BHI Weekly News Archives

C-suite Executive and Serial Entrepreneur Who Specializes in Longevity Economy Innovation Joins Diverse Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) Team

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, April 12, 2021 – BioHealth Innovation Inc. (BHI) announces the addition of John P. Reinhart, CPA, MBA, to the growing Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) team. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program at BHI aims to ensure that disruptive technologies receive all the resources required to transform the technology from a discovery into a commercially relevant product and eventually have a measurable impact on human health. The program was created to support scientists, early-stage startups, and licensed technologies to provide them with access to these resources. John will be working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), specifically the National Institute of Aging (NIA)

“BHI is proud to welcome John Reinhart to our strong group of EIRs work with the National Institutes of Health,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President, and CEO. “His background as an executive and serial entrepreneur adds to the mission of this program.”

Read More

 Former Vice President with Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation Joins BHI Tem

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, April 12, 2021 – BioHealth Innovation Inc. (BHI) announces Sarah Miller’s addition as VP of Economic Development. This move coincides with the departure of BHI’s Managing Director of Economic Development, Judy Costello, who will be joining Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s staff.

“It is with mixed emotions that we said goodbye to an important part of the BHI family while adding a talented leader from right here in Montgomery County,” said Richard Bendis, BHI President and CEO. “We thank Judy for all her contributions to BHI and the BioHealth Capital Region, and welcome Sarah, who brings a background of success to our organization.”

Sarah Miller has served in various positions that have given her the tools necessary to help communities recognize and build upon their unique assets. In her work across Pennsylvania and Maryland, she has created high-quality civic spaces, helped industrial communities reinvent themselves, supported new farmers, built technology business incubators, and managed local public art programs. 

Read More

BioHealth Innovation, Inc., (BHI) a non-profit organization which strives to facilitate the development of commercially viable bio health products and companies by connecting market relevant research assets to appropriate funding, management and markets, is seeking a Senior Analyst.

JOB TITLE – SENIOR ANALYST

Reporting to the Lead Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), the Senior Analyst

Download the full description here.

Read More

Under the agreement, GSK will provide ‘fill and finish’ manufacturing capacity at its Barnard Castle facility in the North East UK. Fill and finish comprises the completion stage of vaccine manufacturing, in which vials are prepared for the final vaccine, before it is packaged and distributed for us.

Novavax’s NVX-CoV2373 vaccine candidate has shown strong efficacy in Phase 3 clinical trials, with data showing that it is 96.4% effective against the original Covid-19 strain and 86.3% effective against the UK variant.

Read More

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Testing remains a key factor in reaching the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, what happens if you test positive for the virus?

For many, it’s a waiting game and an unsettling experience in finding out the possible range of symptoms That’s an issue one Maryland-based biotech company is hoping to solve.

IES Life Sciences and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore are teaming up to determine how severe a COVID-19 case could become and even what type of symptoms a patient could have.

“I hope that it will eliminate the fear that is associated with getting a positive [COVID] test,” Dr. Robert Figliozzi, Director of Research and Development at IES Life Sciences, said.

Read More

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic greatly exposed a dearth of essential medications and significant vulnerabilities in the United States medical supply chain. Phlow Corporation aims to mitigate those weaknesses and manufacture essential generic medications at its Virginia manufacturing facility.

In early 2020, little-known Phlow made a splash with an $812 million contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to manufacture essential medications in the United States. Phlow, along with strategic partners Civica Rx, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medicines for All Institute, and AMPAC Fine Chemicals teamed up to meet the challenge of ensuring a steady supply of these essential drugs, as outlined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will be available for patients.

Image: https://biobuzz.io/

Read More

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated our region’s economy overall, but it has also triggered explosive growth in a pair of critical technology industries on either side of the Potomac.

The medical battle against the coronavirus opened a gusher of nearly $8 billion in fresh investment last year in Montgomery County’s biotech companies. The money has accelerated the sector’s evolution from innovative but small-scale research to the sale and manufacturing of vaccines and drugs.

Image: Doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at George Washington University Hospital in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Reuters)

Read More

Baltimore-based BondTrue was awarded a $256,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for development of its surgical closure device.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award is non-dilutive, meaning that it doesn’t require the startup to exchange equity in the company to receive funding. CEO Aimee Martin said the stamp of approval from the NSF makes this grant a big step towards reaching commercial release, as it will fund live testing at the University of Maryland. Martin said the company is seeking out non-dilutive grants to minimize risk and mature the product before taking it to bigger investors.

Image: BondTrue’s Aimee Martin and Dr. David Zachary Martin. (Courtesy photo)

Read More

AUSTIN, Texas, March 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference today announced the winners of the 13th annual SXSW Pitch event, which took place virtually on March 17-18 as part of the SXSW Online digital experience. In addition to a winner chosen from each of the 8 categories, the most promising project of the finalists also took home the overall “Best In Show” award.

Image: SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx – SXSW 2019. Photo by Camille Mayor

Read More

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 8, 2021) – Dr. James Crowe, Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine, has been named winner of the 2021 SEC Faculty Achievement Award for Vanderbilt University, the SEC announced on Thursday.

A board certified pediatric infectious diseases physician and viral immunology researcher, Dr. Crowe is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Inventors. He is a named inventor on approximately 100 patents and patent families for vaccines and antibodies. His research interests are in the human immune response to infection, and his work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, agencies within the U.S. Department of Defense and numerous foundations. He has been published in journals such as Nature, New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association.

Image: https://www.thesecu.com

Read More

She calls herself a hotel brat — but she also owns an RV.

Image: Dr. Christine Dingivan is president and CEO at Emmes. © EMAN MOHAMMED

Read More

University of Maryland (UMD) bioengineers reached a new milestone in their efforts to design an immunotherapy strategy to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. The team’s findings, published this month in ACS Nano, used nanomaterials to manipulate inflammatory pathways that might one day help slow or reverse MS without compromising a patient’s immune system.

Nearly 2.5 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with MS, an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to wrongfully attack myelin, the insulation that surrounds and protects nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. When this happens, nerve fibers and cells are damaged, leading to a loss of motor function and other neurological complications that greatly impact the patient’s quality of life.

Image: Dr. Robert “Smitty” Oakes (front) and Dr. Christopher Jewell (back)

Read More

Long home to federal institutions like the National Institutes of Health and leading universities, suburban areas like Montgomery County have long been home to a cluster of talent and companies working to commercialize pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical devices. Then came the pandemic. The federal government needed to invest in new treatments to stop the spread of COVID-19. In Maryland, the companies around the NIH and FDA figured prominently in the solution, as many had expertise that left them poised to jump into the fight.

