530th Edition, October 25, 2022

COLUMBIA, Md. (October 18, 2022)—TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced today its Seed Funds invested $200,000 in CoolTech, LLC, a Maryland-based medical device start-up. TEDCO’s Seed Funds invest in early-stage, technology and life sciences companies and includes gap financing.

“CoolTech is leveraging its patented platform to develop novel therapies such as transnasal evaporative cooling for temperature management and thermodynamic neuromodulation for migraine and other pain disorders.  Without using drugs or chemicals, we drive results, with lower cost and virtually no side effects,” said CoolTech CEO, Steven Schaefer. “Thanks to TEDCO, we are tackling some of the most debilitating clinical conditions in the world.”

An Annapolis company that hopes to create a non-drug treatment for migraine and mood disorders has raised $4 million of a $7 million series A round.

The funding round will help Mi-Helper conduct clinical studies to get U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its eponymous device. Mi-Helper has already gone through clinical studies at the Mayo Clinic, Michigan State University and Atrium Health and CEO Steve Schaefer plans for the device to hit the market in 2024. The company is planning to conduct a large at-home study to see if patients will be able to use the device at home instead of at a doctor’s office.

Image: CEO Steve Schaefer hopes Mi-Helper can provide a drug free treatment for migraines. Courtesy of Steve Schaefer

A throng of entrepreneurs, academics, developers and prominent life sciences players milled about two construction vehicles parked on a vacant, grass-covered lot at West Fayette Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in West Baltimore Friday afternoon.

The crowd came to celebrate the start of construction on 4MLK, a project that has been in the works for nearly a decade and will eventually provide the local life sciences sector with badly needed wet lab space.

Enrollment has begun in an early-stage clinical trial evaluating bacteriophage therapy in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who carry Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in their lungs. The trial is evaluating whether the bacteriophage, or “phage,” therapy is safe and able to reduce the amount of bacteria in the lungs of volunteers. The trial is being conducted by the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG), funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Investigators aim to enroll up to 72 adults at 16 CF centers across the United States.

AMPEL Biosolutions (AMPEL), located in Charlottesville, Virginia is a leading personalized precision medicine company developing tools that can help autoimmune and inflammatory disease patients improve their quality of life. AMPEL is one of the exciting companies that have emerged from the Charlottesville (CVille) biohub clustered around the University of Virginia (UVA).

Image: https://biobuzz.io

The entrepreneurial spirit burns bright at Johns Hopkins University, with alumni launching startups in sectors ranging from life sciences to the metaverse.

Enter A-Level Capital, a group of budding undergraduate investors on a mission to help Hopkins-born startups succeed. Founded by Carey Business School alum Elizabeth Galbut and Whiting School of Engineering alum Demi Obayomi, the student-run venture capital firm targets early-stage companies created or run by Hopkins alumni.

Image: https://hub.jhu.edu/

Johns Hopkins University is one of several partners behind the launch of The Light of Baltimore Incubator at Baker Donelson, a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, to provide office space, mentorship, and legal and marketing support for 26 HopkinsLocal businesses and other regional small businesses.

Image: https://hub.jhu.edu

Oct 19 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) is launching a platform that aims to connect startup founders with venture capital investors to simplify the fundraising process, the bank told Reuters.

The new platform, Capital Connect, focuses on serving the financing needs of startups from their early stages, marking the ambition of the biggest U.S. bank by assets to further expand into the private market and build a founder-friendly brand in Silicon Valley.

Without much fanfare, Congress recently passed legislation reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs and President Biden quickly signed it into law. The reauthorization of this critical program builds off of important pieces of recent economic legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the American Rescue Plan. While many Americans, including small business owners and entrepreneurs, may not be aware of either of these U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) efforts, their reauthorization is a big deal for innovation.

Image: 1982: President Ronald Reagan, surrounded by Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y., and Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., after signing the Small Business Innovation Development Act into law in the Rose Garden. – BETTMANN ARCHIVE

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) revealed its plans for an incubation and acceleration platform for innovation in the neurovascular space.

In a presentation yesterday at DeviceTalks West in Santa Clara, California, the company unveiled its plan to bring innovations to market to address strokes. Daniel Volz, president of Medtronic Neurovascular, and Derek Crittenden, Medtronic’s new technology & strategy program manager, presented the news.

Image: Dan Volz (right) and Derek Crittenden (left) present the Medtronic Co-Lab program at DeviceTalks West in Santa Clara, California. – https://www.massdevice.com