508th Edition – May 17, 2022

Vita Therapeutics CEO & Co-founder Douglas Falk chats with Rich Bendis to discuss his career, their platforms, and moving into the University of Maryland BioPark.

Listen now on Apple https://apple.co/3wwzX8N, Google https://bit.ly/3wxbQag, Spotify https://spoti.fi/3sCZH2t, Amazon https://amzn.to/3G3DLDb, and TuneIn https://bit.ly/3FStLfF.

Douglas Falk, MS is the Co-founder and CEO of Vita Therapeutics, a biotechnology company generating state-of-the-art cellular therapeutics for the treatment of muscular dystrophies and solid tumors. He has experience in healthcare equity research investing as a former Principal at Brown Advisory. He has led direct investment into more than 30 biotechnology companies and is a Board Member of Johns Hopkins University’s Biotech Investment Group.

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HILDEN, Germany & GERMANTOWN, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) announced today that it has signed agreements to acquire a 96% majority ownership stake in BLIRT SA (Polish Stock Exchange: BLR), a manufacturer of recombinant enzymes for the life science industry based in Gdansk, Poland.

BLIRT develops, manufactures and commercializes standardized and customized solutions for proteins and enzymes as well as molecular biology reagents. Its offering includes proteins and enzymes that are critical to the life sciences industry and diagnostic kit manufacturers, especially for non-COVID-19 applications. BLIRT, founded in 1994 in Gdansk, Poland, has approximately 90 employees and generated 2021 sales of less than $10 million.

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The cloud platform will empower biotech companies and CROs with an integrated solution for clinical data management and is supported by Emmes specialist data management teams

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Emmes – a global, full-service Contract Research Organization (CRO) dedicated to supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation, announces that it will introduce to market its third generation version of Advantage eClinical at Society for Clinical Trials (SCT) in San Diego, May 15th – 18th. The cloud platform of Advantage eClinical will be available as a standalone software product after undergoing more than two years of development. The system has been specifically designed to provide fast study builds, greater flexibility, and insights to clinical trial sponsors of all sizes.

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GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Chimerix, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMRX), to acquire Chimerix’s exclusive worldwide rights to TEMBEXA® (brincidofovir), the first antiviral approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for all age groups for the treatment of smallpox. TEMBEXA was approved in June 2021 and is indicated for the treatment of human smallpox disease in adult and pediatric patients, including neonates.

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MIMETAS, a global leader in Organ-on-a-Chip models and technology and headquartered in the Netherlands (Europe), announces  that it has expanded its license to the HUB Organoid Technology to include all organs. The license covers organoid technology developed by Professor Hans Clevers, a pioneer in adult stem cells.

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ROCKVILLE, Md., May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Emmes, a global, full-service clinical research organization (CRO) dedicated to supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation, today announced that it is providing data, statistical analysis, and project management support for new research that will test the Moderna mRNA vaccine at more than 50 sites in South and East Africa.

The clinical trial, which will include about 15,600 participants, seeks to better understand infection and disease in immunocompromised populations in order to prevent severe COVID-19 and chronic SARS-CoV-2 infections and minimize the risk of transmission.  The study will also address the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine's resistance to the variants that have been detected in South Africa and surrounding countries.

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We are very excited for this year’s conference theme!  Our theme will be a “green thread” that is woven throughout our many sessions to bring a fresh and holistic view into the future of HEOR in patient-driven digital healthcare systems.

The last two years have seen a rapid rise of real-time solutions, digital healthcare interactions and an accelerated expansion of mobile healthcare. As digital systems mature and incorporate a broader array of patient-reported outcomes and preference measures, the trajectory of adoption of new services will be influenced by better information on how they are affecting patients’ lives….

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There is no doubt that Virginia is open for business to the life sciences industry. Over the past several years, the state has seen significant growth in pocket ecosystems across the land, particularly in areas like Charlottesville, Richmond, and Blacksburg.

