The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund has awarded VLP Therapeutics a $3.9 million grant to further develop a novel tetravalent dengue virus-like particle vaccine.
Early-stage pharmaceutical company Spiral Therapeutics received $3.7 million in new investment as it looks to advance treatments for hearing loss and other inner ear disorders.
The most common analogy used to compare the science of DNA to other industries is that of computer software. DNA can be viewed as a series of commands (genes) that are coded in four nucleotides (represented by A, G, C, and T). Those letters are interpreted by the cellular machinery to produce cell products like enzymes, proteins, and various building blocks of the cell itself. This code somewhat parallels the “machine language” of computers. Computer’s lists of commands (coded in zeros and ones) are interpreted to work with numbers or any type of information that is converted to numbers (like audio, video, or sensor data). Resulting numbers generate numerical output for machinery such as screen displays, motors, tools, robots, digital controls, etc.
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 been awarded one of Popular Science’s 2018 “Best of What’s New” Awards in the Health category.
University of Maryland (UM) Ventures and Educational & Scientific, LLC (ESL) announced today that the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has again granted ESL an exclusive license for a novel cancer treatment. This agreement focuses on the development of Galeterone, a molecule with the potential to inhibit prostate cancer growth in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Galeterone is a steroidal antiandrogen that acts by disrupting the androgen receptor signaling pathway, which is the primary pathway that drives prostate cancer growth.
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund provides a variety of grant programs for human stem cell research in the state of Maryland. Each RFA has its own timeline and review process; please read carefully the RFA when applying.
2018 was a year in which we saw explosive growth at Mimetas. After such a hectic and promising year, it is important to take a moment to sit down and recap some of the highlights. Today, we sit down with our CEOs, Jos and Paul. In this conversation, you will read their thoughts about the Mimetas culture, corporate dynamics, amazing new products, and the strengths they perceive in each other.
BullFrog AI, Inc, a precision pharmaceutical company built around a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) platform, proudly announces the addition of executive Everett Lee as its Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Lee brings nearly 3 decades of technical expertise and continuous advancement in technology management, strategic business planning and IT organizational leadership at major pharmaceutical/biotech and drug development companies such as AstraZeneca, Roche/Genentech, Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer and Covance.
Intelligent nanobots offer the promise of smart drug delivery systems for a variety of therapeutic applications. A promise that experts in the field believe will become a reality within the next 30-40 years.
But at MedImmune, we don’t think patients should have to wait.
After months of anticipation, the just released draft paper Return on Investment Initiative to Advance the President’s Management Agenda: Unleashing American Innovation signals that the Administration is serious about addressing a wide range of long neglected issues undermining effective technology commercialization. The paper, generated under the leadership of Commerce Under Secretary Walter Copan, who heads the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is “a discussion document” based on feedback from a series of public meetings and written comments for improving the return on investment from $150 B spent annually on government-supported R&D.
The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with partners Monday to start an accelerator program for biotechnical companies.
When it comes to drug discovery and development, nowadays a lot of the work is done by small- or medium-sized healthcare companies. The biopharma industry heavily relies on their results, so SMEs carry an immense load on their shoulders. But without outside help, their mission is nearly impossible.
This eighth, biennial report focuses on the economic progress and footprint of the industry geographically including the performance, positioning and latest trends in the bioscience industry for the nation, states and metropolitan areas. For the first time, it includes a national assessment of the full economic impact of the bioscience industry not only in terms of employment, but also with respect to economic output and fiscal impacts. In addition, the report details the nation’s academic research activities and trends in federal funding, access to critical angel and venture capital and the innovation outputs context via patent activities.
The last time GEN compiled a list of CEOs, investors, and others with the biggest stakes in biopharma companies—what GEN calls “molecular millionaires”—was last year, based on 2016 data. Only one new person who had not been listed in previous editions made the cut back then.
In a world where it seems like startups are created every other day and market economics remain largely unpredictable, securing funding for your biotech startup can prove to be an arduous task. Venture capitalists prefer tested and proven biotech enterprises, government- and NGO-backed funding remain ever so slightly out of reach, and every other funding outlet seemingly comes with its own set of hard-to-match requirements and specifications. What is the fate of the budding startup without experience in the harsh economic climate of today’s biotech ecosphere? As it turns out, it’s not quite as bad as one would expect. It’s all down to knowing the ropes and peculiarities of the market.
A decade ago, a wave of companies promised to transform people’s health by allowing them to track data about their eating, sleep, exercise, and other habits. One hot startup of that moment, Zeo, raised more than $30 million from investors to develop a headband that tracked users’ sleep patterns and an accompanying app to serve as their personal “sleep coach.” Despite devoted users and buzz about its product in publications like Wired and Popular Science, Zeo quietly went out of business a few years later.
The idea of using patients’ own immune cells to fight cancer is over a hundred years old. In the late 19th century, an American doctor called William Coley attempted to treat cancer by stimulating the immune system with dangerous bacteria, arguably the first example of what is now known as immunotherapy. His procedure appeared to shrink some patients’ tumours, but was criticised as unsafe and largely forgotten about. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy became the focus of cancer research and the standard tumour treatment for the rest of the 20th century.
