329th Edition – November 13, 2018

Emily English, CEO of Gemstone Biotherapeutics sits down with BioTalk host Rich Bendis to discuss company’s history, the path to her role, and the evolution of their technology.

Emily English, CEO of Gemstone Biotherapeutics sits down with BioTalk host Rich Bendis to discuss company’s history, the path to her role, and the evolution of their technology. Emily P. English, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Gemstone Biotherapeutics, LLC. Dr. English is a proven innovator and manager with a passion for transitioning early-stage technologies to operational capabilities and commercial products. In her current role, she is guiding the commercialization of Gemstone’s innovative biomaterials technology, with a goal of bringing solutions for scar-free skin regeneration to market. Prior to joining Gemstone, Dr. English spent eight years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where she was the Global Communications Program Manager and led a team of 35 scientists and engineers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna cum laude, in chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Outside of work, Dr. English enjoys spending time with her family, and she is an avid curler.

Listen now on iTunes , Google Play , and TuneIn. 

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• How do you obtain coverage and payment for your technology?
• Is the process different for medical devices from diagnostics or therapeutics?
• Can digital apps be reimbursed?
• How do I work with bundled payments?
• What is the process for securing reimbursement codes?  Do I need different strategies based upon the point of care?
• How much do I need to budget for a reimbursement strategy?  When do I need one?
• How to I talk to investors about my reimbursement strategy? 

Learn the answers to these questions and more through the November 14th PathFinder Innovation Program. (There is no charge to attend in person or by videoconference, however, pre-registration by NOON, 11/13 is required).

• 8:15 a.m. Networking and Coffee
• 8:30 a.m.  – Issues Overview (in person/by videoconference)
  • Speakers:  Brian Abraham, Founder, Lara Reimbursement Advisory
  • Luis Gutierrez, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, NHLBI and BioHealth Innovation
• 9:30 a.m. – 1:1 Office Hours (in person/by videoconference)*

This program is cosponsored by BioHealth Innovation, Launch Workplaces, TEDCO and Montgomery County. It is open to anyone in the BioHealth Capital Region.  

To register/For more information, email:  BHI@BioHealthInnovation.  (In person 1:1 scheduling:  www.tinyurl.com/BHIappointments.)

*Attendance at Overview in person/by videoconference required to participate in 1:1 sessions.

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BHI congratulates Lily Qi on her election to the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 15 in Montgomery County. Lily was one of the founding members of the working group who was instrumental in launching BioHealth Innovation well before her appointment to the Board in 2016. She has been a champion for advancing the biotech industry and is looking forward to being a strong partner for the biohealth industries in Montgomery County and Maryland. Lily ran a highly competitive race and won 2nd place both in the Democratic Primary among nine contenders (including two incumbents) and in the General Election where there were six total candidates. She became the first Chinese immigrant elected to the Maryland Legislature. Please join us in congratulating Lily Qi as we look forward to great things from her in her new role.

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Rockville-based RegenxBio Inc. is on the move — to a site about 300 yards from its current home.

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When the person who successfully upended the broadcast radio industry model with the launch of Sirius XM satellite radio and then successfully challenged the drug development model to create new drugs for rare diseases now tells you to focus on bio-defense, you better pay attention. So when Dr. Martine Rothblatt PhD, JD, the Founder and CEO of United Therapeutics Corp., appeared as the keynote speaker for BARDA’s Industry Day, it signaled this was not going to be business as usual, even for a government agency that must be ready to combat exotic diseases like Ebola, Zika and Pandemic flu.

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Scientists from across the BioHealth Capital Region will collaborate on a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the Department of Defense to fight the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), a South American-borne disease that can cause long-term neurological problems and even death.   George Mason University researcher, Kylene Kehn-Hall, PhD, lead the efforts to win the sizable grant from Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)

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Novavax is a few months away from results for its two lead vaccine programs — and it’s taking steps “to enable us to launch our products as soon as possible post licensure,” CEO Stanley Erck said on a Wednesday earnings call.

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REGENXBIO has executed a 15-year 132000 square foot lease for the building.

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Eli Lilly will use NextCure’s Functional, Integrated, NextCure Discovery in Immuno Oncology (FIND-IO™) platform to discover and develop cancer targets for new immuno-oncology therapies, the companies said, through a collaboration set to generate more than $40 million for the Beltsville, MD, cancer drug developer.

