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Below are BioHealth Innovation News’ most popular articles from 2015:
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, April 7, 2015 – To capitalize on the region’s significant human capital and resources driving health innovation, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) and ProductSavvy, in partnership with Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (DED), are launching a health technology accelerator program named, “Relevant Health.” The accelerator will consist of a five-month intensive program focused on preparing eight early-stage health-related businesses for pilot product testing and financing. The program is scheduled to launch in September 2015 and will be located in the Rockville Innovation Center, part of the Montgomery County incubator network.
BHI is a public-private partnership that’s been building programs to foster commercialization of health and life sciences assets in the Central Maryland region over the last three years.”It’s fitting that we are fueling the launch of the first dedicated health-technology accelerator aimed at ‘moving minds to market’ in Montgomery County with the product-acceleration company, ProductSavvy, and our strategic partner, Montgomery County DED,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President and CEO. “Montgomery County is a hotbed of brilliant scientific minds driving new innovation. Our mission is to focus these minds toward new commercial-oriented goals. This new accelerator will allow us to foster leadership teams in these companies, enabling them to interact with the rich health resources and talent located in Central Maryland.”
Attracts Top Health Tech Startups from Around the Country and World
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, Oct. 27, 2015 – Relevant Health, a health technology startup accelerator in the Washington, DC metro area, welcomes its inaugural class. The selected startups come to Relevant Health from its backyard of Bethesda and Rockville, as well as Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York City, and Latvia. This week, the cohort of startups embarks on a five-month program that involves an intensive product development focus, enabling them to improve their skills to define, develop, position and launch a viable health tech product.
“Relevant Health chose candidates who have a vision and business model for a product that promises significant positive impacts in the health sector,” stated Rich Bendis, BioHealth Innovation President and CEO. “A cohort of companies building wearable devices, consumer-facing health apps, and provider-facing healthcare platforms is a strong representation of the innovation occurring in the health marketplace.”
AstraZeneca and MedImmune, in Partnership with BioHealth Innovation, Inc. and Tech Council of Maryland, Convene Life Sciences Leaders from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. to Support Growth of Regional Biotech Ecosystem
Gaithersburg, Md., March 30, 2015 – Today and tomorrow, more than 400 leaders from life sciences companies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, investment funds and government entities across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. will convene for the first Maryland Regional Biotech Forum. This event, hosted by AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, in partnership with BioHealth Innovation (BHI), Inc. and the Tech Council of Maryland, will be held at MedImmune’s corporate headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was launched as part of a collective effort to grow the region’s biotech ecosystem and chart a course toward becoming one of the top three biotech hubs in the nation by 2023.
The Maryland Regional Biotech Forum agenda boasts an impressive lineup of more than 100 speakers and panelists, including Gerd Binnig, a Nobel Prize laureate in physics and Founder and CTO of Definiens; Rachel King, Chair of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of GlycoMimetics; more than 25 regional CEOs, including Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca; five university presidents from across the region; and leaders from federal institutions.
In addition, the region’s first Leaders of Tomorrow Summit will be held in parallel with day two of the Maryland Regional Biotech Forum, also at MedImmune’s headquarters. This event is the Mid-Atlantic region’s first student- and postdoc-led, cross-functional and inter-generational leadership summit, and is designed to engage and influence the next generation of biotech leaders and ignite innovation in the future bioeconomy.
Relevant Health, a newly launched innovative health technology startup accelerator focused on bringing products to market, announced that it is now accepting applications from health tech startups for its Fall 2015 class. Additionally, the accelerator launched its website and the portal to its streamlined application process. U.S. and international startups are encouraged to apply.
Relevant Health’s five-month program involves an intensive product-focused curriculum that gives founders of health tech startups the skills to define, develop, position and launch a viable health tech product. The new accelerator will be based out of a brand-new cowork space in the Rockville Innovation Center, centrally located in the heart of the Montgomery County (Maryland) life sciences corridor. Companies admitted to the accelerator will have access to the cowork facility along with other support that includes up to $50,000 in funding, mentorship, development support from a pool of software engineers, and access to the local health tech ecosystem.
This November, Alexandria LaunchLabs™ will open its doors to local, cutting-edge life science startups at 708 Quince Orchard Road in Gaithersburg, MD.