Read More

(BOSTON) – CARB-X is awarding Novel Microdevices, Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, up to $3.6 million in non-dilutive funding, and, subject to available funding, up to an additional $10.2 million if certain project milestones are met, to develop a new rapid molecular test to diagnose sexually-transmitted bacterial infections, including Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Novel’s new device would diagnose infections in about 25 minutes from a vaginal swab or urine sample, and detect antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including those resistant to ciprofloxacin and 3rd generation cephalosporins, the only antibiotics that are still effective as treatments for most strains of the gonorrhoeae bacteria.

Image: https://carb-x.org

Read More

FREDERICK, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The Maryland Tech Council (MTC) announced today it will receive a $378,000 federal CARES Act grant to significantly expand its Business Continuity Task Force to assist more entrepreneurs in Maryland as they navigate COVID-19’s economic impact. Awarded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the grant enables MTC to expand the task force’s mentoring services to tech and life science businesses in the City of Baltimore, Baltimore County, and Prince George’s County at no cost.

The task force pairs tech and life science executives with experienced mentors who specialize in finance, accounting, engineering, innovation, and founders issues. The goal is to provide these entrepreneurs free and practical advice on leading a business through economic uncertainty from experts who navigated crises like the 2008 recession.

Read More

In tiny tubes filled with strands of human DNA, Robert Figliozzi carefully extracts what could be breakthrough science in the fight against the coronavirus.

The samples are mixed and sorted into data through machines. Figliozzi then identifies what are called biomarkers, indicators that predict the severity — even what type — of COVID-19 symptoms a patient will have.

“That, hopefully, will lead to those individual patients getting the right types of therapy and medical attention that they need,” said Figliozzi, a lab coordinator at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Read More

BioHealth Innovation, Inc., (BHI) a non-profit organization which strives to facilitate the development of commercially viable bio health products and companies by connecting market relevant research assets to appropriate funding, management and markets, is seeking a Senior Analyst.

JOB TITLE – SENIOR ANALYST

Reporting to the Lead Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), the Senior Analyst

Download the full description here.

Read More

TEDCO Talks: A new virtual series featuring thought leaders in economic development from across the State of Maryland.

Join TEDCO’s CEO & Executive Director, Troy LeMaile-Stovall, in thought-provoking conversations with regional leaders about the future of Maryland’s innovation ecosystem.

Troy had the opportunity to interview Rich Bendis with BioHealth Innovation. Watch now to learn more about BioHealth Innovation, and the role Rich has played in supporting Maryland’s entrepreneurial community.

Read More

BHI is working with Montgomery College and Montgomery County to support their work growing and retaining the county’s workforce.  Did you know Montgomery College’s Germantown location has a mock-cGMP training facility, and that they are experienced providers of scientific skills, business management and clinical trials project management, and soft skills training for your employees? They also partner with and/or feed into the many institutions at the Universities of Shady Grove which are part of the University System of Maryland.

To help Montgomery County provide useful training and workforce resources to you in the future, please provide your feedback on this program using this brief survey:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07ehsgtmbrkmytl91z/start

Read More

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that the Company continues to be on track with its manufacturing agreements related to COVID-19 vaccines and confirmed that there are no changes to its financial guidance for 2021. In addition, the Company received a contract modification to increase the original task order by $23 million from Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).

Read More

Seraxis, which is currently located at the Pinkney Innovation Complex for Science & Technology at Montgomery College (PIC MC) in the County-owned Germantown Innovation Center is developing its lead therapy, SR-01, to eliminate the need for type 1 diabetes patients to inject insulin. SR-01 is a revolutionary therapy that could impact more than 4.5 million people in the world.

The Seraxis solution is a simple approach to diabetes. Chief Executive Officer Dr. William Rust explained that the therapy replaces damaged or lost insulin-producing pancreatic cells with those grown in the Seraxis labs. In order to accomplish this, Seraxis has developed a proprietary human stem cell line dubbed SR1423 which is special.

Read More

SILVER SPRING, Md. and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tyvaso® (treprostinil) Inhalation Solution for the treatment of patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD; WHO Group 3) to improve exercise ability. This is the second FDA-approved indication for Tyvaso, which was first approved in July 2009 for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH; WHO Group 1) to improve exercise ability.

Read More

Did you know… The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for life sciences in the U.S.? There is more than $1.2 billion of seed funding for small businesses that are developing innovative products and services that could potentially save lives.

Read More

The National Institutes of Health provides significant funding for drug development research to universities, companies, and organizations. Over the course of 2020, the NIH provided a significant amount of funding to the BioHealth Capital Region.

The top recipients of NIH funding in the BHCR were research universities, with Johns Hopkins University topping the list with $807,432,003 in financing for different research programs. The top 10 recipients of NIH funding in the BioHealth Capital Region secured more than $2.18 billion in financing. Life sciences organizations within the state of Maryland secured $2.3 billion in NIH funding, an increase from the $1.9 billion granted in 2019.

Read More

The region has been at the forefront of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine race, and it is rapidly becoming a center for advanced manufacturing. The BHCR cell and gene therapy ecosystem is thriving, and the area boasts one of the richest and most diverse tapestries of life science talent and workforce development programming. What’s more, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia are home to several dynamic university systems that keep the talent and tech transfer pipeline humming and full.

Image: https://biobuzz.io

Read More

Identifying gaps and bridging them—that’s what Connected DMV’s President and CEO Stu Solomon does best. And now he and his partners are turning their attention to one of the globe’s most important and challenging divides: Preparing for the next pandemic.

Solomon recently discussed his career and Connected DMV’s response to COVID-19 with Rich Bendis on his BioTalk podcast. Bendis is the President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation (BHI).

Read More

BERLIN (Reuters) – Genetic testing specialist Qiagen received emergency use authorization for a new coronavirus test from the U.S. drugs regulator FDA, it said on Monday.

“This polymerase chain reaction (PCR) multiplex test will be an important tool now and in upcoming winter seasons for simultaneous qualitative detection and differentiation of influenzas A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV-2 infections within 80 minutes,” the company said in a statement.

Read More

To call 2020 a “unique year” for life sciences companies would be an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the industry, creating immense opportunities for institutions and investors to drive healthcare through innovation.

Peter Meath, Co-Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences for Commercial Banking, notes that investment in life sciences reached record-high levels across almost every category and subsector—despite unprecedented business challenges. Here are a few of the highlights:

Image: https://www.jpmorgan.com

Read More

Maryland universities ranked first among the nation’s top graduate programs and schools in three out of 15 categories.

