292nd Edition – February 20, 2018

Rachel K. King, Co-Founder and CEO, GlycoMimetics, Inc. (GMI), joins Rich Bendis for the latest episode of BioTalk. They cover topics from her background in the industry to running a publicly traded company in the BioHealth Capital Region. Before founding GMI, she was an Executive in Residence at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the nation’s leading venture capital firms.  Mrs. King came to NEA after serving as a Senior Vice President of Novartis Corporation. She also served as Chairman of International BIO.

Listen now on iTunes , Google Play , and TuneIn. 

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Looking for a deal in your backyard? The NIH is the world’s largest investor in early stage life sciences companies. Over 1000 companies annually tap into NIH’s SBIR and STTR program for nondilutive funding to the tune of $980M in FY17. Did you know the NIH maintains RePORTER, an online database, of all funded companies and projects?

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BHI is working with several regional partners to cultivate local biohealth research talent and help those with interest and qualifications transition to industry.

This month, BHI is co-hosting with NCI, WorkSource Montgomery, and BioBuzz two PostDoc-Industry Connections Happy Hours enabling NCI postdocs and others at NIH to learn more about local opportunities in the region’s biohealth industry. Industry participants are invited to attend these complimentary networking receptions and share their thoughts regarding career paths and opportunities in the field.

Registration is free but limited. RSVPs are required. Please RSVP using the following links:

2/20 – 5-7:00 p.m. – JHU Montgomery Campus, Rockville – RSVP here

Save the date: 6/20 – Industry Postdoc Hiring Event – NCI Rockville Campus

Questions/more information?

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You thought the Shark Tank was tough…

wait until you enter the the BioHealth Capital Region Crab Trap!

Submit your application for the opportunity to be named the company with the most commercial potential at the 2018 BioHealth Regional Forum, $10,000, and MORE!

Application Deadline: March, 30th 2018 

Finalists will be announced: April 9th, 2018 

Finalist Presentations BioHealth Capital Region Forum Event: April 24th, 2018

Submit an Application »

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April 23-24  |  1 MedImmune Way, Gaithersburg MD 20878 

This invitation-only event is free for executive level biotech leaders and is presented by BioHealth Innovation, VirginiaBio, Inova, Children’s National Health System, QIAGEN, Maryland Tech Council, University System of Maryland and MedImmune/AstraZeneca. Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC set the bar high for biotech innovation. So please join us for our 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. The program will feature sessions that focus on the Advancing Science and Accelerating Innovation.

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Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK), a leading global specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced it has closed the acquisition of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company, including its commercial and development assets.

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Seventy-five years ago, Silicon Valley was fruit orchids and Detroit was dominating the most exciting industry in the nation. “Things can change,” Steve Case said of the tidal shifts of the U.S. innovation economy.

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Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.S) said on Thursday it would buy the rest of U.S. cancer data company Flatiron Health for $1.9 billion to speed development of cancer medicines and support its efforts to price them based on how well they work.

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The big headline out of the health care M&A world today is Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Flatiron Health, the Alphabet-backed, cancer-focused digital health analytics upstart that’s attempting to use real world patient information and big data to spur better oncology R&D.

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Congress recently enacted the most significant overhaul to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (the Code) in decades. The legislation, commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act), includes a number of changes to the Code that apply to corporate and pass-through businesses. This Q&A summarizes the key tax and employee benefits changes in the Act that impact domestic emerging growth enterprises and start-ups. For additional information on the Act, see our prior alerts: Congress Passes Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and U.S. House and Senate Pass Reconciled Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

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The Food and Drug Administration plans to use a proposed $400 million boost in federal funding to focus on a range of innovative approaches to speed the approval of new medical devices and create a new center that would support digital health oversight and address cybersecurity concerns.

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Startup Maryland today unveiled the Overall Great Eight and other sub-category finalist for the Pitch Across Maryland Competitions. Startup Maryland is proud to showcase the finalists along with all the ventures who participated in the 2017 STRT1UP Roadshow celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship. This year’s Overall Great Eight Finalist are listed below with a link to their pitch video.

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A lot of great things happened this Valentine’s Day – countless couples celebrated their love with chocolate, roses, and dates. However, there was one thing that stood out to me: Under Amour CEO Kevin Plank posted his first LinkedIn article.

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Weekly NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices

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

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The National Institutes of Health has been funding fewer clinical trials in recent years, according to new Johns Hopkins University research.

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Host: UM BioPark & Wexford Science + Technology

Location: UM BioPark The Nook Cafe 801 W. Baltimore Street Baltimore Maryland 21201

Time: Thursday, February 22, 2018 5:00pm to 6:30pm

Mingle with BioPark tenants, our UM Ventures staff, UMB faculty and leaders in Baltimore’s technology community.

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Brown Advisory—an investment and strategic advisory firm committed to making a material and positive difference in the lives of its clients—is excited to join forces with network-driven venture capital firm, NextGen Venture Partners (“NextGen”). On Feb. 22, 2018, the NextGen team will officially join their new Brown Advisory colleagues in offices across the United States.

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MaxCyte, the global cell-based medicines and technology company, announces that 30-year life sciences industry veteran Richard Douglas, Ph.D., has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director.

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Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIRS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel biotherapeutics through its proprietary Anticalin technology platform for cancer, respiratory and other diseases, announced today the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 5,500,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $8.00 per share. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses payable by Pieris, are expected to be $44.0 million. In addition, Pieris has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 825,000 additional shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering is expected to close on or about February 16, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.

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The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) celebrates its 25 years anniversary this year.

Innovators Magazine is a media partner with one of BIO’S flagship annual events, the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, and we’ve distributed special Congress editions at the last two instalments, in San Diego and Montréal.

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins University believe robots could learn a thing or two from nature’s most adaptable pest — the cockroach. The insect can navigate almost any terrain, thanks to over 300 million years of evolution. Scientists filmed the cockroaches running obstacle courses and captured their movements using high-speed cameras. The footage was then analyzed and adapted for a six-legged robot to repeat the movements. Researchers hope this work can eventually be used in search and rescue missions during natural disasters.

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Elon Musk’s plan to build a hyperloop tunnel to allow travel from D.C. to New York in under 30 minutes appears to be gaining traction with District officials.

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Is wood the next advanced material?

Scientists at the University of Maryland reported last week that they’ve discovered a way to treat wood to make it 12 times stronger than natural wood and 10 times tougher. According to Liangbing Hu, one the lead researchers in the paper published in Nature, their wood is so strong and durable that it can compete with steel, titanium alloys, and even carbon fiber–but at an infinitely much lower price point.

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Join WIB–Capital Region on February 21, 2018 for a panel discussion with industry experts that will help demystify venture capital funding in the biotech space.Join WIB–Capital Region on February 21, 2018 for a panel discussion with industry experts that will help demystify venture capital funding in the biotech space.

Moderated by Crystal Icenhour; CEO, Aperiomics, and featuring panelists Kyp Sirinakis, Managing Partner, Expidarex Capital, and Laurie Silver, CFO, Brainscope, this session is intended to be highly interactive! In addition to having questions in mind for the Q&A session, we encourage you to send questions in advance to capitalregion@WomenInBio.org to help guide the discussion.

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