Alexandria LaunchLabs was created by a consortium of world-class partners to fill a specific unmet need in the market for early-stage life science companies. The consortium, which includes Alexandria Venture Investments (the strategic venture capital arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.), BioHealth Innovation, Montgomery County, and the City of Gaithersburg, recognized that in addition to providing early-stage life science companies with specialized state-of-the-art lab and office space, access to first- class supporting resources, services, and capital, is critical for innovation and growth. As such, consortium members will extend their respective networks to Alexandria LaunchLabs’ tenants, while BioHealth Innovation will provide access to its Startup and Entrepreneur-in-Residence programs. Additionally, co-location will provide a collaborative ecosystem in which tenants will be able to further assist one another in identifying resources and sharing best practices. The creative startup environment fostered at Alexandria LaunchLabs will dramatically accelerate the growth of local early-stage life science companies.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has signed an agreement to extend and expand its entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) program with BHI. Under the terms of the new agreement, BHI is providing the services of five EIRs to the NIH starting with two lead institutes: the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
“BHI is excited to extend its existing relationship with NIH. By adding new EIRs within multiple institutes, we expand our ability to both support breakthrough technologies and to help identify new commercial opportunities working with national scientific experts,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President & CEO. “These new breakthroughs can then turn into new health-related products, many of which will come from the cutting-edge startup companies fostered by BHI that are focused on further enhancing the future of healthcare for all.”
The Montgomery County Department of EconomicDevelopment (MCDED) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015 Life Sciences Impact Grant Awards. The program, introduced in December of 2014, was created to provide financial assistance to life sciences employers to retain jobs and stimulate the organic growth of the life sciences industry in Montgomery County.
“The county is committed to supporting the innovation economy,” commented Sally Sternbach, Acting Director, Department of Economic Development. “The Life Sciences Impact Grant is just one example of the comprehensive portfolio of programs that make up the MC Squared initiative.”
Maryland’s Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit (BIITC), created to assist the state’s early stage life sciences companies raise funding, is one of the most generous programs of its kind in the country. The program provides refundable income tax credits equal to 50% of an eligible investment to investors in qualified Maryland biotechnology companies (QMBCs). Although recipient companies must be based in Maryland, investors from outside the State (including outside the U.S) are encouraged.
Investments from $25,000 to $500,000 per individual investor are eligible, with a company limit of 15% of the annual budgeted credit amount ($1,800,000 of credit per company in FY2016 [July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016]). To date, 75 companies have taken advantage of the program, receiving $69M in credits and later $450M+ in follow on investment.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) is providing grantees of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) with mentoring and training designed to develop and hone their presentation skills as a step toward securing investment dollars and strategic partners. The NIH has awarded BHI a contract to conduct a multi-year effort for NINDS grantees that will boost their business acumen, strengthen their communications skills, and introduce them to additional sources of funding designed to help bring new healthcare products to market.
“Frequently, NINDS grantees are forced to balance their focus between advancing their research and technology objectives into healthcare products and the necessity of procuring funding and building partnerships to drive those advancements. They are truly distinct activities, but progress needs to be made on both fronts to mature projects for commercialization,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President & CEO. “By coaching grantees on the best methods to develop and deliver impactful industry presentations and introducing them to investors and strategic partners, we help strengthen the grantees’ business perspective and expand their networks.”
From Christy Wyskiel,Senior Advisor to the President, Johns Hopkins University
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that Neil Veloso will join Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures as the executive director of technology transfer, effective May 18, 2015.
Neil has extensive experience in technology transfer and commercialization. He has spent the last nine years of his career in a variety of roles at Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI) in Ohio. Currently, he is serving as the senior director of innovation management, a role in which he directs technology commercialization at Cleveland Clinic and at seven of CCI’s Innovation Alliance Partners. In this role, Neil focuses on commercialization strategy across a broad portfolio of both academic and hospital system assets. He manages a team that advises inventors, administers intellectual property, and promotes commercialization through licensing, new venture creation and the development of industry partnerships. Neil’s collaborative leadership style and ability to work with myriad constituents has been cited repeatedly as one of his great strengths by former colleagues and industry partners.
Please join us for a Business Roundtable Discussion moderated by Bernanrd T. Ferrari, MD, JD, Prfoessor and Dean – Carey School of Business, at our new FastForward East Innovation Hub!