Image: State House (from Francis St.), Annapolis, Maryland, February 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Read More

GSK has reached an agreement in principle with Novavax and the UK Government Vaccines Taskforce to support manufacturing of up to 60 million doses of Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate (NVX-CoV2373) for use in the UK. GSK will provide ‘fill and finish’ manufacturing capacity at its Barnard Castle facility in the North East of England beginning as early as May 2021, with a rapid technology transfer between the two companies beginning immediately. The parties will negotiate a final agreement to include additional terms and conditions.

Read More

MainStreet qualifies software, hardware, and venture-backed startups for 200+ unclaimed tax credits accountants don’t check for.

We do all the paperwork and you get cash. If we can’t help you claim any credits, you pay $0.

Read More

As the supply of Covid-19 vaccines begins to widen toward meeting the immense demand, some observers have proposed that policy makers put college students close to the top of the list.

Christopher R. Marsicano, head of the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College, argued in a recent op-ed that vaccinating college students would help protect everyone. “The broader principle in administering vaccine shots equitably is to diminish the risk for those who are most at danger to spread the virus,” he wrote. “Vaccinating college students is an effective way to lower that danger, for two major reasons: College students are mobile and spread Covid-19 with them whenever they travel, and they live in congregate living facilities where infection rates are much higher than in other housing setups.”

Image: https://www.chronicle.com/

Read More

Every year or so at Crunchbase News, we take a look at which U.S. universities graduate the highest number of funded startup founders. And each time, we find few surprises in the top rankings.

The leading schools for funded founders are reliably Stanford, Harvard and MIT. The top regions are California and the Northeast. And the top business schools are Harvard, Stanford and Wharton.

Image: https://news.crunchbase.com

Read More

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched an innovation challenge competition today encouraging American inventors to aid the nation’s COVID-19 response by designing effective, comfortable face masks for personal use that resolve the common complaints people have about wearing masks. The contest taps into the nation’s creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to help curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Image: https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov

Read More

TCR² Therapeutics Inc., based in Cambridge, is a clinical-stage company that develops T-cell therapies for patients with cancer. In a statement, TCR² said it signed a long-term, full-building lease for an existing 85,000 sq. ft. facility. The company will build-out the space to be used for quality control laboratories and offices as well as clinical and commercial production of gavo-cel, the company’s lead product targeting solid tumors. According to a federal form, 15 years is the initial term for the lease at 9950 Medical Center Drive.

Read More

Montgomery County, Maryland County Executive Marc Elrich has notified the Montgomery County Council of his appointment of BHI’s Managing Director for Economic Development, Judy Costello, as Special Projects Manager.  Confirmation is expected to take place next month. 

“While we are excited for Judy and know she will bring her economic development expertise and passion for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship to the County, we will miss her positive attitude and support of many of our different programs,” said BHI CEO Rich Bendis. “We now are actively recruiting for her position. Anyone interested is welcome to contact me directly.” 

Click here to view the job description.

Read More

Check out this weeks episode of Talent Talks on YouTube and Spotify! This week we sit with Richard Bendis President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. He talks about the importance of knowing your assets and the region around you with our hosts Robb Hoyle CEO GTS Scientific and Gregory Hoyle. Click below to watch and make sure to like and subscribe: https://hubs.li/H0JRgfF0

Read More

The University of Maryland hosted a free webinar, Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Human Health, on Friday, March 19, 2020. This event featured a fireside chat with Dr. Robert Scharpf (Delfi Diagnostics) and Dr. Christie Bergerson (Exponent), moderated by Rich Bendis (BioHealth Innovation/BioTalk podcast).

Together, the group shared insights into how artificial intelligence is impacting biomedical engineering and the wider world of human health, and spoke candidly about future applications for these and other biotech platforms.

Image: https://biocomp.umd.edu

Read More

What did we learn during the pandemic, and what should we watch moving forward?

Those are two of the key questions that many professional conversations center on these days. On Thursday, they were approached by a group of digital health experts who came together for a virtual forum organized by the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and Rockville-based BioHealth Innovation.

Image: Panelists at EAGB and BioHealth Innovation’s Digital Health Forum. (Courtesy image)

Read More

When Novavax Inc. received $1.6 billion last year from the federal government to speed up testing and production of a coronavirus vaccine, some observers were incredulous. The small biotechnology firm, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was largely unknown and had never successfully brought a product to market.

But now that the company nears completion of its Phase 3 trials for its COVID-19 vaccine, which was found to be nearly 90% effective during clinical testing in the United Kingdom, it is grabbing headlines around the world.

Read More

ROCKVILLE, Md. and BEIJING, March 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASI), a U.S. biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics and pharmaceutical products, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 15,853,658 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $2.05 per share. CASI has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 2,378,048 shares of common stock, which terminates on the earlier of 30 days and the day before CASI files to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. The offering is expected to close on or about March 26, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The gross proceeds to CASI from the offering, excluding any exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares, are expected to be approximately $32.5 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by CASI.

Read More

BrainScope received FDA clearance in September 2016 to sell its first product, which it developed with the Department of Defense to assess a range of traumatic brain injuries.

Image: Susan Hertzberg is CEO and chairwoman of Bethesda-based BrainScope. COURTESY BRAINSCOPE

Read More

ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NeoImmuneTech, Inc. (KOSDAQ: 950220), a clinical-stage T cell-focused biopharmaceutical company, today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 3,133,334 shares of common stock, equivalent with 15,666,670 Korea Depository Receipts (KDRs) priced at KRW 37,500 per share, equivalent with KRW 7,500 per KDRs. The aggregate gross proceeds to NeoImmuneTech, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, were KRW 117.5 billion ($103.4 million). NeoImmuneTech’s common stock began trading on the Korea Exchange on March 16, 2021, under the KOSDAQ code number “950220.”

Read More

Rockville, Md. — The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) awarded a total of $96,430 to six small life science companies as part of its recently completed Bio Lab Pilot Project. The project was launched in 2019 to assist local growth-stage life science companies with their wet lab and infrastructure needs. Applicants seeking financial help to build out small wet lab space less than 5,000 SF were encouraged to apply for $10 per SF of lab fit out costs, up to $30,000 per company. Project funding was provided by MCEDC and the Maryland Department of Commerce.

