admin

A little more than a year ago the American Heart Association launched an accelerator to fund biotechnolgy and medical device startups to fill a crucial gap in research funding caused by the increasing hesitance of investors to risk support on early-stage innovation. Now, it’s getting ready for a $2 million fundraising round to invest in two companies by the end of the year. It’s also working with sister organizations and mission-driven investment organizations to identify areas of common interest.

In a phone interview with MedCity News, Ross Tonkens, the director of the Science & Technology Accelerator, and Major Gifts Officer Mark Germano said they’re forming a group of donors who can provide expertise to screen applications. These donors have investment backgrounds steeped in biotechnology, drug development and medical devices. They also have expertise in legal issues, commercialization, IP, regulatory, clinical trial design and conduct issues. In a lot of cases, these are people who have had personal or close contact with people who have had cardiovascular disease or a stroke and want to see things move from the [lab] bench to bedside.

The InvestMaryland Challenge has whittled down the 259 start-up companies that applied to the business competition to 33 semifinalists.

Only nine of those companies will move on to be finalists in the contest; three will win grand prizes of $100,000.

On March 5 the semifinalists will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and complete a product demonstration. Grand prizes will be announced April 15.

If you need an effective drug today for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, you need to get an injection at the back of the eye.

Waltham, MA-based Kala Pharmaceuticals believes it may be able to get the drug where it needs to go, without sticking a needle in your eye.

In 2009, President Barack Obama selected the Republic of Turkey as a pivotal port of call in his first trip abroad as the new President of the United States. That symbolic visit led to the launch of an initiative to boost trade and investment ties between the two strategic allies under what was called a “model partnership,” culminating in a $ 17 billion mutual trade volume. Following in the footsteps of the President, US Senator John Kerry will also visit Turkey in his first international tour as the new American Secretary of State. These visits further underline the significance of American-Turkish relations for this administration. As the 16th strongest economy in the world, Turkey is not only an important geopolitical ally, but also an increasingly valuable commercial partner.

This live infographic dynamically shows the number of pending patent expirations by year for the next ten years.

For more infographics, see the DrugPatentWatch Pharmaceutical Innovation Infographics.

GlaxoSmithKline encountered some stiff industry headwinds when it pledged to open up its data vault to outside investigators. But as of today it has a high-profile convert on its side. The biopharma giant Roche ($RHHBY) has agreed to follow in GSK’s ($GSK) footsteps, saying that it will work with an independent group which will be charged with sorting out and approving requests for access to anonymized clinical trial data for all approved products. If regulators can’t provide the data, says Roche, then the company will make it available.

“We understand and support calls for our industry to be more transparent about clinical trial data with the aim of meeting the best interests of patients and medicine,” said Daniel O’Day, chief operating officer of Roche Pharma. “At the same time, we firmly believe that health authorities need to remain the gatekeeper for drug assessment and approval. We believe we have found a way in which patient data can be provided to third party researchers in a legitimate environment that ensures patient confidentiality and avoids the risk of publishing misleading results or giving rise to public health scares and consequences.”

Government contractors across the U.S. have found themselves in a holding pattern over the past few years, adapting to constant delays and waiting for economic uncertainty to be resolved.  Between continuing resolutions, the debt ceiling crisis, and the threat of sequestration, government contracting companies have struggled to find new ways to be successful in the face of change.

According to a recent white paper by the Professional Services Council, “between fiscal years 2011 and 2012, federal spending on service contracts dropped more than $5 billion, which translates directly into the elimination of tens of thousands of contractor positions across the nation.”  This, combined with a rise in the award of lowest-priced technically acceptable contracts, the delay in the award of new contacts and shorter term task orders under existing contract vehicles are all signs that a storm is brewing.  Increased audits and investigations into contracting fraud waste and abuse, the increase in more regulations and compliance issues, and the Federal Strategic Sourcing initiative are clear evidence of this prevailing wind.

Johns Hopkins’ John Wong, Ph.D., has won a BioMaryland LIFE Award, and Ronald Berger, M.D., Ph.D., and Hien Nguyen, M.D., were awarded funds from the Abell Foundation, the researchers learned last week. Each of the winners will receive $50,000 to help develop their discoveries for clinical use.

The prizes were awarded as part of the annual Joint Meeting of the Johns Hopkins Alliance for Science and Technology Development and the University of Maryland, Baltimore Commercial Advisory Board on Feb. 19. The meeting was attended by more than 150 venture capitalists, seasoned biotech entrepreneurs and business development executives from the biopharma industry. Judging committees evaluated presentations from two dozen university researchers before selecting the winners. The aim of the awards is to speed the translation of promising research into commercial application.