Secretary of Commerce Mike Gill is looking for an energetic and focused individual to lead the State’s activities in the life sciences arena. This is a highly collaborative role. Its objective is to advance Maryland as the premier center for biotechnology innovation and entrepreneurial vitality in the nation. The position is based within the Department of Business and Economic Development, and reports to the Managing Director of Business and Industry Sector Development.
R. Mike Gill, chairman of Columbia investment banking firm Evergreen Advisors, will become the next secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
The appointment ends months of speculation about who Gov.-elect Larry Hogan, a Republican, would name to the role after winning the gubernatorial election in November.
The story of MedImmune, the Maryland startup that British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca bought for $15.6 billion in 2007, is an example for entrepreneurs striving for their own blockbuster deals. But MedImmune leaders say they want to go beyond leading by example.
MedImmune taps federal institute for research partnership The company, now responsible for half of AstraZeneca’s pipeline of drug candidates, has signed a flurry of partnerships with federal and nonprofit labs in recent months, including deals to share resources and researchers with the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University. Through the partnerships, the company can tap the labs’ brainpower and expensive equipment, and share its own resources.
Establishes centralized vaccines research and development center in Rockville
GSK, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, announced today that they are expanding their operations in Rockville with the establishment of a centralized vaccines R&D facility.
Among this year’s Mentors-in-Residence at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures are a senior-level biomedical executive, a chief executive at a company developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, a two-time medical device industry Most Valuable Thought Leader and an American Pain Foundation chairperson.
These are just four of the 14 entrepreneurial leaders serving at Johns Hopkins as Mentors-in-Residence in 2015, the second year of the program. All 14 mentors this year are business leaders, entrepreneurs and development-driven experts with a passion for innovation and growth.
For decades, a postdoctoral appointment in a university laboratory has been the “default” next step for new Ph.D. researchers in biomedical sciences and, increasingly, in other sciences as well. In those positions, scientists encounter such well-known issues as low pay, long hours, and little or no preparation for career opportunities outside academe.
The University System of Maryland will name its Center for Academic Innovation in honor of its retiring chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan.
The center will take on its new name, William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, when Kirwan steps down June 30 after 12 years as the university system’s top administrator. University officials announced the name and $3 million raised to support the center at a recent gala honoring Kirwan. The center is located at USM’s offices in Adelphi.
Maryland Venture Fund and The Abell Foundation Top Investors in Round of Financing
Perceptive Navigation, LLC, a privately-held, Maryland-based medical device company developing solutions for the rapidly growing image- guided market, today announced the closing of its $500,000 seed round of financing, led by the Maryland Venture Fund (MVF) and The Abell Foundation. The proceeds will accelerate the development of Vu-Path, Perceptive Navigation’s ultrasound probe for minimally invasive interventional procedures, as well as enable its regulatory submission to the FDA.
Perceptive Navigation also announced the appointment of Todd Chappell as Chief Executive Officer. Chappell comes to Perceptive Navigation with fifteen years of experience working withearly-stage, venture-backed biotechnology companies. Most recently, he managed a portfolio of start-up pharmaceutical and medical device companies at BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a regional innovation intermediary focused on commercializing market-relevant life science innovations, as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Perceptive was incubated at BHI under the leadership of Chappell prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer.
New for 2015! BHI’s Funding Newsletter provides a monthly snapshot of biohealth funding opportunities from federal, state, local government, and private sources that could be relevant to advance your small business. BHI’s goal is to assist companies determine feasible non-dilutive funding pathways or government contract opportunities to enable biohealth businesses at multiple stages of development.
Please contact our Federal Funding Assistance program when seeking support for any of the opportunities.
Recent winners: Perceptive Navigation wins Phase II SBIR
MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, announced today that it has joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Centers for Accelerated Innovations (NCAI) program as the first biotech/pharmaceutical company corporate partner.
The NCAI program was launched in September 2013 to improve how basic science advances and discoveries are translated into commercially viable treatments for patients. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will provide $32.5 million in grants to establish three translational research Centers of Innovation in Boston, Cleveland and California, consisting of 14 top-tier research institutions. The program seeks to accelerate the commercialization of university-based technologies, and public private partnerships are critical to the success of the NCAI program.