Read More

GERMANTOWN, Md., March 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Precigen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative gene and cell therapies to improve the lives of patients, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase I study of PRGN-2012, a first-in-class, investigational off-the-shelf (OTS) AdenoVerse™ immunotherapy in adult patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) (clinical trial identifier: NCT04724980). The US Food and Drug Administration recently granted Orphan Drug Designation for PRGN-2012 in RRP in March 2021.

PRGN-2012 is an innovative therapeutic vaccine with optimized antigen design that uses Precigen’s gorilla adenovector technology, part of Precigen’s proprietary AdenoVerse platform, to elicit immune responses directed against cells infected with HPV 6 or HPV 11. Gorilla adenovectors have numerous advantages, including the ability for repeat administration, the inability to replicate in vivo, which may improve safety, and the ability to deliver large payload capacity. In preclinical models, PRGN-2012 has demonstrated strong and specific immune response against HPV 6 and HPV 11.

Read More

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TCR2 Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: TCRR), a clinical-stage cell therapy company with a pipeline of novel T cell therapies for patients suffering from cancer, today announced that it has signed a long-term, full-building lease with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) for an existing 85,000 square foot cell therapy manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland which is ready for Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) build-out. The site will support clinical and commercial production of gavo-cel with a capacity to treat several thousand cancer patients annually. The facility is expected to accelerate the Company’s commercial-scale manufacturing timelines with production anticipated in 2023.

Read More

BioFactura, Inc. today announced a contract option activation of over $13 million by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as part of BioFactura’s prime contract valued at up to $67.4 million for the advanced development of a smallpox biodefense therapeutic.

Read More

New buildings are now rising out of the ground on the first major phase of construction at the 235-acre, $5.5-billion, multi-decade Port Covington development. Construction on five new buildings totaling 1.1 million sq. ft. is underway with a tower crane currently on the site. The Port Covington Development Team held a groundbreaking today to celebrate the start of vertical construction.

Image: https://www.southbmore.com

Read More

You may not know it, but one company has the capacity to manufacture bulk drug substance for more than a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines annually: Emergent BioSolutions, a global supplier for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and U.S. supplier for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Emergent Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Technical Operations Sean Kirk spoke with us recently to explain what goes into the heroic production of all these doses—in other words, what it takes to help defeat COVID-19.

Image: https://www.nam.org/

Read More

Exciting things are happening at Innovation Park in Manassas. Researchers are working on global solutions, industry jobs are on the rise, and new facilities are being developed – and wait, there’s more!

“Companies are seeing really big wins across the state and the region and the life science industry is only going uphill from here,” said Amy Adams, Executive Director for the Institute for Biohealth Innovation at George Mason University (GMU).

Read More

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Congenital heart disease (CHD) affects six out of 1,000 babies born in the U.S. each year and is often complicated by arrhythmias, a condition where the heart beats too rapidly, too slowly or irregularly due to a misfiring of the body’s electrical impulses. While the last decade brought great advances in technologies that improve the care of adult arrhythmias, pediatric patients have been left behind, with only five devices approved for use in children in the same period. As a result, pediatric specialists are often using off-label or improvised devices to treat pediatric arrhythmias, including in the smallest newborns.

Read More

Development of Countermeasures for Viral Diseases

The best defense against viral infectious diseases are safe and effective medical countermeasures that function at level of prevention of infection (prophylaxis) and treatment of disease (therapeutic). These include microbicides and vaccines, direct acting antivirals, and immunotherapies. This fireside chat will focus on features and characteristics of effective countermeasures, how they defend against viral infection and disease, and the preclinical development pathways to advance them from bench to bedside.

Read More

“5 Questions With…” is a weekly BioBuzz series where we reach out to interesting people in the BioHealth Capital Region to share a little about themselves, their work, and maybe something completely unrelated. March is WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH and BioBuzz will celebrate by featuring Women in the BioHealth industry all month, especially in “5 Questions With…”. This week we continue the series with Natalie McKinney, Industry Programs Director, Biologics, US Pharmacopeia.

Read More

SPACE FEATURES

• Existing laboratory suite with closed and open o ices
• Grade-level loading doors
• 17′ ceiling heights • breakroom with kitchenette
• 180 free surface spaces (Parking Ratio 3.50/1,000 SF)
• Surrounded by numerous amenities
• Located 1.2 miles from the Gaithersburg MARC
• Easy access to I-270 and the new Watkins Mill Interchange

Read More

When Novavax Inc. received $1.6 billion last year from the federal government to speed up testing and production of a coronavirus vaccine, some observers were incredulous. The small biotechnology firm, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was largely unknown and had never successfully brought a product to market.

But now that the company nears completion of its Phase 3 trials for its COVID-19 vaccine, which was found to be nearly 90% effective during clinical testing in the United Kingdom, it is grabbing headlines around the world.

Read More

COLUMBIA, Md. (March 25, 2021) –TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced today its request for applications for the Agriculture and Rural Rebuild (ARR) Challenge, created to assist Maryland’s rural and agricultural businesses that have been detrimentally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic downturn. TEDCO will award grants up to $200,000 per project.

“The ARR Challenge encourages purposeful collaboration between rural businesses, research institutions and industry partners,” stated Dr. Arti Santhanam, MII executive director. “Examples of a successful project may include, but is not limited to, the development of an innovative product or a novel application of an existing technology applicable to agriculture or other rural industry sectors.”

Read More

Our AstraZeneca Gaithersburg Campus will be illuminated this week to pay tribute to José Baselga, our beloved Oncology R&D leader and Site Head who passed away last weekend. Our entire community is devasted by this unexpected news following a period of temporary medical leave that he began in January 2021. An outstanding scientific leader, José leaves a lasting legacy in the scientific community and especially here at AstraZeneca Gaithersburg. He set our Oncology R&D function on a remarkable trajectory, and his visionary leadership, deep scientific expertise and strategic insight have delivered so many achievements that will benefit patient lives in the years to come. The blue and garnet lights were chosen to celebrate his favorite hometown soccer club, FC Barcelona. He will be deeply missed across our campus, and we will continue to be inspired by his work and vison.

For any inquiries please reach out to Joe Sanchez at joseph.sanchez @astrazeneca.com.

Read More

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Are you a biohealth start-up in Maryland, DC or Virginia seeking feedback on your biohealth business idea, pitch deck, or commercialization plan? Schedule your feedback session with BHI EIRs on one of the following dates. Pre-registration is required; Sign up here tinyurl.com/EIRfeedback

For questions/more information, contact BHI.

Read More

“Who do you know that others need to know?