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ETC (Emerging Technology Center), Baltimore City’s award-winning technology and innovation center, announced today that its AccelerateBaltimore program will run for its eighth consecutive year, with funding from the Abell Foundation. Six companies will be competitively selected for the program, each receiving initial seed funding of $25,000 and $100,000 in follow-on funding will be awarded to one AccelerateBaltimore company judged to have the greatest potential for growth. ETC will accept applications from October 22 through December 10, 2018 at www.acceleratebaltimore.com.

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Senseonics Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: SENS) a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of a long-term, implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for people with diabetes, today has announced that the Eversense® Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System has received FDA approval for qualified health care providers to be trained and certified to provide patients with the highly accurate sensor that lasts up to three months. Previously, the sensor insertion and removal procedure could only be performed by trained physicians.

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CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) and MaxCyte today announced the expansion of their existing relationship by entering into a non-exclusive commercial license agreement that will allow CRISPR Therapeutics to deploy MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation® Technology to develop CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies in immuno-oncology.

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MdBio Foundation, a national non-profit that provides STEM education and workforce development to underserved communities, will hosts its 10th Advancing Tomorrow’s Leaders in STEM (ATLAS) college and career readiness symposium on November 9, 2018, at Montgomery College’s campus in Germantown, Md. ATLAS brings students typically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) together with Maryland’s leading employers to learn about career opportunities and foster the development of a strong pipeline of skilled STEM workers that will fuel the state’s growing science and technology sectors.

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A $25,000 prize will be awarded to one of the 10 new Social Innovation Lab members at the end of the cohort session.

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New Enterprise Associates has closed a deal to sell $1.3 billion of interests in about 20 portfolio companies to a new fund managed by a new venture capital firm headed by two former NEA executives, multiple sources with knowledge of the transaction have said.

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The venture capital firm is aiming for $200 million.

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Geisinger president and CEO David Feinberg is moving to tech giant Google, where he will help coordinate its moves in the healthcare space, according to CNBC.

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A new report funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and released by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science indicates that genetic testing and breakthrough therapies will transform the diagnosis and care of neuromuscular disease within the next decade. The report, “Understanding Neuromuscular Disease Care,” highlights current gaps in care and opportunities to optimize care and accelerate the emergence of new therapies. Insights gained from a survey of health care professionals focused on the care of patients with neuromuscular disease are also included.

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Leonard Freedman, founding president of the Global Biological Standards Institute, has been appointed chief science officer at a federally funded research and development center Leidos manages for the National Cancer Institute.

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While several biopharma giants (including Amgen, Novartis, and Merck & Co.) reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations in recent days, biotechs appear to have been caught up in the past month’s stock market swoon. As of October 26, according to Zacks Equity Research, the stock prices of companies in its “medical-biomedical and genetics” sector, which includes smaller as well as larger biotechs, had fallen 10.3% over the previous six months, compared with a 1.6% increase for the overall S&P 500.

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Things are looking up for women—or so they seem. In the era of #MeToo, more and more women are speaking up about workplace harassment and discrimination, and the perpetrators are increasingly held accountable. Industry groups, like the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and states, such as California, are implementing rules to increase the proportion of women on corporate boards.

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In Cambridge, Massachusetts, some of the most valuable real estate in the city of 113,000 can be found clustered around the Kendall Square station along Boston’s metro, the T. This cluster of labs, research centers, and corporate offices, located within a 10-minute walk of the rail station, has been called “the most innovative square mile on earth,” according to a Boston Consulting Group report from 2009, and a birthplace of the biotech industry.

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The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) has extended its deadline for accepting proposals from organizations interested in entering into new Joint Venture Partnerships (JVP) with the agency. As described in the Federal Register notice (Opportunity Announcement), the JV partners in collaboration with NTIS will assist Federal agencies in developing and implementing innovative ways to collect, connect, access, analyze, or use Federal data and data services.

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The original location of 1776 is closing at the end of the year. 1776 plans to leave its current D.C. location at 1133 15th St. NW after the prominent incubator network couldn’t reach an agreement over lease renewal terms with the building’s owner, DivcoWest. The lease will expire on December 31.

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