Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, but some universities have a truly exceptional track record of producing future entrepreneurs.
PitchBook’s annual university rankings compare schools by tallying up the number of alumni entrepreneurs who have founded venture capital-backed companies. The undergraduate and graduate rankings are powered by PitchBook data and are based on an analysis of more than 144,000 VC-backed founders.
Maryland life sciences and biotechnology companies have been at the forefront of the state’s public health response and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, lawmakers are considering policies that weaken the very backbone of Maryland’s robust innovation economy at a time where protecting this industry had never been more critical. Without the necessary policies and protections in place, essential innovation and research, such as COVID-19 clinical trials and cybersecurity development taking place right here in Maryland, could be forced to come to a screeching halt.
Image: Scientists work on the vaccine purification process as they design updates to the Novavax’s COVID-19 shots in the company’s research laboratory on May 24, 2022, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized use of Novavax’s more traditional kind of COVID-19 vaccine, which the company hopes can win over unvaccinated people and become a top choice for boosters. (AP Photo/Angie Wang) (Angie Wang/AP)
An NCI Technology Opportunity Webinar
We invite you to register and join us on November 15 from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET for a free NCI technology webinar.
Attendees will hear from Drs. Anand Swaroop, Ph.D. and Kamil Kruczek, Ph.D. of the National Eye Institute about a new gene therapy method for treating CRX-autosomal dominant Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA). LCA is a rare genetic disease that is responsible for about 20% of all childhood blindness. It’s caused by mutations in any of at least 25 genes that control photoreceptor development or function. LCA has both recessive and dominant forms. Currently, there is an FDA approved gene therapy for treating only one of the recessive forms of LCA caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene. In addition to most recessive forms, the dominant form of LCA with underlying mutations in CRX remains untreatable.
BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) and Montgomery County are pleased to announce Jennifer R. Butler as the first Montgomery County “Executive in Residence”—a pilot project dedicated to providing 1:1 technical assistance to Montgomery County-based biotech startups.
This is a year-long collaboration between the county government, which is funding the work as part of its mission to grow the local life sciences cluster, and BHI, a regional innovation intermediary supporting technology commercialization throughout Maryland, D.C., and Virginia.
The Polaris Genomics Leadership team of CEO Charles Cathlin, MPH, CSO Tshaka Cunningham, PhD, and CMO Anne Naclerio, MD, MPH visit BioTalk to discuss competing in the 7th Annual Crab Trap Competition, being a Veteran-Owned Business and growing in BioHealth Capital Region.
Listen now via Apple https://apple.co/3DOUiLK, Google https://bit.ly/3fowyob, or Spotify https://spoti.fi/3DNfd1F3
The Polaris Genomics Leadership team of CEO Charles Cathlin, MPH, CSO Tshaka Cunningham, PhD, and CMO Anne Naclerio, MD, MPH visit BioTalk to discuss competing in the 7th Annual Crab Trap Competition, being a Veteran-Owned Business and growing in BioHealth Capital Region.
Listen now via Apple https://apple.co/3DOUiLK, Google https://bit.ly/3fowyob, or Spotify https://spoti.fi/3DNfd1F3
“There’s more dry powder powder than ever before.”
“There’s never been a better time to start a startup.”
“Discipline is the new scale.” (OK, OK, I made that last one up, but didn’t you kind of believe it?).
The tech industry loves generalizations — and don’t worry, I enjoy my fair share too — but as the downturn continues to play out, it’s increasingly important to think about the structural changes that may be forming in the venture capital landscape. Venture firms, unlike unicorns, often don’t have hundreds of employees to cut. Instead, venture firms cut costs in quieter ways.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. and GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SAB Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: SABS), (“SAB”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a novel immunotherapy platform that produces specifically targeted, high-potency, fully-human polyclonal antibodies without the need for human donors, today announced the company has entered into an exclusive manufacturing services agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS). Emergent will provide contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services to produce SAB’s fully-human polyclonal antibody products. Currently, SAB has clinical-stage programs in pan-influenza treatment, treatment of acute and recurrent C. diff., prevention of Type 1 diabetes, and discovery assets in immunology and oncology.
Under the terms of the agreement, Emergent will provide end-to-end Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturing services to SAB, including process development and manufacturing clinical investigational drug product to support SAB’s clinical programs, and commercial manufacturing services upon regulatory approval of SAB’s therapeutics. The agreement also provides the opportunity for Emergent to utilize SAB’s novel DiversitAb™ platform, the only one in the world that produces fully-human polyclonal antibodies utilizing transchromosomic cows, for future development of undisclosed programs. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Thanks to the Maryland Department of Commerce, an octet of the state’s public and private universities can now commit a collective $16.4 million toward professorships in STEM, health and adjacent fields.
Half of that sum, or $8.2 million, comes from matching grants that the stage agency endowed via its Maryland E-Novation Initiative Fund (MEIF), which it administers to match private fundraising for endowed professorships and chair positions. The other half, per the MEIF’s mandate, came from private fundraising that the beneficiary universities and colleges raised.
Image: Holmes Hall, one of Morgan State University’s main campus buildings.
(Image via Facebook)
Through this collaboration, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies will incorporate RoosterBio’s industry-leading process development technology for both MSC and extracellular vesicle (EV) / exosome programs into its manufacturing capabilities and offerings.
FREDERICK, MD. (PRWEB) OCTOBER 25, 2022
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biologics, vaccines, and advanced therapies, announced today a strategic collaboration with RoosterBio, Inc., a leading supplier of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), highly engineered media, and bioprocess development services. Through this collaboration, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies will incorporate RoosterBio’s industry-leading process development technology for both MSC and extracellular vesicle (EV) / exosome programs into its manufacturing capabilities and offerings.