We are always one conversation away from changing our lives, and Rich Bendis of BioHealth Innovations started the BioTalk podcast to connect the world of biohealth better.

In a world where medical science advances are growing at the fastest pace in human history, we can still run into a problem where the people who know each other don’t get connected to advance therapy, new medicine, or new approaches.”

Key Topics:

What is the goal of Biohealth Innovations (1:44)

How has the medical research changed as a result of COVID (3:24)

How was the COVID vaccine researched (8:06)

What made podcasting the right next step for BioHealth (10:22)

Who has benefited from the podcast (12:29)

Visit https://causepods.org/podcast/the-more-we-know-with-rich-bendis-of-the-biotalk-podcast/ to listen.

Read More

BIoHealth Innovation is sad to hear of the passing of Jose Basegla, the Head of the ASTRA Zeneca Oncology R&D business and the Gaithersburg Site Head. Jose was a strong proponent for making the BIoHealth Capital Region a leading BIoHealth hub with a connected ecosystem. AZ was also a founding member of BIoHealth Innovation and continues to support us today.

An outstanding scientific leader, José leaves a lasting legacy in the scientific community and here at AstraZeneca. He set our Oncology R&D function on a remarkable trajectory, and his visionary leadership, deep scientific expertise and strategic insight have delivered so many achievements that we can all be proud of and that will benefit patients’ lives in the years to come.

Read More

RICHMOND, Va., March 18, 2021 – Phlow Corp., a U.S.-based, public benefit corporation committed to a bold mission of providing every American with access to affordable, high-quality essential medicines, today joins in announcing the launch of a groundbreaking Children’s Hospital Coalition: Powered by PhlowTM (CHC). This first-in-kind coalition brings together some of the top children’s hospitals across the nation, in collaboration with Phlow, to provide certainty in availability and access for key medicines necessary to sustain life and conquer disease and to address the nation’s broken essential medicines supply chain.

Read More

More than 160 entrepreneurs attended last week’s BHI Virtual Non-Dilutive Funding Workshop with 1:1 Partnering cohosted by BioHealth Innovation and Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC). Attendees learned about funding opportunities, resources and best practices from program officers at NIH, NSF and the University of Maryland, and also about additional resources and tips for winning applications from experts at MCEDC, the City of Gaithersburg, Maryland Department of Commerce, and BioHealth Innovation. More than 460 partnering meetings were requested. Many took place during the event last week, and others will happen in the near future. Most of the panelists have agreed to share their presentations and panel recordings. These will be available through BHI within the next two weeks. BHI would like to thank the participants who took the time to prepare, present, and/or partner at the event. They include:

• Henry Ahn – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Lynne Stein Benzion – Director, Economic Development, Montgomery County Econ. Dev. Corp. (MCEDC)
• Katie Bratlie – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Christie Canaria, PhD – Program Director, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Judy Costello – Managing Director, Economic Development, BioHealth Innovation (BHI)
• Stephanie Davis, PhD – Small Business Program Coordinator, NIH Nat’l Heart Lung & Blood Inst. (NHLBI)
• Sharon Disque, Economic Development Manager, City of Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Stephanie Fertig, HHS Small Business Program Lead, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Jonathan Franca-Koh, PhD – Program Director, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Inst (NCI).
• Armineh Ghazarian – Senior Program Analyst, NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Colleen Gibney, SBIR Deputy Project Manager, US Army Medical Research & Dev. Command (USAMRDC)
• Luis Gutierrez – Entrepreneur-in-Residence, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Todd Haim, PhD – Chief, Office of Small Business Research, NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Elena Koustova, PhD, MBA – Director, Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations (OTIPI), NIDA SBIR/STTR Coordinator, NIH National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Office of Director
• Ashwin Kulkarni, COO, miRecule; Associate, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Natalia Kruchinin, PhD – SBIR/STTR Program Coordinator, RTSP, DEA, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Carla Merritt, Senior Business Development Representative, Maryland Department of Commerce
• JR Myers, SBIR Project Manager, US Army Medical Research & Development Command (USAMRDC)
• Mike Minicozzi, PhD, Senior Program Officer, DAIT, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Alastair Monk – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Deepa Narayanan – Program Director and Team Lead, NIH National Cancer Institute SBIR Development Center (NCI)
• Rini Pek, PhD – Senior Analyst, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Erik Pierstorff – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Victor Prikhodko – Senior Business Dev. Mgr., SBIR/STTR NIH National Inst. of Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Monique Pond, PhD – Program Director, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Institute
• Reema Railkar, PhD – Program Manager, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Institute
• Saroj Regmi, PhD – Health Science Administrator, Office of Small Business Research, NIH National Institute on Aging
• Andrea Renner – Technical Assistance Advocate, US Army Medical Research & Dev Command (USAMRDC)
• Ethel Rubin, PhD – Entrepreneur-in-Residence, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Anthony Saleh, PhD – CEO, miRecule
• Ben Schrag,PhD – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• John Sullivan – Entrepreneur-in-Residence, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Onur Unal, Manager, Life Sciences Projects, Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS), Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTech), University of Maryland

 Register (no fee) today!    www.tinyurl.com/2021SBIR  Questions: BHI@BioHealthInnovation.orgNOTE:  Different institutes are available to meet at different times during the March 17-19th period.               You will be able to request meetings once you have registered and received the partnering log-in.

Register Now!

Click here to view the agenda.

Read More

The 8-year-old vaccine maker focuses on addressing unmet medical needs.

Read More

OXFORD, United Kingdom, March 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vaccitech Ltd (“Vaccitech”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and cancer, today announces that it has raised $168 million in a Series B financing. This includes $43 million in convertible loan notes previously issued by Vaccitech that converted into Series B shares.

The Series B financing round was led by M&G Investment Management (part of M&G plc), with further participation from new investors including Tencent, Gilead Sciences, Monaco Constitutional Reserve Fund, and Future Planet Capital among others. The Series B financing round was also supported by existing investors, including Oxford Sciences Innovation.

Read More

“We lost about nine months in time,” said Galen Robotics CEO Bruce Lichorowic.

Image: David Saunders (left) and Bruce Lichorowic are the co-founders of Baltimore-based medical robotics startup Galen Robotics. GALEN ROBOTICS

Read More

Read More

AstraZeneca announced on Monday that its vaccine was 79 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in Phase III U.S. testing with no safety concerns found.

The company said in a statement that the vaccine was also found to be 100 percent effective in preventing serious cases of the disease and hospitalizations.