Some of the growth has been fueled by an infusion of federal monies related to the government’s efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, while other growth has been driven by old-fashioned scientific innovation. Across the Old Dominion state, companies are driving research and development of novel therapies and more as they all combine their forces to bolster the life sciences ecosystem.

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The Labs at Belward, located at the Belward Campus of The Johns Hopkins University, will Initially Provide 757,000 SF of Trophy Lab and R&D Facilities and Community Serving Amenities

Trammell Crow Company (TCC), a global commercial real estate developer, today unveiled plans to develop The Labs at Belward, a world-class life science campus, in the Shady Grove area of Montgomery County, Md. The Labs at Belward, located at the Belward Campus of The Johns Hopkins University, will initially include 757,000 square feet of trophy lab and research and discovery space across three buildings. The project has the potential to grow to approximately 1.6 million square feet across seven buildings. Construction of the initial 757,000 square feet will begin June 2023 and is slated to be completed in early 2025.

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IndyGeneUS plans to use the grant funding from Johnson & Johnson Innovation to Scale Blockchain-secured Genomic Data Marketplace and Proprietary GenēUS™ Discovery Platform

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, IndyGeneUS AI was named an awardee of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Veterans Lead QuickFire Challenge: Innovations by Vets.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation, together with Bunker Labs, a national nonprofit organization that aims to equip the military-connected community with the network, tools, and opportunities needed to launch and grow successful businesses, invited U.S. Veteran innovators and military spouses/legal partners to submit potentially ground-breaking ideas in all aspects of human healthcare.

The black-owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Small Business (SDVOSB), IndyGeneUS AI, pitched their cutting-edge blockchain-encrypted and machine learning-powered bioinformatics "GenēUS™ Discovery Platform" to a panel of judges, which included both Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Bunker Labs executives.

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By: Brian Darmody, Chief Strategy Officer, AURP: Building Communities of Innovation

May 10, 2022

Sometime this September, the US Economic and Development Agency (EDA) will announce its Phase 2 awardees for the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge award winners.

Thirty or so lucky jurisdictions from across the U.S will receive between $25M -$100 M in EDA funding, although actual funding levels will be smaller to support projects on a regional basis for an industry cluster. These programs will develop or scale regional economies and devote funding to workforce training and support equitable development, including science parks and accelerators.

Thirty other finalists though will not be winners though as EDA only has funds to support thirty awards, much less the hundreds of jurisdictions from across the U.S. that applied for the program. (Five hundred and twenty-nine applicants were received by the EDA.)

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New blockchain talent marketplace seeks to solve hiring and diversity challenges in the rapidly growing biotech industry.

BALTIMORE, MD (May 10, 2022) – BioBuzz Media, the go-to community platform for biotech job seekers and industry professionals looking to access employers and plug into regional biotech communities, today announced its completion of the inaugural University of Maryland Blockchain Accelerator program. BioBuzz and other participating companies pitched to more than 70 attendees, including investors, mentors and industry leaders at Demo Day on May 4, 2022.

Selected from over 60 applicants to be one of eight startups in the inaugural cohort, BioBuzz is building a blockchain-based next-generation talent marketplace to de-risk hires and equitably expand the life sciences workforce. The new solution promises to provide employers with a more efficient recruiting process while providing job seekers with control of their data through a federated layer and enabling them to earn rewards for learning, training and contributing to the marketplace.

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COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Maryland today dedicated the new E.A. Fernandez IDEA (Innovate, Design and Engineer for America) Factory. Designed to foster technology innovations and advances through collaboration across engineering, the arts, business and science, the A. James Clark School of Engineering's new 60,000-square-foot building is the university's only facility funded entirely by private philanthropy.

Image: The University of Maryland Adds $67M IDEA Factory To Its Innovation Ecosystem – https://www.prnewswire.com

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No question about it—2021 was a banner year for initial public offerings.

Nasdaq data indicates 1,033 IPOs last year, more than double 2020’s 471.  As we move further into 2022, the market has slowed considerably. In the first quarter, only 95 companies filed initial public offerings as opposed to 419 in the first quarter of 2021.

Image: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/

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