal of the new agreement is to develop a small-molecule-based medicine to potentially reverse facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, or FSHD, by inhibiting the activity of a protein that is incorrectly expressed by the DUX4 gene in people with the disease. The protein activity is what damages muscle cells and leads to progressive muscle weakness and atrophy in FSHD patients.

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Noxilizer, Inc. Signs Lease to Relocate to University of Maryland BioPark

University of Maryland System’s Diverse Space Offerings Provide Sterilization Technology Company the Ability to Grow Locally

Baltimore, MD, December 18, 2012 – The University of Maryland (UM) BioPark announced today that Noxilizer, Inc., a sterilization technology company, is the latest advancing life sciences company to sign a lease for space within the BioPark. Noxilizer relocates to the UM BioPark from the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park in Baltimore County to accommodate the company’s explansion plans.

Said Jane Shaab, UM Research Park Corporation Senior Vice President, “Noxilizer’s move to the UM BioPark symbolizes the diverse space offerings within the University of Maryland system. This move also adds to our mix of growing technology businesses, research centers, and educational offerings.”

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NHLBI Funding and Research Opportunities, December 18, 2012

NHLBI Funding and Research Opportunities

The following funding opportunities from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:

Request for Applications (RFAs):

• RFA-HL-13-026: Mechanisms of HIV-Related Lung Disease (U01)
• RFA-HL-13-028: Mechanisms of HIV-Related Lung Disease Data Coordinating Center (DCC) (U01)

Program Announcement (PA):

• PA-13-041: Collaborative Activities to Promote Metabolomics Research (Admin Supp)

Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.

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The 2012 State New Economy Index – The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

More than three years on from the end of the Great Recession, only six states have regained employment levels enjoyed prior to the recession, and 17 states are still more than 5 percent below their pre-recession employment levels. As many state economies continue to struggle through the lingering effects of the Great Recession, a question commonly asked is, “What is this seemingly invisible force that prevents the economy from returning to prerecession and especially 1990s growth rates?” In other words, why is it that, despite massive monetary and fiscal stimulus, employment seems locked in a persistent malaise? Some argue that the problem is a lack of consumer demand and that more federal government stimulus spending is the answer. Others argue that it is uncertainty over the massive national debt and that fiscal austerity is the answer.

However, one diagnosis that has gone largely unnoticed holds that this invisible force is the decline in the competitiveness of the U.S. economy in the global marketplace. As ITIF points out in Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage, this decline has been a relatively untold story over the past decade, although its symptoms have clearly manifested in the dramatic fall in manufacturing employment and investment since 2000. The failure of the United States to adapt to a global economy that is evermore dependent on knowledge and innovation for growth—the so-called “New Economy”—is causing traded sector firms, and manufacturers in particular, to look to other, more competitive countries when it comes to choosing locations. And this loss of traded sector activity, including jobs and investment, holds back the entire U.S. economy and its component state economies as well.

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