AstraZeneca said it will submit the findings to the Food and Drug Administration in a bid for emergency use authorization in the U.S.

Read More

Blacksburg, VA – March 18, 2021 — The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VTCRC) in partnership with the Virginia Tech Foundation (VTF) has been awarded a grant from the GO Virginia program to fund the evaluation and design of new lab concepts to serve southwest Virginia’s growing life and health sciences industry. The award is part of the Enhanced Capacity Building program that will support Virginia’s Region 2.

“We’re honored to be selected to lead this project. The VTCRC is dedicated to making flexible lab space more accessible for smaller startups as well as some of our high-growth companies. This effort will lead to much-needed resources that will help us grow our biotech industry, recruit new companies, and create valuable jobs for our local economy,” said Brett Malone, Ph.D., CEO of the VTCRC.

Image: https://www.vtcrc.com

Read More

Visualized: Key Events in the COVID-19 Timeline It’s been a long and eventful year since COVID-19 was officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020.

The tangible and intangible costs of COVID-19 have been severe. In this visual COVID-19 timeline, we delve into some significant milestones that have occurred around the world.

Read More

It is with immense gratitude and sincere best wishes that I announce National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Director Christopher P. Austin, M.D. will be departing NIH. His last day will be April 15, 2021. After nearly a decade of bold leadership as the founding director of NCATS, Chris will become CEO-partner at Flagship Pioneering, a life science platforms company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Image: NCATS Director Christopher P. Austin, M.D.Daniel Soñé Photography, LLC

Read More

Stefanie Tompkins takes the reins today as the 23rd director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

With nearly eleven years of DARPA service under her belt, Tompkins, a former military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, has an exceptional understanding of the agency’s culture. From 2007 through 2017, she held multiple positions, including program manager and deputy director of the Strategic Technology Office, a systems-oriented technical office; DARPA chief of staff; and director of the Defense Sciences Office, a highly exploratory office that identifies and accelerates new technologies. In 2017 and into the beginning of 2018, she served as the acting deputy director of the agency.

Read More

As COVID-19 became a growing concern around the world early last year, Lauren Gardner tapped into her research expertise as an infectious disease modeler. Gardner, director of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, along with her Ph.D. student, were motivated to create a dashboard to track the spread of the novel coronavirus. During a panel Tuesday at this year’s virtual South by Southwest conference, she shared how the journey unfolded.

Image: https://www.cnet.com/

Read More

Amalgam Rx, Inc., the leader in connecting healthcare providers and life sciences companies through a SaaS-enabled digital marketplace and product platform, is announcing the appointment of Jennifer Main as chief operating officer (COO) and chief financial officer (CFO). On April 5, 2021, Ms. Main will join Amalgam Rx from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) where she has served as COO, responsible for a wide range of functions, including financial management, information technology, acquisition, human capital, facilities, strategic planning, and enterprise risk management. Prior to that, she held senior executive titles, including that of CFO, in five different public and private organizations over the span of her 25+ year career.

Read More

Four Johns Hopkins professors have received grants for their research through the Bisciotti Foundation Translational Fund.

Established with a generous multiyear gift from the Stephen and Renee Bisciotti Foundation, the fund provides $300,000 annually in seed money to advance Johns Hopkins discoveries on a commercial path. Recipients are awarded from $25,000 and $100,000 to conduct their work during a period of up to nine months.

Image: The faculty winners of prizes from the Bisciotti Foundation Translational Fund are (clockwise from top left) Vivek Kumbhari, Xingde Li, Sung Hoon Kang, and Alan Cohen

Read More

Richmond-based Phlow Corp. announced Thursday the launch of a coalition that will help ensure that children’s hospitals across the country receive key medications. The Virginia Commonwealth University-affiliated Children’s Hospital of Richmond is one of 11 founding hospital members.

Children’s Hospital Coalition (CHC) aims to provide certainty in availability and access to medicine and address supply chain issues. Citing a 2019 survey of 330 American hospitals — including 29 children’s hospitals — Phlow says that medicine shortages disproportionately and uniquely impact children’s hospitals. The company also says that the pandemic has further exposed the vulnerabilities of the supply chain.

Image: Dr. Eric Edwards, co-founder and CEO of Richmond-based Phlow Corp.

Read More

LONDON—The Oxford startup behind AstraZeneca PLC’s Covid-19 vaccine has raised $168 million in new funding, which it plans to use to adopt its vaccine technology for the treatment of other diseases.

The move is a step in Vaccitech Ltd.’s preparations for going public as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the plans. The moves were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Image: Royal Navy personnel administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at a center in Bath, England. PHOTO: BEN BIRCHALL/ZUMA PRESS

Read More

Launching an innovative product or technology takes more than a good idea, and there are many actions startups can take to strengthen their offering and overall chance of success as they develop the latest innovations to bolster health security, including battling COVID-19. Over the last year, the global scientific community has proven critical to our collective ability to combat the pandemic, and BLUE KNIGHT™ offers a new way to build the kinds of partnerships needed to advance potentially life-saving technology during public health emergencies.

Read More

Here are eight recent health IT vendor contracts and go-lives accelerating digital transformation efforts at healthcare organizations.

1. Highmark Health, the parent company of Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, is building upon its tech partnership with Google Cloud through a new six-year collaboration with the tech giant’s sister company Verily.

2. The Department of Veterans Affairs, in partnership with T-Mobile, is deploying 5G technologies to the Miami VA Healthcare System.

Read More

WASHINGTON, MARCH 19, 2021 – This week, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Competitiveness Caucus, reintroduced the Innovation Centers Acceleration Act, a bill which would expand research and development (R&D), targeted to reach a broader portion of the country. The legislation would complement a nationwide effort to compete with China economically by placing renewed emphasis on sectors key to economic resiliency and productivity, including biomedical technology, advanced manufacturing, and more.

Read More

In March 2021, the Dutch government celebrates the start of Horizon Europe. Horizon Europe is the new European framework programme for research and innovation. During a series of online events, we will inform you about the possibilities within this large funding programme.

The National Contact Points from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency organise these events.

The series of events starts with an online kick-off event about the importance of Horizon Europe for the Netherlands. This event focusses on the policy aspects of the programme and is in Dutch. Find out more about the kick-off event (in Dutch).

Read More

Marina Massingham, CEO, Aifred Health, and Laurent Waessa, Senior Business Development Advisor, Québec Government Office in New York, join BioTalk to discuss their backgrounds, Ecosystems for Entrepreneurs, and how Quebec can find partnerships in the BioHealth Capital Region

Listen via Apple http://apple.co/3lfW7q5, Google http://bit.ly/3qJm2HP, Spotify http://spoti.fi/30LaoSc, and TuneIn http://bit.ly/30JHq4Z.

