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MedImmune, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, announced that it has signed an in-licensing agreement with Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX) for Progenics’ Clostridium difficile late-stage preclinical program.  The agreement was led by MedImmune’s Infectious Diseases & Vaccines Innovative Medicines (iMed) Unit.

Clostridium difficile infections are the leading cause of hospital-acquired bacterial infections in the U.S. and are associated with more than 20,000 deaths and more than $1 billion in healthcare costs annually. The disease causes severe diarrhea in patients and significantly lengthens the time patients stay in the hospital, leading to poorer outcomes. MedImmune’s program for this property will assess the potential efficacy and safety of treatment of the infection with investigational monoclonal antibodies targeting toxins that mediate the disease.

University of Maryland System’s Diverse Space Offerings Provide Sterilization Technology Company the Ability to Grow Locally

Baltimore, MD, December 18, 2012 – The University of Maryland (UM) BioPark announced today that Noxilizer, Inc., a sterilization technology company, is the latest advancing life sciences company to sign a lease for space within the BioPark. Noxilizer relocates to the UM BioPark from the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park in Baltimore County to accommodate the company’s explansion plans.

Said Jane Shaab, UM Research Park Corporation Senior Vice President, “Noxilizer’s move to the UM BioPark symbolizes the diverse space offerings within the University of Maryland system. This move also adds to our mix of growing technology businesses, research centers, and educational offerings.”

University of Maryland, Baltimore said Monday it reached its $650 million fundraising goal, a record for the school.

The campaign, launched in fiscal 2005, has supported several campus projects, including construction of a new campus center, improvements at the law school, an endowed scholarship for nursing students and nearly twice as many endowed chairs and professorships at the School of Medicine.

Two little-hyped drugs developed by Human Genome Sciences Inc. and Sucampo Inc. (Nasdaq: SCMP) have won Food & Drug Administration nods.

The approval of HGS’ Raxibacumab as a treatment and prevention for inhaled anthrax and the supplemental approval of Sucampo’s Rescula, for glaucoma and ocular hypertension, both represents wins for Maryland biotech.

Startups are coming out of the woodwork to vie for InvestMaryland cash. Under a business plan competition, the state-run investment program is offering prizes of $100,000 to three early-stage companies.

Prizes will go to a company in the life sciences, one in the IT space and one in a general category.

Not surprisingly, a whopping 259 startups applied — a colorful bunch that includes entities such as BodyCount LLC, A.I.R. Lawn Care and Fraud Sniffr, as well as some more traditional tech and biotech companies, according to an official list. About 10 percent of the companies that applied are from out of state.

Dr. Gene Green, a senior executive within Johns Hopkins Medicine’s doctors group, has been appointed president of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

He replaces veteran hospital chief Brian Gragnolati, who will now turn his attention full-time to his corporate duties as senior vice president in charge of the system’s Community Division. The division includes Suburban, Howard County General Hospital and Sibley Memorial Hospital in D.C.