Billions at his disposal paired with a broad, deep swath of biotech experience make David Mott a key industry figure. Mott has been with NEA since September 2008 and heads up its biopharma investment. Healthcare typically claims $750 million to $1 billion, or 30% to 40%, of each NEA fund; the firm also invests in information technology.
David Johnson was just one minute into making his pitch when the interruptions started.
“Why do I care?” barked a bespectacled man at the back of the seminar hall. Johnson, chief executive of the California biotechnology start-up GigaGen, blinked. He had condensed his company’s story into a neat ten-minute presentation for I-Corps, a nine-week course designed to teach business skills to entrepreneurial scientists like him. Now his talk was derailed.
−Drs. Steve Wolpe and Ethel Rubin Named EIRs for National Institutes of Health; Dr. Albine Martin to Serve as EIR Working with Johns Hopkins University and Maryland-Based Health-Technology Companies
−BHI Continues Search for Neurology and Neuroscience Experts to Fill Roles of EIRS for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
ROCKVILLE AND BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, June 8, 2015 – BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today the hiring of three new entrepreneurs-in-residence (EIRs): two for the NIH and one to work with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Maryland-based health-technology companies. Additionally, BHI is actively recruiting neuroscience and neurology experts for EIR positions within the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Juan Carlos Lopez of Roche and Mike Gill, Secretary for Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development, Join BHI Board
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) announced today that its Board of Directors has unanimously voted and approved the appointments of Board Member Juan Carlos Lopez, Ph.D., Head of the Academic Relations and Collaborations (ARC) Group at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), and Ex-Officio Board Member Mike Gill, Secretary, Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), State of Maryland.
“We are pleased to have two powerhouse individuals join our dynamic board,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President and CEO. “We also want to thank Roche’s Dr. Judith Dunn for her commitment and service to our board during her tenure, which has now ended. We are grateful for her leadership and contributions during her time with us.”
Dr. Lopez leads the Roche pRED’s team in conducting outreach to academic and non-profit biomedical research and healthcare organizations for purposes of enhancing and complementing their internal R&D efforts. He began his career with the Nature Publishing Group in 2000, coming on board as an Associate Editor to launch Nature Reviews Neuroscience. In less than a year, he advanced to Chief Editor and led the publication to become the top monthly reviews journal in the neuroscience field, a position it retains to this day. In 2004, he was named Chief Editor at Nature Medicine, which is ranked by the Institute of Scientific Investigation as the world’s top journal in experimental and research medicine.
Financial Award from SBA’s Accelerator Competition Supports Relevant Health’s Mission to Bring the Best Health Tech Products and Services to Market
ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — BioHealth Innovation’s Relevant Health, a recently launched health technology startup accelerator focused on bringing products to market, participated in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Second Annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Relevant Health was among 80 winners from a pool of 400 applicants from across the country, including all 50 states, the District of Columbia and territories. Relevant Health was the only accelerator in Maryland to be recognized with this honor.
The total prize amount for all of the winning accelerators was $4.4 million, and the announcement came yesterday at 4:00 p.m. EDT when President Barack Obama formally named the winners during an event at the White House. The President discussed the future of innovation and entrepreneurship as demonstrated by individuals and businesses within the United States who participated in the White House Demo Day. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet played a similar role in ceremonies in Los Angeles as part of the same program.
Each of the winning accelerators will be given $50,000 to aid in continuing to invest in the innovative startups and entrepreneurs who participate in the programs. In exchange for the recognition and funding that was awarded to them, the accelerators will be required to provide quarterly reports documenting metrics around the use of these funds, including job creation, additional funding generated, outside sponsorships and the status of startup launches.
United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) announced today the signing of an agreement with DEKA Research & Development Corp. for the development of a potential technology breakthrough in the subcutaneous delivery of Remodulin® (treprostinil) Injection to patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) via a pre-filled semi-disposable pump system.
Benjamin H. Wu has been named the new Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Governor Larry Hogan and DBED Secretary Mike Gill announced today.
A former DBED employee, Wu is among the first Cabinet deputies to be named to the Hogan administration. He will act as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for overseeing the Department’s charge of attracting companies to the State, as well as working with in-state companies to help them expand and add jobs, while connecting them to partners and resources.
The pharmaceutical giant Roche has paid an undisclosed price to acquire Bina Technologies, a bioinformatics company. The move sees Roche expand further into the life sciences sector.
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