Read More

Partnering meeting slots now are full with more than 450 1:1 partnering meetings requested with Program Officers from NSF, NIH and its individual institutes (NCI, NIA, NIAID, NIDA, NHLBI) and the University of Maryland MIPS.  Do not miss the opportunity to hear from these program leaders. Learn how to write compelling Research Aims and Commercialization Plans, current areas of focus for nondilutive funding resources, additional government resources, and best industry strategies to support your firm’s growth. Confirmed speakers/partnering meeting participants include:

• Henry Ahn – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Lynne Stein Benzion – Director, Economic Development, Montgomery County Econ. Dev. Corp. (MCEDC)
• Katie Bratlie – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Christie Canaria, PhD – Program Director, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Judy Costello – Managing Director, Economic Development, BioHealth Innovation (BHI)
• Stephanie Davis, PhD – Small Business Program Coordinator, NIH Nat’l Heart Lung & Blood Inst. (NHLBI)
• Sharon Disque, Economic Development Manager, City of Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Stephanie Fertig, HHS Small Business Program Lead, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Jonathan Franca-Koh, PhD – Program Director, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Inst (NCI).
• Armineh Ghazarian – Senior Program Analyst, NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Colleen Gibney, SBIR Deputy Project Manager, US Army Medical Research & Dev. Command (USAMRDC)
• Luis Gutierrez – Entrepreneur-in-Residence, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Todd Haim, PhD – Chief, Office of Small Business Research, NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Elena Koustova, PhD, MBA – Director, Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations (OTIPI), NIDA SBIR/STTR Coordinator, NIH National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Office of Director
• Ashwin Kulkarni, COO, miRecule; Associate, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Natalia Kruchinin, PhD – SBIR/STTR Program Coordinator, RTSP, DEA, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Carla Merritt, Senior Business Development Representative, Maryland Department of Commerce
• JR Myers, SBIR Project Manager, US Army Medical Research & Development Command (USAMRDC)
• Mike Minicozzi, PhD, Senior Program Officer, DAIT, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Alastair Monk – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Deepa Narayanan – Program Director and Team Lead, NIH National Cancer Institute SBIR Development Center (NCI)
• Rini Pek, PhD – Senior Analyst, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Erik Pierstorff – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Victor Prikhodko – Senior Business Dev. Mgr., SBIR/STTR NIH National Inst. of Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Monique Pond, PhD – Program Director, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Institute
• Reema Railkar, PhD – Program Manager, SBIR Development Center, National Cancer Institute
• Saroj Regmi, PhD – Health Science Administrator, Office of Small Business Research, NIH National Institute on Aging
• Andrea Renner – Technical Assistance Advocate, US Army Medical Research & Dev Command (USAMRDC)
• Ethel Rubin, PhD – Entrepreneur-in-Residence, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Anthony Saleh, PhD – CEO, miRecule
• Ben Schrag,PhD – Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
• John Sullivan – Entrepreneur-in-Residence, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI)
• Onur Unal, Manager, Life Sciences Projects, Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS), Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTech), University of Maryland

 Register (no fee) today!    www.tinyurl.com/2021SBIR  Questions: BHI@BioHealthInnovation.orgNOTE:  Different institutes are available to meet at different times during the March 17-19th period.               You will be able to request meetings once you have registered and received the partnering log-in.

Register Now!

Click here to view the agenda.

Read More

 A free, virtual Forum focused on the growing Digital Health industry in the Baltimore/Washington region and beyond, presented by EAGB & BHI.

The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (www.greaterbaltimore.org) and BioHealth Innovation (www.biohealthinnovation.org) have partnered to host a Forum focused on the growing Digital Health industry in the Baltimore/Washington region and beyond. The Forum is free and will be held virtually on March 25, from1 – 3:00 pm. There is no fee and all are welcomed, but you must register in order to receive the link to the event.

The Digital Health Forum features two panel discussions and a moderated conversation. Brief welcome comments by Rich Bendis and Michele Whelley, CEO of BHI and EAGB, respectively, will open the Forum.

• PANEL ONE: The Role of Academia in Digital Health
• PANEL TWO: Digital Health in Healthcare
• CLOSING CONVERSATION: International Collaboration in Digital Health

Visit https://bit.ly/DigitalHealth21 to learn more and register for this FREE Event today.

Sponsored by: First National Bank, Olive, and TEDCO

Read More

BIoHealth Capital Region Ranked 4th and metrics improving towards goals of Top 3 by 2023

Charles Dickens’ opening line of A Tale of Two Cities—“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”—was evoked recently by the head of the nation’s largest life sciences real estate owner to describe the past year for the industry served by his real estate investment trust.

“With respect to the industry, 2020 is the ultimate paradox: The worst year of our lives, yet the greatest year ever for the life science industry,” Joel S. Marcus, Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ executive chairman and founder, told analysts February 2 after releasing fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 results. “[There’s] much work to do to rebuild businesses and lives so devastatingly impacted, and I would say, it’s going to take a good part of this decade to do that for many people who’ve been really so devastated.”

Read More

The American College of Cardiology is hosting its first Innovation Showcase in partnership with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).   They have selected six healthcare start-up companies to present. Each presentation will end with a brief Q&A with our panelists, including BHI Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Renee Arnold, Luis Gutierrez, and Kwame Ulmer.  Immediately following the showcase, audience members will have an opportunity to attend breakout sessions with each company and representatives from the NHLBI.   Full details (schedule, presenting companies, registration, etc.) are available at: https://www.acc.org/InnovationShowcase.  

Read More

IonQ, a quantum computing startup born in College Park, announced Monday that it would likely soon become the first publicly traded company to specialize in commercialized quantum computing.

The company plans to file paperwork with the Securities Exchange Commission in the next week, which will allow it to go public on the New York Stock Exchange through an acquisition deal that would set the valuation of the combined entity to nearly $2 billion.

Image: The IonQ headquarters in College Park on Nov. 9, 2020. (Kurt Leinemann/The Diamondback)

Read More

GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — US-based biotech company VLP Therapeutics, Inc. (VLPT) announced that it has named Ms. Miwa Toyoda, formerly a venture capitalist specialized in pharma and biotech at JAFCO Group Co., Ltd., as chief business officer, effective March 15, in a bid to accelerate its vaccine research and development projects and expand the portfolio.

Read More

Novavax reported on March 11 that its COVID-19 vaccine is 96% efficacious in reducing mild, moderate or severe disease. The Maryland-based company joins the handful of manufacturers that have reported encouraging data on a COVID-19 vaccine; three, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, have already received emergency use authorization for their shots from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Read More

CHICAGO/FRANKFURT • The chief scientist of Johnson & Johnson said the company expects to produce up to three billion doses of its Covid-19 jab next year, after the European Union (EU) approved the one-shot vaccine on Thursday.

The company is bringing on three manufacturing plants to produce the key drug substance for the vaccine. It will also have seven plants globally to handle the “fill and finish” – the final production steps and bottling into vials.

Read More

This free webinar will feature a fireside chat-style conversation with Dr. Robert Scharpf (Delfi Diagnostics) and Dr. Christie Bergerson (Exponent). Drs. Scharpf and Bergerson will discuss how machine learning and artificial intelligence are impacting biomedical engineering and the wider world of human health.

Rich Bendis (BioHealth Innovation/BioTalk podcast) will facilitate the discussion. View the speaker bios for more information.

Read More

The past year has been the most important in Emergent BioSolutions’ history. We’ve had the honor of helping our country address Covid-19, manufacturing vaccines in a way few companies can. Deploying longstanding pandemic preparedness capabilities to shorten timelines and ramp up large-scale manufacturing, we can now make more than a billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine a year.

Read More

Alexandria Agtech/Climate Innovation Acquisition, a blank check company formed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities targeting agtech and climate innovation, filed on Thursday with the SEC to raise up to $250 million in an initial public offering.

Read More

A Rockville, Maryland-based startup bringing AI and computer vision tools to pediatric health received nearly $1 million for R&D in a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award, which is for $982,500, will help Pediametrix as it continues to develop SoftSpot, a digital cranial measurement tool.

PediaMetrix was founded in 2018 by Dr. Fereshteh Aalamifar, who earned her Ph.D. at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, and a group of scientists and entrepreneurs who are alumni of Johns Hopkins, Harvard University and Princeton University.

Image: Dr. Fereshteh Aalamifar is CEO of PediaMetrix. (Courtesy photo)

Read More

One thing both the Trump and Biden administrations have agreed on is that the U.S. needs to expand domestic manufacturing, and soon.

The pharmaceutical industry in particular has outsourced much of its manufacturing to take advantage of lower costs and more lax environmental laws in other countries. This has left Americans reliant on overseas drugmakers, largely in India and China, and vulnerable to gaps in the supply chain when quality issues or a pandemic halts production.

Image:  Ronald T. Piervincenzi  – Source: United States Pharmacopeia

Read More

Gaithersburg, MD, Feb. 22, 2021 – Cartesian Therapeutics, a fully integrated, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering mRNA-engineered cell therapy in and beyond oncology, today announced that it has initiated a Phase 2a clinical trial of its mRNA chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, Descartes-11, in patients with newly diagnosed, high-risk multiple myeloma. Based upon the company’s research and analysis, this program is understood to be the first RNA-engineered cell therapy to enter clinical development for a frontline cancer. Descartes-11 is the third product candidate to be evaluated in clinical trials resulting from Cartesian’s RNA Armory℠ engineering platform.

Read More

Improving access to venture capital for life science entrepreneurs and emerging biopharma companies in the BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) is a top priority. However, elevating the region’s funding profile is not the only type of access undergoing a transformation in recent years.

Image: https://biobuzz.io

Read More

“5 Questions With…” is a weekly BioBuzz series where we reach out to interesting people in the BioHealth Capital Region to share a little about themselves, their work, and maybe something completely unrelated. March is WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH and BioBuzz will celebrate by featuring Women in the BioHealth industry all month, especially in “5 Questions With…”. This week we continue the series with Destinie Burgan, Upstream Supervisor of Manufacturing, Emergent BioSolutions.

Image: https://biobuzz.io

Read More

After four years of extensive planning, Inova Health System and the University of Virginia School of Medicine this week opened the UVA Inova Campus, welcoming its first class of 36 UVA medical students. An additional 36 students will join the campus next year to complete a full complement of students for two years of clinical training.

Read More

Astrategic alliance has a new name — Verge — and a new vision of acting as the front door for an innovation economy that stretches from Lynchburg to the New River Valley.

Formed last year, the alliance is a joint mission of the Valleys Innovation Council, the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council and the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program, known as RAMP.

At a virtual news conference Monday, organizers said the unified strength of the three organizations will help solidify connections and better leverage emerging opportunities for the region’s technologists, innovators and entrepreneurs.

Read More

A year ago, just before the start of pandemic lockdowns, some 10% or less of the U.S. labor force worked remotely full-time. Within a month, according to Gallup and other surveys, around half of American workers were at distant desktops. Today, most of them still are. And surveys of employers and employees alike suggest a fundamental shift. While forecasts differ, as much as a quarter of the 160-million-strong U.S. labor force is expected to stay fully remote in the long term, and many more are likely to work remotely a significant part of the time.

Image: ILLUSTRATION: JAMES GULLIVER HANCOCK – https://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/how-remote-work-is-reshaping-americas-urban-geography-11614960100

Read More

SIBF welcomes new members.  See the list here.

Read More

When the pandemic hit in full force last March, healthcare organizations had to pivot overnight. What was once impossible became necessary, and what was once unlikely became an everyday occurrence. While this disruption came with growing pains — health organizations faced supply, staff and support shortages for months on end — the World Economic Forum notes that “the industry’s response has vividly demonstrated its resilience and ability to bring innovations to market quickly.”

Read More

All eyes are on the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Achieving the broad uptake needed to reach population immunity and curb the virus’s spread will require an unprecedented effort among health workers, scientists and stakeholders at every step of the supply chain.

During this 90 min event, experts from organizations central to vaccine development and delivery, regulatory oversight and quality assurance will discuss over the course of two high-level panels what’s needed for the global COVID-19 vaccination campaign, how to build public trust in the quality and effectiveness of vaccines, and how these investments can build better systems for the future.

Read More

The advancement of children’s medical devices in the U.S. continues to significantly lag behind adult devices for many reasons. A dedicated group of public and private sector healthcare leaders are working together to change that trend. In culmination of its first stage of work, the System of Hospitals for Innovation in Pediatrics – Medical Devices (SHIP-MD) initiative recently held a dynamic 3-day public workshop to further develop this groundbreaking public-private partnership, which is currently in its pre-consortium/conceptual phase.

Read More